Trial by Obsidian

by Naomi Kelly

  "He's asleep," Karnes said running his hand through hair that was more golden than the grey of today, "He hasn't been awake all morning."

  "I think he's only pretending," Mara spoke with a maternal gentleness, "Isn't that right Aspen?"

  Across the room, curled up on a thin sofa lay young Aspen Onyx in the same charcoal singed clothes as when Karnes and Douward had found him. He timidly opened one eye and looked at Mara. A sympathetic smile rose to her lips, but she looked seconds away from sobbing.

  "Never say that name again. Aspen Onyx is dead. This is Reuben Sinlara, Beta to the Chambers," Karnes said firmly.

  The young boy closed both eyes but tears silently slipped out and ran down his soft face.

  Teriam entered the room carrying a metal tray filled with various vials and syringes. He had a head of fuller, darker hair and a forehead with less wrinkles. He looked around the room for a space free of books before giving up and placing the tray on the floor. His image might have changed over the years, but his organisation certainly had not.

  "As I told the Alpha, this will be a trial and error process until we find something that works," Teriam sighed in a staggered fashion, "I've never done anything quite like this before so it might take weeks, even months to get right-"

  "Right? Nothing about this is right! He's just a child, he deserves better." Mara hissed.

  Karnes crossed the room in two strides and knelt before his wife. He grabbed her by the wrist and gripped so tightly that his knuckles flashed white whilst her hands turned red.

  "Our son deserved better. My brother deserved better. The Chambers commands that we do better for Sinlara. Now I cannot undo what was done, but I can ensure those filthy witches get what they deserve," Karnes was whispering, but there was nothing soft about his words, "This is an opportunity for us to have the son and heir that we were always meant to have. Either you fully agree to this or I discard him."

  Mara stared past her husband, first to the boy, then to the doctor. "There's been enough deaths. No more. Wake the boy up and start the serum trialing," she said.

  The Alpha moved his hands from her wrist to her face and forced her chin upwards to kiss her. She remained stiff but offered a feeble smile in return before standing up and leaving.

  Mara exited, walked past me and made her way towards the town. Once out of sight from the men, she dropped to her knees and heaved up the contents of her stomach into a nearby hedgerow. After a few moments, she stood up shakily, brushed off her dress and wiped the corner of her mouth. She continued on her way home as if nothing had happened.

  As if her real son wasn't dead.

  As if a magician boy hadn't been kidnapped.

  As if she wasn't married to a monster.

  Having seen enough, I forced myself to wake up. It felt as if I was swimming upwards through dense mud, trying to break through to the open air above.

  I gasped as real air filled my lungs, and I opened my eyes to the dark room around me. My palm stung from gripping the Obsidian too tightly and as I released my hold, the web of magic dissolved from overhead. I rolled over to see Reuben still sleeping. His pillow position suggested he had been tossing and turning, but he had no fever or sweats and his skin held his regular temperature.

  Careful not to stir him any further, I tucked the quilt around his torso and lightly kissed his cheek.

  "You're not alone," I slowly slipped my Obsidian wielding hand back into his, "I'm right here if you need me."

  I stayed awake for an immeasurable amount of time. It was impossible to tell in the dark of night when minutes feel like hours and the only marker of time passing was Reuben's breathing. Eventually, morning larks began to sing their daily greeting from the meadow and I reluctantly admitted defeat against my heavy eyelids.

  As soon as I nestled down, Reuben's sleeping arms wrapped around me and hauled me in so close I could feel his heartbeat against my back.

  * * * *

  "What happened to our midday arrangement Juni'?" Adonis chastised as we arrived half an hour late to the stall.

  "I only woke up an hour ago and left straight away," I explained and leaned over the wooden table to hug him,

  "Sorry we're late."

  "It's my fault she did not get much sleep," Reuben admitted.

  "I'd rather not know the cause of my sister's lack of rest, thank you," Adonis rolled his eyes.

  "I was awake because more of his memories are coming through," I added pointedly.

