by Ash Night
“No, you go get some sleep.”
“I don’t need any sleep.”
“Campbell Crossfire, you are exhausted. Now, go.”
Liam chuckled. “I’d do as she says, man.”
Cam took a deep breath. “Will it make you happy?”
“Yes, extremely.”
He laughed and shrugged. “Well then, I guess I’m off to bed.”
“Sweet dreams, Cuff Boy.”
“Smell ya later, Snowflake.” Cam held up his hand in a wave as he walked towards the inn.
I turned to Liam, wrinkling my nose. “You guys are so weird. Two days ago, you were ready to kill each other and now you’re acting like old friends.”
He laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “It’s a guy thing, Serena. We fought and I learned to respect him.”
Shaking my head, I gestured with the basket. “Shall we go deliver the rest of the bread?”
“Or we could just eat it.”
“Is your brain in your stomach?” I smacked him playfully on the arm.
“Probably.”
We gave the last loaf to Mr. Caesar, the owner of the general goods store. Liam hugged me. “The sun is setting. Today felt both short and long at the same time.”
“Yeah, it did.” I turned the corner and nearly ran into my dad. “Oops, sorry!”
“It’s fine, hon. All out of bread?” he asked. My mom was close behind him.
I held up the empty basket. “Yup!”
“Good, thank you so much, honey. And thank you for keeping her company, Liam.”
Liam smiled. “No problem. The bread was delicious. No one bakes like you do!”
She dug in her basket and pulled out a sweet roll. “I had an extra.”
He lifted her up in a hug. “Mrs. Roseheart, you are the best surrogate mom ever!”
She chuckled. “That means a lot, Liam. We love you very much.”
Dad clapped him on the shoulder. “Like the son I never had.”
My heart was slowly breaking with each word. It was almost like they were trying to make the eventual moment harder. I took a breath. Or at least I meant to.
“I’m leaving,” I blurted out. Wow, way to say it, Serena. I didn’t want to say it so soon. I was going to give it a few more days!
My mom’s face drained of color. “L-leaving? Where to?”
Dad looked angry. “It’s that Crossfire boy, isn’t it? I saw him hanging around you today and I had suspected Liam was lying.”
“I’m really sorry…” Liam said quietly, hanging his head.
I sighed. “It isn’t Liam’s fault. He lied because I asked him to. I’m sorry, Liam.”
“Where are you going?” Mom repeated, completely unfazed by the news that Liam had been lying to her.
My heart against my chest. “With Cam. I’m going to help get our magic back.”
Dad ran a hand over his face. “Oh no…I knew telling you about Kalden was a bad idea!”
“Did you say ‘Kalden’? You do know the rules about saying that name, right?” A Shadow Knight stepped out from the shadow of a building. “It’s twenty years in a cell. As for your daughter, her fate will be much worse. We saw her consorting with Crossfire.”
Dad stepped in front of Mom and held out an arm in front of me. Mom looked terrified, clutching his shoulder. Liam stepped in front of me, his posture mirroring my dad’s. I could feel Liam’s magic snake its way around all of us, shielding us.
“You touch my family and I’ll…” Liam growled.
The Shadow Knight looked amused. “You’ll what, you filthy Sealbreaker?”
I gasped. Oh Goddess, he knew now. Liam would be standing right beside me at the gallows. My whole body went cold and my vision blurred.
“I bet you can’t even hit me with a simple fire spell,” the knight bragged. “You reek of an amateur.”
Lightning hit inches from the knight’s boot. His amber eyes widened.
“You were saying?” Liam asked, slightly out of breath. His whole form was tense. I’d never felt this much magic before. It was making my fingertips tingle and the hair on my arms stand up.
“Nice shot,” Dad said, a tremor in his voice. I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement. His face said excitement. He was grinning like a little kid. He was dying to get in on the action. I wondered if he actually was considering breaking his Seal.
“Mr. and Mrs. Roseheart, Serena, I want you to run, got it?”
