The cooker alarm went off, and I checked the meat. It looked pretty much done, so I pulled it out, prepared some gravy, and served the whole lot up on two plates.
I’d expected a long conversation about the Spades, but Bryony was silent, gulping down her roast dinner with what looked like glee in her eyes.
“This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted in my life!” she said whilst still chewing her food. It came out as, “Thi ih the mo eli io thin I ev ta’e ih my ho li,” but I understood the meaning just by the look on her face.
“Have you never eaten meat before this week?”
She shook her head. I was really a bad influence on her. I figured I may as well do it properly and got up to open one of the bottles of wine.
After our late lunch/early dinner, I sat with Bryony in the living room. She handed me some material and ordered me to start sewing on crystals. As it was a pretty simple task, I obliged.
Do you feel like you are missing out? Living here in Yelpish, I mean?” I asked.
“I didn’t. Not before this week. I don’t know. Yelpish is my home, but you’ve shown me things I’d never tried before. Last night was brilliant and that dinner, oh it was delicious. And now…”
She trailed off. I knew she was going to mention Aspen.
“I don’t know anything else, though,” she continued. “I don’t know how to live any other way. I wouldn’t even know where to go.”
“There is always Mistdale. That’s where my family lives. It’s a small city, but it’s got everything you need.”
“Are you serious? About leaving I mean?” She looked at me intently.
“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. Could I really leave the first place I’d ever thought of as home?
The evening was much soberer than the night before in more ways than one. Bryony refused any more wine, saying that she had too much to do to get the dress finished.
I went to bed early. I’d barely left the house, but in the space of a day, my whole world had crashed down before my eyes. I knew I’d lost Mali for good. Even if he changed his mind about his lady friend, I’d lost all respect for him now. I couldn’t imagine him getting her past the villagers without lying. He’d, no doubt, omit the fact that she was actually married to someone else and had abandoned her children for him. Could I really leave Yelpish? My thoughts echoed what Bryony had said earlier. What was there really here to stay for now? My love of Yelpish had soured, knowing it had all been built on the lies of a man. A man that was as fallible as the rest of us.
My thoughts passed to the Spades. I wondered if they really would attack or if it was just the Gazette sensationalising something small as a way to sell more papers. It wouldn’t be the first time the media had pulled such a trick. I slept uneasily, until about one in the morning when Bryony finally came to bed. Her movements woke me.
“I’ve done quite a bit on your dress. It should be ready in time,” she whispered to me when she saw I was awake. She really was an amazing bond helper.
I was about to thank her when there was a shout from somewhere in the village. It was quickly followed by the village bell, which was traditionally used to call the village to meditate or to village meetings.
I sat up quickly.
“What’s going on?” I jumped out of bed and pulled my cloak on over my pyjamas. Bryony didn’t even question if I was going to go outside, such was her own alarm. Hearing the bell at this time of night was unprecedented.
We both slipped out of the house and ran to the centre of the village. There, we found a man I’d never seen before laid out, covered in blood, and surrounded by most of the other villagers. I stayed in the shadows behind them, wondering, like they did, what was going on. Someone called for Mali, and I watched as he appeared and knelt down by the injured man.
The same woman who had called out to Mali, an elder of the village named June, told the people in front of me what had happened. I had to come out of the shadows to hear, but no one was paying me any attention anyway. No one would notice; too much was going on.
“He just knocked on my door, and when I opened it, I saw him stagger across the village green and collapse here,” she began. “He told me he was from Randish, and that the Spades had overtaken his village. He escaped and came here.”
“But Randish is only about fifty miles or so from here,” someone replied, with apparent fear in their voice. I felt Bryony slip her hand into mine and squeeze. I held on for dear life.
A babble of excited noise broke out amongst the villagers, but it wasn’t them I cared about. I watched Mali deal with the man. He knelt above him, expertly healing him with the powers he had. Most in the village were so used to Mali and his special powers that they didn’t bat an eyelid, but I watched as I always had, mesmerised at the power in those hands.
“What are we going to do?” someone shouted out. I watched as Mali turned to them.
“Nothing,” he said. “We do nothing tonight. I will look after this man, and tomorrow, we will have a meeting at the temple at ten am. You all need to go back to your houses for there isn’t anything we can do tonight. I will consult the stars for the best course of action.”
Nobody moved.
“I said go!” he repeated, this time more forcefully. As the villagers began to turn to go back to their homes, I knew I had to get home quickly before anyone spotted me. Bryony and I, still holding hands, ran through the edge of the forest and didn’t stop until we were both indoors.
“It looks like the newspaper was right,” I said, taking off my cloak. “I had so hoped it wasn’t.”
“Mali will be able to protect us, won’t he?”
As much as I hated Mali right now, I knew he was powerful, more so than many Spades; but was he powerful enough to protect the whole village? I didn’t know. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to tell her.
An urgent rapping on the door made us both jump.
“Who is that at this time of the night?”
