by Lucia Ashta
Arianne finally nodded. “Very well.”
“Me too,” Walt said.
“Marie is staying here. If you’ve sworn to protect her, then your place is here.”
Walt opened his mouth to protest but had nothing to say.
“Now that it’s all settled, I have to go.”
Settled? Nothing was settled in my view.
“We’ll be back soon,” the grandmother said, her red hair braided tightly across her head. In riding clothes, she looked fiercer than a lady of a grand manor was supposed to be. She smiled, but the gesture didn’t reach her usually lively eyes, and turned toward those who waited for her.
“Thanks,” I whispered to Nando while she walked away. Ordinarily, I’d take issue with Nando speaking for me and relegating me to the place of little sister. Not this time. I was relieved that I’d have him along if it came to that.
“I can’t believe I’m supposed to stay behind,” Nicholas groused.
“At least you don’t have to go whether you want to or not,” Simon said.
“You always get to go when Angelica and I stay behind.”
“Yeah, and have you ever bothered to ask yourself whether that’s what I want? Huh? Have you?”
Simon stomped off, heading right toward his parents. A few seconds later, Angelica followed as I wondered what it must be like to be Simon. He appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen, and yet he apparently had powers so important that the most influential sorcerer in the region considered him a pawn.
Simon was no more in control of what happened to him than any of the rest of us. But Nicholas was obviously jealous of him. I wondered some more about Simon’s skill set. I hoped I wouldn’t see it in action before the day was over, but the niggling feeling was still well and alive within the pit of my gut, suggesting that’s exactly what I’d get.
I twisted my hands in front of me while a dragon, many firedrakes and hellhounds, and a motley crew of magicians prepared to ride off.
Please don’t let them die, I thought, and then realized I was allowing myself to fear.
I breathed in resolve and tried again. I pictured them returning to us, whole and well, with Albacus in tow.
It wasn’t great, but it’d have to do. They were about to depart.
The time for doubts was gone. The path to victory lay ahead... so long as I found the courage to claim it.
Chapter 3
Despite my unease with the impending attack on Duke Maurisse’s stronghold, I couldn’t help but admire the team of magicians and creatures as they prepared for takeoff. It was a varied crew, and that was before their powers were on display. But they all shared one thing: their faces were set in grim, determined lines. Even Clara and Arianne, graceful and feminine, looked like two witches I didn’t want to mess with.
They were the first to take the final step for launch, in fact. Humbert, so large that he’d barely fit in several rooms of the academy merged together, folded his legs and lowered himself to the ground in front of the cave. Even so, Clara’s head barely reached eye level as she shared unspoken words with the fierce scarlet dragon.
So fast that I wasn’t prepared for it, Clara, dressed for the job, scaled Humbert’s front leg like a monkey, using both hands and feet to gain purchase, and settled right behind his head.
I hadn’t finished being impressed when Arianne imitated her granddaughter’s actions. Her movements weren’t quite as limber as those of Clara, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, but considering Arianne’s age, I was even more impressed than I’d been with Clara. The women of that family had some excellent constitutions, that was for sure.
Arianne shared a single glance with her twin brother, and Gustave climbed Humbert’s hind leg and settled in behind her, patting his sword in its sheath to make sure it remained where it was supposed to.
I fully expected Marcelo to join the three dragon riders, but I was surprised when he mounted one of the horses instead.
Sir Lancelot chose that moment to fly over and join us, landing abruptly on Brave’s shoulder.
I didn’t care that the pygmy owl seemed flustered, I had questions, and he was the perfect person—er, owl—to answer them.
“Sir Lancelot,” I said as he began to preen his feathers back into place after his short flight.
He looked up, large yellow eyes meeting my own. “Yes, Lady Isadora?”
“Why isn’t Marcelo riding with Clara? I figured he wouldn’t want to let her out of his sight.”
“That’s an accurate observation, Lady Isa. He doesn’t want to let her out of his sight. But he thinks it’s safer to approach the castle by air, since as far as we know Duke Maurisse doesn’t have a dragon of his own.”
“Then why isn’t he flying with her?”
“Because he doesn’t want to leave Mordecai alone either. Lords Mordecai and Albacus have been like the father Lord Marcelo never had.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Did Marcelo’s father die when he was young?”
“No, Marcelo was forced to kill his own father just a short time ago.”
If a talkative pygmy owl could look as if he’d just shoved his foot into his beak, this one did.
“He killed his own father?” Nando asked right away.
“Did he have to or did he want to?” Nicholas asked, making me think that was a very odd way to look at things. Who’d want to kill his own father? Then again, I knew nothing of Marcelo’s father or what the man might have been like. Maybe Nicholas was aware of something that made him ask the question.
But Sir Lancelot was back-pedaling as fast as he could. “Never mind all that. I shouldn’t have said a thing about it. All I was trying to convey was that Marcelo doesn’t want to abandon Lord Mordecai in this any more than he wants to be separated from his wife. If push came to shove, he’d choose to protect his wife, because that’s the duty of a husband. But since Lady Clara will be relatively safe atop that insufferable dragon, Marcelo feels that he can accompany Mordecai in the ground attack.”
