Chapter: 6: New Blood

“Your dinner is on the table,” Dad shouted from the kitchen when I opened the door.

“I have to skip dinner,” I said, almost falling over the doorstep as I took off my shoes.

“Skip dinner?”

Dad popped his head out of the kitchen to look at me before I could disappear into my room. “Why?”

“Koa is waiting for me.”

Tristan was sitting on his bed, reading one of the books from my old collection.

I sent him a smile and went to grab another blouse and a pair of pants. I didn’t want to show up in my work uniform.

“Where are you going?” Tristan asked, climbing down from his bed.

“To the river. Koa is already there.”

“Now?”

I nodded and buttoned the old shirt. “I’ll be back before bedtime, I promise.”

“At least take some bread,” Dad said, handing me the leftovers.

I looked at the fluffy, brown texture. “Where did you get this?” I asked.

This quality of bread was expensive. There was no way we’d be able to afford it.

Dad sighed. “I traded one of my inventions for it.”

“Which one?”

Dad loved his inventions. He would’ve spent every waking hour on them if he’d had the time.

“That’s not important,” he said, avoiding my eyes. “Go. I’m sure Koa is getting tired of being alone.”

“What about Mom?” I asked as he pushed me toward the door.

“I got a few extra vegetables that I poured into the soup. She’ll be all right. Have fun.”

I barely caught my jacket as he threw it toward me.

“Dad—”

The door slammed shut in front of me.

~What in the name of the ancient spirits just happened?~

Dad had left me with a million questions, possibly more, but that would have to wait.

Koa was waiting for me.

I devoured the warm bread and didn’t stop running until I heard the melodies of the brisk river stream.

It was here I’d first revealed my powers to Koa, back when we’d been children and before his dad left.

Koa had always somewhat suspected his dad’s disappointment with him and his sisters.

It had been a quiet summer afternoon. The air had been warm and humid, with scents of grass and flowers lingering around our noses.

Koa had been playing in the riverbank, acting as if he could wield the water like an Iridis while I’d observed him from the edge.

The trouble began when he’d looked at me with a hopeful smile, blindly describing how proud his father would be if he came home with blood as blue as the deepest lake one day.

Ashamed of my secret, I’d asked him if we could play another game. He’d ignored me and kept spraying water at me, so I’d lost my temper as children tend to do.

Before I’d realized what I was doing, I’d already knocked him off his feet without even touching him.

I’d confessed everything to him, and he’d promised not to tell anyone—a promise he’d kept till this day.

Since then, we’d met here most days to practice my new abilities until he started working in the mines, extracting resources for the elite.

I pushed through the final row of trees and bushes, where I found Koa sitting on the edge of the river, staring into the forest on the other side.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, desperately fighting the urge to push him into the moving waters.

Koa turned his head and rose to his feet with a smile. “What took you so long?” he asked, spreading his arms for me to embrace him.

Prior to the age of fourteen, I was the tallest of us. Then I’d stopped growing, and now, he was almost a full head taller than me.

His sharp chin felt like a dull blade against my scalp, but I let him hug me tighter. It gave me time to enjoy the missed warmth of my best friend.

“Work took longer than I expected,” I said, omitting the part where I’d helped a stranger who turned out to be an elemental.

Nothing happened, and I didn’t want to initiate our conversation with a meaningless discussion.

“Did you shower?” I asked when the scent of flowers itched in my nose. “Like, a real shower? With soap and everything?”

His chuckle made his chest rumble against my cheek.

“Mom insisted I spend a little of my hard-earned money on myself. I spent most of today at the hot springs, and I tell you, Will, it was worth every coin.”

I chuckled, imagining how misplaced Koa must’ve looked among the regular hot spring clients.

Koa had developed this incredible ability not to care what anyone thought of him—apart from his family.

“How did it feel to experience that kind of luxury?” I asked, tightening my grip on him so he couldn’t pull back.

“Hey,” he said, poking me until I twitched. “Everyone has a right to those baths. Rich or poor. Besides, I needed to be scrubbed down to the bone after spending so long in those mines.”

My smile disappeared when he mentioned the mines. “When are you going back?” I asked, not daring to look at him.

The sigh from his lungs made my chest ache. “In a month,” he finally revealed. “But—”

“A month!” I exclaimed, pushing myself away from him. “You’re gone again in a month?”

