by Terah Edun
“Touch it Mae,” Donna Marie immediately demanded.
Hands shaking as she’d never seen anything so beautiful, Mae did as she was bidden.
She put her right hand flat against the newly formed crystal window pane over her sister’s face. It felt like touching cold glass. As she trailed her fingers curiously over the fibers next to it, Mae noticed the braids were a lot denser than they looked. In fact they were made of some kind of metal alloy.
Together the crystal and medal created a webbed cocoon from the top of Ember’s head to the soles of her feet.
“That casing is the strongest substance known to mages,” Donna Marie. “Nothing will pierce it. Not arrows, not blades, not liquids, not even air.”
“Then how will she breathe?” Mae asked as she turned toward the mage frantically.
Donna Marie sniffed. “I created a filtration system within the cocoon so that not even something as light as a poisonous gas can be introduced to your sister. It also produces her own air. I assume you approve?”
The last question was said with sarcastic wit.
“Well its better than nothing I guess,” Mae muttered still blinking in amazement.
Donna Marie had created such beauty out of thin air so fast, and yet it didn’t seem to faze her.
“Great, then now we shall go,” Donna Marie said firmly. “Before my allies get it into their head that they don’t want us going anywhere after all.”
Mae hesitated and then looked over at the leader of the brigands who was watching them carefully even now.
“What did you promise them in return for waiting here?” Mae asked.
“More elderflower than they can spend in a year,” Donna Marie said with her eyes sparkling. “And your family will give it to them or they’ll be wondering what to do when the next sharecropping caravan headed into the western plains makes their first recruitment stop at your doorstep.”
There was nothing Mae could say to that, because what did it say about her family if they refused.
“Will your hired mercenaries be seeing you off then?” Mae asked drily.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that,” Donna Marie said. “I can handle them. Why don’t you go stand over with Rivan?”
Silently Mae didn’t put up an argument she just went, while trying to stuff down the sense of trepidation and awe roiling through her. After seeing Donna Marie’s first true act of mage work, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be her or flee her.
It was getting harder and harder to separate her complicated feelings about the strongly opinionated woman with each passing hour. After all, she had been the one who had partially gotten Mae into this mess in the first place, not to mention kidnapped her.
As she walked over to Rivan and bumped shoulders, she said to him, “Donna Marie’s quite the character.”
“She’s definitely that,” Rivan said after a moment. “You know I’ve been trying to go my ‘separate’ ways from her for two years now.”
Mae glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Did she threaten you too?” she asked hesitantly.
“At first,” Rivan confirmed.
Then he gave a hint of a smile. “But she always kept her promises.”
“And that’s why you stayed?” Mae asked softly.
Rivan shook his head with a full chuckle.
“No, I stayed because she has the biggest balls on a mage on this side of the Sahalia sea that I’ve ever seen,” he replied.
Mae raised an eyebrow, “I’m going to assume that’s a big reference?”
Rivan scoffed. “You people are such fools. Yes, it’s a big reference. It’s the ocean.”
Mae glanced at him puzzled but she didn’t ask. The people in her kingdom had always referred to the ocean as the ‘Teardrop of the East’. The idea that it was named something else by a foreign traveler was interesting but of no major consequence to her.
His voice still irritated, Rivan continued as he changed back the subject.
“But this time, Donna Marie might be asking for too much,” Rivan said.
“From me or you?” Mae asked.
The only reply he gave was a grunt which Mae took to mean ‘both’.
“So you’re going to leave then?” Mae clarified.
“After she gets what she wants and she gives me what I need,” Rivan grouched. “You need to be alive for the former to happen.”
Mae rocked back on her heels but she didn’t reply.
Nevertheless she determined that when that time came, she would be ready.
Turning her gaze to stare hard at the foreign woman just as Rivan did, Mae catalogued her experiences.
Donna Marie was smart, aggressive, and above all, devious. Whatever plans she had in store; they were for her own benefit. Not for Mae or Mae’s family to thrive under. Even just unlocking this magic was a risk, a risk Mae knew she had to take for the health of the children.
But what ate at her more was the idea that by playing with fire, she was unravelling something she couldn’t control.
Like the woman who stands before me who no one truly knows, Mae thought miserably as Donna Marie threw back her head and laughed gaily at the same time.
She stood with the leader of the mercenaries that surrounded them, practically giggling the daylight away. A woman like that, who could turn from manipulator to aggressor in a blink of an eye had to be watched carefully.
Or she would do more than unlock Mae’s gifts, she’d eat her and everyone else around them alive.
10
She didn’t have any more time to think on it though before Donna Marie dropped her laugh and raised an arm to wave them over.
As they reluctantly joined her, she set off toward the north with no more than a simple “Come” and they followed her back into the forest and hopefully, toward the path home.
As they swiftly began to navigate through the darkening forest Mae noticed that Donna Marie had left her man Dot behind alongside Mae’s sister.
