The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1)

by Blaire Hammond

  There must be a flaw somewhere within the system. He thought. There just must.

  Stella was pacing furiously back and forth as she tried to formulate a solution to their growing problem.

  ‘Laura, we promised we would do everything we could to get her back. But you must know, this is a very dangerous situation. If she is capable of the things you say she is then she has put herself at terrible risk of being caught. This must not be passed on to anyone, okay? Not even the Forces, if they found out she would be sentenced to death, or even worse; hell. Even here in Lastrala they would. This must stay between us.’

  Laura nodded and her stomach churned with worry. She swallowed and took in a shaky breath, ‘I won’t say a word,’ she promised. ‘Why are they taking her overseas?’ Laura whispered as Stella’s pacing slowed to a stop.

  Leo shook his head, ‘I can’t answer that. What we need is to find out who within the Wicked is behind the kidnapping. Then maybe we can begin to formulate some idea of what they want and why.’

  ‘Maybe if we can find out where they are going we can follow them? See what is there and that might give us an idea of what it is that they want,’ Laura suggested, ‘and then we can trace it back to who it is.’

  Leo and Stella peered at one another, expressing everything that was left unsaid in that one look.

  They all knew that Laura had something to do with what the Wicked were searching for, but it couldn’t be just her that they wanted. It had to be something much bigger than that. There must be some reason as to why they need her. Why they were willing to kidnap her mother.

  ‘What we need is all the maps we can get. To at least narrow the search down to where she isn’t and where she might be,’ Leo finally said.

  ‘How do we get a hold of so many maps?’ Stella questioned.

  Leo raised an eyebrow, ‘anyone up for a trip?’

  Caspian was sitting peacefully by the fire in the Library when the doors flew open and Drew stumbled in.

  ‘Good God Drew, what are you doing?’ He exclaimed.

  ‘I need to look up something. For school,’ he lied, heading for the last row of books against the back wall.

  ‘Well if this is your attitude towards your school work then I would love to see your enthusiasm for taking out the garbage,’ Caspian commented as he rested his head against the chairs head rest.

  ‘It is not my turn already is it? I thought it was Logan’s?’

  ‘He did it yesterday.’

  ‘Damn it.’

  ‘That’s the spirit.’

  Drew slipped a book from its place, The Book of the Identity Mark. A fitting title.

  ‘What was with the sudden interest in the Guardian job?’ he asked casually as he flipped through the pages.

  ‘Oh, nothing really. I have been looking at possibilities for after the ceremony, and that was one that appealed to me,’ Caspian replied, brushing it off with a shrug.

  ‘Any particular reason?’

  ‘No, not really.’

  Drew ached to ask why Caspian hadn’t discussed it with him, but he didn’t want to push him. As close as they were, he knew Caspian had his boundaries, and if he had wanted to discuss it he would have. Drew knew he would have to let it go and leave it up to Caspian to come to him when he was ready to talk.

  ‘Why are you looking into the Identity Mark?’

  ‘How do you know what book it is?’ Drew asked, surprised.

  ‘Please, I have spent hours each day studying every nook and cranny of this Library. I know every book and their exact location,’ Caspian waved it off.

  ‘Well, I’m just interested, that’s all,’ Drew answered gingerly.

  ‘You already know everything about the Identity Mark. You aced that test,’ Caspian raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Yes, well, I wanted to know more.’

  Caspian shook his head, ‘well, if you are looking for information in great depth on the mark, I suggest the book three down from the one you selected,’ he said, and then quietly rose from his seat and exited the room.

  Drew watched him leave, then took the book Caspian spoke of from its place and sat down on the couch. He flipped it open to the first page and began to read.

  Laura was stepping out of the office when she found Caspian leaving the Library.

  ‘Is everything alright?’ He asked as they met halfway down the hall.

  She looked up at him and knew she couldn’t lie.

  ‘Do you want to go for a walk?’

  Caspian was surprised, ‘sure.’

  The two made their way to the entrance. Caspian passed one of Stella’s coats from the rack to Laura, then secured his own over his shoulders, buttoning it up tight to keep the warmth in.

  They left the Manor, finally allowing Laura to see where she had come to live. The Manor was built high up on a hill that overlooked Corin. They stood on a wooden veranda, three even steps leading to a stone path that wound its way down the hill. To her left, across the green lawn, were stables surrounded by leafless maple trees.

  They took the cobble stone path, Laura admiring the view of the city before them.

  ‘We are a few kilometres out,’ Caspian told her, ‘it is more peaceful out here. But we are close enough to be in the backstreets of Corin in well under 10 minutes. Well, if we speed.’

  Laura grinned, ‘I like it.’

  Caspian lead her down the path to a lake at the bottom of the hill. Willow trees crowded the further side of the lake and their limbs hung over the path, dipping into the glassy blue water. The sun peeked over the top of the trees as it began its descent, indicating that the afternoon was coming to a close.

  ‘Was there a reason you wanted to go for this walk?’ Caspian asked, the two of them following the path around the lakes edge.

  Laura wanted to tell him about her mother. She figured that they would all come along on the trip so what was the use of hiding it from them? But Stella and Leo had told her not to tell anyone.

