by Tara Brown
“Of course. Ravens help her manage the afterlife.”
“When we left Waterly City, the brothers followed ravens, believing it was Joro leading them.”
“I don’t like this.” Lord Ivor’s demeanor shifted.
“Nor do I,” she added. “But we arrived at a cabin along the White River, just at the mouth of the lake.” Lenny’s words turned to a whisper again as she tried to reason with the story she was telling, aware it wasn’t making sense, “Joro came to us at the cabin.”
“The goddess?” Lord Ivor interrupted. “The goddess came to you?”
“She walked as a skeleton in the shadows and when the light hit her, she was beautiful.” Lenny was in the memory, stuck there, enchanted by it all. “She told me she felt me enter the underworld.” Her focus returned to Ivor. “When I saw Wilfred the night Amaya and Wen became merfolk, I was there with him. He spoke to me. He was real. I was in his world. I can enter the underworld, Joro said it’s because I’m fae.”
“Fae?” His eyes widened.
“That was the word she used. Fae. And she said I had released the magic back in Dahleigh, and I freed someone named Ryze.”
“The ancient sorcerer who battled Ilenia in the Great War?” He squinted in confusion.
“And that’s not all.” She paced and rehashed the details of the sordid story: How Lorna and Saleen had tricked the king so Saleen might have a boy. And the scullery maid was murdered after being forced to do magic for Lorna and Saleen.
Lord Ivor’s jaw set as a stunned and disgusted look crept across his face.
“And then she said I needed to go to the elves. They would help me.” Lenny finished, taking a deep breath.
Scar lifted her head from the hearth where she rested next to the warm fire the maids had lit before Lenny arrived in the room, checking on Lenny, who nodded at her that everything was fine.
Lord Ivor sat silent.
“Say something,” Lenny whispered, terrified of his response to the point her stomach ached.
“Gods, Lenny.” He blinked but the expression didn’t budge. He swallowed hard like there was a lump he was struggling with. “You’re certain about Lottie and the cat and the ba-baby?” He cringed.
“The image Joro made for me showed Lottie putting the baby in the pot, it died by magic in there. The cat was stabbed beforehand”
“Gods. That’s the most disturbing sentence I’ve ever heard.” His face was ashen and his breath seemed disjointed as if he might continue but he was unable to form the words.
“Seeing it was terrible,” Lenny agreed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, facing him in the chair he’d slumped into at some point. “Tell me you believe me and don’t think I’m mad.”
He furrowed his brow as he got up from the chair and kneeled in front of her. “I don’t think you’re mad. I saw what you did in Pyle. And in Blockley. And again in Waterly City. You saved my cousin. I know you’re magical.” He lifted a hand to cup her cheek. “I do not believe there is an ounce of falseness in you. Nor do I think you capable of anything so twisted as to invent a story such as this.”
“Thank you,” she sighed, leaning into his touch.
“Did you tell Brother Estevan about this?”
“I did. He knows everything.”
“What was his advice?”
She stared into Lord Ivor’s emotional gaze. “He didn’t know how to move against the—Saleen. He said we need proof. That we would have to be careful, in case she is working with Lorna.”
“And Lorna killed my uncle—” He paused. “And your brother. And nearly Landon, though that was unintentional.” He seemed to stare through Lenny, recalling something. “Gods, I wonder about the fire at my parents’ estate.”
Shivers ran up Lenny’s arms and back.
“What if they killed them, hoping to kill me too?”
“But why?” Lenny gasped.
“Only the gods know why she would do anything.” He stood and took his turn pacing the room. “This is grave. Landon will want to know. He’s my uncle’s son, regardless of who his mother is, he’s the rightful king. That won’t change. But Saleen and Lorna need to be held accountable for their actions.”
Lenny nodded along but she didn’t know how to that might come about.
Chapter 19
The woods were silent as Lenny, Lord Ivor, and the hounds followed Brother Estevan. He carried only a small torch for light, but it was enough to create shadows and make them dance upon the foliage of the dense woods. The forest in Mamble was similar to Blockley, thick enough to hide a bear if he was quiet.
