Mark of the Fool
Chapter 598: The Light of Creation

“Mother,” Khalik sounded worried, as he threw a nervous glance at Selina. “Perhaps we should speak of this at another time.” He gestured to the window. “The sun is high, the day is beautiful. There’s no need to darken our lunch with topics that might invite dread.”

“I’d like to hear what she has to say,” Shiani said, her expression uncharacteristically irate. She clenched her jaw. “This man disrespected holy fire. I would also have a lot to say on that, but your mother spoke first.”

The queen smiled appreciatively. But any cheer she’d just shown withered as quickly as it had appeared. “The fires of creation burn in us all—sparks leftover from the great heat that started all things, whethermortal or god. The fact that this corrupt creature disrespected such a sacred thing is beyond offensive.”

Something about her words…the sureness in her tone, made Selina uncomfortable.

Even angry.

“Maybe fire deserves to be offended,” she said.

Her words were meant to be a whisper—so quiet that only she would hear them—but she’d misjudgedthe depth of the heat in her and the quiet of the room around her.

Every head turned in her direction.

The queen raised an eyebrow. “Those are hard words, my child.”

“They need to be,” Selina said, that spark growing inside her. Whatever it was that was drawing her to the queen…was also stoking her irritation. Her anger. “Fire doesn’t deserve to be defended like that.”

“Selina.” Shiani gasped. “I’ve never heard you talk like this before. We have spoken of fire. What it can mean…but…I understand where your anger comes from.”

“I…maybe not every fire is bad, but why are you defending it so much?” Selina met the queen’s gaze, and in that moment, the fact that this was an older woman she was talking to, Khalik’s mother, and the monarch of a nation, fled.

Now, there was only fire.

“Selina.” Alex quickly put a hand on her shoulder. “This is probably a hard topic for you, maybe we can talk about it later.”

The young girl’s hands balled over her dress.

She didn’t want to talk about it later.

She didn’t want to talk about it at all.

The spark flared, and all the anger boiled to the surface. All her frustrations. The old hatred. The old shame.

And…her weariness.

She was tired. She was tired of fire being the thing that killed her parents, she was tired of the guilt she felt, she was tired of feeling spikes of shame each time it occurred to her that her hatred for fire was fading. She was tired of having to carry a piece of her parents’ killer within herself.

She was tired of that evil intrusive thought, tired of the nightmares she used to have, and the guilt she felt when they finally faded.

All of that came out in a flood.

“How could you like it so much?” She looked at Queen Ishtar. “It burnt your face. You should hate it!”

“Selina!” Alex squeezed her shoulder. “Come on, that’s enough.”

“You can use fire for good things,” Selina continued, undeterred. “That’s true. Shiani told me about all the good things to thank fire for, but it also does terrible things. Fire hurt you. You should understand.”

“Sel—” Alex started.

“Did fire hurt you?” Queen Isthar asked, her voice dropping to the lowest and gentlest of tones. “Did it hurt you, my child?”

“Fire killed mom and dad,” her voice turned to flint. A suspicion rose in her mind. “It burnt down our home and took our parents away. It can be a good thing, but…”

The spark in her flared, and she hated it.

“...what did you do to me?” she demanded, glaring at the queen. Her small hands pressed to her torso, touching the area where she felt the spark. “You put something in me, didn’t you? Did you cast a spell on me? It feels like there’s a cinder in my mana pool!”

“Oh.” Shiani’s hands rose to her face. “Fire-kissed.”

“What?”

Now Alex was looking at Queen Ishtar, his eyes narrowed. Then realisation dawned, and he shot a look at Khalik.

“What’s going on?” Selina demanded, staring at the queen. “What—”

Then one of her earlier suspicions came back, and suddenly she was so sure of it, that it seemed ridiculous that she hadn’t realised it earlier.

“Do you…do you have a fire affinity?” she asked in a tiny voice, pausing, then forcing out the next word. “...too?”

Queen Ishtar’s smile was as warm as the morning sun; if Selina’s earlier outburst had angered her, she gave no sign. “I do. And I feel the same spark drawing me to you as well. Our affinities are pulled to the fire within one another, I am so glad that you know!”

“Your mom has a fire affinity?” Alex asked Khalik, his jaw hanging open.

The prince looked at his mother for a moment, then sighed. “It is not…a public thing…and she is as zealous about it as a priest bowingbefore their god…but yes. Yes, she does.”

“You said that your parents were slain in a fire?” King Aksumaspoke, staring at Selina and Alex as though seeing them for the first time. “I am so sorry to hear that. I cannot imagine what that would have done to you at such a young age. To be forced to bear such a terrible burden.”

Queen Ishtar’s warm smile faded, her eyes closing for a moment. For an instant, her expression became one of pain. “And then to have a fire affinity yourself…that is an agony I know well.”

A little shock went through Selina. “What do you mean?”

Queen Ishtar frowned. “I think…perhaps we should talk a little more privately. Would you like that?”

Questions whirled in the young girl’s mind as she stared at the queen. As far as she knew, the queen was the first person with a fire affinity that she’d ever met and—unlike her classmates with elemental affinities—she’d been scarred by her element.

Just like she’d been, in her own way.

“I…I would like to talk,” she said in a tiny voice.