  She sighed, ‘I guess I just needed to get out of the Manor. Breathe fresh air, feel the wind on my face, you know?’

  Caspian chuckled, ‘well, I am not sure what breathing is like since we don’t need air, but I’m sure it is lovely.’

  Laura was shocked, ‘I don’t believe that you could live without air. How ridiculous! What about blinking? Do you blink?’ Laura stared at him closely and sure enough, Caspian blinked his eyes, ‘hah! You do!’

  Caspian laughed, ‘we still need to keep the dust from our eyes, to, you know, be able to see and all. But the experiment that Erebus performed did something to our organs. Stopped them, yet allowed us to keep living. It was like the Lightening was what controlled us, what kept us alive. Somehow, the need to breathe left us.’

  ‘What about blood? Don’t they all relate somehow? Like you need the oxygen to keep your heart pumping blood or something.’

  ‘Obviously we all know who payed attention in Human Development.’

  Laura laughed, ‘but seriously though?’ she pushed on.

  ‘I don’t really know how it works. But I can guess as much. Our bodies are…undead. I mean, we are alive, our souls are alive, and the Lightening keeps us alive, like a heartbeat of its own, but at the same time our bodies are dead. We still have blood inside us but our organs aren’t needed. We can still be hurt like anyone else as long as it is with gold weapons, although other weapons can still do a little damage. And we still get sick, only there are a few little twists on illnesses and how they affect our bodies.’

  Laura felt a strange surge of unease at his words. ‘I swear I can see you all breathing?’ she insisted.

  ‘Well, in order to smell, we must learn to breathe through our noses. But we train our bodies to automatically do it. If we walked the streets of the human world without doing so then I am sure we would raise a few eyebrows.’

  ‘Hey, if they are looking at you close enough to notice you’re not breathing then I would consider that a compliment,’ Laura said.

  He
chuckled lightly as he looked out across the lake, ‘so I guess part of our bodies work the same and part don’t.’

  ‘Look who payed attention in Wizard Development,’ Laura mocked him.

  He grinned, ‘I deserved that.’

  ‘But does anyone really know how your bodies work?’ Laura asked.

  ‘I think those within the Spirit World are too afraid of what they will find out. We know the basics and what we are able to do. I think the Grand Courts believe that is enough to live with and don’t put much time or effort into the study of our bodies and why we are the way we are.’

  They fell into equal steps as they came to the halfway point around the lake.

  ‘Is it weird?’ Laura asked.

  ‘What weird?’

  ‘Living in this world.’

  ‘At first it certainly was. But it began to explain a lot. I always won the underwater challenges at the swimming sports in school. I could hold my breath for ten minutes and even after that I could have kept going if I wanted too. My parents insisted it was normal, but taught me to ‘breathe’ to convince people I wasn’t a freak. And my parents forced me to join a fencing club. They said it was for fun, but I know now why they had me do it. It was strange, but I had this natural talent with a blade. It didn’t take much training to learn to fight.’

  ‘So you would never give it up?’

  Caspian thought about it for a second, then looked across at her, ‘depends on what I’m giving it up for.’

  Laura considered this as she watched a mother duck enter the water, her ducklings trailing behind her.

  ‘Were you the only one to come to the manor who didn’t know who they were?’

  ‘Yes, my parents were like yours. Wanted to keep me from this world,’ he paused. His eyes turned to the ducklings, and she saw him suck in an unneeded breath, eyes growing glassy. She didn’t say anything, allowing him the time he needed to continue.

  ‘They were in a car crash which killed them instantly. I was in the car, but for some unknown reason, I made it out alive. I saw the whole thing. The truck that hit us, my father screaming at me to get down, something shotting through the windscreen hitting both mum and dad, and their bodies... There was so much blood…‘ he stopped and sucked in another breath to steady himself, ‘It is said that for one of our kind to die, our soul has to be that badly affected by the injury and pain inflicted that it has to leave the body to heal. Without its soul, the body dies and there is nothing for the soul to come back to once it has healed. The only other way we pass away is as humans do once they reach an old age and the soul may leave in peace. But that day, when I saw my parents in front me, I felt as though my own soul had been ripped from my body. Because suddenly, I had nothing. Absolutely nothing,’ Caspian spoke with such passion, such an ach in his voice, that Laura could feel his pain.

  She didn’t know what to say. There was nothing she could say. She understood the way he felt, for that sorrow ran deep in her bones too. It was like they were drowning, and no one could save them. She reached out and took his hand, and in that moment, as she gripped his fingers, she knew that it wasn’t just to help him tread water. She needed assurance that she, herself, would stay afloat.

  His hand was warm, opposite to what she was expecting, and he gave her a smile as he squeezed her fingers.

  Drew slammed the book shut and replaced it on the shelf. Nothing. He had found absolutely nothing. No loop holes, no glitches within the system.

  Sighing, he shook his head and left the room. How had Cara done it? How had she managed to get her mark back?

  He made his way down to the entrance with the hope that maybe a visit with the horses would clear his mind. Usually it did, but as he opened the door, he realised that there were two figures standing by the lake.

