White Queen Ascending

The crowing of roosters sounded simultaneously, as the sun started to peek from the horizon.

Torin awakened, not from their cackles, but from the small noise made by the girl on the bed.

He immediately sat straight, then looked at Luciana properly. He is making sure that the movements made by her was not hallucination.

"Brat, are you awake?" He asked in a soft tone.

Luciana g.r.o.a.n.e.d. Her eyelids trembled, and her long lashes moved. She felt that her body was a bit numb. She hissed a bit as she tried to rise from bed.

She glanced at Torin on her side. Though his face still wears it's normal stoic face, you could still see the worry in his eyes. His face looked haggard. Bags were under his eyes, and his lips were chapped. Even his hair is like a bird's nest.

She found herself uncontrollably smile. The combination of Torin's looks and voice is a bit comical. Though, that isn't the reason she smiled. It was because she felt happy with the man's concern, making her feel as if she's with her father.

Torin blinked in surprise upon seeing her smile. He was speechless for a while. That smile heightened the child's beauty. Her face was so pure and her hair white as snow, add it with her curved lips, you'd mistake her for an angel.

*Cough cough*

He coughed upon recovering himself. "You were asleep for three days." He said, then added, "Can you move?"

Luciana removed the smile on her face and nodded.

"Then, come out and let's eat breakfast. Your aunt Mari has brought a lot of food upon knowing you're sick." He stood up and started walking out the room.

He prepared two plates and two cups. He filled the plates with bread and eggs, and the cups with fresh milk.

"You sure know how to make people worry." Torin grumbled upon seeing the girl sat. He appeared grumpy, but was actually relieved after Luciana woke up.

While eating, the two remained quiet. Luciana hasn't eaten for days, so she ate fastly, leaving bread crumbs on her lips. Torin tutted and wiped her mouth. He wanted to pretend as if that incident never happened before, but the girl's question didn't allow him to.

"What happened in the lake?" Luciana asked.

Torin sighed. "You have fire magic right?"

"Mm." Luciana nodded. She never intended to keep it a secret. She was just too lazy to talk about it.

Torin already knew the answer, but still wanted to hear her confirmation.

"Do you really not remember anything?"

Luciana thought for a while, but in the end shook her head.

"There was a fire.." He opened and closed his mouth, finding it hard to explain. "..it was really unbelievable. Upon seeing it dry out the whole lake, I knew how hot it could be. But, when it reached us, I didn't feel any pain. We weren't burned."

"That white fire was yours." He looked straight at Luciana. "You dried out the whole lake. Then you passed out."

Luciana remained silent. She was aware about the strength of her magic, and she didn't find the drying up of lake weird. What made her get into deep thought was, hearing for the first time that her fire didn't hurt other people.

At the fighting house, after her first time killing, she refused to go inside the cage again to kill another child. She went berserk and annihilated a lot of men. But because she was too weak at that time, she ended up being caught by them. She wouldn't get tied with iron chains for no reason.

She didn't know why that incident didn't spread out, and why no one said a single word about it. It left her filled with questions, and until now it remained a mystery. After a lot of time passed, she has eventually forgotten about it too.

When Torin didn't hear her talk, he thought she was worried about someone else knowing about her magic. Awakening strong magic is not necessarily a blessing for an orphaned kid. If wrong people found out about it, then it could actually be a curse.

"No one knows that it was you who did that, aside from me and Olly." He said to reassure her. "You don't have to worry. We won't talk about it to anyone."

Luciana didn't expect what he said. She was so absorbed into her thoughts, that she didn't consider about that. She isn't worried about Torin, and she didn't think that Oleander could betray her. But if someone else knew about it, then that would be a bad thing.

"We will help you hide it." Torin added. "We never went to that lake."

Luciana felt warm with Torin's obvious concern. She smiled again and said, "Thank you uncle."

Torin think that the girl needs to smile more often. Her smile could make even the darkest place brighten up. It is warm, like her fire. You would feel safe when you're near.

"After eating I'll help you dye your hair again." He said, changing the topic.

Luciana held some of her hair in her hand. She loves the color of it. Like what Amias said, it was like light. But since Torin wanted to dye her hair, then it is fine too. Having the same hair color with him, makes her feel more like he's family.

"By the way, I bought some iron rings." He said. "Although it wouldn't be so effective because of it's small size, Maybe you should use them, so you won't accidentally use your magic." Torin suggested.

"Okay." She agreed. Using iron rings would be better than wearing chains, she thought.

After a moment, Torin was the one who broke the silence once again.

"Olly boy should also be worried about you, let's visit his house later." Torin said.

She has never seen Oleander's home and his family. She felt curious about them. So, she nodded her head and then continued munching her food.

After eating, Torin took out an empty container. He mixed the dye, and only stopped when he was satisfied with the color. He let Luciana sit infront of him, then carefully combed her hair. He dipped a brush on the container then started applying the color on her head.

Luciana just sat there, waiting for her hair to dry. Upon drying, Torin pushed her into the bathroom.

"Go take a bath. You are so smelly!" Torin laughed.

With a wronged face, she went inside the bathroom and closed the door.

'You're smelly too!' She answered in her mind, with a crinkled nose.

Torin's smile instantly vanished upon seeing her went inside. He sighed. His worries about the little girl, is still lingering. He had a feeling, that from now on, they wouldn't be able to live in peace.

He should help the girl to grow stronger, so she could protect herself. She wouldn't grow, if he'd always be beside her. Maybe it's time to change his way of training her, or else he wouldn't feel at ease. He should rush in increasing her strength.

He sat there, until Luciana went out again, thinking about his plans for her.