“I don’t have any birthmarks,” Soraya said.
Knox’s hopes shifted to the ever-familiar sting of disappointment. He opened his mouth to excuse her.
“But my sister does.”
Without thinking, Knox lifted the fabric screen again. “Your sister has a flower-shaped birthmark? What’s her name?”
Soraya’s face clouded over again with a dreamy smile. “Eris.” She rose and took a few small steps closer to him. Darren shifted around the chair and followed her.
“Eris,” Knox repeated, his mind spinning. If she was as clever as Soraya, then just maybe she was the one. He needed to meet her before he let his mind wander off too far. Still, if she was the right one, all of this could finally end. “You’re sure the birthmark looks like a flower?”
Soraya nodded slowly. “Our parents thought she had been born an Earth magic user like the rest of us, but when her magic came, it was Light magic.”
Knox’s thoughts shifted. What if the light the prophecy mentioned was magic? Why had he never thought of that? “Where is she?”
Soraya reached her hand out and took a few more steps towards him. Finally, he noticed, and began backing away. “Toran.” He gestured towards Soraya.
Toran quickly strode to Soraya and placed himself between her and Knox. “Sir, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Darren nodded, putting a protective arm around Soraya and holding her still.
“Where is your sister?” Knox asked again.
“At home,” Soraya said. Darren gently grabbed her arm and began pulling her backwards, away from Knox. Her face scrunched up, but she never took her eyes off Knox.
Toran shifted and stood behind her. “Sire?” He gestured towards the fabric screen. Knox kicked himself. How had he already forgotten how affected she was by his curse? He dropped the screen, but the look in Soraya’s eyes did not go away. She turned and glared at Darren, annoyance painted on her face.
“Where is home?” Knox asked.
“Let go,” she said. But Darren shook his head. She glanced at Darren, then Toran.
“Not until we’re out of this place,” Darren said.
Soraya reared back and kicked Toran in the shin. Darren opened his mouth in surprise just as she stomped on his foot. He reached down instinctively before jerking back up to grab her again. Only she was already out of his reach. Knox watched in horror as she sprinted towards him, hands outstretched.
“No!” he yelled as she pushed past the fabric screen. He threw his arms up to block his face, but in one swift motion she slid her hand through his arms and placed it on his cheek.
Chapter 4
Eris
“You’re an only child,” Papa said. The look on his face told her that he believed every word he had said.
Panic rang through Eris, causing her thoughts to buzz around her head quicker than she could process them. She set her spoon down and buried her face in her palms, trying to remember how to breathe.
How could her parents have forgotten Soraya in one day? Had something happened to Darren as well? Would his parents remember him? Were they both dead? They couldn’t be dead, right? It could be magic related. Some rogue wizard could have taken her sister, but for what? And what kind of spell made everyone forget a person’s entire existence? She shook her head, trying to clear all the thoughts scurrying around in her mind. How was she supposed to figure it out on her own? If her parents had forgotten Soraya, did that mean everyone else had as well?
“You don’t have a sister,” Mama said again, a bit louder, pulling Eris from her thoughts.
Eris raised her head. Her mother was looking right at her, like she was a stranger. As if she were the one who had gone crazy.
“Are you okay?” Mama asked, as if she was afraid of what Eris’ answer might be.
Eris opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the words and closed it again. Her thoughts were threatening to suffocate her. She found herself standing up, causing both of her parents to look even more concerned.
“Eris,” her father began in a steady voice, hands raised.
But she couldn’t bear to hear him say one more time that she didn’t have a sister. Instead she turned and strode around the table towards the front of the house.
“Eris, where are you going?” Mama asked, reaching a hand towards her, but she brushed it off and kept walking to the front door.
Once she made it outside, she began running. She picked up her skirt and ran faster and faster away from her house and the sounds of her parents calling after her. There was only one person who could help her now. Even if he couldn’t remember Soraya, Master Garren would know something. He had to know something.
Eris tripped over another rogue root in the middle of the dark road. She pushed herself back up onto her feet and dusted her hands off on her skirt before running again. Images of Soraya flew through her mind. Right before Soraya left, Eris had gotten mad at her for borrowing a pair of earrings without asking and then losing them. Then she had stormed around the house until Soraya bought her a new pair.
Eris thought about the way Soraya’s smile was a bit lopsided when she was happy, and the many times they had laughed until they cried. She thought about Soraya’s dream of owning her own dress shop. The way her hands moved through the air when she made flowers bloom in the front garden bed. Tears ran down her cheeks, and Eris pumped her arms harder, picking up speed.
Master Garren’s house grew larger and larger until she stood in front of it, breathing heavily. She pounded her fists against his door, sobbing, for what felt like an eternity. Normally, the night was filled with the sounds of owls and bugs calling out to each other. But that night, the only thing she could hear was the sound of her own throbbing heart. She needed something, anything, to fill the gaping hole growing inside her.
Eris took a moment and rubbed her fingertips under her eyes, trying to swipe away the tears that were still flowing fast. She had to calm down enough to talk to Mater Garren, she thought. She began taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself enough to speak without sobbing.
The front door slowly creaked open and revealed a tired-looking Master Garren dressed in a robe. “Eris, what are you doing here? Are you all right? You look—”
“Soraya. Do you know her?” She prayed against all hope that he would remember her sister too.
“I don’t know everyone in town,” he began cautiously, “but I’m not familiar with a Soraya. Is she new to Uwen?”
“She’s my sister, and one of your former students,” Eris said. This time a sob escaped.
“I think you’d better come in.” Master Garren stepped back from the doorway.
He showed her to the main sitting parlor, saying something about tea, before disappearing. Eris couldn’t help but cry, though it came in waves now. For a moment she could think enough to ask herself how it had happened, but then the thought of never seeing her sister again caused her to begin crying uncontrollably again.
Master Garren returned, carrying a tray with two cups and several small cookies on a dish. He set the tray down on a small coffee table in front of Eris, then handed her an empty tea cup. She took it and watched it fill automatically with her favorite pear tea. But she didn’t drink it. The warm liquid felt almost too hot against her cold hands.