Smoke and Mirrors (6)
Six
For Beauty, Ashes.
The first thing I noticed when we reappeared was that I was on fire.
In fact, everything was on fire, and we were in a volcano.
"Welcome to my home, Tessa." Mom's voice echoed in the fire, mingling with the sound of bubbling lava and crackling rock.
I couldn't speak. Turning on the stone ledge, I watched blue and orange flames flicker and leap on my skin. I knew I should have been terrified, but for some reason, I couldn't find the emotion. The fear of fire seemed foreign to me in this new land.
Fire danced and dripped from blackened stone in different shades of red, blue, and even purple.
"Look at your clothes." Mom's voice sounded happy, and I bet she was. After all, she was finally showing me what was basically her empire after eighteen years of keeping it secret.
I looked down and watched as a dress of liquid lava began to form around me. Somehow, not a bit of it burned my actual clothes.
"You can do this, too," she told me as I stared with wide eyes and a gaping jaw. "You saw all that your father can do, but I am stronger. We are stronger."
I quickly looked at her. "So that was my father. Why did he not want me? Why did you lie to me?! About everything! This world, who I am, who my dad is. . ." I trailed off, and then quietly added, "Everything."
She turned and sauntered towards a throne made of rock, embedded with rubies and glowing with heat and embers. She settled into it and propped her elbow on the thick, uneven armrest. "It was your name, Darling. Your name made him reject you. And I didn't lie, I merely withheld the truth. I have never outright lied to you."
"Why my name?!" I folded my arms over my torso, which was now coated solidly in a dress of fire. The dress trailed around me in solid flames that were warm, not hot, and somehow, felt comforting, despite what they were. "What's wrong with it?"
"I gave you a false name when we hid on Earth," she informed me, glancing at her nails and flicking away a piece of stone into the lava lake beside us. "Your name is not Tessa."
I visibly flinched at that. "It--it's not?" What else was a lie? What other carpet would be yanked from beneath me?
"No. Your true name is Tanwen, meaning ‘Holy Fire’. He heard your false name and thought you were an imposter." She sighed and draped her long, raven hair over the back of her throne. "To be fair, he has had many claiming to be his daughter. I'm sure it gets tiresome after a while."
I inhaled at that, unable to get over the shock of having a false name all this time. "But. . . I don't understand. Why did you take me to begin with? Why did you. . . 'withhold the truth'?"
She lowered her hand and leaned forward in her throne, staring at me intensely. "Oh, Darling. You've heard the prophecy by now, I'm sure. Don't you know why? I did it to save you."
"Save. . . me?" My voice sounded quiet and shaky. My legs were tired from standing, so I sat where I’d been standing on the ledge, overlooking a lake of lava. "How did you plan on doing that? A prophecy is a prophecy, right?"
She smirked. "Only if you follow all the right rules." Before I could ask what she meant, she leaned back, her smirk gone. "Tell me, dear. What is the impression you have of this. . . betrothed of yours?"
I shuddered. "Oh, he's horrible. He tried to kill me! Twice!"
She nodded as if she'd expected that answer. "So tell me this, then. If I provided you with a second betrothed--one that would be much better suited for you--what would you say?"
I blinked. "I mean, if he's nice and all, and I have to, I suppose I could make myself. . . like him. But. . . I don't know. I really don't want to marry at all. I want to go home, mom. I want to run my own life instead of having it dictated by a bunch of prophecies and royal rules."
She frowned and tapped her chin. Fire cast a glow of red and blue over her sharp features--her high cheekbones and straight nose, her pointed chin. Her features were so much more. . . commanding than my own. Compared to her, my own face was remarkably plain. "But you are not of that world, Tessa. You grew there, but you do not belong to it." She raised her arms and gestured to the burning world around us. "You belong here."
I threw a quick glance around us. Allow me to describe my surroundings for a moment to better explain my fear.
Although it was true that, outside of habit, I no longer seemed to be afraid of fire, I was beginning to grow weary of my surroundings. Everything looked so dark and secretive, as if this world were hidden in shadows.