Despite everything I’d told myself in the past few days, and what I now knew about Mali, I harboured a hope it was he, even if it was only to ask me to help with the injured man.
I ran to the door, not giving Bryony the chance to do it for me and flung it wide. I don’t know who was the more surprised, Aspen seeing me (During bonding week, it is forbidden for me to open the door), or me seeing Aspen. He soon got over his shock, though, as he ran right past me and straight over to Bryony where she took him in her arms and began to cry. For the first time, I felt like a stranger in my own home. Part of me wanted to leave the house to give them some space, but I’d already chanced it enough for one day. Besides, I was supposed to be bonding with Aspen in a few days.
“I missed you so much!” he said to her, peppering her with kisses. I did the only thing I could think of and went to the kitchen area and put the kettle on. It looked like it was going to be a long night, and I needed a coffee.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I heard Bryony say to him. “You’ll be in so much trouble if you get caught.”
“I heard what happened outside. I sneaked out and saw that man, and then, I thought I saw you hiding in the edge of the forest. I knew you’d be scared, and I was scared too. I can’t bear it, being apart from you.”
“I hate it too, but it is what’s written in the stars; Mali said so. You and Iris must be a better match than you and I.”
I wondered when I was going to be dragged into the conversation.
“I don’t want anyone else. I don’t care what the stars say.”
“Cup of coffee?” I said, butting in. I placed three cups of black coffee on the table. Aspen looked at me as if he’d only just realised I was there, or even existed in the first place. Charming!
“Thank you… Listen, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude to you. I barely know you, but I have the utmost respect for your work with Mali, and you are a handsome woman it’s just…”
“Save it. You don’t need to apologise to me. Any fool can see
you are in love with Bryony and always have been. Just drink your coffee.”
This was beginning to get embarrassing. I picked up one of the cups and sipped, the bitter taste was quite a shock, I’d been drinking coffee with plenty of milk before tonight, but I soon got used to it. Aspen and Bryony followed suit.
“Pease, sit down,” I said sweetly, indicating the sofa and chair. “We are in all kinds of messes, and we need to figure a way to get out of them.”
“I don’t see how we can find a way out of bonding, not without being thrown out of the village, plus I’m sure I’ve heard that if anyone breaks bonding, there is a curse on them.”
It was indicative of the absolute garbage that Mali had been feeding us all these years. And to think I’d believed all of it. Just as the other villagers had, I’d fallen for all his hokum bullshit for too long. I’d seen a completely other side to him when I’d read that letter and knew now that everything he stood for was built on a foundation of lies.
“I think we need to get out of here!” There, I’d finally said it. It had been on my mind for the past few days, but it was only now, thanks to the craziness of the situation and possibly the effects of the caffeine, that I’d articulated it out loud.
Both of them looked at me as if I’d offered to sleep with their mothers and kill their pet dogs.
“No one leaves Yelpish,” said Aspen.
He was right. No one did. Not voluntarily anyway. In the time I’d been there, I’d not known a single person to leave. Yes, they might leave to visit friends or family for a few days, but for good? No, not one.
“Maybe we should be the first?” I said, sounding braver than I felt. I hoped the trembling wasn’t going to give me away. I’d put it down to the strong coffee.
“My family is here,” said Bryony.
“Mine too,” replied Aspen. “I can’t go. My father died years ago, and my mother is in ill health. I have to stay to help her look after my brothers and sisters.”
I remembered that Aspen had quite a large family. He was the eldest of seven if I remembered correctly. I’d not known he was looking after them all.
“Let’s take them with us!” I said.
“My mother would never leave Yelpish,” he replied.
“Yelpish isn’t everything. I could sort some accommodation out for you in Mistdale. My family could even pay for it until you got back on your feet.” I was insistent. Now that I’d said it out loud, the idea made more and more sense.
“Yelpish isn’t the reason she stays. It’s Mali. He’s the only one who knows how to keep her cancer at bay. She’s been suffering with it for years, but Mali has been performing his magic on her daily to stop it spreading. If we leave, she will die.”
I sat back down, deflated. I’d known Aspen and his family for three years, but I’d never known his mother was so ill. The truth was, just as Aspen hardly knew me, I barely knew him.
I didn’t speak for a few minutes
Then it dawned on me what we should do.
“If we can’t run, we fight! We’ll fight the Spades if they come to the village.”
They both looked at me as if I were crazy. I recognised those looks, I’d been seeing them my whole life, mainly from my own family when I quoted Mali. Well, I wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon.
“What about the bonding?” asked Bryony. I could see she was hoping I’d come up with some amazing way to get out of it. Unfortunately, I was all out of brilliant ideas. I’d used up my one for the day.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. If we are staying here, I don’t see any way around it. It will have to go ahead.”
I could see her visibly slump before me, as if I’d given her hope and then taken it away from her.
“I’d better go,” said Aspen. “Basil is my bond helper. He’s asleep at the moment, but if he finds out I’ve left, he’ll tell Mali. I can’t trust him to keep any secrets. The guy is a complete douche bag. Keeps asking if he can sleep with you first.”