  He watched for a moment as one of the figures took the hand of the other, knowing that it was Laura and Caspian. Again, a strange jealously filled his stomach as he looked away. He was being stupid. Absolutely stupid.

  Suddenly forgetting the horses, he turned for the training room, pulling a dagger from under his pant leg and preparing for target practice.

  ‘What is this?’ Caspian asked, letting go of Laura’s hand and pulling her sleeve up slightly, looking at a bracelet that hung around her wrist.

  She unclasped the dainty gold bracelet and passed it to him, ‘my mother gave it to me when I was born. She said that as long as I wear it, she will always be with me.’

  Studying the heart shaped charm, Caspian turned the gold chain over in his hands. Laura’s name was engraved on one side of the charm and when he flipped it over he found a small message inscribed on the other.

  To love is to be loved, it read.

  ‘My mother was always a very passionate person. She believed that the love we are given and the love we give is what makes us strong. And brave. Because we fight for the things we love.’

  ‘Your mother is very wise,’ he said, fastening the bracelet back around her wrist.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’

  ‘Of course,’ he smiled.

  ‘What does your tattoo mean?’

  ‘The Falcon?’

  She nodded, despite not realising that that was what it was.

  ‘It is my family name. I had it done on my birthday, for my parents,’ he answered.

  ‘That’s very sweet,’ Laura said.

  ‘So is your bracelet.’

  She laughed lightly, ‘thanks.’

  They passed back through the gate and Laura’s mood shifted to a serious one. Something that had been bothering her for a while finally surfaced, and she felt that the only time to ask about it would be now.

  ‘Caspian?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Your- our people, I know that we…kill to protect others, I understand that is what you have to do. But, we don’t have to…I mean, it’s not forced…’

  He reached out and rested a hand on her arm, comforting her, ‘no, you don’t have to. There are other jobs.’

  She thought she would have felt better after hearing that, but she didn’t. The idea of killing was something so horrible - even if it was to protect the good - that she found it hard to wrap her head around. She didn’t want that life, a life of murdering others, evil or not. She wondered if maybe that was why her mum took her away from the Spirit World. If that was the reason, or one of them, then Laura agreed whole-heartedly. That was not something she wanted to be involved in. Perhaps that was why she had felt so uneasy after training with Drew. Maybe that was the moment she realised that the fight for her mother’s safe return could very well lead to bloodshed. And that terrified her.

  ‘Do you have to kill for training?’ she asked as they wandered along the path.

  The hesitation before his answer was enough to tell her, but he spoke anyway, ‘we don’t do anything like Guardian work, but if we find ourselves in a situation out in the real world where we or someone else is endangered, then yes, we act.’

  She wanted to ask if he had killed. But she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. It felt too personal a question. He seemed to notice and as they reached the top of the hill he glanced sideways at her.

  ‘We’ve all done what we’ve had to.’

  She held his gaze for the briefest moment, before looking down at the stone’s beneath her feet, ‘I understand.’

  Neither of them said anything more.

  By then, they had made it back to the front door, and Laura realised she hadn’t even spared a glance at the exterior of the Manor.

  Caspian reached for the handle. ‘I hope that walk gave you the fresh air you needed,’ he said.

  She entered the manor, ‘It did.’

  The cold night air had set in by 6pm as Leo and Stella gathered everyone in the library beside the warmth of the fire.

  Laura knew this was about the trip, but she didn’t know how much Stella and Leo were planning to tell the rest of the group.

  ‘When you came to the manor you all promised
to not only abide by our rules, but to protect those among us. You swore an oath of trust and allegiance to the people of this manor until you were old enough to leave. I need to know now, can we trust you?’ Stella looked at each and every one of the Enchanted sitting before her.

  ‘Of course you can.’ Drew replied quickly.

  ‘Yeah, Stell, you know we would all stick by you through anything!’ Grace added with confidence.

  ‘What if this wasn’t about me?’ Stella inquired.

  Everyone spoke up, immediately agreeing that they would stand by the people of the manor no matter what. Everyone but Gemma. Gemma’s eyes lingered a little too long on Laura’s worried face.

  ‘You can trust me,’ she finally said, eyes flickering to Stella’s.

  Estella nodded, ‘all right. We need everyone’s help. I beg you to be true to your word.’

  Then, Stella and Leo both explained the situation to the group, Laura chiming in every now and then. They spoke of the need to find Laura’s mother, before she is put in danger overseas. The fact that she may still be able to access her powers without her mark. The necessity of finding the maps to work out Cara’s location and the hope of putting a stop to those behind the kidnapping and whatever plan it is that they were developing. They ended with an exaggerated plea for everyone’s cooperation along with their secrecy.

  ‘When do we leave?’ Drew asked immediately, eyes settled firmly on Stella’s face.

  ‘Tomorrow morning. We have already informed the Lastrala Minor Court, but to their knowledge, we are embarking on an informative trip to Alast where the Grand Council is located to show you around the city and to enhance your knowledge of our world’s great leaders. So be sure to stick to that explanation if you cross paths with anyone who seem a little curious in out endeavours.’