But it wasn’t bears they were hunting.
Brother Estevan was searching for the children, the missing thirteen. He feared the worst, which he’d let Lenny and Ivor in on. He believed them used up, murdered to work the magic Lorna called upon to kill the king.
Lenny didn’t understand why Lorna had to use ingredients to make magic when she shot lightning from her fingers. Brother Estevan hadn’t answered that but hurried from the inn, muttering something about needing to get there before midnight.
“Where are we going?” Lord Ivor asked again as he crunched down another branch, making noises Lenny didn’t like. He didn’t creep or seem frightened at all. He moved as if walking down a street and not through the forest in the middle of the night.
“There’s a grove ahead.” Brother Estevan paused, turning back to Lord Ivor but pointing in the direction they were walking. “A woman from town told the investigators that she was near the grove when she saw a child walking in the woods wearing his nightclothes. He was alone. She thought it strange and went to speak to the boy when someone else appeared. She decided it was none of her business and went about her evening.”
“A child in nightclothes in the forest was none of her business?” Lord Ivor narrowed his gaze. “And what was this woman doing in the woods that night?”
Ignoring his questions, Brother Estevan turned away and began sneaking through the forest again, holding the torch and focusing straight ahead. Lenny kept up and tried to keep quiet. She watched the hounds, following their gaze, certain they would see anything amiss long before the rest of them.
But Ollie and Henry seemed content to prance about the woods, sniffing and wandering. Lenny assumed that meant they weren’t worried about whatever took the children into the woods.
The moon lit the tops of the high trees but the light barely filtered through to the ground, making the walk dark if Lenny didn’t keep pace with Brother Estevan.
And regardless of her fingers shooting the odd bit of lightning, Lenny was scared of Lorna and whatever lurked in the dark forest.
She kept her hands rested on her hilts and her eyes on Ollie. Scar was close to her, nudging Lenny constantly and keeping watch. Her behavior suggested she was on edge, making it hard to tell if she saw anything or was just reading Lenny.
The forest became thicker for a moment, making it difficult for Brother Estevan to navigate the torch, but then the clearing opened up in front of them. The grove was beautiful and flooded with silvery light.
Lenny paused and took it in. There was something about the space the made her relax. She turned her head to the right, seeing the smoke coming from the chimney of an old shack. A shadow moved behind the curtains that were lit up from the lanterns inside.
Hello, Sister, a voice spoke softly on the breeze. It was more of a whisper as if the wind had created it.
“May we enter?” Lenny asked, not realizing she was speaking aloud.
You may, Ilenia Ailling, although you will not find what you seek here.
“We seek the children who were taken from Mamble,” Lenny whispered back, suddenly aware the woman was named Blackwater Maggie. She was a witch but she felt good. Comforting. Kind. Lenny wasn’t sure how she could know this, and yet she couldn’t find a reason to question it.
Lord Ivor and Brother Estevan turned in a circle, both of them scowling and searching for whom Lenny spoke to.
&nb
sp; They’re gone, my dear. Long gone. Taken north to the mountains. We saved them. Her voice was sweet and convincing though Lenny did not see her.
“From what?”
From the guards. They blossomed overnight. Filled with magic, the likes I’ve never seen before. Lenny could see it. She closed her eyes and saw the whole of what Blackwater Maggie saw. One child shot fire from her hands, lighting a bit of grass in the yard. Another played a scene from the Great War on the ceiling her room, the images came from the child’s mouth. The same way Lenny had made the images of the king’s murder.
They were like us, magical. And our magic is increasing, growing. Mine is nearly as strong here as it is back in my home kingdom, Blackwater Maggie whispered and Lenny could see the children went to Crail.
“Then we will leave you,” Lenny offered, bowing as she sensed the woman’s strength was far greater than her own.