Perhaps I’m not the only one who had to leave a hostage behind, Mae thought as she nimbly jumped over a fallen log and followed closely behind the foreign woman who had so many of her hopes grasped tightly in hand.
Behind the three of them trailed two of the mercenaries who had detached themselves from the main group.
They could be guards for Mae, Rivan, and Dot.
Or they could be prisoners themselves.
But warily eyeing the sharp swords they held in hand and some light chainmail that had materialized from somewhere, Mae had a hard time to imagine either of them as hostages. No, they clearly had the upper hand.
It didn’t take them long to get to the greater holding outer gates and Mae was ashamed to say that her heart lifted when it did. Even though she left behind a sister imprisoned as well as a hidden invasion force and she was currently traveling with a person who wanted nothing more than to drag her family’s secrets into the light.
There was just something so good about heading home.
They stomped through the forest for little more than half an hour before they hit the main road. Nervous suddenly Mae looked down at her tunic and pants.
“I look like I’ve been sleeping outside for weeks,” she said to herself horrified.
“Is there a problem?” the foreign woman inquired in a tone that said they’re better not be.
“No, not so much as long as no one looks too closely at what I’m wearing,” Mae said to her. “But if they go up to the gates dressed in armor and carrying weapons, we’ll never get back inside.”
By ‘they’ Mae clearly meant the honor guard the mercenary leader had sent along to keep an eye on them.
Donna Marie pursed her lips and frowned at the two men.
She could see Mae was right.
“You’ll drop your weapons here,” Donna Marie said loftily as they all stopped off the side of the road.
The two mercenaries looked at her with denial written all over their faces.
“We don’t take our orders from you,” the first one said softly. “Our leader was clear. Keep you in sight and use whatever force necessary to keep everyone in line.”
“Aye,” agreed the other mercenary. “How are we supposed to do that with no weapons?”
Rivan said in a bored tone, “I believe that is your problem to bear. But if we can’t pass a simple village idiot without them gaping at the two of you or possibly calling down the local guards, we won’t get anything done.”
A standoff commenced. Mae, Rivan, and Donna Marie against the two goons.
For her part, Mae was betting on her team. If only because they were all supposedly had some sort of magic.
Though she’d yet to see Rivan do a darned thing with his.
Icy glares were exchanged for a minute before the guards pointed out, “Aren’t you on a time limit or something? Because we can stand here all day and still do our jobs.”
“And how precisely do you plan to get your company paid for hindering us from doing ours?” Donna Marie demanded, incensed.
It was better she spoke up first because if Mae had, she would have had some choice words about them delaying her arrival back to her siblings’ bedsides.
The one guard, the second one, said reluctantly “We need our gear. Not just for you three. What if her family turns on all of you?”
“They won’t do that!” Mae cried.
That same guard gave her a flat, unfriendly look.
“We were briefed before we left the company girl,” he said wisely. “Apparently you’re in some kind of trouble and going back to get into some more kind of trouble. So whether you’re going or coming, its highly likely you’ll be confronted in the process.”
“That’s only if we’re discovered,” Rivan said stiffly.
“Oh?” The first guard said. “You plan to walk in there under some kind of invisibility shield?”
“Nothing quite so draining,” Donna Marie said with a sniff. “But if I have to, I will ensure we leave un-accosted. That protection extends to the two of you as well.”
“Still we need to have our weapons near,” the first guard objected.
“How near?” Mae asked swiftly. “What if I could get them stored close enough to the greater holding that you would feel comfortable running for them if needed?”
The two guards exchanged glances. The first looked interested. The second looked apprehensive.
Still the first guard replied, “That might work.”
Mae smiled. She had just the idea of where to stash them then.
After making sure all was secure, it was just a matter of walking up to her family gate and through into the main courtyard without kicking up a fuss. Mae had her fingers crossed that none of the secret society from the evening before had asked the household guards to be on the lookout for any strange activity from comers and goers.
Heart beating fast in her chest, Mae made a beeline for the younger guard posted at the gate and hoped he let the four individuals behind her through with no protest.
She smiled and waved. Her younger cousin, the gate guard, stood up just a bit straighter and smile.
“Good to see you Thomas,” Mae chirped as she moved to smoothly sail past. “This is the foreign group you had by earlier this week. We’re just returning in for a bit of rest.”
Thomas nodded seriously and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he spoke, “Welcome back. Where’d you go?”
Donna Marie stiffened beside Mae, clearly worried about what she would say.
“Down to the local village to inspect the crafts,” Mae said with an easy lie, surprising even herself at the smoothness of her words.
“Oh right,” Thomas said with a scratch of his head. “That’s alright then. Off you go.”
They were all waved through and wished a nice evening.
Passing through the courtyard with more nods and tight smiles, Mae had to wonder where her ‘welcome’ wagon was. She’d expected for someone to realize she’d been missing for practically all night and then put two-and-two together. That the two girls who snuck into the dark ceremony unwanted were the ones who hadn’t come to supper since.
