by Amelia Shaw
“Well, let’s just say I acted before thinking and split a tall oak tree in half all because I had my arm out, and didn’t control it,” I said. “Luckily, I wasn’t pointing at a person.”
After a few attempts that fizzled, Courtney hit a home run, sizzling a tree nearby. She clapped her hands in excitement.
“Can I have a go at you now?” she asked, her eyes glinting playfully.
I shrugged. “Why not?”
I highly doubted she’d be able to do much. It took me at least three tries until I was even able to get a small reaction and Horlow mentioned that that had been impressive. Courtney had strong, raw magic, but she wasn’t Bella and she wasn’t me. She was volatile. That didn’t make for good control.
Courtney ran back to her place across the field, then faced me. There was an eager smile on her face. She rubbed her hands together, ready to get started, ready to try.
I smiled. Maybe she might not get it right away, but she was enthusiastic. That was something.
“Ready?” I called out to her.
“Yes.” She practically sang the word, bouncing from one foot to the next.
“Three.” I put up three fingers and began to count backwards. “Two. One.”
I reached out and threw the bolt at Courtney a moment before her magic hit me.
It knocked me backwards so fast, pain shot up my backside as I landed on my ass. My shields shattered spectacularly inside my head.
“Ow.”
I paused on the ground, reaching up to cradle my head in my palm.
I was not expecting... that.
Courtney’s cackle pierced the air. She threw her arm up as she jumped up and down. My lips curled up and I shook my head despite my wounded pride.
I got to my feet slowly and rubbed my bruised butt. I was sure her ass was just as bruised as mine but she didn’t show it. Not with the victory grin still etched out on her face.
I staggered towards her, a little shocked by how well she’d done that.
“Well done, Court,” I said. I cleared my throat. “That was crazy strong.”
Courtney limped towards me, looking like she’d twisted an ankle. However, her wince was masked with that grin.
“You okay?” I asked.
She nodded, flicking her fingers towards her leg, then straightened up after her magic did the healing.
“Yeah, but that hurt more than expected,” she said.
“You did it very well,” I said. My ego was wounded but it was masked by how proud I was for my sister. In the time that I had been gone, she had grown so much. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Bella knocking some sense into her and forcing her to take her magic more seriously. “I never managed to smash Horlow off his feet, I can tell you.”
Court smirked. “Yeah, I was glad it worked,” she said. “But you still shot straight through all of my shields and got me as well.”
I nodded. “Yeah, not sure how we’re going to fix that weakness,” I admitted. I placed my hands on my hips and leaned my head to the side, stretching my neck, trying to get all the kinks out of it. “You did the same thing to me and I couldn’t keep my shields up either, although part of the spell and the set-up is your own wards, so... anyway.” I shrugged.
Court brushed some of the grass off her jeans.
“Enough for today?” she asked, still breathless.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “may as well go in for some lunch.”
At that moment, my stomach rumbled. Courtney smirked.
“Some things don’t change, do they?” she said, brushing her shoulder with mine as she pushed past me.
We walked back towards the house together, my heart singing with happiness to be beside my sisters once again.
The sun shone down, not too hot, but enough to make the scenery around us sparkle. I breathed in deeply, glad to be back home. The air had never seemed as fresh as it did here, even in the Fae realm. The trees swayed in the breeze.
I slowly reached up, wincing as I tugged more of my injuries, and brushed hair from my face.
“Can I ask you something, Ava?” Courtney said as we walked inside and collapsed on the couch. I rested my feet on the coffee table before me, staring up at the ceiling and trying to ignore the bruises forming.
Bella was nowhere to be seen, so I had to assume she was off reading or experimenting somewhere. It was almost a relief. I was sure if she had been there, she would have been peppering us with questions. I didn’t want to answer hers just yet.
“Yeah, of course,” I said.
My stomach rumbled, craving sandwiches. Luckily, I was a witch and could make a sandwich without stepping into the kitchen and fishing through an empty pantry for ingredients. Leaning forward, I waved my hand over the coffee table in front of me and magicked up a platter of chicken and salad rolls.
“Oh, thanks,” Courtney said as she grabbed the nearest sandwich and took a bite.
After a minute or two of filling our bellies, her request came back to me.
I cleared my throat and wiped my mouth. “Sorry, you said you had a question before I rudely interrupted with food.”
Courtney chuckled. “Well, it’s not really a question, more of... I don’t know.”
I tore my eyes away from my sandwich and fixed them on her. What was she being so shy about?
“Spit it out.” I popped the remainder of my sandwich into my mouth and grabbed another one. Training always left me more hungry than usual.
“Well, I don’t know a nice way to put this, so I may as well just say it,” she said, fiddling with her bangs. “What about us?”
I frowned, not understanding what her question pertained to. I cleared my throat after swallowing the bite I had taken. “What about you... in what way?”
“About... everything.” She threw her hands out then brought them back to her lap. “Our father, the realms, the lineage and heir to the Warlock stuff. What are Bella and I to do about it all? Do we have a role to play? Or are we destined to just stay here forever, like Mother?”
