by Dyan Chick
“It means that your brother should be the one who is afraid.”
21
Saffron and I made our way through the camp the next morning. It was more crowded as family and friends were arriving to watch the trials that started tomorrow. Most of the people around us were speculating about the thunderstorm last night. My cheeks hurt from smiling.
Saffron and I parted ways with quick goodbyes. She was attending to Raven business and I was headed to see Master Flanders. The only downside to my success with the thunderstorm was the fact that it had cut our lesson short. I hoped his schedule wasn’t too full today. I knew it was my last chance to learn from him. Once the trials started, he’d be too busy. Then there was Max’s impending visit hanging over me as it drew nearer. I rubbed the back of my neck. What would I do when he got here? What would I say to him?
Max was still so unfamiliar to me. He was my brother, but I knew nothing about him. All I knew was that he was completely absorbed by his ambition to become king and that he was a powerful sorcerer. I’d never seen him use his powers, but he was spoken of in high regard. Would he use his powers if he lost his temper? Should I be afraid of him? I thought back to the night in the tent after I unlocked my element. Max was furious, but he never acted like he would hurt me. Maybe I’m overthinking this. If I’m honest with Max about my powers, I might be surprised about his reaction.
While I knew I had to get out of the marriage he had arranged, I had yet to come up with a plan. So far, all I had was the hope that Max would be so impressed by my skills as a sorcerer, he’d find me valuable enough to keep with him. It didn’t feel like enough to convince him, but it was the best I had. I have to learn more.
I found Master Flanders sitting in a chair outside his tent. A gray barn owl was perched on his shoulder and he was stroking her feathers. He smiled as he saw me approach.
“Good morning,” I said. “Who’s your friend?”
He stroked the bird again. “This is Juniper. She just returned from delivering a message for me.” He held out a bit of food for the owl and she snapped up up. “I’m afraid she’s a bit spoiled.” He whispered to her and she flew away.
“She’s a beautiful bird,” I said.
“She is. Owls are faithful creatures. Less likely to allow interceptions of important messages. Not as pretty as doves, and not as frightening as ravens. Most loyal, though.”
He grunted as she pushed himself to standing.
How old is he?
“I was hoping you’d return. I have some time this morning, and again this afternoon. After that, I’m afraid you’ll be on your own.” He pulled the flap of his tent back and I ducked inside.
His tent had two squishy chairs, a bookshelf filled with books, and a bed piled high with blankets. He sat in one of the chairs and waved me to the other. I sat, curious about what I was going to learn.
“You are headed into politics and court life. What I’m going to teach you today are perhaps some of the most important spells you can learn. I want you to keep the movements small. I’ll exaggerate them when I do them so you can see, but the goal it that you could do these under a table or even while seated on a throne and nobody would be able to tell.”
I nodded once. I tried to imagine what types of spells I would need to do from under a table and fell short.
He rubbed his thumb along the tips of his middle and index finger and then squeezed his hand into a fist. Then he released it. He looked at me. “Tell me your name, please.”
I wrinkled my brow. He knows my name. As the word Wilona formed in my mind, my vision blurred and I felt a stabbing pain in my head. I squinted. I couldn’t get the word out. Etta. I thought of the less familiar name and the pain ceased. I opened my mouth and tried to say Wilona. The pain returned. I couldn’t do it. I tried the other name. “Etta.”
The pain was gone. “What was that?”
“An honesty spell. Makes it painful for somebody to answer with anything other than the most true response to the question. And while you have known yourself as Wilona, it wasn’t the truest answer for the question since it was not your given name.”
My mind raced. This was a useful spell. There was only one problem. “If I use this, the person I’ve performed the spell on will know I did it.”
He nodded. “That is correct. That’s why it’s not a party trick and is saved for the most dire circumstances.”
“Go ahead and try it. I’ll tell you if it works,” he said.
I hesitated. I didn’t want to make somebody else experience that kind of pain. “Are you sure?”
He nodded.
I copied the movements with my fingers, working to make them more subtle than he had done. Then I tried to think of a question. What could I ask? I went with something innocent enough. “How old are you?”
He laughed, then winced.
I wasn’t happy to see the look of pain that crossed his face, but I felt a rush of pride. I did it.
“I’m 97 years old,” he said.
I blinked a few times. I’d never met anybody that old. He didn’t seem like he could possibly be over 70. Was he bypassing the spell?
“It’s the truth,” he said. “You look like you don’t believe me. The spell holds up. Nobody can answer untruthfully once you’ve cast it on them. However, it only applies to a single question so you’ll have to be very careful.”
Don’t trust anybody. Sir Henry’s words had stayed with me since I left his home. Master Flanders seemed to agree with him, otherwise he wouldn’t be teaching me this spell. What am I missing? Something nagged at me, as if there were pieces of a puzzle waiting to be solved.
“Do you think I’ll need this spell soon?” I asked.
Master Flanders steepled his fingers under his chin. “You might. We live in dangerous times and it’s hard to know who to trust.”