“We can’t leave you!” Mom exclaimed. “Shadow Knights are too strong!”
Dad squeezed her hand. “Hon, we have to. We don’t have any magic. We wouldn’t be any help.” A strange pleading look flashed through my mom’s eyes, but my dad shook his head firmly.
“You die, and I’ll never, ever forgive you!” I hissed in his ear as I hugged him from behind as tight as I could.
He laughed and nodded. “I can’t die if we’re going to help Cam, right?”
Briefly, I debated finding Cam. He was most likely still asleep. It had only been a few hours and magic took a lot out of a person from what I had witnessed.
“Don’t you dare send Cuff Boy to rescue me,” Liam said as I started to walk away. I smiled. He knew me too well.
“I won’t. If you don’t take too long.”
I heard the smirk in his voice. “Then I’ll make this quick. I’ve been practicing.”
Dad ushered me back to the house, keeping an eye out for other Shadow Knights. Thankfully, we didn’t run into any more.
Once we were inside, Dad boarded the door and then proceeded to push furniture in front of it. I looked at him, confused.
“Why are you barricading the door?” For as long as I could remember, we had an unbreakable magic lock on the front door that didn’t let anyone enter the house without permission from a household member.
His eyes were grim. “You haven’t dealt with the knights like we have, sweetie. They are evil creatures. The lock wouldn’t stand a chance.”
My heart sank to my toes and I felt my lunch threatening to come up. We’d left Liam with those evil creatures.
Mom wrapped me in a hug, enveloping me in her lavender-scented perfume. Taking a deep breath of it through my nose, I didn’t feel very relaxed. “It’ll be okay, honey. Liam will be just fine. We have to believe that.”
“If Liam gets caught…they’ll kill him.”
“Yes, but we can’t think about that.” Mom grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “We need to have the same faith in Liam that you do in Cam, that we all once did in Kalden. If we didn’t…then there would be no reason to keep fighting.”
Hugging Mom tight, I decided to go pack. I was leaving my childhood home to get our magic back. I would be leaving the safety of my books and actually traveling. That part thrilled me. It wasn’t a vacation exactly, but, still, I was excited. Getting to see amazing things and meet new people had always been a dream of mine.
Picking up my favorite burnt orange cloth bag that reminded me of autumn, I used a Packing Kit to put my clothes in. I’d bought this Kit, a sleek, black square box that had an endless amount of space, with most of my savings back when I’d started working at the bakery. Like most of the more useful Kits or codexes, it was on the expensive side, but it was the only thing I’d wanted, knowing in my heart that I’d use it one day.
Twelve-year-old me never could have expected this.
After my clothes, a few different weather-friendly outfits, were packed, I looked around my room. Even though the Packing Kits were designed to be light no matter how much stuff they held, I still wanted to pack light. Only things I needed and a few sentimental items. I needed to pack fast.
Books. I had my shelves arranged by Read, To-Be-Read, and Favorites. First, I picked a few of my absolute favorites, including one about a stuffed rabbit who had become real after his owner got sick.
Mom used to read me that one every time I got sick and then I’d wake up the next morning, excited to see if any of my toys had
moved. I used to think that if I could just unlock my magic, I could turn one of my toy horses real. I could ride her and explore the world. I would have to ask Cam if that was possible.
The one time Liam had tried to enchant my toys when we were eight, he’d froze the floor. We’d covered the spot with a rug and the ice eventually melted, causing water damage to the ceiling downstairs. Even as kids, we’d knew that could have ended badly so we’d enforced a no-magic rule in the house. A few days later, we’d discovered the clearing where we were free to practice magic as we pleased.
Somehow, it had never clicked in my head that my parents had never asked how water had managed to leak from my bedroom floor.
Smiling at the memory, I wiped tears from my eyes. I needed to hurry. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was running out of time.
My trusty steed, a stuffed chestnut-brown quarter horse named Acorn, and the codex containing my flowers from Liam went into my bag as well as a framed picture of my mom and dad that I had taken at the nearby beach. They were so happy. I hoped they would keep smiling while I was away.