I blinked, letting the questions sink in. I reached for my necklace only to remember it didn’t work here. I groaned.
“I can’t think of anything worse than being stuck here,” I admitted.
Courtney nodded. “You and me both... I mean, you know.”
“Yeah, of course.”
We both meant no disrespect to Bella, the one of us that could probably be happy to stay in the realm forever, but it wasn’t us.
I was suddenly hit with the fact that Courtney had so desperately wanted to come with me but stayed behind because I told her to. I didn’t regret it, either, knowing what I knew now. But I could understand why she had a bit of attitude. She didn’t like to be cooped up. She was like a tiger prowling in a cage that was too small for her, and when she was finally released from it, she was going to pounce.
“I don’t think Mother really wanted to stay isolated for so long...” I said, thinking about what others had told me about her. “I mean, she was so liked, happy, powerful, I think she could have done great things in the magical realm in the right position.”
“So, what made her come here?” Courtney asked, picking at something on her seat.
I sighed. “Honestly, when she got pregnant, she put her life, and ours, in danger.” I didn’t know how else I could explain it. Again, I wished I could have talked to Mother myself and gotten some clarity.
“So, basically, she fell in love with the wrong guy,” Courtney said, trying to make sense of my answer.
I laughed. “Yeah, that was definitely her undoing,” I said, nodding. “Getting pregnant probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do either, especially knowing Father couldn’t actually be a father to us.”
Courtney chuckled, her cheeks turning pink at the thought of pregnancy. It was hard to remember she was barely twenty-one.
“Yeah, well... she certainly paid for it with twenty-four years of isolation,” she said.
I nodded and hummed in agreement, alt
hough I didn’t think our mother had ever regretted her choice.
“So... what do you want to know, Court?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “What are you really asking?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, really,” she admitted. Her voice had gotten small, as though she was suddenly shy with being scrutinized. I wasn’t sure what else she expected when she asked questions like this. “But... what are we going to do? It sounds like it’s way too dangerous for us to come out of the closet... so to speak. But I want to meet our father too!” She threw her arms out. “I want to take lessons from the Fae, and become stronger, more powerful. Surely this isn’t our destiny? To be stuck in an off-human-world forever?”
Her pain was far too real to me. I knew how isolated I’d felt for so long. And yet, I got to leave. I got to go on this journey while she was forced to stay behind.
I reached over and squeezed her hand, before withdrawing to my couch again.
“Look, Court, I can only tell you what’s going on for the moment. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the future,” I said.
Courtney picked up another sandwich. “That’s fair.” Her eyes flickered over at me. “So, hit me.”
I inhaled sharply. “So... I didn’t believe mother when she said how dangerous it would be for us to find our father, and look what has happened,” I said. I took a quick bite of my food. I lifted my hands in a helpless gesture and shrugged. “As much as I hate the fact that I was cooped up, I have to admit, Mother was right. And now I feel stupid for putting all of us in so much danger, just because I wanted adventure.”
Courtney nodded. “I know the feeling.”
“Yeah, but I can’t even... explain how bad I feel about it,” I continued. I began to rip the sandwiches into small pieces, needing something to do with my hands. “I’ve thrown the magical realm, and our lives, into total chaos. I mean... look at me. Back here, hiding, praying to the Universe that no-one finds us here. I know I’m safe... technically. I just don’t say anything because I don’t want to worry you about it.” I hung my head. “I’ve made things so much worse.”
I had to stop speaking. My throat was clogging up with emotion.
After a moment, Courtney asked, “You okay?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
The emotions hit me like a storm, whipping up my guilt and increasing the weight of responsibility on my shoulders. I was the oldest, my mother had trusted me with my sister’s welfare, and I’d screwed everything up. All because I didn’t want to listen to her.
The tears began to fall.
I wiped them away, sure I could handle the onslaught of emotion coming my way.
But it didn’t stop. The hot tears continued to well in my eyes and streak down my face.
This is all my fault.
If I’d just stayed here, or gone to the human village, everything would be fine.
I should never have told my father who I was.
I’ve put everyone in danger. My sisters. Me. Hell, even the Fae. Even, to a degree, Tavlor. If he is caught helping me, if they find out what he has done, he will die.
Oh. My. God.
How could I be so selfish? So stupid? So....
The self-incrimination kept coming at me, until I couldn’t contain the sobs. Snot dripped down my face. My cheeks pinched. Saliva flew out of my mouth as I tried to control my crying.
Courtney came to sit next to me, tried to reassure me that everything was okay, but I didn’t believe her.
She had no idea how bad things were out there. Part of it was Mother’s fault for not telling us what we needed to know. Part of it was me, for keeping secrets from them as well.
Bella came into the room and suddenly she was there too, holding me, rocking me, wrapping a blanket around me.
Eventually, the tears slowed down, and the pain in my chest dropped to a level that I felt like I could breathe again.
“Shh... let me...” Bella said as she waved her wand, an unusual moment for my sister, and a peace fell over me like a drug.
