CHAPTER ONE

Two years later

Mare's Territory

The peaceful hum of the snowbirds in the surrounding trees woke Meri Aro, like they did every morning. She stood, examined her appearance in the mirror, and exited her and Aku's small bedroom. Her older brother was out on a hunt, so it was just her and her mother Kaija. Meri wanted to stay in her room longer and listen to the birds sing, but she knew Kaija was going to the market, and that she had to accompany her mother. The market was the one place she found interesting, the remote village of Verglas was boring, the only remotely interesting thing about it was its obscure name. She trudged out of her room, not bothering to brew a cup of tea, and joined her mother outside, who was collecting their frozen clothes from the washing line.

"We'll be leaving for the marketplace soon, Meri, be ready." Kaija said sternly, narrowing her eyes at her little daughter. Years of worry had turned her sour.

"Yes, mother." Meri answered timidly, as she helped Kaija collect some of the clothes hanging on the washing line. Meanwhile, a curious pair travelled through the small village of Verglas. The girl, skin bronzed by the sun, with jade eyes, and long black hair that was put up in two identical buns on her head, and the boy, a tall one, skin slightly lighter than the girls with vibrant amber eyes and a portion of his dark hair hanging from his head in a ponytail. The girl was annoyed, anyone could see that.

"Nuri, you cannot quit now, we are here and you need to convince this little village maiden that she needs to come with us." Her voice was stern, like that of a mother's, but she looked barely older than the boy.

The boy, Nuri, bit his pale lip, "this village maiden is Milo's daughter, Avani. Besides, your skill set is tailored to this kind of stuff."

"Yes, because I've been seducing women in the Sovereign Capital for the last two years." She sighed, looking at him with fire burning in her eyes.

"I don't mean that, I just mean... you're... charismatic." He fiddled with his thumbs like a scared child.

"Sure, I'm charismatic. You're the fire variant, Nuri, what am I going to do? Hurl a boulder at her?" she asked, exasperation in her tone. "Come on, firefly, we don't have all day. All you have to do, is simply find a spot, do your thing with the fire, and win her over. Easy."

"For you." He psyched himself up, taking short little breaths to get the adrenaline pumping, and then he darted into the marketplace. Avani shook her head, and wandered to a nearby stall selling an array of herbs only found in Mare's Territory. Although it was killing him, Nuri had to do magic in front of the humans. He struggled to keep his composure. He wasn't bad at magic, he was actually one of the most talented fire combatants his family had to offer, but he hated his fire. He's hated it since he scorched his entire village two years ago. Avani could see he was struggling to keep his composure, struggling to get through the tricks. The villagers seemed entranced nonetheless, and applause erupted from the small crowd as Nuri finished a trick with a blatantly nervous smile plastered on his face. maybe he wasn't as obvious to the villagers, she wondered, or maybe she could read him like a book. At the back of the crowd, mesmerized, stood small Meri Aro. Avani was sure it was her, she had Milo's sparkling eyes, and his stark white hair. Avani signalled Nuri from across the marketplace and he became more daring during his last couple of tricks. Meri's eyes stretched, until they were the as large as two suns, and as Nuri finished, she stood motionless in awe. Nuri half expected her curiousity to compel her to ask him how he did all that but she gazed nervously into the marketplace and dashed to her mother's side like a frightened cub. Later that night, Avani collapsed on the soft fur-covered bed the old woman living downstairs had provided for her and Nuri under the pretence they were travelling lovers. Nuri entered the room, pulling on a warm parka, as he watched her frustrated, groaning into a pillow.

"Gods, Milo cannot possibly believe that timid village maiden is the key to defeating his brother." She remarked as she sat up, and started loosening her tightly fastened hair.

"She's a water variant, like him." Nuri replied absentmindedly, as he added wood to the fireplace.

"There are tons of them in Mare's Capital." She deadpanned.

"But not many are directly related to Aziel Aro." Nuri shrugged as he stood up, took the red hair tie from his hair and put it around his arm.

"Her mother is never going to agree to let her only daughter travel with a bunch of teenaged Aureans." She stated as he sat down next to her.

