Aine Crabtree - The Thief

Well.

It took the greatest focus to manipulate glass - I often centered my thoughts on an endless expanse of calm ocean. Me, alone, with nothing but tranquility on every horizon. But the ocean was dark now, and the sky overcast.

It seemed ridiculous that I should be this distraught. She was one girl. I barely knew her.

I barely knew anyone, and it had never bothered me before.

And yet, I couldn’t stop feeling this immense sense of loss. And guilt. The ocean in my mind began to churn. If only I hadn’t been so...if I hadn’t locked her out in the first place...

I paced around my room. My bed looked too much like the one that had burned in the Tower. The bookshelves around me that rose from floor to ceiling felt oppressive, looming. Full of research I had yet to do. This was what I had wanted. A clear path to the throne, that was all that mattered. Anything else was a distraction.

I shoved a stack of books, and they crashed to the floor. Gods help me, I wanted Jul to distract me. I was alone, with nothing on the horizon. No way to tell north from south. I’d had bearings, before. But what was the point?

Turning to the mirror behind me, I reached out to trace the cracks with my fingers. I’d lost Jul. I’d lost the Tower.

Because of that man... Lightning crackled over the ocean. My teeth ground together, thinking of Simon Graham. Maybe I couldn’t have Jul back, but I could avenge her. If I could find a way to make my powers work here, outside the mirror, I could destroy him. I’d lost the library in the Tower, but perhaps something in this journal -

I heard a soft hiss, like papers rustling. I looked around - there couldn’t be wind in my room.

“...ss”

On edge, I spun, searching for the source. “Who’s there?” I demanded.

“...yss...”

I strained to listen, perfectly still.

“Rhys?” the quiet voice said. “Rhys, is that you?”

I stared wide-eyed at the broken mirror. The cracks obscured it, but the face was unmistakable. Her perfect, delicate face - her plush lips and her wide dark eyes, eyes I could lose myself forever in.

“Rhys, help me,” Jul begged, her voice sounding hazy and far away. “You have to get me out of here!”

There was a lighthouse, a beacon in the distance. I could swim for it.

“I will,” I told her. “I will, I swear.”

To be continued...