He chuckled at my frustrated expression. “If you’d let me finish, you’d know that I’ll only be gone for nine more weeks before I come back home for three whole months.”

I crossed my arms, turned my gaze to the trees behind him, and pouted. “Fine,” I muttered.

It only made him laugh harder. “Right,” he said, crossing his arms. “Because if my plans hadn’t pleased the lady, the mighty Willow of the Bronze Region would’ve stopped me from going.”

My pout turned into a vicious smile as I untangled my arms. “Oh, Koa. You seem to forget who you’re facing,” I said, stretching my fingers. “You don’t want to mess with an Iridis.”

Koa’s smile disappeared when he realized what I’d planned for him.

He turned around to run, but I sent a wind after him before he could take the first step.

It captured him and raised his body off the ground before it vanished, sending him tumbling toward the uneven terrain.

My stomach hurt from uncontrollable laughter as I watched Koa writhe in distress.

He wasn’t hurt, but I’d probably given him a minor bruise or two.

“You’re such a cheater, Will,” he said, leaning over his knees with an undeniable smile hiding in the corner of his mouth. “But I’m happy to see that you’re still practicing.”

“I practice every day,” I said, proudly pushing my chest forward.

“Although,” I said, slumping back to my usual posture as I started approaching him. “I probably won’t have time to practice as much as I would like from now on.”

“Right,” Koa said, massaging his neck. “You turned twenty, so you get to work with your mom at that grand mansion a few miles away. Has time really passed so fast?”

I chuckled and nudged his shoulder with my knee. “~No way~ we turned twenty last month,” I said, correcting him with a smile, “but yes, I started yesterday.”

“How is it?” Koa asked, looking at me with a strange expression that made my heart beat faster. “I know you’ve only been there for two days, but you work for a family of Iridis, right?”

I nodded and closed my eyes to imagine the dancing flames. “It’s amazing,” I said, breathing deeply.

“I’m happy to finally be able to help my family financially, but to work for an entire family of Iridis is an experience beyond my wildest imagination. Their son is an elemental like me, too.”

“Maybe you can steal a trick or two,” Koa said, pulling me down to sit beside him.

“Dumbass,” I shot back, lightly striking his shoulder with the back of my hand. “He’s a Fire Iridis, so I won’t be able to learn much from him, but his powers were beautiful.”

“It sounds like somebody might have a crush,” Koa said, nudging me sideways and waggling his eyebrows.

I shot him a lazy gaze. “It’s not like that,” I said, shivering at the simple thought of that man laying a hand on me.

“I might just be a little jealous of how he’d mastered his powers and how he’d wielded the fire as if it had always been part of him.”

I pulled my legs up to my chest.

“I’m sorry, Will,” Koa said, wrapping his arm around me. “I wish things were different for you.”

“No,” I said, resting my head against his shoulders. “If I had to choose between my powers and my family, I’d always choose my family.”

I forced a smile to graze my lips. He did the same, but I could easily see that he wasn’t convinced that I meant it.

“I’ll be fine, Koa,” I said, lying down to rest my head on his lap. “What’s done is done. I haven’t revealed my power to anyone but you yet, and I don’t plan to start—”

“You’re not in your own home anymore, Will,” Koa said, interrupting me.

I opened my eyes and saw the worry in his. “That mansion has eyes everywhere. One wrong move and you—”

“I know.”

I started peeling my chipped nail.

“I know the risk, Koa, and I promise to be careful. My powers won’t see the light of day when I’m there, and I’ll keep extra bandages with me in case something happens.”

~Starting now.~

~***~

The kitchen was busy as usual.

Windy voices talked in whispers about the party last night as we moved through the masses. It had been a celebration of entertainment and laughter comparable to royal festivities.

I’d never seen or been to a party like that. The closest thing I’d come to a party was the sound of music blasting through the streets of the Golden Region.

The board was almost covered by purple notes today. I was no exception.

Gulping, I ripped my note from the pin holding it in place and looked at the swirling letters.

The first few chores were similar to Mom’s, but the final one was mine to have alone.

My heart fluttered with a mix of nervousness and excitement. This would be my first assignment to handle alone, but the color of my note made me anxious about what it could entail.

~Clean and scrub the ballroom.~

That was all it said.

There had been so many rooms when Lady Deveroux had shown me around on my first day. I couldn’t remember which one ~the ballroom~ referred to. I quickly found out, though.

