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53: Learning Fire
publish date:
2026-09-10 20:17:51
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THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE 54: Rebuilding
~ Isolde ~The council formally stripped my father of his titles two weeks after Ashgrove, the announcement carrying none of the fanfare his engagement announcement had received months earlier — just a quiet notice posted alongside routine academy business, as though his entire life's ambition had been reduced to a footnote."How do you feel?" my mother asked, finding me reading the notice in the courtyard."Relieved, mostly. Though there's still something strange about watching your entire identity get rewritten in a single paragraph.""I understand that feeling better than most." She settled beside me on the bench. "I've been thinking about starting over somewhere new, actually. A smaller estate, away from all the political weight this family name still carries.""Would you want me to come with you?""Only if you want to. You're old enough now to choose your own path, Isolde. I don't intend to make decisions for you the way your father made them for both of us."I considered the que
THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE 53: Learning Fire
~ Kaia ~Coach Roland found me at the rink a week after everyone's return, carrying something unusual under one arm — an old, weathered book bound in dark leather, clearly ancient given the careful way he handled it."I think it's time," he said, setting the book down on the bench beside me, "that you actually learned to use what you are, instead of simply reacting to it whenever it surfaces unexpectedly.""What is this?""Phoenix training texts, passed down through your mother's family before the bloodline nearly went extinct. I've had it for years, waiting for the right moment to give it to you."I opened the book carefully, pages brittle but legible, filled with careful diagrams and instructions I didn't fully understand yet."Will you teach me? With this?""I'll try. I'm not a phoenix myself, obviously, so my understanding is limited to what your mother shared with me before she disappeared. But I think structured practice, even imperfect guidance, would serve you better than cont
THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE 52: What Comes Home
~ Kaia ~They returned three days later than expected, the convoy rolling back through the academy gates in the grey light of early morning, considerably smaller and more battered than when it had departed.I was waiting at the gate before anyone told me they'd arrived, some instinct pulling me from sleep hours before dawn, certain enough that I dressed and left my dorm without questioning the impulse.Van saw me first, exhaustion evident in every line of his posture, his arm secured in a sling but his eyes lighting immediately when they found mine across the courtyard."Kaia."I ran to him, careful of his injured shoulder as I pulled him into a hug, feeling him hold on with his good arm like he never intended to let go."You're hurt," I said, pulling back just enough to study the bandaging visible beneath his torn jacket."Superficial. It looks worse than it feels, mostly." He managed a tired smile. "I told you I'd come back.""I'm so glad you did."The others emerged from the convoy
THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE 51: Waiting
~ Kaia ~The first update came just after noon, relayed through Elias's careful, precise messages sent via the enchanted mirror Coach Roland had set up in his office specifically for this purpose."They've reached the perimeter," Coach Roland reported, reading from the fogged glass. "No engagement yet. Scouting the wards more closely before deciding how to proceed.""How long will that take?" I asked, unable to keep the anxiety from my voice."Hours, likely. These things require patience, Kaia. Rushing risks everything."I nodded, though patience felt like the hardest thing anyone had ever asked of me.---Isolde and I spent the afternoon together, neither of us able to focus on anything except waiting for the next update, finding some comfort in simply not waiting alone."Tell me about your mother," she said eventually, as we sat together in the quiet greenhouse Elias had shown me weeks ago. "The letter. What she wrote."I recited the parts I remembered most clearly, the words having
THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE Three Days
~ Kaia ~The three days passed in a strange, suspended quality of time — ordinary in its rhythms, classes and practice and meals continuing exactly as they always had, while underneath everything ran a current of dread nobody quite knew how to voice aloud.Ryker found me on the morning of departure, before dawn had fully broken, the sky outside still that particular grey-blue that meant time was already running out."We leave within the hour," he said, finding me at the rink where I'd retreated, unable to sleep, needing the familiar rhythm of skates against ice to settle my racing thoughts."I know."He skated onto the ice beside me, matching my slow pace without comment for a while, both of us simply existing in the quiet before everything shifted."I keep thinking about what to say," he finally admitted. "Something significant enough to carry with me, in case—" He stopped himself."Don't," I said quietly. "Don't finish that sentence. Not today.""You're right." He exhaled slowly, st
THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE 49: The Full Council
~ Kaia ~The council chamber was fuller than I'd ever seen it — not just the immediate family and guards, but visiting nobility, military advisors, even Isolde's mother seated quietly near the back, present as a witness to whatever her former husband's actions had ultimately cost the kingdom.King Alexei stood at the head of the table, stronger than he'd looked in weeks, though the strain of the past month remained visible in the set of his shoulders."We move against Ashgrove Station in three days," he announced without preamble, the room falling immediately silent. "A coordinated approach — sufficient force to overwhelm his defenses, but controlled enough to minimize unnecessary casualties on either side.""Three days," Ryker repeated. "That's faster than I expected.""It has to be. The scouts report the ritual materials have increased significantly since our last assessment. Whatever Dacre intends, I don't believe we have the luxury of extended preparation."My father, seated besid
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