“Now let’s see!” Rupert turned to me tense, flushed, and excited. “I need to show the Queen. She’ll know what to do about this! She has witch advisors…or fae, rather! They’ll know. Ooh. Quite exciting?”
Something happened to my spells, again, my mind growing dizzy. My thoughts wobbled, and it was hard to hold onto them.
I could not hear Rupert, anymore, and watched him through a veil of white, as if he were framed with a circle of white glow, and in my eyes, he moved in slow-motion, mouthing incomprehensible words.
It had to have something to do with the magic rose or the castle, I didn’t know what, but I knew I had to get out. It was wisest to leave, and fast.
I left Rupert as he walked guarding the rose in cupped hands. He’d take it to mother’s advisors — they, if anyone, knew magic for sure, and they’d figure things out. And if all else failed, Mother was, after all, personal friends with the Fae Queen, despite their differences.
Chapter 13
I was desperate to be able to talk to someone, so I had to get back to my human form. At the times I even remembered my human form, I was worried sick thinking I might never turn back. I didn’t see any other options that to go back to the rose castle.
Then, with the woods swooshing past in a flurry, I worried I’d never find back. But it wasn’t hard to find the way, after I began noting wisps of magic in the air. They must have been carried from the castle, and they lead me the right way.
Passing over the yard filled with the forget-me-nots, I tried to look for Julian, but no luck. I flew through the blue-veiled window, into the brilliant hall, and indeed, it was still there, my enchanted illusion, or image, or painted-in-the-air-portrait—whatever it was, it still there on the stone bed. Surrounded by, what, coals, now…?
The witch had apparently done odd magic again. There were coals set in an even line-up around me, apparently carefully set to their places, so they formed an even formation. The witch had clearly gone through a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble to kill me, curse me, enchant me…Oh, how very considerate of her, indeed.
I dove down and attacked the coals, pushing then off the rock slab with my beak one by one. They bounced off the floor, they rolled away leaving traces. As soon as I’d done that, my plumage began shivering, as if an invisible breeze caught it. I gasped, as something gray reached out up pulled me towards my sleeping image, and I couldn’t fight it.
The stone devoured me, like the first time.
After a disorientating flash of white, I found myself lying down. I was myself again, a person, on my back on the stone bed, memories and thoughts rushing back to me. It was what I’d meant to do, but the violent way it happened, and the way the stone gripped me, still shook me.
My bird form lingered in my mind, but faded, vanishing into the distance. It made way for sleepiness. I did remember flying with Julian and how I’d found Rupert in the yard and how I’d showed him the rose, but however I’d done all that and how I’d got there, and whatever did it all have to do with flying…I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight about any of that.
I was Aurora. I was lying on a bed of stone in a witch’s castle.
And she was going to sacrifice me or kill me. That, I was sure of.
And just then she walked in through the door, rushing as if she’d only stepped out for a while, and she carried an iron basket of glowing, red-hot coals.
My heart beat in my throat, and I squeezed my eyes shut and stayed still. I had to be smart about this. Calling up all my patience, I waited, so she wouldn’t notice anything was wrong. Then, from the sounds of it, she moved away from me. When I dared to take a peek, she had picked up the iron basket with rest of the coals and sat down on the floor with it.
And what she began calling up from it, I had no words for.
Flaming winds. Burning smoke.
Wisps of it formed a circle above the basket. It was a flaming pot of fire, or of burning mirages, or whatever one could call these, and what formed above the basket was a floating eye of flames that I could see through. It was like a window to someplace else. Inside the window, two people stood against light so I could only see their silhouettes. A tall man and a shorter woman, it looked like. Then they moved, and the light shifted, and the window showed someone lying on a street.
“You still owe me,” the man slouched on the street mumbled. His words were slurred. I wondered if he was drunk or, perhaps, had been beaten up.
“You got your advance moneys. What did you do with them?” the silhouetted man said, and I recognized his voice.
Father. Of course.
The man in the gutter had to be the crude man from the inn.
“I didn’t do nothing. My lousy friends stole it, and that ain’t my fault.”
“Still, if Í gave you the rest of it, what good would that do? You’d be pennyless in a day or two, the way you’re drinking. Let’s just strike a new deal and say that, if you do as asked, I’ll spare your life.”
“My King, my Sire, you can’t send me to the Fae Island, have mercy! Even if my life depended on it, how would you expect me to get there and live?”
“We have an enchanted boat. You think we’re dumb? We’ve thought out everything, of course, and the plan is foolproof. You’ll get to the island on our special boat. Since you’re a human — see, for once, that’s working out for you—the traps of Fae Island won’t target you. They’re for darklings, not for us humans. Of course, alas, no humans have even made it to the Island before…but no worries, now, in our boat. It’s strengthened with the glow of fae magic. Oh, the irony…It’s enriched with the magic of a real fae heart, the heart of a fae witch, and that’s how we’ll get the boat to the Fae Island like the Horse of Troy! But take care of that boat, because we used up the last crumbs of what we had left of a fae jewel heart on it. That stuff is precious.”
