oleander

0.2: BLOODLINES

Going along with Farah, Odette found herself in a place the woman called Linphea, a world away from her own. They had gone to a room that resembled a doctor's office where a man took some of her blood.

While they wait, Farah sits near her but the girl shuffles away.

"I'm not scared of you. I know you believe you're becoming a Burned One, but the orange in your eyes is just a side-effect of fire magic."

"Are Burned Ones the creatures I see in my dreams?"

"Yes, Saul and I, along with a couple of others, were hunting them. It's been days without a sighting. You are a very powerful fairy, Odette. Most fairies your age are just learning to control their magic, the one they're born with, but you've already tapped into three. The people here will teach you to use your magic. Mind first. Your ability to see other people's memories and feel what they feel. Then fire, your ability to control it. Followed by water."

"Why can't you teach me?" Odette asks her.

"Saul will be there. He's in a bad spot right now. I want to wait until you're older, and until he's more stable."

"I don't care about meeting him. I see him every night anyway."

"You'll think differently in a few years."

The doctor comes back in. "Headmistress, they're ready to see her."

Farah stands up but Odette doesn't move.

"Who?"

"Queen Rachel and King Solomon."

Breathing deeply, she gets up and follows Farah to an office where they're greeted by a petite woman whose hair was the slightest shade of purple.

"Farah! And this must be Odette. Solomon is looking through your family tree for answers to where your magic came from."

"Anything yet?" The headmistress asks, ushering Odette toward the desk.

"A human child fathered by King Jackson on the father's side. So far nothing on the- wait, a human child born from Queen Clarissa of Solaria on the mother's. The children were sent to the First World. Looks like the magic remained dormant in the bloodlines for 150 years until their descendants met and it reactivated."

"What's that mean? I'm a princess or something?"

"It means," Farah sets a hand on Odette's, "you're more powerful than we initially thought. Not quite a princess, I'm afraid, but powerful."

"You'll have wonderful tutors and instructors." The queen grins at her. "And you'll be trained to fight the Burned Ones once you've gotten control of your magic."

"And I'll check in periodically to see how you're doing. But I've no doubt that you'll do wonderfully."