AUTUMN FOX

The following is an excerpt from my debut novel Alexa Star. It details how she became friends with Eugene, and how she found family in Hazel and Minna.

It’s okay to read before the novel.

Looking back, it would have been easy to go either way.

Discovering I had magic, was bittersweet, because even at such a young age we all understood what a predicament we were in. I was to be protected, without being concealed, strong, without being emasculating, and powerful, without being a threat. It was a constant battle to not pass that fine line between hero and villain.

My parents never showed an inkling of containing any sort of power, so when mine manifested, we were clueless. I wish I remembered more about flying out the window at three years old, but it’s a cloudy memory. I was severely scolded for it too.

I was playing with my parents in the living room, when I started levitating. Mum was screaming, trying to get me to land, but I was giggling too intensely and flew out the window. Glass laid shattered at their feet, their mouths agape as they struggled to find their keys. Somehow floating over to the tallest building on the Star Complex, I glimpsed a boy around my age. We locked eyes, and in that moment, I didn’t care who he was. There was something in me that said he was going to be the key to our future.

Shadows layered on the walls by the time I found home. Dad was livid, but I ignored his dismay to tell them about what I saw. He sighed, informing me that it was the palace, and the boy that I connected with was probably the young prince.

It took two years after that to officially meet His Highness. I had to run an errand for mum at the market square, but was transfixed by an expanding crowd. Creatures of all shapes and sizes stood along the cobblestone road, waiting for something. Wanting to see what the fuss was about, I pushed my way through head height hips to the front.

My wriggling had me pinned under the emerald eyes of royalty. He was exactly the same as how I’d remembered him, yet this time, a golden crown nestled into his thick purple hair and glistened in the sunlight. My palms began to sweat as the weight of the truth fell upon me. My mysterious child was in fact, the prince.

In an attempt to come over, he diverted from the staff member he was walking with. She noticed in a split second that he was no longer at her side and snatched his arm to pull him back into line. Physically and figuratively. Once she let go, he ran for me.

The people parted to allow him freedom to move. The boy who haunted my dreams was sprinting for me, I couldn’t contain the excitement. I bounced on the balls of my feet and heat stained my cheeks. By the time I realised that too many emotions flowed through me, it was too late.

I was levitating amidst the crowd, so I could do nothing but watch as the little prince retreated. The more I tried to calm my mind, the higher I would go. With my ankles now at the height of his shoulders, and his maid dashing for him, I took off. In mid-air, I chanced a glance back at him. He stood with his arm outstretched for me to return, but I couldn’t. Having been seen using my magic in the presence of a royal was indecent.

Telling my parents what had happened, I was reprimanded for not coming straight home, however not for wavering to get a glimpse of the future king. Dad told me it was best not to make the palace loathe us more than is necessary. But, purely being born with magic could have already done that for me.

The pit in my stomach and restlessness of my mind staying for the rest of evening.

 

* * * * * *

 

The next morning, I woke to obnoxious, out of tune singing. Mum and dad loved playing music while they cooked, but it was too early for a headache. Following the sound that could make a giant’s skin crawl, I barely made it to the tiled floor before there was a knock at the door.

I opened it to a blonde girl with the most gorgeous latte-coloured eyes. She brushed past all three of us to wander into the kitchen, nose in the air. She was sniffing at the food when a woman burst through the door after her.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” she said, grabbing the arm of the little girl. “I’m Minna,” she reddened, noticing her daughter had a fistful of pancake. “And the one eating your food, is Hazel.”

“I’m Akari,” Mum told her. “This is my husband, Evren. And our daughter, Alexa.”

This was strange even for me, which made my endeavour to smile short lived. The corners of my mouth tilted up, but I must have looked terrifying because dad knocked it straight off.

Minna gave us all an apologetic grin, while trying to persuade her child to leave. Mum sighed, plastering on a friendly smile and insisted that they both join us for breakfast.

We sat around the mahogany table to eat, while Minna shared stories about her family. The one that piqued my interest was about her husband, and how in a single night, he had sold their house, stripped it of its contents, only to leave his wife and child with nothing. They couch surfed at a friend of Minna’s, but he hired someone to expose where they were bunking then started fires in the yard. She decided it wasn’t fair to jeopardise the welfare of her friends, so they walked out.

Vacating safety for the streets, they’d spent the last few nights in the alley around the corner from us. Having not eaten decent food in a hot minute, when Hazel smelt our feast, she let the hunger take over. In her circumstance, I’m sure anyone else would have done the same.

