Castle of Flame

Chapter Four: The Fire Festival

The following day, Trevonna left a note for Ren at the breakfast table, summoning her to her office. Ren found Trevonna surveying a slumped form on one of the tartan-upholstered chairs in front of her desk. She saw as he raised his head that the slumped form was Laric, wearing sweatpants and slippers, his hair sticking up in every direction, his face a pale shade of green.

Trevonna's tight-lipped scowl transformed into a smile when she saw Ren. "Good morning, Ren. I have some important information for you."

Ren settled into the armchair next to Laric's. "Is it to do with the attack in Hungary?"

Trevonna sighed, dropping her gaze to the letters on her desk. "As of yet, we have no new information about the attack. No, actually, I need to talk to you about something happier. You see, the summer solstice is a little over two weeks away." Ren looked back and forth between Trevonna and the unresponsive Laric, feeling like she was missing something. "Of course, you wouldn't know," laughed Trevonna. "The mid-summer fire festival to celebrate the solstice is the grandest event of the year."

Ren cocked her head, not sure whether to be pleased or upset by this news. "Oh! Does it involve dancing?"

Trevonna laughed again. "You know, you are not such a terrible dancer, dear. Yes, there will be dancing, but more importantly, the prince," she gave Laric a pointed look, "usually performs an exhibition of his talents with fire as part of the ceremonial opening of the festival and lighting of the bonfires. Since we now have a prince and a princess, I thought you two should perform the fire show together."

Laric stirred, sitting up in his chair. Laric and Ren stared at each other, for once united in their disbelief. "You want her to open the festival?" exclaimed Laric, at the same time that Ren sputtered, "You want me to summon fire?"

Trevonna crossed her arms and gave them both a look that could have crumbled stone into dust. "Yes. Laric, you will teach Ren how to summon fire, and the two of you will prepare an exhibition together."

Neither Ren nor Laric dared to reply, and so it was that Ren began fire-summoning lessons. At Trevonna's insistence, they started that afternoon. Ren discovered, upon following a surly and silent Laric to it, that the castle had a dedicated fire-summoning room on one of the upper floors. It was a large, bare stone room, free of any flammable objects, ringed by a number of fireplaces, with a sprinkler system installed overhead. The door was a heavy slab of stone, and at the far end of the room, an open window led out onto a fire escape ladder. The air carried a lingering scent of smoke. Laric reached the middle of the room and turned to face her. Ren hesitated just inside the door. Neither of them spoke.

Ren stepped forward, reaching out a hand as though she meant to touch Laric, but then thinking better of it. "Laric, I'm so sorry. About everything. Making your life miserable was the last thing I wanted to do."

Laric's twisted scowl did not change. "Summoning fire is difficult and dangerous. You must learn how to summon it," he lifted his hand and blue flames burst into life on his palm, "and how to dismiss it." He closed his fingers into a fist and the flames vanished. "You must focus completely on the flames. Close your eyes."

After a second's hesitation, Ren closed her eyes and heard Laric's footsteps as he circled around her. "Bring all of your attention to your heart. Feel it beating. That is where the fire starts." Ren tried to do as he said, but her mind kept jumping each time Laric made a sound. "Now raise your hand, and open your palm. Go back to focusing on your heart. Find the fire there. Then slowly move that energy from your heart, through your arm, and to your hand." Laric stopped walking, and Ren stood there, her eyes moving around behind her eyelids. She took a deep breath and drew her focus to her chest, then her arm, and finally her outstretched hand, imagining flames appearing there.