Tossing in five of my most interesting To-Be-Reads, I closed the Packing Kit and pressed the small red button at the top. It shrunk down to the size of my palm. Placing that in my cloth bag, I took one last look around my room and said my goodbyes. Would I ever return?
The click of the door closing behind me sounded so final that fresh tears sprang to my eyes. I wiped them away defiantly. I needed to get my act together. Cam needed a soldier, not a crybaby. I wouldn’t weigh him down. We had a job to do.
“Serena, honey—” Mom let out a soft gasp as she saw my bag and her eyes started to water.
I pasted on the fakest, brightest smile I could manage. “It’s okay, Mom. I’ll be back before you know it.” Dad wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Our little girl is growing up. I’m proud of her for standing up for what she believes in. I have a present for you on the table, sweetie. You’re not allowed to open it until your first night camping out though, all right?”
Walking into the kitchen, I saw a shrunken Packing Kit. This one was light gray. Good, at least I wouldn’t get the two confused. I slipped it into my bag carefully.
“Thanks Mom, thanks Dad,” I said, hugging them both.
“Serena Roseheart! You are under arrest for conspiring to commit treason! Come out with your hands where I can see them!” a loud voice barked. At least it wasn’t familiar.
It was my mom’s turn to switch into protective mode. She hugged me, shielding me. I felt faint traces of magic emitting from her. My eyes widened. “M-Mom?”
She smiled at me. “Confession time. I broke my Seal a few weeks before you were born, baby. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“But…” My mind flashed back to the day I’d finally asked her if she’d missed her magic. She had sounded so heartbroken.
“I do miss it. Because of the magic ban, I haven’t used it for nineteen years. The doctors told me you were going to be born stillborn without magical intervention and, at the time, we couldn’t afford the steep medical cost of that. There was no way I was going to lose you. We’d already picked out your crib, your name, everything we needed for you. I used a very powerful spell and a few weeks later, you were born healthy and happy.” She laughed with tears in her eyes. “Though you were a cranky baby, always screaming for your magic.”
“One day, you won’t have to hide,” I promised.
She kissed my forehead. “I hope not.”
The door shook as the person on the other side banged against it with a very heavy object. Twice was all it took before their battering ram broke through the door and the furniture, a couch and heavy wardrobe, skittered across the floor as though they weighed nothing. Dad stepped in front of my mom and I.
A strong hand yanked me backwards away from my mom and I screamed. Liam hugged me, pressing me to his chest. The back door was wide open. “It’s okay! It’s just me. Now, let’s go!” He pulled me up the steps as the two Shadow Knights yelled at us to stop.
Scooping me up at the top of the steps, similar to how he had done on the roof, Liam kicked open the door to my room and then jumped out the window, crashing through the glass.
“What the hell are you doing?!” I screamed, shielding my face from glass.
“Um, saving our lives!” Liam laughed as he landed in the front yard, a few feet from the now very shocked Shadow Knights. Setting me down, we ran down the path that would take us out of the village. As we rounded a corner, without pausing, Liam snatched up a black backpack and slung it over his shoulder. It surprised me how prepared he was.
“What about my parents?” I asked breathlessly.
“It’s all right. The knights following us!” Liam was grinning from ear to ear, like this was the best night of his life. His smile was contagious and I felt the unsettling fear disappear, replaced with a rush of adrenaline. We were wanted Fae, running from the law.
In that moment, we were completely free.
Chapter Eleven
Cam had an extreme case of bedhead when we woke him up. He looked so cute in that moment between sleep and wakefulness. So peaceful and unaware. We still hadn’t talked about our kiss. I supposed we’d have lots of time to talk about it later.
“Do you need to pack?” I asked.
He shook his head, making his bed quickly once he realized the gravity of our current situation. “I didn’t have anything when I checked in, remember?”