  "More memories huh? I hope they weren't as bad as the last time," a warm voice appeared from behind, "They filled me in on everything that's been going on last night when they got home. Hello, I'm Willow."

  Willow offered a handshake to me, and then to my surprise Reuben, without hesitation. Unlike her sister who gave him a reserved wave before moving to give me a hug.

  "It's nice to meet you Willow, and hello again Elm," he offered. Elm nodded courtly before stepping away to busy herself with arranging various farm tools against the wall and gesturing for Adonis to help.

  "Our mother might be gone but her inbuilt fear of Chamber men still lingers," Willow spoke low so her sister couldn't hear, "I apologise if she's been...difficult. And I'd like to apologise to you too Juniper, for never coming forward as a fellow magician to you. I guess her fears had a hold on me too."

  "It's understandable, and there's no need for an apology. I'm just grateful to have met another magician who isn't my brother," I joked.

  "Oh, I know the feeling. When I met Bryar I spent weeks figuring out our differences and similarities, I had never discussed magic with someone that wasn't a Topaz," Willow radiated the same golden warmth as Elm every time she smiled, "To know that a Garnet magician had survived, as well as Obsidian's and now even an Onyx? It feels like the start of a new beginning."

  "I was born of the Onyx clan but my future relationship with magic is unclear," Reuben specified instantly. A sad smile pulled at my lips. I so badly wanted him to be able to say who he was without having to justify or define himself.

  "I can't guarantee it will work but we have a small amount of Onyx crystal at my home for jewellery crafting. You're more than welcome to work with if you want to try and access your power. It's a lot closer than Stagton river."

  "Stagton river? Is that the ancestral home of the Onyx's?" he asked.

  Long ago folklore from faraway places slowly bubbled to the forefront of my mind. My mother always read me stories of heritage and crystals, and the tale of Onyx origins began to re-emerge in my mind. Myths had always been Adonis' strong point. I had too full a mind to remember which gods supposedly did what, or where.

  But Stagon river being the birthplace of Onyx crystals would explain the severity of his breakthrough the night we spent there. Not only was the Truth Serum leaving his blood, but his body would be drawn towards his family stone. That amount of pull within an untrained magicians’ body could have torn him apart. I gulped. My lack of magician knowledge could have gotten him killed. Maybe it was about time I listened to the legends of the gods. Even if I never believed them.

  "It sure is. I don't know a lot about your clan, but I'll tell you what I know on the condition you both come for dinner tonight. Bryar would be intrigued to meet you." Willow smiled.

  "I would be honoured to attend. Once my presence does not distress anyone," Reuben looked over his shoulder, but Elm was too busy laughing at Adonis to notice.

  "She'll be fine as long as he's there too. She'll be far too engrossed to care about anyone else," Willow rolled her eyes, "Now go busy yourselves so I can get some real customers...who actually return their tools instead of stealing my best worker!"

  Her dig got Adonis' attention. He sheepishly held up his hands and winked at Willow.

  "I'll bring back your sickle tomorrow, but I plan on keeping this for a while," he joked and grabbed a giggling Elm by the waist.

  "Ugh," I groaned and quickly moved away from the stall.

  "I take it you do not approve of your bro
thers’ blatant flirting," Reuben said when he caught up to me as I browsed a long table of produce.

  "I'm glad he's happy, and Elm seems perfect for him. It's just unusual to see him full of life," I explained as I scented various soaps and scanned the rows, "Good afternoon, Cedar. Do you have a yellow coloured citrus soap?" I asked the stall owner, to whom I had been a customer for years.

  The older man shook his head and looked puzzled, "No miss, nothing of the kind. Where do you even hear of such a thing?"

  "I told you, you must have dreamt it," Reuben interrupted, reaching into his pocket and producing a handful of bronze coins, "We'll take half a dozen lavender soaps, and the pastel blue blanket."

  Whilst Cedar packaged up our things, Reuben squeezed my hand and discreetly leaned in close, "Citrus soaps and teas come from verbena trees, which are only grown within the Chambers. The fewer people who know about where you've been, the safer I can keep you."