You bow to no one, my child. Come back tomorrow night when the sun sets. We will welcome you and answer all questions then, Blackwater Maggie said and the link was gone.
“Lenny, by the gods, what is happening?” Brother Estevan was shouting. He and Lord Ivor had been speaking but Lenny wasn’t able to hear them. “Who are you speaking to?”
“Blackwater Maggie. A witch, I think she’s from an eastern kingdom. She lives nearby.” The words slipped out before Lenny gave them much thought. “The children are alive, they were taken to Crail. They’re magical. The magic blossomed in them overnight.”
“Gods!” Brother Estevan gasped.
Lord Ivor furrowed his brow, his expression quite fierce by torchlight. “Why do you trust what she says—?”
“I can feel her.”
“This could be a trick. Lorna—”
“No, you can’t hide that when you do this. She spoke to me in my mind and it allowed us access to each other’s emotions.” Lenny smiled softly. “She is a good one.”
“Can you ask her about Lorna?” Brother Estevan questioned impatiently.
“Tomorrow night, we have been invited back here. When the sun sets, they will greet us.”
“Tomorrow night?” Brother Estevan scoffed. “They just expect us to come into the woods? It could be a trap!”
“But it isn’t,” Lenny defended the idea. “Do you trust me?”
Ivor’s brow knit but he nodded, contrary to the look he gave Lenny.
Brother Estevan didn’t answer. He turned on his heel and started the walk back to the inn.
Lord Ivor waited for Lenny to begin walking before he did. “You’re certain it won’t be a trap?” he whispered.
“I am.” Lenny was excited to meet the witches. From the feeling she got from everyone else, she was completely alone in that.
The trek back through the woods wasn’t scary, not anymore. Lenny felt safe, watched but in a comforting way.
“What else did she say? The witch you spoke to?”
“The children turned overnight, becoming magical. So they rushed them from the town, hurrying them to Crail to protect them from the guards.” Lenny’s eyes flickered to his. “She knew my name and she said the same thing Joro did, that I bow to no one.”
“Joro said that to you?” Ivor swallowed hard, tense over the evening’s events.
“She did. I know it’s because they’re under the impression that I’m somehow linked to Ilenia, from the Great War. And sometimes I see things I don’t understand, memories that aren’t mine. Like when I was with Joro, she showed me the battle at the end.” Lenny shivered when she recalled it. “I saw Joro save Dahleigh. She came to Ilenia on the shores of the Rimouby and allowed her to call forth an army of the dead. Ghosts fought alongside Ilenia, but I don’t think the people could see them.”
“Then it wasn’t her magical sword of mist?” He laughed.
“No, more like a sword made of a storm of spirits. They moved like the wind.” Lenny could see the image perfectly and on instinct she paused walking and tilted her head back, opening her mouth and allowing the image to spill from her. A bright bluish-white light shone from her, and in the light, a scene played out into the dark canopy of the trees.
Lenny watched as Ilenia lifted the sword of mist, fighting and killing, using every ounce of magic she had inside her. But alongside her, a wave of destruction swelled. Her sword and the spirits fought, saving Dahleigh.
Brother Estevan gasped, able to see the scene this time, unlike the king’s death, as Lenny realized she need only wish for him to and he would. The cool trickle of the magic inside her made her shiver again.
After enough of the battle played out to convince them, Lenny closed her mouth, cutting off the scene and making the forest dark again, if not darker than before.
“Lenny,” Brother Estevan spoke with dread and possibly wonder laced in his tone. “How did you—”
“Magic.” She smiled, enjoying the feeling of it inside her.
But neither man smiled back. Lord Ivor’s eyes were a sea of troubles and Brother Estevan’s were worse.
“But you don’t know how to use magic,” Lord Ivor said in shock.
“It’s strange,” Lenny confessed. “I don’t think it’s like the sword where I have to learn to use it. I think I just have to let it use me. Let it out when I feel the urge to do it.”
Neither man responded to the wording well.
“What does that mean?” Brother Estevan asked as Lord Ivor shook his head.
