Demonstrations

---Aaron---

As the feast went on, the conversations began to die down, until only selective groups were murmuring among themselves. People began looking for entertainment.

"Commander Lionel, if I may." A man in his early forties stood up from one end of the long table. He wore a simple brown shirt and trousers, and a small cap with a red feather plume. His stance, his steely gaze, and the way he carried himself all indicated that he was one of the higher-level leaders. All eyes landed on him. Lionel gestured for him to continue.

"We are very honored to have the Rosewood Seven among us. I have long heard of the magical abilities each person has. Would it be possible if each member of the Rosewood Seven gave us a demonstration of their powers? I'm sure everyone here is curious of the chosen ones' abilities." There was a loud agreement from the crowd. Lionel looked interested.

"I don't see why not. Indigo, what do you say?"

Indigo looked at us in turn. We all either shrugged or nodded. "Okay," Indigo said. "Let's start from Lucian, and go from left to right."

Lucian stood up and stuck out his right arm, palm up. A burst of flames erupted from the center of his palm. People oohed and ahhed. With a flick of his wrist, Lionel caused all of the torches around the dining area to leap twenty feet high, bathing us in a rosy glow. I could feel the heat emancipating from the nearest torch. Another flick of the wrist, and the torches were all extinguished. There was thunderous applause as Lucian reignited them one by one, all from his seat.

Rachel demonstrated her healing abilities by asking for a volunteer who was hurt recently and then healing him in a matter of seconds. The soldier walked back to his seat in disbelief, still prodding the area where his wound was. Then from nowhere, Rachel whipped out her magical staff, which she hadn't used since the incantation she and Ashley did at Hamberg. She pointed it into the air, and muttered something inaudible. Right before our eyes, her clothes transformed into her sorceress dress—a black ankle-length dress with slight ruffles at the bottom, long bell sleeves, a lace corset overlaid with intricate swirls, and a cloak around her neck with a single golden leaf clasp.

"Wow." I heard Katherine murmur. "Rachel looks beautiful."

"And dangerous," I added.

Rachel demonstrated a few incantations by transforming certain objects into others—a goblet into a hamster, a fork into a necklace—and made a few runes appear on the grass, smoldering in the dim lighting. She, too, was met with thunderous applause as she finished. "These are just little spells," Rachel said modestly. "I'm not the spellmaster. Ashley is. Was. She was a hundred times more powerful than I am and knew a lot more spells." Her expression turned sad. Lucian patted her comfortingly.

Indigo was next. She stood up and addressed the crowd. "I'm the mastermind, which means I specialize in things like planning out what we do, how we attack, and battle strategies. I'm sorry to disappoint, but there's really nothing for me to demonstrate here."

"You can demonstrate for us when we finalize our plans to attack Lord Victor," Lionel said as Indigo sat down. "I've seen your capabilities."

With the commander vouching for Indigo, no one was going to challenge that. People shifted their attention to Katherine and me. Because Katherine was wounded, there was no way she could demonstrate her swordsmanship. I stood up.

"Who's he again?" I heard someone ask quietly in the crowd.

"I'm Aaron Kane, and I am the wind master." With that simple introduction, I waved one arm in a round symbol and a gust of wind swept over the dining area. Another wave, and the wind intensified. I stepped away from the table and raised both arms. At my command, the wind lifted all the plates and cups. Everyone watched with anticipation and obvious nervousness as the objects circled higher and higher into the sky, most still filled with food and drinks. I always get nervous whenever I performed this feat because I was worried that I would mess up. But one glance at Katherine chased away all my worries. Her eyes held nothing but complete faith in me and my abilities. I made the winds stronger.

The plates and cups jiggled in the air, circulating into geometric shapes. I

straightened them out to their original positions, and then suddenly killed the wind. Everything came crashing down. People shouted in alarm and scrambled for cover. I saw Lionel move to shield Indigo with his body. When everything was about a foot from hitting the tables, I created a breeze that caught everything and gently placed everything down. As people realized not a single plate dropped and nothing spilled, a tsunami of cheers and applause reached me. I bowed with a smile and took my seat.

"That was the most impressive thing I've ever seen you do," Katherine said to me. "Good job, Aaron."

"Thanks. It took me a long time to find the courage to perform this act." I replied.

With that, the performances ended. People returned to their eating, loudly discussing how amazing and cool the demonstrations were. Some people were imitating my arm movements and drawing lopsided "symbols" in the air. Beside Katherine, Indigo excused herself to go wash her hands. Katherine and I made another toast to each other, laughing as we clinked goblets and drank. Then the same leader who had proposed the demonstrations stood up again. "Everyone, wait. Not all of the Rosewood Seven showed us their abilities."

The clearing quieted down immediately. I looked at the man and saw that his steely gaze was on Katherine, who paused with her goblet halfway in the air between the table and her mouth.

"The girl next to Aaron…you're also part of the Rosewood Seven, aren't you? What's your ability? We must have skipped over you, because you didn't do a demonstration." The leader glanced out at the crowd. "Or maybe, you don't have an ability to show?"

"Everyone in the Rosewood Seven has an ability." Rachel's voice, laced with danger, cut through the silence. "Are you challenging us, General Coventry?"

"I wouldn't dare to, Miss Rachel. We all saw your spellbinding performance." The general bowed his head slightly. However, his gaze never left Katherine. "I was just curious of what the last member of the Rosewood Seven is capable of. I'm sure we all are." He gestured out to the mass of expectant soldiers. "Why won't you demonstrate your ability? Do you have something to hide?"

The challenge was clear. General Coventry was picking on Katherine because she was involved in the assassin mishap. Lionel didn't say anything, which angered me. Indigo wasn't there to speak on our behalf either. I slammed my hand onto the table and stood up, drawing all the attention towards me.

"She's hurt," I growled. "You were present last night at the interrogation, weren't you, General? You saw what happened. She can't even walk; how can she perform?"

"She can talk, can she not? Let her speak for herself." General Coventry said coldly. My anger flared. How dare he disrespect us like this? And Lionel was just sitting there, letting his generals speak to us this way!