“A ground attack?” Walt asked. “That seems... perilous.”
Sir Lancelot tipped his small head upward and sniffled. “It is.”
“Then why don’t they do something else? Couldn’t they ride the firedrakes or something?”
Gertrude shook her head. “Grand-mère would never allow it. You weren’t here for when the sorcerers kidnapped Nando and we rescued him and returned with a dozen firedrakes, so I guess you wouldn’t have heard her outrage. Firedrakes aren’t large enough to comfortably carry the weight of a person. It’s too much for them.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I thought you were raised with magic,” I said to Walt before I could think better of it.
“Having a bunch of firedrakes and a dragon running around isn’t exactly common, not even in magical circles.”
“Oh.” That went to prove how little I still knew about the magical world. Now that I realized the environment at the academy wasn’t exactly normal, it became clear that I understood even less.
“Won’t they be extremely vulnerable on their approach?” Nando asked. Papá had taught him some things about battle. Almost all that I’d learned about fighting had been through books—and not magical ones at that.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Sir Lancelot said.
“Surely they’re planning on having Clara do something,” Gertrude said.
“That’s exactly what they’re planning, and that’s also another reason why your sister is flying above the horses.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “What exactly will Clara be able to do to help in their approach?”
Sir Lancelot chuckled, looking too cute for such an intelligent owl. “I don’t think Lady Clara anticipates what she’s going to do. I’ve been around her almost from the very beginning of her discovery of her magic, and she’s never gone about doing something the same way twice.”
That was interesting, but it still didn’t tell me how her abilities might help the exposed p
osition of her husband and the others.
“What do you think she might do?” Marie asked, obviously as curious as I was.
Gertrude only shrugged, but Sir Lancelot said, “In the past she’s moved the earth beneath horses, and she’s whipped air against sorcerers attacking atop firedrakes. She’s even made a lake bubble from what I hear. I’m sure she’ll come up with something.”
“Wow,” I said.
Sir Lancelot nodded knowingly. “It is pretty impressive, I’m in full agreement. In all my years, even those I was stuck in that painting with that intolerable witch, I’ve never seen or heard of anything quite like it.”
I looked at Nando with questions scrawled across my face. What painting? What intolerable witch? What on earth was the little owl talking about?
But Sir Lancelot had moved on. “I think that’s why everyone is so interested in seeing what you can do.”
When nobody spoke or moved, I looked up and noticed those wide, yellow eyes on me.
“What? Me?”
“Yes, most definitely you. You’re the first one to come along since Lady Clara and accidentally do powerful magic.”
When I didn’t say anything right away, he added, “In case you hadn’t realized it, Lady Isa, it isn’t common for a witch to be able to open portals without spells. It’s unheard of to be able to transport because you viewed a place in your memories. What’s even more uncommon is for an untrained witch to be able to do both things.”
The fresh reminder of my unusual abilities only caused me to freak out more. What if I accidentally portaled away or something when the first wave of magicians needed me? What if I did something else, equally unpredictable as landing in Timout by accident, while Elwin was calling me?
Nando asked, “Why do they want Isa to come along on a second wave of attack, should it become necessary? What do they expect her to contribute?”
“I’m not entirely certain. No one said exactly. But if she managed to return from the dead, I suspect she has some more surprises in store for us yet.”
“Hmph” was all I could come up with to say. Suddenly I felt faint, as if the pressure placed upon me was truly too much for my body to handle. “I need to sit down,” I whispered to Nando, who scrambled to help me to the ground. I was thankful Arianne had the foresight to allow us girls to skip our usual dresses. Trousers were much better for what we were doing, and I silently regretted the fact that they were considered unladylike in nearly every occasion of life. Boys had so many things easy, and they didn’t even realize it.
“Are you quite all right?” Sir Lancelot asked, turning my way, but his attention was soon distracted.
Humbert took a few steps forward and opened his long wings.
“Careful, Lord Brave,” Sir Lancelot said. “That dragon tries to get me every time.”
“I don’t think he’ll be able to reach you,” Marie said, trying to reassure him.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” The owl scrunched his feathery forehead, somewhat narrowing his huge eyes. “That dragon has it out for me.”
“I don’t think so,” Nicholas said. “Dragons aren’t like that. They wouldn’t care about a small owl.”
Sir Lancelot snorted, clearly affronted at the offhanded reference to his diminutive size, but Nicholas didn’t bother apologizing or looking at him.
“You obviously don’t know this dragon, Nicholas.” I had no idea whether Nicholas carried any kind of title, but I was aware that Sir Lancelot was particularly fond of using titles in proper address. A stickler for etiquette, if Sir Lancelot had called the boy he’d recently met by his first name only, I suspected he intended it as a slight.
“I know plenty about dragons.” Nicholas hadn’t theoretically said anything wrong, but I wanted him to be quiet. I had the feeling I wasn’t going to like him much. He seemed far too full of himself for the academy.
“Hm, well you don’t know this one.” Sir Lancelot didn’t take his attention from Humbert. “You might want to take a few steps back, Lord Brave.”