For a moment, I was the scared girl behind the aviary hearing the traitors talk about the letters. I felt safe when I was at the Raven camp, I trusted too many people. “Is there anybody specific you think I should be worried about? I mean, how do I know who I can trust?”
Master Flanders leaned back in his chair. “If it were me, I’d start out by not trusting anybody. Let them earn your trust.”
Just like Sir Henry, Master Flanders was warning me against trusting anybody. Neither of the men even asked for my trust. In a way, that made me want to trust them. The only person who had asked for my trust so far had been Max. That same uncomfortable chill went through me again. Why was I feeling this way toward him? It had to be the lack of control. He wanted to control everything in my life. Of course that would make anybody unhappy. Trying to ignore the nagging feeling inside, I returned my attention to Master Flanders. “What else can you teach me?”
I spent the next several hours learning small tricks to help me to determine if there was anybody hiding in a room, if there was poison in my food, and how to keep somebody from speaking at all. I had a feeling these weren’t spells that were taught to most new sorcery students.
After our session, I was exhausted. Saffron was right about the drain that magic could have. I collapsed into my bed for a nap.
I woke on my own to an empty tent. Saffron and Ashton were both still out. I stretched and peeked out of the tent flap to gauge the time. The sun was low enough that it might be time for dinner. Maybe I’d be able to meet up with Saffron or Ashton.
There was an energy filling the camp that I hadn’t felt before. The hair on my arms stood on end. What is going on? People were moving quickly, with purpose. The typical leisurely pace of the evening meal was gone. The expressions I caught on faces were tense, worried, and afraid. My heart pounded faster. I picked up my pace and searched for a familiar face.
Finally, I saw the back of a gray-haired man in blue robes. I hurried over to him. “What’s going on?”
Master Flanders spun around to face me. His face was tight with worry. “Terrible news, I’m afraid. The king has declared war on Sardina. He’s gatherin
g volunteers from all across the kingdom to join his army. We received word of a few towns who resisted his orders, they were burned to the ground. No survivors.”
I couldn’t breathe. Sardina. This is my fault. I was supposed to marry the prince of Sardina and the king must have found out. Now he was killing more innocent people because of me. How many more people were going to die while he hunted me?
Saffron came around a tent in front of me and she placed her hand over her heart when she saw me. She addressed Master Flanders first. “Did you hear?” Her voice was higher pitched than usual.
“Something new?” he asked.
She nodded then looked to me. She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath. Whatever she had to say looked to be causing her distress.
“What is it?” I asked.
She swallowed. “Your village was one of the villages that were destroyed.”
No. I covered my mouth with my hand. This can’t be happening. I’d been raised there. I knew those people. None of them did anything wrong. They didn’t have anything to do with any of this. They just lived there, wanting to be left alone.
Saffron looked at me, brow creased in sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”
I stumbled backward toward the edge of a tent and crumbled to the ground. I held my knees to my chest and let the tears fall. How had my life gotten so bad so quickly? “I should have just let them kill me,” I whispered.
“Why would you say that?” Saffron knelt down and smoothed my hair.
I sniffed and wiped my nose with my hand. “Too many people have died for me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You think this is about you? Why do you think he’s acting like this? For the first time in 15 years, the people have hope. You offer hope that things can start to change. You offer an alternative to his tyranny. He’s been killing off our people for 15 years already. He’ll never stop. Even if he killed you, he’d never stop.”
“I’m nothing.” I wiped my tears on my sleeve. “I’m just some girl who had royal parents. Why isn’t he going after Max?”
She shook her head. “I’m really not sure. Maybe he thinks you’re the easier target.”
“We can’t fight back.” My cheeks were burning with rage. “We can’t beat him on a battlefield. This is never going to end.”
Master Flanders’ knees cracked as he knelt down next to me. “Why are you thinking of battle strategies that would involve an army when you don’t have one?”
I stared at him in complete confusion.
“If you want to beat somebody who was great at chess, and they let you choose the game, would you choose chess? Or would you find a new game to play?”
He’s right. We don’t have an army. The king thinks he’s invincible. He wouldn’t even worry about a group of rebels attacking him. He prevented us from gaining an army, but we had other resources. A plan began to form in my mind. “We can’t beat him at his own game. But we already know all of his plays. We know where he’ll go and what he’ll do. We know he wants to get to me and that he’ll send men to destroy the places that help me. How many men does he send to these towns?”
Saffron’s grim face started to lighten. “I’m not sure, we’d have to do some research, but I think it’s a single company, around 100 men.”
“We might not be able to take out an army, but can we take on 100?” I asked her. “Especially with a few sorcerers thrown into the mix.”
“Master Flanders!” A heavyset man, face red with exertion, shouted as he came running toward us. He stopped in front of us and doubled over, panting. “Master. Flanders. They. Sent. Me. To…”
Master Flanders rested his hand on the man’s back. “Easy there, Catch your breath, then talk.”
The man nodded gratefully and took big gulps of air as he tried to steady his breathing. Finally able to speak, he began. “I was sent to find you. The other judges have requested an emergency session. They want to start the testing immediately so they can end the trials early. They need a vote by all of the judges.”
