Neela

Neela

The Rose Palace looked beautiful at sunset, with the pinks and oranges playing off the enormous petal-like roof.

The run home had drained me, and I didn’t let Ronan inside. I sent him away with a smile, though, so that was something.

Liz was waiting for me inside with a glass of not-Dionysus red, which I took gratefully.

We headed into my favorite sitting room, which was cozier than the grand reception halls. The walls and ceilings were lined with thousands of enchanted rose petals, so it always smelled like a late summer afternoon.

I settled onto a cream sofa and pulled an oversized cushion onto my lap. Liz waved a hand and muttered a spell, and a comforting fire started in the brick fireplace.

“How do you do that?” I asked, marveling at her skill. Suddenly, the ability to start a fire with nothing more than a thought and a gesture seemed even more impressive, now that I knew I should be able to do it too.

Liz took a swig of wine. “Magic,” she said with a grin.

“About that…”

“Yes?”

“I have news.”

“Yes?”

“Like, really big news.”

“Okay.”

“Are you ready?”

Liz gave me an irritated look. “Are you going to share this amazing news or just keep hyping it up?”

I downed a gulp of wine, building up the courage to say the ridiculous words out loud. “I’m fae.”

Liz crossed her legs under her butt like a school kid. “Yeah, I know. You’re a fae princess,” she said with a stage wink. “And I’m the Dread King of Brume.”

My lips twitched, but I held my friend’s gaze steady. “I’m fae.”

She tilted her head. “Liar.”

“I’m not a liar. I’m a truther.”

“Nope.” She sipped her wine. “That’s not a thing.”

“It is now.” I kicked off my shoes and tucked my legs under me.

“Truther? It’s not even a word.”

“Babe, you’re focusing on the wrong thing here. I’m fae.”

“Wait, you’re serious,” she said, her voice dropping.

I nodded, and Liz’s jaw fell.

“But…how? I mean, this morning, you were human…”

I shrugged and took another sip. “I thought I was human. I was wrong.” I held up my tattooed wrist. “This thing only latches onto the true heir. That’s me, baby.”

“How do you know?”

I squeezed the cushion tight. “Ronan told me.”

Liz gave me a look that told me exactly how far she trusted him. “How do you know it’s not the latest booby trap? He’s not exactly a truthteller of Fen.”

I squeezed the cushion so tight it tore. “I can feel it inside me, Liz. It’s fucking surreal. Today, I just started feeling…I don’t know, stronger. More alive. I can hardly believe it’s real, but it is.”

Liz’s eyes glowed. “So you can use magic!” She exclaimed, pointing a finger at me as if to prove her point.

I paused for a second before answering. It was strange to think that I’d lived my life ignorant of this secret power inside me. Now it felt so obvious. The soft hum of energy tingled through my body and seemed to follow every movement I made; it was like being connected to an infinite source of power and possibility.

Yesterday I thought I was a regular human girl… today, I found out that I was descended from faerie folk. It was a real mind-fuck, to be honest.

Not all joy and roses, either. A bunch of darker emotions were in the mix, too, like sadness, confusion, and anger. My real family must have known I was fae, but for some reason, they chose to keep me in the dark about it and banish me from the fae realm. The rejection stung; it seemed so unfair that they would not accept me even though I had done nothing wrong.

I sighed heavily and took another sip of wine, trying to push away the feelings of rejection.

“Stop moping, mopey pants. You’re a freaking fae princess! You can do anything.”

Liz was right. Who knew how powerful I was? How much potential was locked inside me? There might be no boundaries or limits on what I could do.

I quirked a smile, letting the excitement build within me. “I can’t fly.”

Liz jumped to her feet and pulled me up too. “You bloody can if you want! Just Ascend into Hover or whatever else you want. You can do anything!” She let out a whoop and danced around me, and I let her joy infect me.

I was fae, and with that came the power of magic. A world of possibilities opened up before me; I could explore the paths set out by my ancestors and discover more about my true identity. And learn some rockstar spells.

“What do you want to learn first?” Liz clasped my hands. “I’ll teach you. Man, your head must be spinning!”

The fact that this secret had been hidden for so long was wild, yet here we were, discussing it in the most matter-of-fact way possible.