Liam chuckled. “They have maids to do that, ya know? We’re in a hurry, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Oh, I know.” Cam pulled up a corner of the mattress and pulled out a few pieces of paper, folding them carefully and putting them in the inside pocket of his black denim jacket. “Let’s go!”
We ran out of the inn and to the village gate. A group of Shadow Knights were waiting. Liam hiked up the strap of his backpack, clearly excited for a fight.
“Dammit, Snowflake, weren’t you the one just commenting on how little time we have?” Cam waved his hand and a thick white fog rolled in. “This way.” He grabbed my hand and veered left. Liam was right behind me.
Cam looked around wildly, looking for a place to hide. Mrs. Abbernack’s house came into view and he slowed slightly.
“We can’t put her in danger!” I shouted when I caught his train of thought.
“Do you have any better ideas?” he snapped. “Cuz those damn Knights blocked our exit and I’m betting the others are blocked too! We need to wait them out.”
When he put it that way, I had to agree with him. “You’re right.”
“Maybe she has more cookies,” Liam added to lighten the mood.
Cam surprised me when he hopefully said, “Do you think so?”
I laughed at both of them. “You guys would go toward the Shadow Knights if they offered you food, wouldn’t you?”
“Only to steal the food,” Liam replied as Cam knocked on the door.
Mrs. Abbernack opened the door, smiling widely when she saw us. “Come in, come in!”
“Thank you, Mrs. Abbernack. We need a place to crash for the night. Do you have like a basement, maybe?” Liam asked. “The government’s dogs are after us. We didn’t lead them here or anything, we promise.”
Mrs. Abbernack let out a wheeze of a laugh. “Oh, Liam, my boy, I’m not worried at all. You three can stay as long as you like. Does the master know where you are?”
Liam chuckled. “Doesn’t he know everything? He guessed I was in trouble the moment I flew up the stairs to grab this.” He gestured to his backpack.
“Sounds like quite the exciting night,” she said as she led us to the living room. Bending down, she pulled up a rug, revealing a trapdoor. “I hope the cellar is okay. It’s probably a bit dusty, but there are a few beds down there and an oil lamp.”
“It sounds great! Thank you so much!” I was relieved to get even a moment away from danger. Besides, I had Cam and Liam to protect me for any eight-legged terro
rs.
“Have you kids had supper yet?”
“No, but that’s really not neces—” Cam started.
“Nonsense! I’ll whip something up real quick. It won’t take long at all.”
“Thank you!” we all said in unison and walked down the steps to get settled in for the night. Liam snapped on the light, which was just a small flame and did little against the oppressive darkness in the rather large space. Using his magic, Cam boosted the flame so we could see better. The cellar was like a whole other living area with a double row of five identical beds and a small dinner table. There was even a small cupboard and a sink. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a few cobwebs and tried not to wonder where their occupants were.
I set my bag beside me and sat down on the bed, feeling as those I could finally breathe. Liam sat on the bed across from me. He looked exhausted again.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Good, I guess. I’m glad you’re okay. As if tonight wasn’t a big enough shocker, I found out my mom had her magic this entire time.”
“Wow, big secret.”
“Yeah, apparently she was having troubles while pregnant with me and she broke her Seal to save my life.”
Liam smiled, holding my hand. “Well, I’ll have to thank her for breaking the rules. I know she isn’t one to break them for just any old reason.”
Nodding, tears filled my eyes. “Since I left…Do you think it would be okay if I…”
“Do you want to?” he asked simply, his face neutral. “It’s your choice, Serena.” He hugged me tight, petting my hair as silent tears streamed down my face. “No one can force you to keep your Seal anymore.”
“Yes. Yes. I want it gone. I want my magic.”
Cam cleared his throat and I looked over Liam’s shoulder. He was laying down on a bed further down the row. “Breaking your Seal is painful.”
“How would you know? You’ve never had one!”
Cam sighed, turning his head to look at us. “Do you ever think before you speak, Snowflake?”