  His level of precaution felt extreme, I had shopped at this stall for over a decade and helped most of the vendors with healing at some stage. I was only seventeen when Cedar leaned over his stall table and asked if the rumours of my magic were true. His wife's harmless winter head-cold had progressed into pneumonia, and the only elixir guaranteed to save her cost more than he could gather in the few days she had left. I offered my help without question or promise of payment. He led me to her bedside, and I used the small amount of Obsidian I had to banish the thick mucus that polluted her lungs. I spent two days and exhausted three plum sized crystals saving her, but eventually, her symptoms subsided. On the third day she regained consciousness. Once cured, Cedar walked me back to his stall, handed me a crate full of goods and went back to work as if nothing happened. We never mentioned it since, and bar a few words when he sold me soap, we did not talk at all.

  Being friends with a magician was only worth the risk when they desperately needed something from me, otherwise, a wide birth was the best course of action. Citizens of Deshure always anticipated invasion from Sinlara. It was a case of "when" not "if". They knew the Chambers would not tolerate their treachery of liaising with magicians and using our magic for their benefit. Living in the south taught you a strong sense of fear but also self-preservation.

  The Chamber still wanted me dead, and who knew how their power or money could turn the people of Deshure. I hoped they would see me as one of their own, but I feared they would throw me to the wolves for a few easy coins and be able to justify in their minds because I'm different to them. Even coming back home could not fully set me free from the Chambers prejudice.

  We meandered our way through the entire market, stopping at every stall due to Reuben's insistence to buy anything I merely glanced at.

  "You know if you're trying to lay low and blend in you might want to stop spending more money than this market has ever seen in a single day," I grinned, "How do you even have Deshure bronze instead of Sinlara gold?"

  "I changed it over the night I went to Teriam to talk about you," his voice wobbled at the mention of him, but after swallowing like he had a bad taste in his mouth, he continued, "I planned to give it to you when I helped free you from the cell."

  "Why did you talk to Teriam and arrange the bathhouse and medical visits?" I asked with a pang of guilt. I had not wanted to make him talk about it, but it was a question that had been on my mind since the morning Teriam read the scroll to me in the cell.

  "I knew I had to bide my time, but I could not bear the thought of you behind bars, rotting away with only Edvan as company? I could not have that on my conscience. I tried to arrange what I could without drawing too much attention and despite everything I know now, Teriam seemed genuinely interested in helping."

  "And you always planned on helping me get out?" I spoke softly to avoid prying ears.

  "Always, I would have never let you die there. From the second I saw you it was my intention to set you free," he said adamantly.

  He stopped walking and stood in front of me, "I just never expected you to do the same for me."

  He didn't look at me the same way Adonis did at Elm. There was no child-like glint of wonderment, or mischievous wink waiting to emerge. Instead, his brooding gaze took me in like I was a sight to behold, and for the first time in my life, I felt seen in a way that made me feel powerful.

  "I hope you didn't spend all your coins already; we still have to get something to bring to the Topaz house for dinner," I remembered as I stepped into his solid chest and rested my head.

  "Well I exchanged fifty Sinlara coins so we should be okay for a while." he soothed and ran his hand down my neck and thumbed away the knots in my shoulder. Fifty gold coins translated to ten thousand bronze coins and would take the average Deshure worker about five years to earn.

  "The perks of travelling with a Beta."

  On the walk back to the Topaz house, we naturally spilt into groups when walking along the narrow paths. Willow, Elm and I walked ahead with Adonis and Reuben trailing behind. I tried to keep an ear tuned in their direction to listen out for inappropriate questions my brother could ask but thankfully he behaved himself.

  For the most part.

  The Topaz home was larger than ours and the long shed adjacent it to and the robust metal fence encompassing their land made our cottage feel humble.

  "Bryar, we're back," Willow called as she opened their narrow gate that was designed with steel flowers. A tall slim man popped his head out from the shed. He had short chestnut hair and a thick copper beard that came to a point just below his chin. He approached to help Willow set down the stall equipment and once he was closer, I calculated he was at least a decade my senior.

