by SL Perrine
“Wait, that’s what happened the other night?” Nolan asked. “Friday, right? When you went to help with the protection spell?” He pointed to Ty.
“Our magic linked again. I don’t think anyone else in Pylira knows about that,” I said to Nolan and Chase.
“Except one person, but she’s not in Pylira. She’s here. She would have felt it too.” I looked at Ty as he spoke.
Nolan and Chase looked at us, confused. “Linked? What does that even mean?” Chase finally asked.
“Mother said it was a rare occurrence. That’s as much as I remember about it,” Ty said to them.
“It means we're soul mates,” I added.
Nolan quickly produced a gagging sound and pointed his finger at the back of his throat.
“Think what you will, but I remember being told I was a powerful maga. I remember my power. Now link that with a prince from another clan and what do you have? Ourobus knew what he was doing when he betrothed us. I just don’t know what he thought he would get out of it, but he had a plan all along.”
“Well, right now, we have to keep on the problem at hand.” Ty motioned to the welcome sign.
“There is something keeping luce maga out. It would make sense that Ourobus found out the passage would be closed and sent someone spying for him here.” Ty looked around at our surroundings. “But 'who' is the question. He’s had a hundred years to sway someone to his side. Someone who used to be on our side; who wanted his reign of terror ended.”
“Doesn’t it make more sense that they knew about the curse before it happened and did something to safeguard memories of some of those that would be sent here? So they could help from this side? They had a year to enact whatever plan they had.” I made an observation.
“So then, maybe they knew they couldn’t keep you two apart,” Nolan started. “So they’re keeping you together.”
“Yeah, maybe they’re here to keep you both stuck in Cherry Valley,” Chase continued. “If your allies can’t reach you, then you can’t get the passage open,” he finished his thought.
“He’s right. My father would have known there would have been no way to keep us apart. However, we are the only ones who know about our link. He has no idea how powerful we are.” Ty looked around again. “The question is how they would keep a large group of maga from getting into a city?”
“They would have put a barrier around the town, so none of the luce maga would be able to get in, but they could,” Chase guessed. “That’s why we’ve been seeing them in town, but none of the others that should have also made it here.” As he said it, I was sure he meant all the new faces we had been seeing. Since men didn’t have magia, it would make sense to create a border to hold maga out and allow all the buio in.
“Yes, but they haven’t been bothering me.” Then it hit me. “They’re not doing anything because they’re keeping tabs on us until they can figure out how to get the passage open and bring me back,” I said. “Your father wants to finish what he started. He’s going to try to kill me before we can break the curse.”
“If you die in Pylira, you will not be reborn. That will also break the curse.” Ty grabbed my hand. “That’s how he wins.” He looked into my eyes and fisted his hands into my hair. “I will not let that happen.” His eyes burned into mine, and I felt the love we shared. Oh, how I’d missed him.
Chapter -25-
The fog rolled in so quickly that Chris couldn’t see where she stepped. She held onto Tabby, who seemed to have developed a knack for walking blind, but Chris still managed to stumble three times and sprained her ankle. A strange turn of events, Chris thought, since Tabby was usually the klutz between the two of them.
They had reached their destination, or at least got to a point they could see their destination. The sign wasn’t so far away they couldn’t see it. Its big, bold green letters were clear enough to read:
Cherry Valley
Est. 1810
Population 6,856
It was getting to the sign that became a problem. The more they walked, the farther it felt. They had walked two more days since first finding the sign, and it still didn’t look as if they were any closer.
“It’s spelled! It has to be!” Chris yelled while Farlow looked after her ankle. It seemed his specialty wasn’t just cracking jokes. He was a healing fairy as well.
As far as Tabby was concerned, he was just an annoying traveling companion. She really didn’t like all his chatter.
“Talking keeps the mind off of more pressing matters,” he said after the first full day of walking to nowhere. That had been his answer to why he never shut up.
“Said the man who seems to have a philosophy for everything,” Tabby snapped.
Chris would have been happy if he had talked for a month straight. She liked being distracted, especially with their current situation. She also loved the sound of his voice. She found it soothing but then decided it was just an effect of fae magia. Her own hard exterior had even softened since his coming out.
“So how long are we going to walk before we give up and agree we're not getting any closer?” Chris tried to get back some of the authority she had when her and her friend started their journey. She tried not to show the pain on her face as she went.
“You’re still limping. Does it hurt?” Farlow asked Chris as they made their way through the fog.
“Just feels a bit bruised.” She stopped walking for a minute to rub at her calf muscle. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks as he laid his hand on her leg to inspect it and hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“Here, lean on me.” He pulled her close to him and wrapped an arm around her waist. Chris let him take most of her weight as they continued through the field.
“I swear, it doesn’t look any closer. Isn’t there a way to find out if there is a spell at work?” Tabby’s mood began to mimic a small child.
“Yes, but we would need someone with exceptional skills to find such magic,” Farlow answered.
“Why is that?” Chris asked.
“If this is a spell, then it must have been a powerful maga, not a novice. We would need someone equally powerful to overcome it.” Farlow held on a bit tighter.