“Ah, crap.” I slumped back onto my sofa and retreated under my lap cushion. “I’m almost twenty-five. I’ll have to Ascend in a few weeks. I’ll probably die during the Ascension rite. I don’t have enough power to make it through, and I don’t even have an inner power.”

Anxiety bubbled in my stomach, making it turn flips. As quickly as it appeared, my excitement turned to sour fear.

“Of course you do,” Liz replied, her voice full of reassurance. “You just need to find it. You’re the Floran heir. Oh crap!” Her hand flew to her mouth. “That means I really am a royal companion.”

I tipped an imaginary hat. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” She dipped a small curtsy, “Princess.”

I laughed. “Knock it off. I answer to bitch or not at all.”

Liz threw back her head and laughed. It lightened my mood. My parents might have abandoned me, but I wasn’t alone anymore.

“You’ll ace the rite, babe. Just focus. Head down, bum up.”

I looked at her. She was right; I had been so focused on the fear of dying during the Ascension rite that I hadn’t stopped to think about how much I still had to learn and understand about my inner power. And how amazing that would be. There were whispers of ancient spells and rituals, tales of fae who could fly and create rainbows in the sky and use glamours to make themselves completely invisible; all these things were possible for me, too, if I tapped into my inner power and ascended. The thought was thrilling…and overwhelming as fuck.

Liz’s grin widened as she continued talking me through the different types of Ascensions possible and the powers that came with each. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and by the time she finished, I was itching to get started. Already, I could feel the power humming inside me, waiting to be unleashed.

“Okay,” I said, standing up and brushing off my lap cushion. “I’m ready to learn.”

Liz clapped her hands together. “First things first. Let’s start with something simple. Levitation.”

I spluttered. “What the fu—?”

“Joking! Even I can’t do that yet. Let’s try this.”

She gestured toward the fireplace and muttered under her breath. I watched in awe as the flames flickered and grew stronger, seemingly at her command.

“I thought only Flames could control fire. How are you doing that? You’re not even Ascended yet.”

Liz turned to me, her expression serious. “I can only start a fire or stop it. Flames can control it perfectly, summon it anywhere, make it dance like tiny winged faeries or form into any image you like. But most fae can do basic fire spells.”

“Okay. What’s the spell?”

“Ignis ardeat, flamma surgat! It means fire ignite, and flames arise. That’s the basic spell, they get more complicated, obviously.”

I sagged. “That’s the basic one? Really? I thought it would be lumos or something. I can’t remember all that.”

She talked me through the words, syllable by syllable, correcting me on my atrocious pronunciation until I could finally recite the whole thing.

“Good. Now let’s try it for real. Focus on the flame,” she instructed. “Concentrate all your energy on it. Picture it growing bigger and brighter, and speak the incantation.”

Squaring my shoulders, trying to tap into the hum buzzing through my body, I stared into the flames and focused all my attention on the fire.

“The fire’s already there, it’s super easy to make it bigger,” Liz assured me. “Just concentrate and say the words.”

“Ignis ardeat, flamma surgat!”

Nothing happened.

“Keep repeating it, keep concentrating, it will come,” Liz said.

She took my wineglass from me so I could focus completely, staring into the fireplace, muttering the spell. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, after a few minutes, nothing kept happening. And finally, after half an hour of intense concentration, absolutely sweet fuck all happened.

“This sucks. I suck,” I muttered, scowling at Liz.

“Yeah,” She grinned wickedly, “you do.”

I rolled my eyes. “You suck too. At teaching.”

She grinned and passed me back my wineglass. I was lucky to have her by my side.

“You can learn spells later. You should probably focus on your inner magic for now.”

I groaned. “Isn’t that what I said before?”

Liz just hummed noncommittally. “You’re probably a Grower. Let’s go outside and play with some plants.”

Exhausted from the failed exercise, I flopped onto the sofa. I was drained. All my adrenaline had turned into sleepy-time hormones, and I suddenly felt like I could nap standing up.

“Just one more glass of red. Then a long sleep. Then tomorrow…” I mumbled.

Thankfully, Liz didn’t fight me on it but let me sag on the couch while she topped up my wine like a good royal companion.

Tomorrow I would begin my life as an actual fae princess.