by Janeal Falor
The attackers don’t even try to defend themselves. They run, their dark robes quickly becoming one with the night around them.
I swing my gaze to the other side where Chadwick is still holding up his shield, but there are no attackers left on his side, either. There are, however, several guards running who must have come from the other side of the estate when they heard the commotion.
Lukas is at my side before I realized he was even moving toward me. He kneels down, and in a few moments, a black spell streaked with crimson and hints of green breaks the chain spell around my ankles and dissipates into the air.
The feeling returns with sharp pricks, but it's not nearly as painful as what caused them to go numb.
“Anyone injured?” Zade asks as he jogs to us.
“Only Cynthia,” Lukas replies.
“I’m fine.” At least now I am, or will be after rest. My legs ache, head is a bit spinny.
Conrad stands guard close by like he's unwilling to leave my side after such an ordeal, but the others spread out, forming a wide arc around us.
“I’m going after them,” Chadwick says.
“You can’t,” Waverly replies. “Not alone.
“It’s too late anyway. They’re long gone.” Lukas says.
Waverly’s still holding most of my weight. I try to push off her, to bear myself up, but I fall toward the ground. Lukas catches me, lifting me up into his arms. As my head rests against his shoulder, I start to drift off. His warmth is comforting after the aching chill.
“Don’t worry,” he whispers. “I have you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next morning, I wake feeling wholly like myself. It seems as if a spell that chilled me to my bones like that should have some lasting pain. But the only thing I feel is worry over endangering lives yet again and frustration that I couldn’t keep track of all the spells flying around last night. And worse, I froze up, unable to think of how to help.
I quickly dress and am putting up my hair in its bun when there’s a knock on my door.
“Come in.”
Serena enters, looking as if there weren’t enough spells flying around last night to keep her from sleeping.
“How are you?” Because I know, regardless of how she looks, that all that magic had to take her back to memories and thoughts she doesn’t want to relive.
“The question should be how are you? I’ve been worrying about you all night. Any lingering effects of the hex?”
Of course, the only hint she’ll give me about her own feelings is her worry over me. If she’d been with us when we were attacked, she probably would have jumped in front of me to take the hex herself, despite her hatred of magic. But it does stir up foggy memories of being in Lukas's arms. The thought leaves me warm and buzzing, much more than I should after yesterday.
“None. I feel the same as always.”
Her shoulders lower slightly, the only hint of the stress escaping her.
“What about you?” I ask. “Are things well between you and Zade? Did you come to an agreement before the attack?”
Her lips twitch with a suppressed smile. “The only thing I’m saying is that while our lips did a lot of moving, we didn’t speak much.”
“Serena!” I giggle.
“Well, we didn’t expect he’d be running off so quickly. Otherwise we would have had time to turn the lip moving into talking as well.”
This makes me laugh harder. Whoever thought we’d be together in Thomas’s house discussing her kissing the man she’s engaged to with happiness instead of duty and fear?
“He’s waiting with Lukas in the kitchen to speak with us.”
“Let’s go then.”
It doesn’t take me long to finish up. Zade and Lukas are waiting for us in the kitchen.
“Morning,” I say to them and quickly move to get something cooking. I tell myself it’s because I’m hungry and not because I want to avoid discussing my failure to comprehend a single spell last night. As we work, I grab some eggs while Serena starts putting together some biscuits.
“We need to bring your entire family to live here,” Zade says.
“After last night?” I demand. “What if they would have been here? Something could've happened to them. We have to keep them safe.”
“They were attacked last night, too.”
His quiet response makes me drop an egg. Lukas hurries to help me clean it.
“Is anyone hurt?” Serena’s voice shakes.
“Everyone is fine. Cynthia got the worst of it.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” If any of them would have been hurt…
“If your family comes,” Zade says, “we can pool our resources together. Have all the guards in one place, not stretched across an area we can’t protect. I think it will be safer for everyone.”
“I didn’t know it was getting so bad,” Serena says. “Perhaps it was a mistake to come here.”
“No, it wasn’t. You were right. And I was wrong to be angry at you for it. You need to be here, and even if you didn’t, it’d still be safer for everyone to be together. Chadwick went to help see them here safely.”
I’ll get to see my sisters and mother soon. I can’t wait to see them, though I do wish the circumstances were different. How are they all? Have any of them grown since I’ve been away? I’m sure the baby has, at least. They change every day. And with mother so far along with this pregnancy? I hope they stay safe while traveling here.
With Lukas’s help, we finish cleaning the last of the egg mess. “Thank you.”
“Do you need help with anything else?”
“No. Unless Zade has any more shocking news, I should be able to manage.”
“There may be some,” Zade says.
“Bad enough to make me drop more eggs?”
“Maybe.” Zade’s words make me hold still, afraid to touch anything else until I know how bad it is. “The council is growing stricter with their rules. The Grand Chancellor seems to be gearing up for something.”
I didn’t think they could grow any stricter, and I’m not sure I’m ready to know what he could be getting ready for. “What are they changing?”