The queen nodded, standing and drawing herself up to her full height. “Aki, entertain our guests.”

“Of course, Ishtar,” the king said.

Next, the queen looked at Khalik. “Son, come with me.” It was clear from her tone that it was not a request. “You too, Alex, if you wish. Would you be alright with your brother coming with us, Selina?”

“Yes, please!” Selina said. “And…can Claygon and Shiani come too? Shiani’s been telling me a lot about fire magic; she’s helped me a lot.”

The young woman froze, then quickly nodded. “I’d like to come along, if it’s alright.”

“So…would I,” Claygon said.

“Yes, I think that would be appropriate.” The queen looked at the servants. “Prepare the study for us. We’ll be there shortly.”

The villa’s study was an inviting room at the rear of the house, comfortably furnished with overstuffed velvet armchairs, low tables, and tall bookshelves lined with heavy, leather bound tomes. A table stood beside one of many lofty windows overlooking formal back gardens bursting with flowering hibiscus in shades of coral and red.

A stone fireplace yawned open in the nearby wall, though the heat of the day dissuaded anyone from lighting any fire within it.

Selina held a cup of cold mint tea while she sat facing the fireplace. She could almost see the flame that would dance in the hearth on a cool Generasi night.

Sitting across from her was the queen of Tekezash, while Alex, Shiani and Khalik sat nearby. Claygon stood over them all, his gaze never leaving Selina.

They’d been silent since the servants had left them alone, lost in their own thoughts, seemingly waiting for Selina to speak first.

She felt unsettled in the heavy silence, and for a time, she wanted nothing more than to run from the room, go home, fling herself into her pillow and cry herself to sleep.

Instead, she inhaled slowly. ‘I was in the Cave of the Traveller with silence-spiders everywhere and that awful hive-queen trying to kill us. I shouldn’t be afraid of a conversation.’

She exhaled. “Did you know I had a fire affinity right away?”

“I suspected it,’ the queen smiled. “From the moment we first met. I could feel the fire in you: and it’s a bright and beautiful fire, the kind that burns evil away and warms civilizations. But I wasn’t sure if you knew yourself, and I didn’t think it would be right for me to bring it up.”

“Okay…” Selina said slowly. “And you have a fire affinity too?”

“I do,” the queen made a face. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much talent for magic. My husband is a far better wizard than I will ever be…except when it comes to fire spells. There are few in Tekezash who can match me in conjuring the beauty of flame.”

Selina glanced at Shiani, who was eyeing the queen with…awe, and maybe a little envy.

For the first time, it occurred to her that Shiani probably would have given a lot to have been born with a fire affinity.

‘It’s crazy,’ she thought. ‘I don’t like fire, and I get a fire affinity. Shiani loves it and she doesn’t. The world’s nasty sometimes. I hate when it’s like that.’

“I hope…” the queen said slowly. “I hope you don’t dislike yourself for who you are, my child. Such a thing isn’t healthy.”

Selina flinched. “It’s weird. I don’t like that I have a fire affinity…but I guess I’m not as mad about it as I used to be.”

“That is good. Very good.” The queen smiled. “Fire is a gift. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Alex shifted in his chair.

Khalik cleared his throat, and threw a look at his mother.

Shiani winced.

Only Claygon was silent, still watching Selina.

Selina ignored them, her eyes falling again on the queen’s scar. She swallowed. “How…can I ask you another question?”

“Certainly,” Queen Ishtar said gently.

“How…how did you get that scar?”

Khalik stiffened, and Alex looked nervously at the queen, but neither spoke. Shiani was watching the older woman intently.

The queen gave a sad smile. “It was the foolish mistake of a young girl who decided to run before she could walk.” Her eyes drifted to the window, as though watching a scene playing out. “When I first found my fire affinity…I was…elated. Beyond words, really; it was like I had met a piece of myself that was always out there somewhere, but I never knew I was missing.”

Her fingernail traced the rim of her tea cup. “I had always loved fire when I was a child. My parents told me that I used to stare at the candles and fireplaces around our home. Once I nearly put my hand in an open flame. I was drawn to it as it seemed to be drawn to me. When I was five, I tried startingmy own fire and…came close to nearly burning our family’s home down,” she paused, watching Selina. “Is this story too much for you?”

“No,” Selina said, wide eyed. Except for the ‘trying to set her own fire part’, the queen’s story felt like a mirror turned on her own life: the fascination with flame since she could remember…their experiences were the same. “No, I would like to hear more.”

“Alright, well, my parents were at a loss as to why I did these things. They loved me…but they thought I was…disturbed,” the queen continued. “I thought I was sick too, to be truthful. But when I discovered that the fire was born with me, that it was an innate part of me?” She smiled. “Everything became clear. I was not broken, or damaged, my inner fire was calling me to flame. My young self was like a tadpole seeking water without knowing why, and then, I finally knew.”

Her smile faded. “But…my excitement punished me. I loved fire, but it must be respected.” She touched the scar on herface. “And I learned that the hard way. You see, once my mana was discovered, my parents sought a teacher to help me learn how to harvest my talent…but his lessons were boring. I didn’t care for instructions on magic theory, they were dull, and his balanced approach to magic drove me crazy. It was flame that I craved, not history lessons!”

The queen’s expression darkened. “And one night, I decided to just get it.”

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