“Lenny, I don’t think you should let it do anything to you.”
She sighed heavily. “You both need to trust me.” She waved them off and started back to town with her dogs at her sides. Even Henry kept up with her.
When she arrived at the inn, she strode past it, though exhausted and desperately ready to sleep, she needed the sea more.
“Lenny, where are you going?” Lord Ivor jogged after her once he’d bid a weary Brother Estevan goodnight, but she didn’t slow.
She walked to the end of the dock with the dogs next to her. She kept her pace as she reached the end, kicked off her boots and jumped. The splash of cold water was shocking but exactly the embrace she needed. She stayed down there in the dark water, floating and holding her breath until she needed to surface. As she did a splash entered the water and Henry swam past her, panting happily as he swam.
Ollie jumped back and forth as if he might join her but didn’t know how. They’d never been water dogs. Scar, on the other hand, barked incessantly.
“What are you two doing?” Lord Ivor shouted, offering her his hand.
“I needed to feel it.” She bobbed and took deep breaths, making no effort to swim to him or his hand. She needed to float a little longer. The cold water rejuvenated her. She’d missed everything about being in the southern sea. “When this is over, and we’re free to be us, I want to live in Blockley.”
“I know.” He sat on the end of the dock and watched her, his eyes glistening in the moonlight. “Are you still determined to go to Crail after we see the witches?” he asked the question plaguing him, for he knew the answer already.
“I am. And after that I would like to find the elves. I can’t explain it, I have a calling. I need to follow this through.”
“I want to come with you”—he smiled weakly but his stare displayed the ache in his heart—“but I know you will ask me to return to the city to be with Landon and your sister.” He nodded, lowering to face toward the water that sparkled with the light and Lenny’s small waves. “And I cannot refuse you that. What I want and what is right are never the same thing.” He laughed but the sound resembled a sob.
Lenny swam forward, lifting herself out onto the dock to sit next to him, dripping water everywhere and shivering as Scar sniffed her over and Ollie took the chance to lie down. Henry climbed out next to her, shaking and dousing them all in water.
“Henry!” Lord Ivor shouted but Lenny laughed.
When he lay down next to Ivor, Lenny brought the subject back to the conversation they were having, “We both know Hilde and Landon
could be in danger. I need to find Lorna. And while I’m doing that, I need you to find out if Saleen had anything to do with the king’s death. And what else she’s done.” She slipped a small cold hand into his large warm one. “But you must try to be discreet, just in case. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“You’re protecting me again?” His eyes found her though he didn’t turn fully, hiding his smirk. “I have something to tell you. I wanted to surprise you with it, but I suppose it might be some time before we are together again. And gods know when we’ll both be in Blockley. And I would prefer you hear it from me.”
“What?” His words made every bit if her tighten.
“I purchased some land.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “I am having an estate built in the countryside next to your parents’ farm. Just a short distance through the woods.”
“An estate?”
“You’ll learn to love grandeur.” He chuckled and kissed again, his breath and lips against her skin making her shiver.
“That’s why you went to Blockley with my parents?” She couldn’t help but smile.
“That is the reason.” He leaned in, pressing his lips against her cold, wet cheek and whispered, “You are my reason for everything.”
She moved so he would kiss her lips next. When they pushed against each other and the warmth of him seeped into her, she inhaled him. Closing her eyes she took deep breaths, storing the feel and scent and taste in her memory so she might recall it when she needed him.
Chapter 20
The path into the forest wasn’t creepy the second night. It was no longer unknown. But that didn’t help Brother Estevan’s mood. He was worried and kept his watchful eyes on the shadows, ever vigilant. Lord Ivor was also tense.
Lenny, now relaxed, was able to notice sights she had missed the night before. Such as small flowers growing along the edge of the path, brilliantly white and almost luminescent. She was confused on how she had missed them all. But she recalled the way they’d followed Brother Estevan into the wilds, his torchlight guiding them and creating ominous shadows everywhere.