The walls were bathed in teal and scarlet, with hairline cracks that glowed a bright orange, but there were deep, dark caverns that didn't glow at all, and just sat there, winking ominously in the firelight. Those scared me.
I refrained from once more explaining that I didn't want to live in shadows and uncertainty, and instead said, "So, what are you planning?"
She beamed. "I want to rearrange some things. I feel that you and Time's King would be a much better match."
I raised my eyebrows at that. Time had a king, too? "Do I get to choose if I want to marry him or not?"
She shrugged. "Sure."
I hesitated, but finally nodded. "Then okay--I guess so. I'll talk with him, at least. I can't--no, won't--promise anything above that."
She nodded with a satisfied expression and leaned back. "I will ask him here tomorrow. I will also have to ask your betrothed to attend this agreement, but I am more powerful than any mirror could ever be. You won't have to worry about him any longer."
I felt as if a weight should have been lifted from my shoulders, but was not. I still felt queasy about this whole deal--and it wasn't because I'd had leftover spaghetti for breakfast. Were prophecies so easily changed? Could fate be stopped before it began? I wasn't sure. And the hundreds of questions I still had didn't help matters.
That night, she walked me through the tunnels away from the volcano's core, talking exuberantly as we went. The tunnels felt cooler somehow, and reminded me of a time, long ago, when I had been in a hot-tub. The heating-coil had burnt out during the soak, allowing the cold to slowly seep in. I had that same sensation now, which was odd, since I knew that I should have been feeling that on a much hotter level. I was in a volcano, after all.
We turned into a dark room in the tunnel, which had been richly decorated with scarlet fabrics and gold.
"Do you like it?" she asked excitedly. "I've been preparing this for you your entire life. Oh, I cannot tell you how much I've wanted to show you all of this!"
The room was fit for a queen--but I was no queen. I was a girl who'd grown up eating ramen and freezer pizzas.
The wall was laced with gold, which looked like it had melted at one time and now stained the uneven rock in dripping patterns. The rocky patterns were occasionally interrupted with shattered pieces of colored, ceramic pottery. A bed sat in the center of the room, made from sand. There was a noticeable absence of any kind of fabrics at all. There were no rugs, no blankets--not that I truly needed one here--or anything material. It now made sense why mom had created a dress for me made of fire.
The room was dark, but a torch sat in the corner of the room, which she lit easily with a close-fisted wave towards the metal stand. The room instantly began to glow. Suddenly, she turned to me.
"I want you to try extinguishing my flame," she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes glimmering.
I furrowed my brows. "Like--with my powers? Are you sure?"
She nodded quickly. "Go on--try it! The more you practice, the stronger you'll be!"
I looked at her warily before turning towards the torch. I waved my hand at it like I'd seen Yin Yue do for her instruments, but nothing happened. It didn't even try to flicker.
"That's okay! Keep trying. Everyone has their own way of doing it."
I tried Yin Yue's way again, this time clasping my hand over my heart, and then dramatically swept it out towards the fire. Again, nothing.
"You're doing it too much like a Musician. You have to feel the flame!"
"But I thought everyone has their own way of doing it?" I replied.
"That is true, but fire is less--flowery. We are direct. Swift. Try it again, but with fire."
I exhaled my annoyance. I liked how Yin Yue controlled her instruments. She was so graceful.
Clenching my fists, I tried to gather my fire. I felt nothing. The torch didn't seem to feel anything either.
"Well, that's fine. Just keep practicing. You have such talent within you, and you know nothing of it." She shook her head. "You'll learn, though. I had to as well.”
I sighed and turned from the stubborn torch. I couldn't help it if the torch had an attitude problem!
"I'll leave you to it, then." She kissed my cheek. "I missed you."
Dropping the tension in my shoulders, I hugged her tightly. "I missed you too, Mom."
When she left, I sat on my bed of sand and stared at the intricate gold detailing on the walls.
The room was nice, all things considered, but I felt too. . . constricted. I liked the feeling of being able to see out, and this cave did not provide that.
Yawning, I laid on my back and tried to sleep, squirming in the uncomfortable sand.
