The Ember Thief

Chapter Seven - Three card trick

Time relaxed, taking a deep sigh between the heartbeats in the dining room. Raide stood panting as excitement and fear coursed through his body, making him shake uncontrollably through clenched fists. The noise of his rapid breathing was the only thing he could hear as sweat beaded down his back. But for the first time he could recall, he felt like his mind was clear and focused. He closed his eyes tightly and braced himself to feel the shatter of the window and the wrath of the Sisters.

'I thought we could take a moment to talk?' Baptista gently crooned, in the silence.

Raide opened one eye to see the heavy table stuck mid-roll as it was hurtling towards the window. The plates and cutlery were frozen, inches from the floor. Droplets of brown tea hung in the air, defying gravity. He opened his other eye, focusing on the elderly lady in crimson who sat smiling in her chair. 'What have you done?' Raide gasped, trying to control his breathing.

'Prevented an awful mess it would seem,' she said, with a wry smile.

Raide knew she wasn't talking about crockery or broken windows. He looked at Marana and Ursa who were both rigid, caught like statues, arms outstretched channelling something awful. Their lifeless eyes glazed over; they looked terrifying. 'I—, I'm really sorry, Sister,' Raide stuttered. I don't know what comes over me at times,' he sobbed, looking sheepishly at his clenched fists as tears clouded his vision.

Sister Baptista stood and walked over to Raide across the rug where the table had recently sat. She moved with the grace and speed of a woman half her age. Baptista reached out and gently unfurled his fists. 'Don't be upset, my child,' she soothed. Her voice was comforting as she held his hands in hers.

He looked down at the woman through watery eyes, the tattoos on her arms swirled and danced like oil on water. 'I was telling the truth; I'm not a murderer.' A single tear streaked down his cheek as he looked the little woman directly in her eyes.

She reached up and wiped the tear away softly with the back of her hand. 'I believe you, Raide,' she smiled, cupping the side of his cheek. 'But we do need to get to the bottom of what happened.'

Raide nodded as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. 'How have you managed to stop,' he gestured at the tableware hanging lifelessly in the air. 'All this?' he said, trying to clear his shaken voice.

'I haven't stopped anything. I've just slowed everything down for a moment,' she said, plucking a jam-filled biscuit out of the air. She took a bite and savoured the taste, 'my favourite.' She lifted the remaining half to the light. 'Gideon always puts on a good spread.'

'Gideon!' Raide turned on his heel to check on his friends that he had forgotten about. All of them were motionless, like the Sisters. Monty was bracing himself, his hands outstretched in front of him as if he was about to be trampled by a charging horse. Bawbee held a wide stance, his upper body position was like a pugilist, ready for a fight. His face caught in the crescent of a silent roar. Pinki had already left the floor and was springing forward. Her hair bunches were trailing behind her head. Her eyes were narrow and full of deadly intent. Gideon on the other-hand was calmly resting on his stick with one curious eyebrow raised. Raide walked around the figurines of his friends in awe of the living statues Baptista had made. 'Please don't hurt then,' Raide pleaded, as he waved a hand in front of Bawbee's eyes. 'They don't deserve to be harmed because of my temper. I will go back with you to face my punishment without question,' he said, studying their motionless faces.

'They won't be harmed today, Raide. I promise you,' the crimson woman reassured.

Raide smiled. 'Thank you, Sister.'

'Listen, we don't have much time. I can't keep everyone like this for long. As you may have guessed already, you're in considerable danger. The Sisters of Ember think you're an assassin, many people lost money on your escape, and the other houses are worried about you joining house Asher.'