“Thank you, Frederick.” Master Flanders smiled at him. “I’ll walk back with you so we can begin the vote.”
Master Flanders and Frederick walked away. My knees were bouncing as strategies spun inside my head. For the first time, I started to believe we could win. We could find a way to beat the king.
“When does Max arrive?” I knew we couldn’t make any decisions or do anything without his approval. I’ll convince him. We can take down the king together.
“He is supposed to be here tomorrow. I imagine he’ll be here sooner with the turn of events.” She paused a moment. “I spoke with Master Flanders this afternoon.” She gave me a nudge with her elbow. “He says you have some potential as a sorcerer. It’s just too bad you’re too old to go through formal training.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Too old?”
She nodded. “He told me about your talk with him. How he was able to teach you a few skills but doesn’t think you will have the time to really master the higher level magic.”
I was completely confused. That was not what we talked about at all. I almost said something to object but caught myself. If Master Flanders was telling Saffron this, he had a purpose. For some reason, he didn’t want her to know what I could do. He didn’t trust her. I had put my trust so blindly in Saffron, I couldn’t find any reason not to trust her. But maybe it wasn’t Saffron he didn’t trust. Maybe it was somebody Saffron talked to. She reported everything to Max. It means that your brother should be the one who is afraid. Things were getting very complicated. I had only known Master Flanders for two days, but he hadn’t given me any reason to doubt him. Sir Henry’s words constantly haunted me. How was I supposed to know who to trust?
22
I was seated between Saffron and a thin woman with bright red hair in the spectator stands. For the first time in the history of the sorcery trials, they were beginning the testing in the evening. The upcoming war and the destruction of our own kingdom were weighing heavily on the crowd. Some visitors who had arrived only yesterday had already gone home. Those who remained behind were more somber than they had been on their arrival. Saffron assured me that there was nothing we could do in the two days it would take for the trials to wind down. I was thankful to be safe from the king’s wrath for the moment, but felt guilty nonetheless.
To make up for the lack of sunlight, the judges created a series of glowing orbs of fire around the trial field. Now that I was learning sorcery myself, I was even more excited to see what the trials entailed. Ashton would be taking the field for his exhibition exam tonight. As far as I knew, the only thing he could do was to summon a wall of fire. I wondered what else I would see from him.
I fidgeted in my seat, impatient for it to start. I leaned in to Saffron and whispered. “How does this work?”
“Each candidate will have 10 minutes to show off their 4 best skills. Then the judges score them to determine if they pass.”
“Do they have any rules or skills they have to show?” I wondered about the skills Master Flanders had told me were standard for beginning sorcerers. Were there standard test spells?
Saffron considered for a moment. “I don’t think so.”
I turned back to the empty field and the floating orbs of flames. I need to ask Ashton how to do that. Butterflies filled my stomach when I thought about him. I didn’t get to wish him luck before the test. Everything happened so quickly.
Sir Henry’s words echoed through my mind. For a brief moment, I wondered if I should worry about placing my trust in Ashton but shook it off. Sir Henry had also told me to trust my instincts and I didn’t get any bad feelings about Ashton or Saffron. A nagging feeling inside me kept bringing up Max. He’s my brother. Just because he isn’t the most friendly person doesn’t mean I should be suspicious of him. No matter what I told myself, the bad feelings kept returning. It must have been because of the marriage issue. How could my brother be the one person in this whole mess that I don’t trust? I rubb
ed my eyes, trying to clear my head. Maybe Saffron could tell me some good things about Max to help these feelings go away. Just as I was building up the courage to ask some questions about Max, a girl walked into the meadow.
She had black hair that hung to her waist and tan skin. She wore a simple purple robe and walked with confidence. She stopped in the center of the field and turned to face the judges who were seated under the stands. We wouldn’t be able to see any of the judges actions or responses from our seats above them.
My eyes darted between the girl’s face and her hands. I didn’t want to miss any of her movements when she began her demonstration. She bowed low, then stood and placed her hands over her heart. She stood still for several long moments. I looked around at the people in the stands. Most of them had their eyes glued to her, so I trained my gaze on her again. Finally, she lifted her hands, palms flat, over her face and over her head. As they traveled over her face and hair, her appearance changed. Her skin tone was several shades lighter and her hair went from black to blonde.
My mouth dropped open. How was that possible? The change only held briefly and her appearance reverted back to where it had started. She turned to the side and dropped to her knees. She rested her hands flat on the grass and then lowered her face until it was almost at the ground. She sat back up and waited. While I was staring at her, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I glanced toward the movement and saw several rabbits headed toward her. They circled her before leaving again.
She raised her hands from a lowered position and the rocks on the ground around her began to hover in the air. She pointed in various directions and the rocks followed her finger to land softly where she indicated. A bell rang below me. A signal that she had time for only one more spell. She smiled and lifted the hood of her robes over her head, then she disappeared. I gasped. How did she do that?
A moment later, she reappeared, standing in the same place she had vanished from. I wondered if it was a spell like the silence spell where a field is placed around you.