“No matter that they've been relying on other countries for much of their income for years, they’re making it harder for foreigners to enter the country. Those of us already here have surpassed the changes being made, but for the rest, there’s a lot more paperwork, all of which has to be approved by the Grand Chancellor or Chancellor Ryan.”
Serena scowls. “They won’t let you approve it?”
“Not unless I suddenly change into one of them. Even then, I doubt they’d accept me.”
“They're getting even stricter,” Lukas says.
Somehow it is, even though I keep thinking they can't get any worse. With this news weighing things down, breakfast is a somber affair.
***
After Zade and Lukas go outside to check on the guards on duty, Serena pulls me into the hallway.
“You really are excited for the tournament, aren’t you?” she says.
“I am. Though I'd prefer if it didn’t come with the worry for my life and the lives of those I love, but I’ve always enjoyed casting spells. Being able to do it in front of so many people is something I never thought could happen.” It still might not.
“Would you explain it to me?” Her hand fists into her skirt. “Those hexes we always dealt with… I never wanted anything to do with magic. It’s hard to understand why you’re not only fine being around magic, but that you actually want to cast spells.”
“Being hexed was ghastly. But when I realized there was a power inside me, something that let me cast spells as well, I wanted to use it. I wanted to explore it and eventually to do what I could to help. Like Bethany. Remember when she came to Zade’s house hurt?”
She puts a hand to her chest. “How could I forget?”
No one could. “When you went to find Zade, I did what I could to ease her pain. It wasn’t enough, or even much,
but it was better than not doing anything, better than letting this power inside me go to waste.”
Her eyes lose focus as she thinks about this. “I can see wanting to help, but I don’t know. They say I have magic in my blood, but I don’t feel anything. I don’t think I can actually cast spells or do anything to help. I’ll have to stick with this.” She pats the pocket of her skirt where I know she keeps her gun.
I hope it’s enough, but more than that, I wish I knew how to show her more of what’s hiding inside her. If I can’t show my own sister, make her understand, how am I going to make other women understand it’s not just me that can do magic?
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mother and the girls arrive in a flurry of guards, their faces etched with worry. I hurry to mother’s side, putting an arm around her, and helping her in. “We shouldn’t have moved you.”
“It’s no matter. There’s no point in special treatment for bearing yet another daughter.”
Her words slice into me even if they’re true. It shouldn’t be that way. Casting spells in front of everyone at the tournament doesn’t seem like a way to fix it. The girls have all gone ahead of us, hurried in by Serena, Zade, and Waverly, but Bethany hovers close by us, waiting to help should mother need more assistance no doubt.
“How was the journey? Everyone looks tired and a little rattled.”
“Rattled? Is that all?” She snorts, the most undignified thing I’ve ever heard her do. “We were attacked on the way over. I don’t know what happened for certain, being in that dark carriage and all, but it was awfully noisy.”
As we reach the sitting room, the closest place for her to rest, I help her onto a sofa while exchanging a worried glance with Bethany. “Well, I’m glad you made it here safely.”
Mother is already dozing. The journey must have been even worse than she said. I gently pull her feet onto the couch while Bethany grabs a pillow and blanket for her. Once she’s settled, we leave the room with many backward glances.
“Is it going to be worse or better having us all in one place? There may be more guards to protect us, but we’re now all in one convenient spot to attack.”
Bethany bites her lower lip before saying, “At least they made it here safely.”
Yes, at least there’s that.
We spend the next few hours getting all the girls settled in their rooms and setting up mother’s room for when she wakes. She continues to sleep on, though, and knowing the stress of the day, I can’t help but ask Serena, “Should we send for a doctor?”
The line of her mouth is grim. “I don’t know if there are any left we can trust. I’ll check on her, though.”
There’s a shriek somewhere close followed by the high-pitched sound of girls fighting. I sigh. “And I’ll see about entertaining the girls so they don’t bother her.”
She nudges me. “Don’t look so grim about it. We all know you’ve been dying to spend time with them ever since you left.”
I grin at her before hurrying off. It’s all too true. I’ve missed my girls so much. And by the way they quickly respond to my herding them into the ballroom, they’ve missed me too.
“Now, this is where you can come to be as noisy as you’d like, but there’s no fighting in here.” I look them each in the eye, and they all look eager enough to comply for now but much to quiet in a way that will likely last much too long. The time with father has scarred them all, especially the older ones. “Go on now.”
The girls run around the ballroom, filling the air with their echoing squeals of delight. Nothing like this ever happened when father owned us. I want to take it one step further. I should probably talk to Serena first, and maybe mother, but this is something I want to give the girls. Something I want them to see and know without any chance of outside interference.
I gather my magic, pulling it close together while picturing small, transparent balls. The color doesn’t matter really, so rather than worrying over what my emotions are like, I just release small waves of my magic.
