Frost Arch by Kate Bloomfield

would he tell me to give him up? Probably. He would think it was best to set Hawthorne free, and deep down I would probably agree.
    I rolled over in my bed restlessly, huffing and rearranging my pillow so it was more comfortable. Hawthorne’s head popped up at my movement, and he watched me through his young but intelligent eyes.
    “Sorry.” I mumbled as my movement had woken him.
    He seemed to disagree with the five inches of space I had put between us for he shuffled closer again and rested his head on my arm. I thought I knew why. To anyone else the room would be cold, but my body temperature was higher than other Mages. I’m sure the warmth was rather nice for Hawthorne. As he nestled himself next to me I wrapped an arm around him comfortingly. I soon drifted off to sleep.
    I woke abruptly the following morning to a dark room. The sun hadn’t quite risen yet. As usual everything was covered in a permanent layer of snow, and a thick layer of cloud hung in the sky, though it was not snowing. The cause of my sudden wake, as usual, was due to a hard rapping on my door. Jack was always awake ridiculously early, and took to being my own personal wake-up call every morning. I rather liked it, seeing as it meant I would never sleep in and miss my chores. Jack never entered the room, thankfully, just knocked and sometimes called through the door to make sure I was up. I knew he wouldn’t come in unannounced in case I wasn’t decent. Today he called through my door.
    “C’mon Redding.” He chimed, his usual chipper self, “I have a surprise for you!”
    I sat up in bed, my hair as messy as a haystack. Next to me Hawthorne yawned, his little teeth bearing as he did so.
    “Surprise?” I called groggily.
    “You bet!” Came Jack’s voice, “Are you decent? Hey, the doors unlocked-”
    My eyes widened in horror, “Hold on!” I jumped from the bed, Hawthorne watching me with alarm. He knew at once what should be done. In an instant he replicated the colour of the sheets and scurried under the blankets. I ensured the bed was careful disarray as to not draw attention to the suspicious lump that was Hawthorne. I changed into my uniform at top speed. It was a light blue ankle-length dress that buttoned up to the neck at the top half, and had a tie at the back that could be tightened accordingly. I quickly slipped my shoes on and ran a hand through my hair, trying to get it to stay flat.
    Clearing my throat nervously I called, “Okay. I’m decent.”
    Jack popped his head in through the door and smiled at me, “Charles has a special request of us today.”
    “Come in Jack.” I offered.
    Once Jack was inside my room he put his hands in his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet happily, “Seeing as you don’t get out often, I offered to take you with me on an errand today.”
    “Oh. Wonderful.” I smiled nervously, “But I have work to do here, don’t I?”
    “All you need to do is light the fires this morning. Someone else is taking care of Master Forsythe’s bath for you at Charles’ request.”
    “Oh, that was nice.”
    “So I’m off to attend to one of our chefs now. Gave herself a nasty burn last night and it needs to be healed, then I need to head on over to the stables so Cam can show me a rash one of the Pegasi seems to be developing. While I’m doing that you go and hurry with the fires. Once you’re done come to the stables, and I’ll take you into the city.”
    I nodded, “Sure.” I said in a small voice.
    “Don’t keep me waiting.” Jack waved and exited.
    I wrung my hands nervously and saw that Hawthorne had emerged. His coat was a depressing grey, and I knew he was restless again.
    “Oh, I’m sorry.” I groaned.
    A plan formed in my head. I would go and light the fires like I was told, and while I went to meet Jack in the stables I would release Hawthorne outside. I didn’t even need to tell Jack about him. But would Hawthorne object? I wasn’t sure. I hoped it would make him