My eyes stared widely at the enormous room when I opened the double doors.

The other maids hadn’t called it “the Great Hall” for the fun of it. The room was huge. That word might not even be enough to describe it.

Even worse, it looked like a team of vengeful children had organized a massive food fight here.

Food and colorful drinks were splattered all over the place: on the walls, furniture, and windows.

There were stains on the semi-transparent curtains from run-off flames and water dripping from the cream-white walls.

I had to clean everything, and it didn’t look like anyone would be joining me soon.

I sighed, rolled up my sleeves, and started clearing the room of garbage and chairs.

It took hours for me to clean the walls alone. I gave up on the floors after another hour and had to catch a passing maid to ask for a ladder to reach the windows.

It was exhausting work, and I began to understand why no one wanted the purple notes.

The first out of many windows finally looked clean. I stepped back to take a look at my work, proud to see that I wasn’t failing completely at my job.

“Wow, I’m impressed.”

I spun around and saw Milo stepping through the door frame.

“I saw the room this morning, and I surely felt bad for the poor soul who had to clean this mess up,” Milo said, his eyes searching the room for what had been before.

“Thanks,” I said, laughing while I placed the ladder in front of the next window. “I still have a lot left to do, though.”

I had been cleaning for hours, yet all that was truly spotless were the walls and the window I’d just cleaned.

I still had to clean the rest of the windows, the floors, and the furniture. Fortunately, I didn’t have to rinse them. They had another employee for that.

The thought made me sigh, defeated.

I took care to watch my step as I climbed the narrow ladder. I’d promised Koa that I would be careful, and I intended to keep it.

A groan escaped me when I stretched my body to reach the corners of the tall window.

I was obviously struggling, and Milo apparently found it hard to hide his amusement. “Being small has its perks, but not when it comes to reaching tall places.” He chuckled.

“I’m not that small,” I said, smiling as I threw the wet cloth toward him, which he unfortunately dodged.

I grabbed the safety cloth I kept in the bucket and continued my work. “Don’t you have somewhere to be instead of bugging me?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

He chuckled again, and I saw him crossing his arms from the corner of my eye. “No. They just finished eating, so they won’t need me for another hour or two.”

“Lucky you.” I laughed and made a face at him, which made the existing smile on his face grow wider.

“You know what? I’ll cut you a deal,” he said and stepped closer.

Intrigued by his suggestion, I stopped cleaning the window to listen to his proposal. “I’m listening.”

“I’ll help you reach the difficult spots if you agree to tell me something.”

I arched my eyebrow. “That’s a little vague, Milo,” I said, chuckling. “But I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, so tell me what you want to know.”

He moved his hands to rest on his hips. “How old were you when you mutated?”

Fear washed over me like a flood of knives.

I lost my balance in the turbulence of emotions fighting to possess my mind and fell from the ladder.

I braced myself for the impact that would leave me crippled, but all I felt was the warmth of Milo’s embrace.

Panic clawed at my skin, and the heat surrounding me burned like eternal fire.

He knew. Milo knew, and he could’ve warned the guardians already. They could be on their way right now.

Milo tightened his grip on me as I began moving to get away. “Calm down, Will,” he said. “I haven’t told anyone, and I don’t plan to.”

I stopped moving, looking at him bewildered. “Why then?” I whispered.

“I thought of just letting it slide, but I had to know; why is an Iridis—an elemental—working as a maid?”

It wasn’t surprising to learn that was his first question.

My situation was unheard of.

An Iridis would hardly ever choose a trade that didn’t appeal to their element. When they did, it would never be because of a low-paid profession like mine.

“You really haven’t told anyone?” I asked, calmly climbing down from his embrace.

He shook his head, and I sighed, relieved.

“Fine,” I said, grabbing the cloth. “I’ll tell you, but we work meanwhile.”

I placed the cloth in his hand and went to grab my own.

He chuckled gently. “Deal.”

Milo took off his butterfly, rolled up his sleeves, and climbed the ladder. I stayed close to the floor and cleaned the lower sections.

“So, why would you throw away such a glorious opportunity for you and your family?” he asked impatiently, trying to remove a stubborn stain on the glass.

I shrugged and then dropped my shoulders again.

“I was only eight when my blood changed. I wasn’t old enough to make the decision, and I guess my parents cherished me more than all the gold and fame in the world.”