“We’re far enough away, I think. Don’t you?” Brave said.
Just then, Humbert stretched his wings to their full capacity, causing some of the magicians to quickly move out of the way.
“See, he’s trying to get me,” Sir Lancelot squeaked, and if I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I might’ve thought the owl was exaggerating.
But Humbert directed the tip of his wing straight at Sir Lancelot and tapped the pygmy bird in the chest.
Brave hustled out of reach after that, as I trained my gaze on Humbert. He was pretending not to look at the owl, but I had no idea how far the range of vision of a dragon extended with those vertical slits for eyes.
When the dragon chuffed, then took off in flight, suddenly far more coordinated in his movements so that he didn’t touch or hurt another creature in his departure, I thought Sir Lancelot had a point.
“See!” He aimed a wing at the dragon as Humbert pumped his wings and rose. “He has it out for me! He always has.”
Nando crouched over me, turning his back to the owl so he could hide his smile. “I think the dragon really did do that on purpose,” he whispered to me.
But Sir Lancelot was an owl after all, and he had the hearing of an owl, even if he resembled a petite man in every other way. “Of course he did,” the bird raged. “He always does that.”
“It might have been an accident,” said Marie, the only one to bother with the argument.
“My foot that was an accident! If you’ll be kind enough to forgive my harsh language, Lady Marie. That dragon is up to no good. I don’t know why Lord Gustave and Lady Arianne fawn over him the way they do.”
I did. The dragon was magnificent. It didn’t much matter whether or not Sir Lancelot was right about the dragon’s mischievous nature, he was a king among beasts. He all but blocked out the sun as he spiraled upward and Sir Lancelot, continuing to express his outrage in all sorts of ways, went back to preening his upset feathers.
The rest of the magicians began mounting their horses, and even the magnificent dragon faded into the background.
“Aren’t you going to go say farewell to your parents?” Marie asked Nicholas.
“Why should I? They could’ve come to see me. But they won’t. Simon and Angelica are there. That’s all that will matter.”
Wow, bitter much? I immediately fell into judgment, then stopped myself. I didn’t know Nicholas’ story. Perhaps he had reason to feel this way, though it would’ve been nice if he didn’t.
Mordecai, Marcelo, and Giselle nudged their horses to the front while Mathieu and Sylvia led the rest of the firedrakes into the sky.
On impulse, I telegraphed a message to Elwin. Be careful! It was probably a bit ridiculous considering he was a scaled, fire-breathing creature, but I couldn’t help myself; I was growing fond of the enigmatic firedrake.
His answer arrived swiftly, settling my worries that I might not be able to hear him when I needed to. You and I both have a fresh chance at living. I won’t be wasting it.
I wasn’t reassured because I couldn’t tell if that meant he would be careful or foolhardy because every moment of his life was a bonus.
But too quickly he joined the others in the sky and made his way toward Humbert, who circled directly above.
Count Vabu opened a portal off to the side, took Priscilla by the hand, and they both stepped through, the portal closing only seconds after the vampire had created it.
“Why would they portal?” I asked. “Won’t that draw attention?”
I only half expected an answer. The others seemed as distracted as I was by the sudden movement all around us.
“I’m sure they have a reason,” Brave said, surprising me that he bothered to answer. Neither he nor Gertrude had gone out of their way to be welcoming to us. But neither had they been mean. Maybe I’d misread him. A thousand different things could be going through his mind, and I probably could only guess at a few. He was a wizard after all, and what did I u
ltimately know about wizardry?
“If Maurisse is alerted to the portal—”
“Which is likely,” Gertrude said, interrupting Brave.
“They might be doing it as an intentional distraction.”
Madame Pimlish glowed and sparkled, crackled and popped while Wizard Meedles mounted a large stallion, one capable of handling his massive frame. I briefly wondered why the academy would even have horses that big in their stables. Maybe they prepared for the unexpected, and if they did, it was smart given all that had transpired since my arrival.
By the time Wizard Meedles was in the saddle, a pig with orange curls framing her face stood immediately next to him, just out of stomping range of the horse, and eight hellhounds grouped on his other side.
Then Giselle clicked at her horse with her tongue, and she set off with Mordecai and Marcelo next to her. Wizard Meedles, Madame Pimlish in her pig form, and the hellhounds followed immediately behind.
“Are you not going to give your mum a hug, Nicky?” Delilah called out, waving at her eldest son to hurry.
I couldn’t decide whether Nicholas looked surprised or relieved to be called over, or maybe just embarrassed to be called Nicky in front of the rest of us.
“Hurry, son,” Trevor said, and Nicholas walked toward them without glancing back at us.
Whatever the parents said to their children, they said it for them alone. They embraced Nicholas, planted quick kisses on the heads of all three of their children, leapt onto their horses with more agility than I figured them for, and bolted out of there, catching up with the others in no time.
In the wake of so much commotion and tension, the aftermath of it was dense, the sudden silence nearly oppressive.
I attempted a joke. “It’s easy as pie. They’ll be back in no time.” It was immediately obvious that my joke had failed miserably. I didn’t care. I was ready to jump out of my skin.