  "Did no-one tell the Northerner that there's a market every week?" he smirked, eyeing up Reuben's crate full of goods, "You don't have to stockpile laddie."

  Bryar offered me a handshake with his large, rough palms. Even though I had read tales of the Garnet clan and their wild ways, his unpolished demeanour and thick accent still took me by surprise.

  "This Northerner was taught that it is rude to come to dinner empty-handed. Besides Willow informed me that you like whiskey." Reuben reached into the pile of goods and selected a long, brown bottle.

  "My wife knows me well," he winked, accepted the bottle and gave Reuben a firm slap on the back, "I think we're going to be good friends you and I."

  "Is he talking to the bottle or me?" Reuben asked Adonis as we followed them through the front door.

  "I have no idea, but I guess we'll find out."

  Elm's cooking was once again superb. Her ability to turn simple autumnal vegetables into a mouth-watering feast seemed like a form of magic itself. Even though we had more than our fill at dinner, we still managed to finish a pound of dried cherries and sultanas for dessert and top it off with a goblet of whiskey each.

  "Did you make these?" I asked the girls, inspecting the intricately designed stem of the goblet.

  "Elm did. She's much better at ornate design than me, I can only manipulate large chunks of metal with my power," Willow sighed, "I've always been jealous of her abilities."

  "Your metal stays stronger than mine, and besides your farm tools allowed us to make a living. No one around here is going to buy pretty mugs and cutlery." Elm insisted.

  "Now, now, ye're two halves of the same team," Bryar interrupted, "No bickering over talents."

  "Speaking of talents..." Willow gave a knowing nod to her husband and gestured towards the fireplace.

  Bryar rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a shiny wrist-cuff with a coral coloured stone in the centre. He covered it with his left hand and opened his right palm. Instantly, a burning ball of red and orange magic shone brightly in his hold. It flickered and danced upwards just like a flame, but it did not scorch his hand. I felt the heat radiate towards my face and a pull of energy from my magic within. He grinned wildly as magic poured into the flame, which was well over a foot high now, but it remained perfectly obedient to him.

  He thrust his hand t
owards the fireplace and sent the glowing mass colliding into the waiting sticks which ignited on impact. The room was quickly filled with warmth and the crackle of wood.

  "I should be getting used to seeing magic but wow, that is truly astonishing Bryar," Reuben said in awe, staring at the burning wood.

  "Your magic is so strong. Did anyone else feel that pull on their energy? What was that?" I asked, feeling a strong itch to reach for my crystal.

  "Well lass, it's time to come clean," Bryar scratched his beard sheepishly, "Ye were invited to dinner under false pretences. I have a proposal to discuss. We want ye to join our coven."

  Twelve

  "A coven?" I choked, "No, not a chance. It's far too dangerous, especially with the Chambers hunting for me. It would make you all easy pickings if they found us all together."

  "That will not happen," Reuben calmly promised, "I don't know a lot about covens but from what Juniper has told me they haven't worked out well in the past."

  "Being a magician, in general, didn't work out well in the past thanks to the Sinlaran family," Elm snapped.

  "Elm," Willow scolded, "You're right in what you're saying Juniper, we would be more vulnerable. At the moment the coven is incredibly subtle. No-one bats an eyelid at two sisters and her husband living together, but even with just the three of us, the amount of power we can access has been drastically increased. And the days Adonis' trains with us? Even more so," she paused to give a grateful smile in his direction, "If the coven had two sets of siblings, with their own bloodline bonds adding power to the overall group? We could have the strength and numbers to protect ourselves against the Chambers."

  Shackles. Dungeon cells. Pain and hunger.

  Flashes of the darkest days I had lived raced through my mind. I never wanted to fall prey to their hatred again, but the thought of anyone else in this room going through the same? I would march myself to Sinlara and offer Alpha Karnes my neck in a noose right this second.