The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly 1)

“Oh, yeah? Watch me.”

I grabbed a pair of socks and threw them in my bag. He reached in my bag to pull out more clothes and pulled out one of my undergarments. Face turning beet red, he sputtered and dropped the garment on the floor as if it bit him. Giving up on the unpacking approach, he instead tried to reason with me.

“Thalia, you’ll be even more unprotected in the city than in the Citadel.”

“Hasn’t worked so far,” I argued. “You were even in the same room with me and I was still attacked. He’s here, Joss. The Raven is close, he could even be in the city right now and he could still reach into my mind.”

“That’s because you haven’t been fully trained. If you stayed and learned how to use your powers, you could shield from these attacks better.”

“While I’m sleeping?” Somehow that didn’t seem possible.

“Once you’re trained, using your power can become as natural as breathing. But if you leave now, you leave yourself open to more attacks.”

“I can’t fight the same way you can! I can’t do anything the same way you can.” My voice raised in pitch despairingly.

“Truthfully, Thalia, I’m at a loss when it comes to what you are capable of. I know what my limits are. But you are different, the rules are different.”

Turning from him, I let out a sigh, and threw my whole bag back into the closet, shutting it with a slam.

“Joss, I have no idea what I’m capable of either. The only thing I’ve been able to do was subconsciously, when I pulled you into my memories, and being able to speak with Faraway.”

“Who?” Joss raised one eyebrow at me and folded his arms across his chest while leaning against the armoire. The pose showed off his muscles and his tall stature. My eyes went wide and I lost my train of thought for a second until I felt a faint familiar brushing of my mind.

Stop staring and continue with what you were going to say.

“I...I...What?”

You were about to tell him how you are bonded with a very intelligent horse, who is charming, quick witted, handsome, can run like the wind…and…

“Who’s as vain as a prince?” I interrupted his thoughts. “Now leave me alone, before he thinks I’m completely nuts.”

Don’t worry, he doesn’t think you’re nuts…He knows it. Faraway left my mind with a hint of laughter, or the snorting sound that would pass for a horse’s laughter.

Joss stood up, staring at me in confusion. I was focused at a far spot in the wall the whole while I was having a silent conversation with my horse. When I was finished, I looked back to him.

Biting my lip, I explained, “Faraway, my horse. I have a connection with him and we can speak to each other.” Now that the cat was out of the bag, I waited in trepidation for Joss to make fun of me.

“Well, that’s great!” He clapped his hands together excitedly, moving to the middle of my room. “That just proves that you have great potential and you still have a lot to learn.”

Spinning around to look at me again, he placed his hands on his hips. “Not everyone can speak with animals, and usually only those that make it to the Journeyman or Adept levels can.” He started pacing the room. “So you see, you have to stay and finish training. If you can make it to Adept, you would be strong enough to fight off anyone who comes after you.”

“Joss, I highly doubt that. I’m not Denai, and I’m beginning to wonder if I can call myself human anymore.” Walking over to the couch, I plopped down on it and rested my arm and chin across the back. It was calming to watch Joss move around the room. “For instance, it’s been proven by Adept Cirrus’ Mercury ball, er, stone thing or whatever. And so far all I’ve been able to do is suck, literally. As in suck your power or energy from you and use it against you; which also could explain why I don’t have much control over my ability. I don’t actually have any Denai blood in my veins. Admit it, what I did isn’t normal. I’m a freak.”

His stopped pacing mid stride and froze at my words. Placing my hands over my mouth, I wanted to kick myself for bringing up my lack of Denai blood and how I got my powers. Remembering back to how he acted when we first found out I had powers. He was fine with me being a normal human being, and he would have been fine with me being a Denai. I could see then that something about it bothered him; put him on edge. I think it was the unknown and changed bloodlines that bothered him the most. Not that I had access to powers, but what was done to me to give me those powers is what really bothered his code of ethics.

I decided the best course of action was to change the subject. “All right, Joss, we have an assembly and I really need to get a bath and dressed, so you need to make yourself scarce.”

I stood up, grabbed his arm and physically started pushing him toward my door. “By the way, what was it that woke you up a few minutes ago?” I asked, my curiosity finally getting the better of me.

Joss put his hands up and grabbed the doorframe, stopping my forward momentum. Dipping his head low, he actually started to look a little red in the face. “Well now that you mention it. It was a knock on the door, and since I didn’t want to open it and get caught in your room, I went to wake you instead.”

Feeling the blood rush from my face, I motioned for Joss to get behind the door as I placed my hand on the doorknob and prayed that whoever had knocked on my door earlier had given up and left.

Opening the door slowly and peeking outside, I saw that I had no such luck. For who should be waiting outside my door leaning against the far wall, looking furious, was Kael. Meeting his cold eyes, I jumped back into my room with a small squeak and slammed the door. Of all the people who had could come to my door, it had to be Kael. I let out a furious scream between clenched teeth, trying to stifle my anger.

“Who is it?” Joss whispered. I looked at his anxious expression and almost laughed.

“It’s the SwordBrother.” At the mention of Kael, his face became hard. Grabbing my towels and soap, I steeled myself to face him again. Opening my door, I ignored Kael altogether and walked toward the baths, hoping he wouldn’t follow me. Leaving Joss inside my rooms to wait it out until the coast was clear.

Kael moved away from the wall and tailed me all the way to the baths, his footsteps silent as the night. Only his shadow on the wall revealed his presence behind me. Quickening my pace, I reached for the handle of the door to the women’s bath and turned, giving him a pointed, challenging look.

I shot him a smug glance and proceeded to close the door in his face. His hand shot out and kept the door from closing, and with a slight shove he pushed around it and stepped into the women’s bathing rooms. Glancing around the interior sitting room, he went and picked out a vacant private suite. He checked behind every column and curtain before allowing me to enter.

The baths were one of my favorite luxuries since becoming a student. The servant’s bathing chambers had soaking tubs. The student baths were much more luxurious, with different levels of comfort and bathing suites. Some suites were closed off and completely private. A sign on the door marked if it was occupied. The larger suites consisted of beautiful benches, columns, and a marble soaking tub that was heated.

I generally preferred these smaller private rooms and would often fall asleep in them, but today out of spite, I walked past him and entered the adjoined co-ed bathing pools instead.