I sighed, not fighting Bella’s magic as her intent was pure.
I leaned into Courtney and sighed, letting my eyes close.
My tears dried up and I was warm again.
I opened my eyes and smiled at my sister. “Thank you.”
Bella frowned. “What was that about?”
I swayed a little, enjoying the intoxicated feeling that came with the lifting of my pain. I sighed.
The elation of my spirit to have the pain taken away.
Bella squeezed my hand. “Ava,” she said, trying to lock eyes with me. “Come on. Share. You don’t need to keep everything inside. Look at what keeping things in has done to you already.”
Bella glanced towards Courtney, who shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. Don’t blame me. One minute I was asking what was happening with us in regards to our father, and all the magic stuff, and the next thing I know she was crying.”
I swallowed, some of the feelings coming back.
Bella looked at me again. “Summarize, quickly.”
I sighed. “I just, realized... I suppose, how stupid I’ve been. I never should have left. Never should have revealed my identity to our father. I should have just stayed here, or got a job in the human world. I’ve put all of us in mortal danger and for what? For a chance to know a man who literally threw me under the bus to save his own ass?” I shook my head. “I’m so sorry.”
Bella squeezed my arm. “Don’t be,” she said. “It’s not our fault that they are so much nastier... so much more...”
“Fucked up,” Courtney finished for her.
Bella shot her a look.
“What?” Courtney asked. “How are you not used to this by now?”
“You’re right,” Bella said. “The whole situation, the people, their rules, it’s all fucked up, Ava. And it’s not your fault for assuming that they would act with common decency. That they would treat you like an actual person. And our father... how disappointing for all of us that he’s a coward, but really... the only thing that matters is that you are safe. We all are.”
I glanced between my two sisters. “But I may have made it so that you two can never meet Matlock, that you won’t be able to travel as you’d like to,” I said. I pressed my lips together, looking down at my palms. I sighed, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand. “I can’t ever undo it, or take those mistakes back.”
And I would if I could.
I’d do it in a second.
Even if it meant never seeing Tavlor again.
“We don’t blame you, Ava,” Bella said.
Courtney knocked her shoulder against me. “Nah, not at all. We’re no worse off than before, whereas you’ve been to hell and back. And I didn’t mean to set you off, before. I just wanted to know... you know, if you thought things would change. If you could see us every getting out of here.”
I took a deep breath. “I can. But a lot would have to change. The Council would need to change their feelings on... well, everything,” I said. It made me feel better to focus on answering questions. Wallowing in self-pity wasn’t something I intended to do and, quite frankly, I had had enough of it. “They’d have to change the laws on illegitimacy, give me the rights of the born heir... and generally do a full back flip on everything.”
“And what is the possibility of that happening?” Courtney asked.
I laughed. I didn’t know how else to respond. “Um... one in a billion, I’d say. But I suppose that’s still something.”
We began to chuckle and giggle together, and I hugged my sisters tight to me.
They may have forgiven me, or at least didn’t hold me responsible for the shit storm that rolled around us. But I did, and nothing was going to change unless I decided to fight.
But did I want to? With so many lives in the balance?
Would I even know where to begin?
After my breakdown, I began to see the way forward. It took some time. I gave myself the rest of
the night to indulge myself. I cried. I wondered where Tavlor was and if he was thinking of me. Was I really worth the risk to him?
When the next day came, the worst was over. I began to think more positively than I had the night before. Unfortunately, the path in front of me was still thick with impediments, deathly traps, and perhaps heart-breaking rejection.
Did I have the right to fight for a place in magical society?
And not just a place... my rightful place.
To be my father’s daughter, whatever that may entail.
Chapter 10.
If the Council would accept me as my father’s heir, I would do whatever they needed me to do in order to conform to their society. They could stick me in a school teaching kids or being some kind of magical realm police office, issuing citations for faulty brooms. I really didn’t care, as long as my life was safe, my sisters were safe, and I could see Tavlor as much as I wanted.
Surely that wasn’t too much to ask for?
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, not bothering to stifle a yawn. I wasn’t exactly great, but I was better than I had been. I was with my sisters. We were all safe—for now.
I took a seat in the lounge and decided to grab as many books as I could that might hint at how I could escape my fate. Perhaps escaping wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I wanted to change it. I wanted others to accept me for who I was.
She came farther into the room, stifling another yawn. “Just so I know specifically what you’re talking about, which problem is that?”
She grinned as she slid onto the couch and conjured a coffee with her magic, with a mark on the cup I didn’t recognize.
“Where’s that from?” I gestured to the coffee, ignoring her question for a moment.
“Want one?” she asked.
I nodded towards the cup of tea in my hand. Coffee always gave me the worst headaches and I wanted to avoid having one, especially since I had a mission in mind. I waited for an answer to my question.
“Oh... they’re from a coffee shop in the village,” she explained. “There’s always one or two waiting on the bench and I just grab them. Once I’ve worked out how to replicate it with magic, I’ll do it that way.”