House of Winter

Chapter 8, Part 2

L U M I

Lumi had dreamed of this since she was a child, but now everything was wrong. She didn't have Jinni with her. And now she had finally and conclusively realised that her twin brother was a monster. She no longer wanted to follow in his path, or be in his shadow.

Lumi looked up at her father's statue, which cast a sharp shadow over the training grounds. He stared down over his subjects, the Burning King, the one who had killed his own father to start the Fire War. Despite his evil doings, he was still quietly revered among common folk and starrlings alike. His statue was protected by the army who served at his feet.

The Burning King's actions had cemented the Fire empire's power against the world. He had shown just how strong the united Fire army could be. He had connected the Fire people, finally, in a common hatred against the Lombardians. Although they had not won the war, the Fire Lands had prospered long after the war. None of the fighting had happened on the land of the empire, which meant there had been nothing to rebuild.

Every risk he had taken had been so calculated. The Fire Lands had won every battle against the Stargen Union. Most everyone had thought the war was theirs, and with it, the world. If the Fire Lands had been able to take hold of Lombardia...

But then Emperor Taisun had been surrounded. For the first time, the Burning King's plans had failed. And in the chaos after the emperor's death, the Stargen Union had been able to push the Fire Army out of Vastier and Lombardia, and declare victory.

Lumi turned away from the statue.

Lumi, Sanna and Tai were moved from their luxurious rooms in the palace into the army barracks on the grounds of the Volcano Palace. It was a move that should have happened on Lumi's sixteenth birthday. They were allowed a small number of possessions, but no servants. Tai's tiger Yainni, and Sanna's wolf Sigrun would naturally accompany them, to live in the kinnhouse of the army.

Their female dormitory contained eight beds. Lumi and Sanna stood in the doorway, staring at the small single beds with the metal frames. Eventually, Lumi stepped forward and placed her bag at the end of one bed.

As they were standing there, the door flung open and three girls entered the room.

"Our princess has arrived!" the leader shouted boldly. "And who's this?"

Lumi straightened her back and raised her chin. "Hello. This is my friend, Sanna."

"Take any bed except that one," the lead girl said, pointing out a bed that was obviously taken, since it was covered in a messy pile of clothes, books and even a pair of boots. She was broad-shouldered and large-chested, so she cast an imposing figure in her fire army uniform, with her hair in a bun. "I'm Taimi."

"You're named after my father," Lumi commented.

The girl grinned. "I am. And I'm very much looking forward to meeting your brother later in training."

"I'm sure he'll love you," Lumi commented dryly. "Where are the others?"

"It's only us," Taimi said, gesturing to her companions. "There were supposed to be three more girls in our unit but they didn't show up. Probably since the war is starting they're scared we'll be sent to the front line. They'd rather be home with mummy, even if they don't get a tiger."

"Cowards," her friend sniffed.

"You'd better change into your uniforms," Taimi said. "We've got combat lessons in a few minutes."

Taimi and the two other girls spent a minute putting away their notebooks from a previous lesson and grabbing their combat boots for the next lesson, then departed the dormitory without waiting for Lumi or Sanna.

Lumi glanced at Sanna.

"We've got combat class, apparently," Lumi said, without bothering to translate the rest of the conversation. "We'll need to change into our uniforms. Perhaps you could wait outside while I change?"

Sanna grabbed her uniform, but didn't leave the dormitory. Instead, she tugged at the dress she was wearing.

Lumi stared in surprise as Sanna changed from the Norrlish dress into the trousers and shirt of the uniform with no qualms in front of Lumi. "We're both girls, aren't we?" Sanna asked. "Or have you got something between your legs that I don't, Princess?"

Lumi gripped her uniform in her arms.

Eventually Sanna rolled her eyes. "I'll turn around, shall I?"

Sanna turned, and Lumi scrambled to change into the army uniform. It had been a long time since she'd worn trousers - not since she was much younger - and she found herself struggling to pull them up, hopping on the spot as she almost lost her balance.

Sanna laughed, and Lumi stared at her.

"I thought you'd turned around."

"But then you were making all that noise," Sanna said. "What's that on your legs?"

Lumi tried to pull the trousers up quickly to hide her scars, but instead she ended up falling backwards onto her bed.

"Are those scars?" Sanna asked, her tone losing some of its light mirth.

Lumi finally pulled the trousers over her legs and buckled them without responding.

"What happened?"

Lumi finally looked up at Sanna. "I am not impervious to the burn of fire. Just as you are not impervious to the cold of ice."

"Did someone do this to you?" Sanna asked. "Or was it an accident?"

Lumi shook her head. "This is all mine," she said. "The fire is the only thing that keeps my thoughts from spiralling. When I burn, my mind is clear."

Sanna inhaled sharply. "That's dangerous. That's horrible, Lumi."

"Why do you care?"

"When did this start?"

"The first time Tai burned me," Lumi said. "He burned me many times when we were children. He made a sport of it. A game."

"Why didn't you fight back?"

"I never wanted to fight my brother," Lumi said. "I loved him. I always thought that his abuse was his way of showing his strength and his affection."

Sanna's expression was troubled.

"I would be terrified for anyone who would marry him," Lumi said quietly. "That doesn't have to be you. You are our cousin. You are already General Virani's daughter. Why marry him?"

"I am her illegitimate daughter."

"And you are the stepdaughter of a queen. Why marry the prince of a nation you don't even love?"

"You wouldn't understand," Sanna said. "You have always had a destiny and a title. I have had nothing."

"You will have a marriage of pain and suffering. And for what? Will you be comfortable living your life in the Volcano Palace? Will you be happy here? Will you love your children, if they are like him?"

"Sometimes he can be kind."

Lumi remembered the night that Tai had taken her to the restaurant in New Hamilton. He'd shown her a face of kindness, then.

"Kindness in between acts of abuse isn't a show of love," Lumi said resolutely. "It is manipulation. Any time Tai has been kind to me, it has been to serve a purpose. He has never been kind out of love. He will never show you any love or genuine kindness."

Sanna swallowed.

"We should hurry up. They'll probably make us run laps of the yard if we're late."

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Question of the chapter: DO you think Lumi can convince Sanna not to marry Tai?

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