“Right,” Milo said. “I’d forgotten about that part.

“I have a younger sister for whom I’d sacrifice the world. I would even hide my Iridis truth if revealing my blood meant I would be taken away from them.

“I don’t think you’re the only Iridis out there that we don’t know about.”

I sighed. “Maybe you’re right. I would like to think I’m not the only one, but—”

I paused. “How did you actually figure me out?” I asked, turning to look at him. “Was it in the break room?”

“So that was you?” he said.

Warmth tickled my cheeks. What else could I have done?

Milo chuckled. “The thought did graze me, but it wasn’t the thing that gave you away,” he explained.

“I was on my way to the restroom when you stormed past me this morning with a handkerchief covering your arm.”

I remembered that. I’d cut myself on the sharp corners of the guest beds while folding the sheet around the madras.

“How?” I asked, putting the final pieces of his story together before he could tell it to me. “I made sure to clean that room thoroughly. I even flushed the blood-stained papers.”

Milo smiled softly. “You missed a spot under the sink. I couldn’t be sure it was you, but I only needed the confirmation you gave me today.”

I threw the cloth at him again. “That’s not fair! You caught me off guard!”

He laughed and threw his own cloth at me as I passed him. “I won’t tell anyone, so you can hardly be mad at me.”

I stuck my tongue out in his direction.

I made him promise countless times not to tell anyone—not even my mom—before I felt confident. He stayed with me for half an hour before he had to go.

An additional two hours passed before I could proceed to clean the floor.

The floor was stubborn. I’d washed it two times already, and still, a few stains just wouldn’t come off.

I found the brown scrubbing brush from the downstairs closet and knelt on the floor to scrub ~profoundly~.

Then I heard the door open.

I smiled at the thought that Milo hadn’t been able to stay away. “Back already, Milo?” I said and looked back to see him walking through the door.

My smile disappeared, and my body tensed when I saw it wasn’t Milo who had entered.

I turned around, hoping his piercing blue eyes hadn’t caught me looking at him, and kept scrubbing.

~Don’t look at him. Don’t talk to him. Don’t look at him. Don’t talk—~

I repeated the phrases in my head.

His heels clicked against the marble floor. The sound of him approaching made me feel numb, and I cursed my trembling fingers as I dropped the brush.

My hands were shaking as I prayed to the ancient spirits that the son had simply entered this room to pass through it as if I didn’t exist.

My heart tumbled to my throat when I saw his black leather shoes and the bottom hem of his dark-gray trousers stop right in front of me.

I made sure to keep my gaze lowered and kept scrubbing.

He knelt, exposing his legs and rough hands to my line of vision. His fingers were covered in rings and jewelry, flashing his status.

“So, you’re the new blood around here,” he stated.

His voice sounded as devious as his cold eyes. “Elia’s daughter, right? Willow.”

Goosebumps covered my neck when he said my name. I wanted to flee and run as far away from here as possible, but that wasn’t what Mom had told me to do.

So instead, I kept my head lowered and continued my work.

He didn’t approve.

Warm fingers grabbed my chin, forcing my head up for my eyes to meet his. “I asked you a question, First-blood,” he said, spitting the words venomously.

I desperately nodded, hoping he would let go once I’d answered him. He didn’t. Instead, he started twisting my head, just like his mother, carefully examining my features.

“You’re not like the other First-bloods here,” he said and found my eyes again.

My mouth felt dry, and my tongue was as rough as abrasive sandpaper. I was terrified that he would see right through me as Milo had.

“You’re pale and skinny, but I see what you are. Don’t assume you can fool me by staying silent like the rest of the slaves. I see the fire burning in your eyes.”

He smiled again—the same cruel smile I’d seen on my first day and wished I could erase from my mind. “I think you’ll be amusing to have around,” he said.

Goosebumps spread from my neck to cover the rest of my frozen body.

He let go of me, and I turned my eyes to the floor, still terrified of breathing. He chuckled at my reaction before he turned away and closed the door behind him.

I gasped for air and took in every breath as if a poisonous gas had finally perished, leaving the air clean.

I couldn’t stop shaking, and the brush fell to the floor with an echoing thump.

There was no soul behind those eyes, no consciousness telling him what was wrong or right.

I clutched my shirt and looked back at the closed door.

~What kind of monster is he?~