"Then we'll just have to kidnap her," Nuri said with a smile, "the end defies the means, right?"

Avani let her long, dark hair fall down in little curls as she laughed, "that felony charge is on you, Bachmann."

"Alright. The Mother knows you have too many charges on your name." He replied with a smile.

"You think it'll come to that, though?" She wondered aloud.

"Technically, if she agrees to come with us and we don't tell her mother, it's not kidnapping." He replied with a playful wink.

"You and your technicalities, firefly." Avani shook her head, and lay back on the pillow.

"You love it, space buns." He replied playfully, and laid down. Avani placed her head on his chest, and listened to his ever-present heartbeat.

"No, firefly, I'm just stuck with it." She said. This was normal for them, although not because they were lovers. Nuri was a little too damaged for Avani's tastes, but because he was like her older brother, who got nightmares, and was scared of fire, and who was actually younger than she was but would always protect her. When Avani first arrived at the Manor, both she and Nuri were traumatized by the things they'd done and the things that had been done to them. Back then, Avani suggested that if he felt like it, if his nightmares got really bad, he could sleep in her room. Little did she know, Nuri would be sleeping in her bed every other night. At first, it was uncomfortable, but after a while she found comfort in his breathing, and learned how to calm him down after a particularly nasty nightmare. It did not, however, make him pleasant to deal with when he did have a nightmare, and they only seemed to be getting worse. His whimpers woke her, like they always did, and she noticed his distraught convulsing, as well as his low mumbling. It wasn't particularly bad, some nights he'd wake the entire Manor, screaming at the top of his lungs and wouldn't stop crying until Avani gave him some redroot to chew on. She nimbly leapt out of bed and grabbed a stem of the root from her overflowing herb bag. She'd forgotten to give him some before he went to bed. She shook him lightly until his eyes shot open and darted around the room in a panic.

"Kai?" He asked, tears in his eyes.

"No," she shook her head, "just me. You forgot to chew on some redroot before you dozed off."

Nuri went bright red, "oh," he looked away, "did I wake you?"

"No," she smiled fondly, "I'm used to your little whimpers. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Gods, no," he said quickly, "I'll just take the redroot, and be out of your hair."

"You know I'm always here for you, firefly." She smiled as she handed him the redroot.

He cringed at its taste, but tried a smile anyway, "I know, space buns."

The next morning, Nuri was instilled with a new sense of purpose. His dreamless sleep had provided him with the energy he needed, but it still didn't get rid of the growing black bags underneath his once vibrant eyes. He woke Avani with a cup of ridiculously strong, and obnoxiously sweet herbal tea and took a long sip of his obsidian coloured coffee.

"You're up early." She remarked, blowing down onto her tea.

"We've got a job to finish," he finished his bitter brew, "have you forgotten?"

"No," she replied, "just not particularly excited." She stood up, and retrieved a bright blue flask from her herb bag. She screwed off the cork and dropped a small drop into her tea. Instantly the smoke stopped, and she downed it in one go.

"I'll never not be surprised when you do stuff like this." Nuri shook his head, laughing.

"It's just a forstflower potion," she put it back in her bag, "nothing special. I'll be in the shower." She said, heading to the bathroom, with her towel and toiletries following closely behind her. It never ceased to amaze Nuri what she could do with the mineral extent of her earth powers. The couple of years at the Royal Academy for Combat and Magic Arts had done her well. She returned, her hair pristinely positioned in its two buns, kohl wrapped around her eyes and shrugging on a dark blue winter coat.

"Let's go nab us a village maiden." She said jokingly, walking quickly down the stairs.

Nuri grabbed a similar coat from a hanger near the door, and put it on, "breakfast first, though." He replied, opening the front door. The snow enveloped them in its cold embrace, and Avani winced, as she dashed into the white streets of the small village. Nuri went directly for the marketplace, quickly starting his mundane magic routine. Meri Aro was there again, next to a petite woman, picking exotic fruits from a travelling merchant. She didn't look much like Meri, with her dark hair, but Nuri could see the resemblance in the eyes. That must have been Milo's wife, Kaija, or something. Nuri couldn't quite remember, but he knew she was going to be the one he'd have to convince. Milo had said her older brother wasn't as important, since his chances of inheriting a gift was abysmal. Ironically, since Mare was the only female descendant, most of her gifted children were female, and the Aro line was blessed with two sons bearing the gifts. Aku would perhaps get lucky, and become what was known as a Halfling, only barely able to control the ice that flowed through his veins, but Milo reckoned Meri was destined for great things. She was in front of him before he could register it, and the crowd dispersed as she opened her mouth to speak.