The man in the gutter shook his head slowly. As he sat up a little, doing that, I verified him as the man from the restaurant. Victor Morgernstern. “Where did you get this fae jewel heart?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that…Let’s just focus on your directions. Once you land on the island and secure the boat, you find and climb the Jewel Tower.”
“Right, right. Piece of cake…Look, my Sire, I can hardly stand…”
“Oh, you’ll be sober by the time you get there. The sea is vast and the Island is days away. So, you just do as I say. Sail the seas, climb the tower, and finally…? Finally, Victor, father of witches, when you get to the top of the Jewel Tower, you shatter the Fae Emerald—the stone that guards the Fae kingdom. That’ll take down their guards. It’ll incapacitate their magic traps. That’ll make way for the demon ships to land and our demon army to roam in from the shores.”
Victor blinked, unanswering.
I closed my eyes. They were going to break the Fae Emerald and take down all the guards and protection of Fae Island, so that demons could attack? I was in shock. How could even Father sink so low?
Then, I heard a soft, gasping sigh from the floor — in the rose castle, in the room with the stone slab — and it was the horned witch, holding up the flame circle window. I had been so preoccupied what we saw in the window that I hadn’t paid attention to her. She still didn’t seem aware that I was watching. She appeared to be so focused on what happened in her cauldron window.
And what happened there, right now, was that the silhouetted people—Rachel and Father—moved away from the moaning Victor, and bowed in sight, their faces right in the center of the window. They weren’t looking at us, I could only see them in part, but they seemed to imagine they were alone. They couldn’t have any idea we were watching.
“Oh, my love, you are unique, you are unprecedented,” Rachel whispered. “I’ve never heard of anybody even in the underworld talking about siding with the demons! And this is working…”
“We don’t need to play small. After all, we do still have a good chunk of perfectly powerful fae heart. How smart was it to save so much of it for the
se glorious days? I say we played our cards wisely.”
“We did, we did, and now the world will fall under new rule!…Oh, I hate the fae! The fae this, the fae that…Doesn’t everyone love the goody-goody fae?” Rachel spat, vehement. “They all think they’re so posh and fancy, with all their magic. Nobody gets how they’re actually stuck up and full of themselves, and so judgmental, they make me sick…The Fae Queen told me my magic is like a child throwing sticks! Oh, nice, and you’re supposed to be the kind and wonderful one? And my magic is not good enough?”
“Well, she had a point, you could have directed the curse to someone else than a little baby, of course…One of the pot plants, for instance…”
“Well, you’d filled my ears with how the baby was ruining your life! You went on and on about how she’s Marjorie’s child to keep and not yours, and how you’d never care to give it the time of day or spend one rusty brass coin on it! I listen to you, my darling…And I really didn’t give a bat’s spit who the curse went onto, as long as it wasn’t you. Everybody else can die a painful death for all I care, and I hope they do!”
“Well, now, that’s what I like to hear…Oh, my witchy Queen, you’re something else.”
On my stone bed, I took quick breaths. I couldn’t just stand and watch. Never mind what Mother would say, or the court, or anyone, Father had to be stopped at any cost, now. Maybe he was blood relation, but I so wished he weren’t. I renounced him! He was no longer a father of mine.
No father of mine sided with the demons and threatened to kill innocent people, only to get rich and rule.
My mind churned and, at the same time, I prepared to slay the horned witch, too, is she wandered close. I’d pick up the spoon she’d used for the coal and finish her off, never mind her foul magic…
My thoughts were interrupted, and I felt like a fool, as the witch quietly walked out the door in small, shuffling steps, carrying her basket with her.
In a burst of effort, I kicked at the masses of rose petals all over me and pushed away the strange, colorful, tiny pebbles the witch had laid at my feet with all the dirty coals. Startlingly, at that, I felt my energies rushing back to my hands and feet and whole body, and I could sit up and breathe easier. I stretched my arms to get some life into them and then jumped down and went to the windows, thinking I’d run out. But the blue sheet of magic stopped me, stretched over me like fabric, and wouldn’t let me pass.
It couldn’t be I was only able to pass the magic wall if I was a bird? Was it impossible for me to go outside as myself? Apparently, I’d only been able to get out while I was a bird…Maybe I was lucky to even remember I’d done so, because thinking about it took so much effort it gave me a headache…Now I wished I’d stayed a bird, so I could go outside again!
