“Yes,” she said, almost hissing. “If the secret of noblepyradistés comes to light.” She stood and marched into the darkness.
Thana held up a finger to Gunnar, indicating that he should giveher a moment. She followed Sylph, who stood not far into the trees, her palehair like a ghost among the black trunks. “Are you all right?” Thana asked. Shesnorted. “No, of course you’re not.”
“Why of course?” Sylph asked as she turned. “Do outpourings ofemotion normally leave a person feeling as if they’ve run for miles? BecauseI’ve never had one before tonight.”
“An…outpouring?” Thana asked, wondering if she’d heard right.
“Yes. My father would have frowned on it, and there was no one totalk to anyway.” The firelight glinted in her teary eyes, and her tone seemedsomewhere between heartbroken and disbelieving. “I feel as if I can barelybreathe, Thana. The world is not what I thought it was.”
Thana took her hands. “Isn’t that a good thing? You can haveeverything you want. You can be a noble and a pyradisté. You can have friends.Love.” Her breath caught. They weren’t in love, but they could certainly fall.
“I wanted to ignore my power, if you’ll recall.”
“And now you don’t have to.”
Sylph made an inelegant snort. “Because the secret will berevealed? You think it that easy?”
Thana let go of her hands but resisted the urge to cross herarms. “Why not?”
“And if I don’t wish to be a pyradisté?” Her voice was cold, purenoble.
Thana’s mind raced even as anger overcame her pity. “Even thoughyou know that nobles can be pyradistés, that it was possible all along, you’dstill choose not to embrace it?” Her own spirit seemed to be straining from herchest, begging Sylph to let go just a little, to consider the possibilities nowthat her world was not what she thought.
“You sat beside me at that fire but didn’t hear a word I said.”
“I…” Thana shook her head. Perhaps they’d only ever misunderstoodeach other. “After we take care of this new crystal, after we…convince theserogues not to rebel, you want all to come to light, and you can be free.” Theconvincing part sounded lame, but she would avoid bloodshed if she could.
“Free?” Sylph still sounded colder than a winter’s morn. “And you’vedecided what that means for me?”
“It won’t be easy, I know, but—”
“I will still be under the control of my father, and you wouldhave these pyradistés order me about as well?”
“These pyradistés?” Thana asked, no longer fighting to keep hertone civil. “After the rebels are stopped, who are these pyradistés? Or do youmean me?”
“You’d have me be lost in a world that should not concern me,with continuing terrors that I want no part of.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that,” Thana said through her teeth, butno amount of anger seemed to penetrate the chill.
“We will never understand each other,” Sylph said, and she hadthe decency to sound a little sad. “Perhaps that is for the best.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t turn all nobleon me again.”
Sylph drew herself up, and Thana knew what was coming, but therewas no way to avoid it. “I know of no other way to be.”
Thana thought about kissing her again, but she was tired. And atleast Sylph hadn’t called her a peasant again. “And you clearly don’t care tolearn.” She turned back to the fire, not waiting to see if Sylph followed orstayed in the dark.
* * *
In a way, Thana was right. Sylph could now have everything shewanted. If there were other noble pyradistés, her father couldn’t disown her,and the queen had no reason to execute her.
Apart from the little fire incident.
But when this secret of noble pyradistés came out, she could findanother teacher who’d give her what she wanted: a way to suppress her power.Then the queen wouldn’t have to worry about her, and her father could pretendshe was normal.
And Thana could go back to her life, too, and…
That thought hurt like angry bees swarming inside her chest. Anew future might be possible, but it wasn’t the one she wanted. Better if herpower proved she wasn’t a noble after all, just some cuckoo left in a duke’snest. She could learn how to be a peasant with her raven’s help.
If she hadn’t driven her away for good.
Sylph rubbed her aching shoulders. She still had her power and aqueen who feared it, two problems that must be solved no matter what future shewanted. With a whispered curse, she kicked a tree. It remained unimpressed, andnow her foot throbbed in time with her heart.
Just perfect.
She told herself to quit acting so childish, to stop thinkingherself into corners. Taking her frustration out on Thana solved nothing. Itdidn’t matter if she barely comprehended Thana’s insane ideas. She should enjoytheir time together and throw herself into solving the problems right in frontof them. Right now, she had the opportunity to prove herself to the crown.Thana would have to help her suppress her power in front of Prince Gunnar. Thenshe could cease worrying about one possible future, the one that included herexecution.
Sylph sighed. So far, she’d proven herself completely incapableof not worrying about that.
Unless she was in Thana’s arms.
Which wasn’t likely to happen again if the sorrow in Thana’svoice was any indication.
Sylph rubbed her temples. She’d been such a fool, but shecouldn’t think of a way to apologize. She wondered if Thana wished for amagical way to simply end Sylph’s nobility. She would never wish for theopposite and become noble herself. She clearly loathed everything about Sylph’sclass. When she bothered to care about such things at all.
How in the world had she learned how to do that?
Simply not caring was probably how she’d become friends with aprince. Sylph tried to feel the same, to be disinterested in her station andthat of others. She imagined fraternizing with…people, as the prince did. Theywould call her by name alone. None of them would have titles, and she would learnabout their lives, their families. And no one would care about anything exceptthe safety and happiness of the group. It would feel partly like her bond withThana and be friendship made outside of