Trying not to pry, mum did ask where Minna’s husband was now. She admitted that he was found dead the day after they became homeless as a result of mixing himself in with the wrong crowd. Good riddance. Though as she spoke, I remembered wishing for there to be a way to have gotten more of the truth surrounding how he died, and that… is what sparked an interesting idea.

Alexa Star. The Star Complex’s hero.

Mum excused herself and dad from the table, seeking a private conversation. This should have been where they executed subtlety, but we could hear them harshly whispering down the hall. Hazel and Minna had zero clue that we were the only ones left seated, they were simply happy to be eating. I stared at the sheer amount of food laid out on the white tablecloth, considering that maybe, my parents knew that the three of us weren’t going to be alone in eating off our plates this morning.

An eternity passes before they both return.

“Minna. We would like for you and Hazel to stay here, until you can get back on your feet.”

The tone in dad’s voice meant that there was no room for argument.

“We couldn’t do that. It’s one thing to barge in on someone’s breakfast, but it’s another not to leave,” she shakes her head.

Hazel gazes between her mum and me, her eyes curious and bright.

“I might like having a sister.” Was all she said.

 

* * * * * *

 

Months had come and gone and the only thing I’d learnt, was that having two mums meant I’d get into twice as much trouble. Hazel usually just ate something she shouldn’t have, but me? I got ridiculed for flying after dark.

Soaring too high one night, led me to nearly collide with an inbound rocket. It was soon after that Minna offered to help me navigate my powers. The ones I had, and the ones yet to develop. I jumped at the opportunity to gain a control of them that I had failed to master so far.

After breakfast one particular morning, the parents decided they wanted the children out of the house. Hazel and I played in the garden all day, basking in the sunrays that drowned us in golden light, until a gentle voice spoke to us from beyond the fence.

A dark figure emerged from behind the bricks, illuminating the dark purple hair peeking out from under his hood. Could it be? Hazel screamed at the stranger, bolting inside. My attention was diverted for all of two seconds, yet it was long enough for him to move closer. Now a single step from me, he twisted his fingers as though he was unsure.

“Honestly, I did not think I would get this far,” he mumbled to himself.

Tilting my head to see underneath his cloak, he shifted blocking my view. The face was shadowed, but as he turned the wind blew off his hood. The prince.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

It was one thing to meet him in the middle of the town square, but he had found me at my home.

“I have seen you twice now, and I had to know if you were real. Your blue hair is unconventionally mesmerising,” he mutters.

I understand that my coloured hair is a betrayal of my identity, and an easy way to recognise me, but that doesn’t give him permission to stalk me.

“How did you find me?” I repeat.

Fear radiated through me in a warmth that disconnected my body from the ground. It strengthened, reaching my eyes to make them burn, but no matter how I rubbed at them, the heat was searing. Lowering my hands, a beam of red blasted out of my face. I had just developed, and used, heat vision in front of the prince. Fantastic.

The grass met my toes without me even trying to lower myself, but it was him not jolting away that made me need to catch my breath.

“How did you do that?” he asked.

“Don’t change the subject,” I yelled over the pulse ringing in my ears.

“I have knowledge at my fingertips, I need only ask. But I promise that I will not hurt you.” His princely voice is like honey.

“I dare you to try.”

The sparkle in his demeanour dimmed as I smiled.

Hazel’s decision to remain inside was made for her when all three adults came storming out. Halting in recognition of the boy who stood before them, I shook my head. His title and stature don’t impress me like I feel they should.

“What do you want?” I asked him, lightness returning to my tone.

His sight tracked from them to me and back, before whispering to himself about the fact that he practiced this.

“My name is Eugene Moon, Prince of the Star Complex and… I would like to be your friend. Please.” He takes the deepest breath upon finishing.

Obviously members of the royal family coming to your home to befriend you isn’t a normal thing. Breaking through the heavy silence came my dad’s voice.

“Is it because of her magic?”

Eugene’s eyes widen as they shot to my father.

“In spite of it, actually. Flying terrifies me,” he shifts those shining emeralds to me. “You have freedom, and I would like to experience that freedom… with you.”

I can’t decipher if this is a trick or not. My parent’s expressions were not inclined to help me make this decision, but Minna was smirking.

“I’m Alexa Star,” I say. “And It’s a pleasure to officially meet you.”