Face-to-face with the blaze, his jaw almost hit the floor. “What in the name of the Oceans…” he gasped.
In the centre of the room, the tall violet flame soon fizzled out, leaving only a monstrous smog behind. It glowed ominously as swirls of purple and green explored my bedchamber. Through the thick smoke cloud, I could just about make out Raena’s faint whimpers. Her chest heaved as she remained pressed against the wall.
“It’s alright,” I called over to her, relieved that my memory hadn’t failed me. “The smoke is harmless. It just looks scary.”
“This is magic!” Erik spat.
“Sci-ence,” I corrected, enunciating each syllable.
The guard dragged a nervous hand through his blonde waves. “Raena, you stay there. Don’t move. I’m alerting the generals.” He shot me a glare. “I always knew we couldn’t trust you. Faery scum!”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes back into my skull. On the bright side, at least his reaction proved the goblins would fall for it.
“Don’t, Erik. Please. It’s not magic.” Raena spluttered while arching away from a glowing smog tendril. “I don’t really understand it, but I know it’s not magic. I saw her mix the powders.”
“What you’re seeing is just a natural reaction between Aethernite, powdered sulphur, and water,” I explained. Lifting my hand, I let the coloured smoke snake around my fingers. “I can make it even more exciting by adding some iron filings, if you’d like to see that too?”
“No!” Raena cried.
“Absolutely not!” Erik echoed.
I shrugged. “I’ll save it for the goblins then.”
Raena groaned, a thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead. “Please, can you just make it stop?”
“It’ll fade on its own after ten minutes or so. But I promise you, this smoke is harmless.” As I spoke, a thick tendril of green smog curled around my face. I coughed as it went up my nose, suddenly feeling unusually queasy. “Ah, perhaps not completely harmless.”
“What?” Panic flared across Raena’s face.
Quickly, I swatted the smog away with my hand. “It’s fine, we’re all fine,” I insisted. “Just hide in your chambers until the smoke clears. Meanwhile, Erik and I will leave for the woods. I’ve already made enough of this mixture to put on a good show. The goblins won’t know what hit them.” I grinned, swishing away another curious smog tendril with a flick of my hand.
“I am not going into the woods with her!” Erik thundered.
“Oh please, Erik, just do whatever she says,” Raena called back to him, her tone edging on desperation. “I fear if we let her mix up any more of these powders, she’ll kill us all.”
He looked at her with worry tugging at his brow. “But what about you? What if invaders come and I’m not here to protect you?”
“I’ll be fine. I have my dagger.”
“You have a what?” Erik’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
I chuckled. Beneath all the pretty dresses and perfect hair was a whole new side of Raena that he’d clearly never seen before – cunning, chess champion, and mighty quick with a dagger.
“Trust me, your lady will be fine,” I cut in.
Erik shot a scowl my way. “You know we’ll have to ride quickly if you want to catch up with the prince?”
I nodded.
“And since you’re not my princess, if there’s any trouble, I won’t hesitate to leave you.”
“Erik!” Raena coughed.
“I understand.” My focus remained on him, the smog making it easier to ignore Raena’s protests.
“Then fine. I’ll take you to him,” he conceded.
I could’ve screamed with joy.