“You’re a fairy prince,” Tabby pointed out the obvious.
“Yes, but fairies are not nearly as powerful as maga. We simply have a different kind of magia than you do.” He looked into Chris’s eyes, and she felt warmth where she had been cold from the damp evening.
“Well, if they are here, it could be an entire group. You know, to protect themselves,” Tabby insisted.
“Yes, but they wouldn’t make it so it would work on maga, would they? I mean, they have to know more of us are on our way, but if it works on maga, then it would work on them too, wouldn’t it? I mean, after all, they’re maga too, just the bad kind,” Chris asked between steps.
“You would think so.” Farlow gave her a quick grin. “There would be a way for them to spell it so they would be able to pass through.”
“Wait.” Tabby put her hand out in front of them. “What is that?” she asked, pointing off to the right of the sign, which still wasn’t any closer.
They stopped walking and had to squint against the falling light of the sun. It took a minute to make it out, but they could see a small, bright white light, which appeared to be growing in size and illumination.
“I think we have found what we were looking for.” Chris looked at Farlow, who winked and let her go. “Be right back.” And like that, he was in the air. His wings turned a new shade of blue with each flap until they were the most vibrant blue Chris had ever seen.
“What is that?” Nolan pointed to the sky.
“From this distance, it looks like a hawk, but I’m gonna bet it’s our fairy friend,” Ty answered.
“Fairy friend?” I asked.
“Yeah, Hogarth said they had a friend helping. One who can get and give messages without the passage, remember? It’s what made you drag us all here. I bet its Farlow,” he sai
d, pointing to the blue wings flapping in the air.
“Hold on.” Ty held both of my hands tighter, and the light illuminated brighter still. We both raised our clenched hands to the sky and the white light beamed to the heavens and struck something. His eyes bore into mine. “Draw from nature, Renee.” The light fell around us as if it were breaking down an invisible barrier surrounding Cherry Valley; a dome surrounding our town.
“It is Farlow. It’s nice to have friends!” Nolan exclaimed as Farlow touched down in front of them.
“Your Highness, it’s unbelievably nice to see the two of you,” Farlow greeted them as two more figures walked downhill from the line of trees beyond the field. “I was just saying we needed some big magia players on our side.”
“Welcome to the game,” Nolan said to Farlow.
“It’s nice to be involved. This time. I see you’ve found her, and it’s about time,” Farlow said, giving me a wink.
“Forgive me, where are my manners?” Farlow stepped forward and bowed, and when he stood back up, I saw her. I didn’t recognize her face at first. I could see the hardships of what she must have lived through over there. I only had to see the silver locket around her neck.
“Tabitha,” I whispered in a breathless voice before my memory cleared more. I pulled my hands from Ty and ran to her. Without hesitating, I threw my arms around my dearest friend. “It worked! You’re here!” I screamed, still breathless as I lunged at her.
“Oh my, I was afraid I’d never see you again!” Tabby exclaimed, on the verge of tears. She looked as the rest of our group caught up to me. “Hello Tyson.”
Ty looked stunned for a minute, then regained his composure. “Hello… little sister.”
Appendix I
The Language
Lucelight
Buiodark
Stregone sorcerer
Maga sorceress
Cacciatori di magasorceress hunters
Tra mondein-between worlds
Principessa stregone sorcerer princess
Il principethe prince
Regina madrequeen mother
Magiamagic
Copricapohead piece
Meititorereaper
Bestie di ombrashadow beasts
Pronunciation
Ourobus (Ar-o-bus)
Ormshire (Arm-shire)
Enjoy a sneak peek into Book Two:
The Curse of Ormshire
In the beginning...
After months of arguing with her father, Princess Renella Pyliro decided today, her last day, she would properly beg her father not to send her away. She had spent the last year making sure her father was aware of her disdain for the engagement. He reacted in kind by telling her it was out of his hands; a king never goes back on a contract.
Renella burst into tears before opening the door to her father’s study and set to work on her last available attempt to sway him otherwise. “Do I have to?” Renella rolled her eyes at her father, but quickly recovered herself. One lesson she learned from her sister growing up was never roll your eyes at a king.
“Yes, you must. These are affairs of State, and this is not the first time you’ve heard of it.” He looked at his eldest daughter with a stern eye.
“But just think how much you will miss me.” She tried to compel him as her father and not her king.
“Renella!”
“No sir, it’s not the first I’ve heard of it. I do not have to be happy about it. He’s a monster.” She stomped her foot and turned her back to the man who was about to give her away, her plan of begging forgotten.
“His father very well may be, but surely not him. From what I hear from your mother, the young lord is nothing like his father. I’m sure you will do well.”
That was the end of the conversation. King Rowan turned his back and returned his attention to more matters of State. His daughter, knowing she had lost, left his study to find the one other person she could think to complain to… her mother.
Renella and her mother shared a bond like no other. She had always been able to get her mother’s help in swaying her father to change his mind, so she spent the whole of the next hour looking for her. Some maids said she was in Renella’s room, making ready for her daughter’s departure.