"I..." Her voice was small, and unsure, and heavily accented, like Milo's was, "I liked your magic show... yesterday." She tried a small smile, but Nuri could see she was swimming in nerves.

He plastered on a charming smile, lighting some fire in his hands, trying to warm the damn things up, "why thank you."

"How do you... how do you do that?" She looked at the fire in his palm, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," he said with a knowing smile, and watched the curiousity drain out of her eyes, "but, I suppose, for you, I could make an exception."

She lit up like a Christmas tree, "really?"

"Of course," he answered, "meet me at the river tomorrow at sundown, and I'll tell you all my secrets."

Her excited smile vanished, "I... I don't think I can do that. My mother... she wouldn't let me."

Nuri shrugged, "nonsense. Just ask nicely."

This earned a soft laugh from her side, "I'll try..." She hesitated, as if she wanted to ask him something more.

"I'm Nuri, by the way. And I hope to see you by the river tomorrow." He said before turning around.

"I-I'll try!" Meri sounded a little more defiant than she usually did, and he liked it. She was going to try, she just had to convince her mother to let her go.

"Meri!" A voice broke through her reverie, and her mother appeared behind her, "we are leaving. We need to prepare food for Aku."

Meri spun round on her feet, and dashed toward her mother, silent as usual. She nibbled on her bottom lip, she didn't know when it would be a good time to ask, but she knew she had to do it before Aku returned, otherwise she'd never stand a chance.

Meri could barely sleep she was so excited. Although she hadn't asked Kaija about accompanying Nuri to the river at sundown, she was certain that if she tried hard enough, her mother would let her go. She was up earlier than usual, partly because she was too excited to sleep, but also to make tea for Kaija and Aku. She put wood in the fire, grabbed the large iron teapot, and infused it the way she knew both of them liked it. She waited for a while, before pouring the tea into two clay mugs, and placing them on the table in the middle of the hut. Se darted back to the small kitchen area, grabbing some vegetables, and a piece of meat Aku had brought home the night before. Quickly, she worked her way around the cut, cutting a small piece of it into edible chunks, and placing the rest of it into a small snow hold underneath the floor. She chopped the vegetables easily, throwing them into a pot of boiling water, and later adding the meat. Aku appeared in the arched doorway of the two-part hut, wandering sleepily towards his tea, and taking small sips as he woke up. Like she'd been doing it her whole life, she scooped some of the fresh soup into a wooden bowl, and handed it to Aku, spoon in hand.

"You're up early." He remarked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I know," she said excitedly, sitting next to him, "I need to ask mother something, so I'm making sure all my chores are done before I do."

Aku only seemed to be more confused by her statement, "alright?"

"Don't worry," she said with a little laugh, "I'm not planning on leaving, or anything drastic," her face took on a dreamy look, "it's just... there's this boy in the marketplace... who asked me to meet him down by the river at sundown. Do you think mother would let me?"

"If you ask nice enough," Aku finished off his soup, "it's about time you started looking for a husband."

She pulled a face, "says you, Mr. Unmarried."

"Hunters don't have to get married." He countered, as Kaija entered the room.

"What's all this about marriage?" She asked amusedly.

"Meri's got a possible suitor, and she wants to meet him at the river tonight!" Aku announced like a child. Meri hurled her spoon at him, but he caught it with ease.

"Aku! He's not a suitor!" She went blood red, completely avoiding everyone's eyes.

"I suppose you could," Kaija said, "but only if you finish all your chores early."

Meri's face lit up with a giant smile, "I promise, mother!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

this is eh, but intergral to the novel. i hate writing as meri tbh bUUUUT u gotta do what u gotta do

hope u like :)