But no one said a word.
Everyone was busy flitting about the courtyard on their own mission, from the young woman with bouquets of flowers in their hands to the old men who were carrying carpenters’ tools over to the stable yard.
Biting her lip, Mae knew she should be thankful that she had not been discovered. It would not be good for her if the people with secrets in her family learned she and Ember were the ones who knew them.
Nevertheless it felt a bit like being a forgotten orphan to make it all the way home after a harrowing night and to have no one, not even her parents, wonder if she had been hurt or killed in the night since.
Her thought process was broken when the foreign woman who had been her constant companion for what seemed like more than a day, poked her in the side with a hard fingertip.
“Where are you leading us?” Donna Marie hissed.
Mae jumped in confusion and then looked around in shock to see they were actually halfway down the main corridor to the family chapel.
“This isn’t where I meant to go,” Mae said hurriedly. “I just got…distracted, sorry.”
“Well hurry up before someone sees,” Donna Marie stated impatiently. “Take us to the sickroom now.”
“Too late,” Rivan said with a nod down the corridor.
Mae looked over her shoulder and winced.
Of all the people to run across, she thought horrified.
But there was nowhere to run or to hide. They were in an open hallway and bearing down on her was her great-aunt with an angry look on her face.
“She knows,” Mae whispered to herself as she cringed.
Behind her great-aunt was her daughter, two male cousins, and oddly enough, the cook.
Or at least Mae thought it was the cook. He was wearing the burlap apron around his waist that signal an early start in this morning’s kitchen. But she also recognized his face from the sick room the other day.
Mae’s stomach turned in turmoil as her group stepped aside to let her great-aunt pass.
All except her.
For once, if Mae was going to be confronted about something, she wanted it to at least be partially on her own terms. So she straightened her back and looked her great-aunt dead in the eyes. She wanted to see her explain away the dark magic she’d done, with this unassuming looking chef by her side along with more others that Mae couldn’t name. She wanted her great-aunt to know she despised her even as she took Mae into her custody.
Perhaps to kill her. Certainly to silence her and prevent her from telling of her misdeeds.
Mae’s mouth twisted as she greeted the great-aunt who walked right up to her.
“Great-aunt,” Mae said politely. Her thoughts whirling and her tongue straining to shout at the woman, ask her what she could possibly be thinking, and what had she done to her siblings!
Whatever explanation she gave it would never wipe the stain of that experience from Mae’s memory. To think of the ink of the clan on men was just heresy. And yet if Mae could somehow strip the cook of his vestments, there that tattoo would be for all to see.
“Is there a problem?” her great-aunt snapped in irritation now that Mae was standing in her way unmoving, practically in the middle of the hallway.
Mae’s hand twitched and her stomach flipped as she realized she had miscalculated. Her great-aunt might not have been heading directly at her to confront her, merely to bypass her.
Well, it’s too late for that now, Mae thought wryly.
Besides she was still angry enough to slap her, elder be damned.
But she didn’t. At an insistent tug at her waist from Donna Marie’s hidden hand she fell back and bit her lip to stop her first tongue-lashing tirade from releasing.
“Apologies great-aunt,” Mae muttered as she dipped her head low to hid her expression.
&nbs
p; She waited for her great-aunt to announce that she was happy that she had found her wayward niece and that they had much to discuss but she did no such thing.
Instead her great-aunt said in a dismissive tone, “Have you gotten more simple-minded young girl?”
Mae winced. Her elders weren’t normal known for tactfulness but that was cruel even for her great-aunt.
Not like I haven’t seen her cruel actions in practice before though, Mae thought bitterly as she remembered watching a ritual that brought evil into their home and worse, seemed designed to hold her own siblings locked in a perpetual illness.
Then her great-aunt reached out and tilted up her chin.
Here it comes, Mae thought as her heart frozen and the others behind her were silent spectators. None of them knew that this woman had been part of the collective group which had chased Mae and her sister into the night.
Though by the way Mae was acting, she had the idea that they’d figure that out soon enough.
Her great-aunt, “Well, which are you again?”
“Pardon,” Mae said aghast.
Slowly as if talking to a simpleton her daughter spoke up from behind her shoulder, “Well, speak up. Mother can’t be expected to remember every brat who runs around these castle walls.”
“I…,” Mae spluttered, genuinely shocked.
“She’s the second oldest child of the stricken family,” Rivan said somberly.
Mae almost turned around and hissed at him for that.
Then recognition bloomed in her great-aunt’s eyes. But it wasn’t the sort of recognition that said she recognized Mae from that fateful balcony. It was the sort that said ‘Oh, perhaps you deserve a modicum of compassion then’.
Her great-aunt proved that guess right when her tone immediately simmered down.
She actually sounded sweet as she said, “My apologies dear. Of course you’ve had a rough go of it.”
Then she went straight back to being a harpy as she said, “You need to visit your sibling’s more often child. I am often in the sickroom and I have counted many empty days without your presence.”