She walked the halls of the palace, looking. She followed the stone walls as they curved and bent from one massive room to the next. The windows were framed with heavy red drapes, all made of velvet. There was a lantern lit in each of the rooms, so the palace windows never looked dark. The king wanted it to be approachable for everyone who needed to seek his help. Renella had always marveled at how her father ruled the four realms. He was always open and accommodating; something she loved about him until the business of her betrothal came up.
She had been thirteen when she learned of Lord Ourobus’s proposal to wed his eldest son to her. They would someday be king and queen of the realms. Until that day came, they would live in Ormshire. Renella was never fond of the idea of leaving her home. None more so than the day she was scheduled to leave.
Renella thought surely her mother would not hide from her before she was to leave. She would want to say goodbye to her eldest daughter before she was sent away. When Renella was ready to give up, she finally found her in the rose garden, her usual retreat.
“Mother! You have got to speak with him!” Renella demanded of her mother.
Karen sat with her back to her daughter. She knew it was only a matter of time before her child came to her for help. “I’m terribly sorry, my dear, but in this alone, I cannot help you. I can have no say in it,” she answered her daughter’s plea while still staring at the magnificent array of roses in her garden. Renella walked around her mother to face her and saw the clear teardrops falling atop the rose petals.
“Oh, mother, please do not cry. It was not my intention to upset you.” She lifted a rose from the ground and studied its broken stem. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m just being my usual stubborn self.”
“I’m not worried for you. I was betrothed to your father. I know how this works. I’m just going to miss you. I did not think it was going to be this hard to say goodbye.” She looked at her daughter and studied her for a moment. “I was packing your things this morning, and I came across this,” she said, pulling at a pile of fabric she had been concealing in her lap. “This was your favorite blanket when you were small. You dragged this thing all over the palace with you.”
“If it will help, mother, it’s yours now. You can carry it with you.” She held her mother’s hand that clutched the blanket.
“Thank you, darling.” She gave Renella’s hand a pat and stood, bringing her daughter with her. “I’m fussing over nothing,” she said while she smoothed her skirts, “and so, might I add, are you.” She pointed a finger at her daughter’s nose. “You’re moving a whole three days’ journey from here. We will see each other again.” Karen hooked her arm with Renella’s and started them on a walk about the garden.
Renella thought of it for a moment, then added to her complaint, “I know, and it’s not the distance that bothers me. I do not even know him, and father wants me to go off and marry him. It’s a barbaric custom.” She chewed her lower lip in frustration.
“I thought the same thing when I was your age. Now look at me. I’m married to a king I happen to love very much. You may very well have the same thing.” Karen cupped her child’s cheek and kissed her forehead.
“You’ve met him, haven’t you?” she asked in earnest.
“Yes, I’ve spent a great deal of time with him over the years. He’s a lovely boy. He will make a fine husband for you,” she said as she tried to flatten Renella’s wild red ringlets, a feat that could never be mastered.
Karen had always wondered where her daughter’s bright red hair came from. Her husband always said, “It’s her spirit shining through.” As much as she loved him, she would laugh every time he said it. Karen had always thought Renella’s fire red ringlets meant she was the one their prophet
spoke of: “The fire’s heart is all powerful. None can stand as her equal.” It was evident it was not her child. She was grateful both of her daughters were strong and healthy, but she wished Renella had shown signs of magia. As the future Queen of Pylira, it was expected of her. She knew at sixteen years of age, it was more than likely a sign Renella would not be a maga. Her youngest daughter, Rosella, developed her magia at eight years old. If a child of luce had not shown any signs of having powers by their eleventh year of birth, it was likely they would have none. Had Rosella been born with the same fire red ringlets, Karen may have thought it to be her. The dark auburn was, thus far, the family trait.
Renella knew her mother was right, but she did not want to be happy about leaving, so she was not. She had decided to carry the habitual act of sulking all the way to Ormshire Castle, the home of her betrothed. However, the three-day journey vowed to keep her busy enough to forget about her sullen mood entirely. She had never been more than five miles from the palace walls, she observed, as the gates lifted for her departure. She sat forward on her seat inside the wooden carriage and looked out at the land as far as she could see. The heart stone shone bright under the palace keep and gave the lands a rich, vibrant glow. There were fairies and birds hovering about as people strolled and rode horses from here to there. The streams of water were the clearest of blue and full of rainbow-colored fish. She marveled in all she saw, and like that, her sullen mood was forgotten.
The journey was long and tiresome. Renella had to think of games to play alone as she rode. Occasionally, to stretch her feet, she asked the king's guards to allow her to walk a bit. They were hesitant at first, but she simply reminded them they were the best of the guard and they would be able to keep her safe. After she took a tumble over a small pebble, they quickly ushered her to the carriage for the remainder of the journey.
Ormshire Castle looked as any other on the outside. The big gate in the front was only reachable by a long drawbridge, which had been lowered for her arrival. Renella compared her new home to Hearthstone Palace as she entered the grounds. The windows were not lit from within. As she looked around, she noticed they were either dark or covered. The tallest turret was not nearly as high as the one she grew up playing in, but then again, she was not there to play.