The first spelled bubble is about the size of an orange and colored like one as well. None of the girls have noticed yet, so I release several more, the size growing bigger and the orange brighter each time. When I’ve released about a dozen, the room slowly goes quiet.
The girls are eying the spelled bubbles with caution. Sally glances at me, and I give her a smile. She takes the hand of the girl closest to her, Molly, and together they inch closer. Mindful of their approach, I work on cooling my emotions, finding peace and serenity in the moment. The next bubble I cast, I release slower but bigger than the others, about the size of a carriage wheel.
The girls gasp, but with a magical, happy sound mixed in and not with the fear I worried about. Working on remembering different things to bring about different emotions, I let the bubbles fly as quickly as the emotions are coming, letting out all sizes and colors. One of the girls giggles.
Sally and Molly have reached a bubble, a pink one with hints of purple. Molly reaches up to touch it, but Sally pulls her hand away.
“She’s fine,” I say, eyes riveted on the scene before me.
Without questioning me further, as I’m certain Serena would do, Sally picks up Molly and holds her closer to the glowing pink bubble. I lean forward as her finger draws closer. Without hesitation, she pokes the bubble. It pops just like a real bubble would, except it releases sparks of pink and purple that dissipate in the air. Molly’s shriek of delight sings through the air as she wiggles down from Sally’s arms and runs for another one to pop.
Soon all the girls have joined in on the fun, and I hurry to make as many bubbles as I can. Even though the girls make quick work of popping them, the bubbles soon crowd the air, filling the ballroom with their rainbow of happiness. The littlest girls run from bubble to bubble or dance in circles with their arms in the air, while bubbles sway across them all, bursting in an array of lights and colors. Even the older girls aren’t holding back their enthusiasm.
“Wow.”
I turn around to see Lukas behind me. “You like it?”
“I do, but more than that, they seem happier.”
“Mostly, anyway.” Presha is hanging back from the others, Grace and Ada wavering between joining her and exploring the bubbles.
“It’s nice. Do you mind if I watch?”
Warmth blooms through me. “Please.”
At some point Bethany joins us, though I don’t know how long she’s been here. Her eyes are as bright as the youngest as she plays with the girls among the bubbles and pops her own. The spell is easy enough to keep producing, though to my surprise, Lukas never joins in.
I continue for over an hour, making as many different types as I can and taking many requests from the girls. It’s so good to see them laugh, knowing I’m the one making that come about, only it’s also hard remembering I never had anything like this and that they only gained this recently. And while their joy has been gained, they’ve lost even more safety. It shouldn’t have to be this way.
The back of my neck gets a prickling sensation of being watched. I glance around to find Serena leaning against the doorway, a faint smile gracing her lips but worry lines creasing the corners of her eyes. Next to her, mother enters. A faint smile graces her face as she watches the children. Suddenly she hunches over.
I hurry toward her. “Mother?”
“Just over tired from the day, I think. It’s early yet. The baby won’t be joining us.” She rubs her belly.
“I’ll be excited to meet my newest sister when the time comes.”
“You sound different. Your speech sounds more like that drawling Chryon than what I’m accustomed to.”
Her words make me blush and glance at Lukas, who’s now chasing the girls with both himself and his own spelled bubbles.
“He’s different than your father.” Mother’s words are sad, tainted with a longing I don’t understand. “This is a good thing you’ve done for the girls.”
Did she truly just say that? Ho
w I talk may be changing, but changing how she thinks is an even bigger accomplishment. Maybe there’s more hope than I thought—if someone doesn’t manage to kill us before that hope can become a reality.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After failing to manage a sword-like stabbing spell too many times to count, Lukas says, “You’re not focusing tonight. What’s going on?”
I drop my hands and forget about the failed spell. “My sisters are more distracting than I thought they would be. Having them here is fabulous, but it reminds me of how things always were before Zade killed Thomas. And knowing they’re in even more danger, I wish there was something that could be done. Some of the girls are eager. They loved the bubble spells I did for them, but they also take cues from Serena. If I can’t get her to understand, how will I ever get anyone else to? Her fears seem to have eased some, but she’s scared and I don’t know how to work past that.”
“You want to teach her magic?”
“If I can. Bethany too, though she actually wants to learn, and Waverly’s already taught her a few things. If I’m alive after all of this, I want to teach all of my sisters. If they’ll let me.” Wonder what mother will think of that.
“I might be able help.”
My gaze locks onto his. “How?”
“Come here.” He takes a hold of my hand, helping me stand.
As he guides me to the center of the ballroom, I think on how our palms fit and press together. Then he lets go. Disappointment fills me but stays buried where it can’t be seen. I shouldn’t be disappointed; he’s going to show me a way to help Serena, which is what I wanted. Yet, the feeling tugs at me anyway.
He stands across from me, close enough that if I stretched out my arm I could touch him but not close enough to feel the heat of his presence.
“Usually children are taught from when they’re kids, just like we teach them to read and write. But occasionally there’s a child who is having a hard time grasping casting spells for whatever reason. It could be a number of things.”