I stuck my nose up with distaste. I was so glad that Mali hadn’t matched me with him.
“You are right, though,” Aspen continued. “We need to protect ourselves. I’m pretty good with a bow and arrow, and I know a few others that could fight if they needed to.”
“It’s not going to be enough,” I replied. “We need to come up with a plan. There could be hundreds of Spades heading our way, and a couple of people with bows and arrows aren’t going to cut it.”
“You are right. I’ll have a think on it and be back tomorrow night at this time.”
He kissed Bryony before he went and even saved a kiss for me. Less passionate and a more brotherly on the cheek type kiss, but it made me feel nice. He smelled really good. If it wasn’t for Bryony and the small fact he was completely head over heels in love with her, I might have started to look forward to my impending nuptials.
1st February
I slept in late, and when I awoke, I found Bryony working on my dress. She was swathed in so much fabric that I could barely see her under it all. Still, she seemed happy, so I left her to it and began to prepare breakfast, bacon and eggs again. It was turning into a habit.
The clock on the wall said nine fifty-five. Five minutes until the meeting at the temple.
“Bryony?”
She poked her head out of the fabric and looked at me. “Yes?”
“Can you go to the temple? I want to know what’s going on. I’ll have breakfast ready for you when you get back.”
“Of course.” She neatly folded up the half-made dress and left me to my cooking.
I threw a couple of sausages into the pan along with the bacon. I might as well make the most of it; I’d be back on my vegan diet in a few more days. I bit into one of the chocolate bars Bryony had bought just a few days earlier. Call it a starter!
She came back just as I was dishing up the food onto two plates. One look at her face told me that she’d be needing chocolate too. I made two cups of coffee and served her breakfast.
“What is it? Are the Spades closer than we thought?”
She sniffled for a few seconds.
“Oh, Iris!” She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“What is it?” I couldn’t think of a single thing that would make our situation worse.
“I saw her.”
“Her?”
“You know, her!”
Oh, she meant the Spade woman Mali was seeing, that her. It was mighty coincidental that she had appeared at the same time her people were likely to attack us.
“I don’t care about her,” I lied. “I’m done with Mali!” I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking what she looked like. I was better off not knowing.
“That’s not all…”
So seeing the Spade bitch was not what was making her upset. I had a feeling that, like the chocolate, telling me about her was only the starter for a main course of horror.
“Mali said that he thinks he can protect the village. There is one spell that he can cast that might put a shield around us all.”
“Ok,” I said, trying to see why this was a bad thing. I knew more was coming. “Surely, that’s good, right?”
“The spell will only work with a great deal of magic. He doesn’t have enough, and there is no time to go to the Diamonds to buy more.”
“Oh!”
“There’s more. I…I…don’t know how to tell you this.” At this point, the barrier broke, and the tears she’d been keeping in flowed like rivers down her cheeks.
I jumped up to hug her. Whatever she wanted to tell me was obviously a doozy. She finally got out, “Mali is going to perform the bonding ritual on you.” Of course, I already knew I was being bonded, so at first, I thought that’s what she was talking about.
“I know!” I replied. “You’ve been making my dress for it for the past few days. I’m not likely to forget.”
“Not bonding! The bonding ritual. It’s a summoning spell that can only be performed on bonding day, hence th
e name. Mali doesn’t have enough magic, not nearly enough, she explained patiently. “He has to summon some from the world around us. Magic is everywhere, but we don’t notice it. He needs to harness this magic, but the only way to do it is to perform the bonding ritual at the next full moon.”
It was at this point I realized she was talking about a summoning ritual I’d read about in a book Mali had given me. It was a very complicated ritual that involved two people. I remembered that sex was involved somehow although I was hazy on the details. Judging by the look on Bryony’s face, I was either going to have to die or have sex with someone.
Instead of running for the book, I let her tell me about what it involved. When she finally finished telling me, it turned out I was wrong—I was going to have to have sex and then die! What a way to lose my virginity!
Magic was something you could learn to use and manipulate, but it wasn’t something you could easily conjure out of thin air. There were a lot of different types of magic in Vanatus, but it was the Diamonds, who were truly blessed. The Clubs had woefully little; even Mali had to buy it from the Diamonds in its rawest form. There were only three ways to generate magic if you couldn’t buy it from The Diamonds. One was to be born with the innate ability to do so. The Diamonds had that one covered. They could do pretty much anything by magic. The Spades were shifters, who could change into animals, and we, well, we Clubs were a bit useless, really. I had known some Spades to have a bit of magic. The Hearts were humans and had no magic at all. The second way to generate magic was to kill, but that only worked if you killed someone who was magic, and you knew how to harness their power at the exact moment of death. Additionally, at death, a person could transfer their powers to another willingly if they so chose. The last was a summoning ritual. The summoning ritual Mali planned to use on me. “
Six of Clubs (War and Suits Book 5) Page 5