There was only one way to get out of this. I had to make a plan to kill the witch. I’d hide. I’d jump to a surprise attack. When she didn’t see me coming, I’d slay her…
I swore the witch would pay for this, making my mother and my friends worry, taking a whole year out of my life— and now, through the complicated workings of the world, keeping me from running to end my father’s plans.
If I was stuck here, I couldn’t do anything!
In my frustration, I picked up a rod that was there for turning the coal in the fireplace and raised it like a sword. Then I made my way through the room fencing the air. I was a decent fighter, not bad at all with swords. Mother didn’t let me take part in the tournaments, of course — as she didn’t even know I trained — but I wasn’t bad.
I’d jump at that witch when she least expected and pierce her rotten heart.
Let’s see about those fae hearts, shall we?
Evil, dark fae hearts did possess just as much magic as light ones, so we were definitely in for a show, weren’t we? Oh, with all the pain and harrow she’d caused, I couldn’t wait to rip her heart out!
And I desperately needed to find someone to talk to. I had to tell someone about the demon attack before it was too late. Time had to be running out.
How could I turn into a bird again?
I decided to lie down and try if I could change. Then I’d fly out as a bird again and look for Julian…
I didn’t change in any way, no matter how I though about it, but then I tried to push myself up on my wings, searching for the motion in my memory. Nobody was more surprised than myself, when I felt the air gathering under my spreading-out wings and saw my blue-plumaged belly.
Then I gathered my wings in a routined way and rocketed at the window.
I could tell that behind the glimmering veil, everything was darker now. My dizziness was leaving, and I was gathering confidence, so I didn’t hesitate at all as I ducked and pushed through.
What I found was a veritable fairytale. The night-time garden was lusher, fuller, and stranger in every way than it had been under the bright sun. It was as if the magic from the castle was seeping into the yard and getting to the plants, and you could only see that in the twilight.
“There you are!”
I turned to see Julian’s form drawn out against the moonlight. He sat high up on a branch in the cherry tree.
Julian landed harshly against the ground beside me, strong toes groping for a grip of the grasses.
“I found you! I’ve waited for ages, here! I worried I wouldn’t get to see you at all before I’d have to go again. I couldn’t join you yesterday, because I couldn’t fall asleep. I mean, it was hard to find the way here…I think.”
Oh, wasn’t that so like Julian, to be so confused! First, he lands craftily like a knight, then he has no idea what he’s doing, blinking his clever eyes. Which sparkled quite intriguingly in the moonlight, to be honest…
Not stopping to worry, however, Julian bowed down to pick at his plumage, as if nothing was the matter, and I kept my eyes on him, waiting to tell him the news. I was happy he had found me, but I couldn’t really smile over anything right now, since there were serious news to share and urgent plans to make. My sad case of a father was about to hunt down and capture innocent people for their fae hearts, and what then—lead the demons to attack the fae!
“Straighten up your feathers, Julian. We are going to Fae Island.”
“We are?” Julian said. My dear confused Julian.
“Yup. I’ll explain on the way.”
Chapter 14
We stood with our talons in the sand, looking at the rolling, gray waves. Neither of us said it, but I was sure we were both thinking it: this was madness.
As far as I knew, Fae Island was founded where it was so that humans wouldn’t reach it in their ships nor darklings of the land by swimming. Really, it was out of reach for mortals and darklings alike.
I didn’t know what was said about seraphim, valkyrie, and vampire, who could fly. Perhaps the Fae had something prepared for them, as well, traps waiting ready with that in mind, or something. Perhaps those creatures rarely ventured there, as they were so rarely seen. We almost never came across them.
In any case, the Fae Island was a veritable fortress—in the kindest, most peaceful way that anything could be. It was designed to spare humans, if anyone should ever get to the Island, and that we only knew through lore, as no-one had been proven to ever get to, or at least, return from the island. Perhaps, during the passage of years, some humans had laid eyes on the place, but as far as everyone knew, there were no reports.
It was the perfect example of how the Fae did things. Though they were the most powerful beings in all the lands, they had their enemies and had to shield themselves from attacks from darklings out to get their hearts and their power.
They weren’t safe from the worst kinds of humans, either, but humans had little in the way of actually fighting Fae. This was where hedge witches came to the picture, humans using cold, technical magic. That Rachel witch was the saddest example.
But the Fae held their own. They had little to worry about. On top of Fae Island being so far away from all other habitation, their castle
was built atop of clouds. It was tethered to the bedrock with a yard as thin as a spiderweb — so the lore claimed — but with all the spells and enchantments, a million times stronger. If anyone made the mistake of approaching, the Fae conjured up barrages of transparency and mirror spells, used their illusion magic, and distracted the attackers. Their most powerful weapon was the Jewel on top of a high tower, which fended off all darklings.
In all that they did, the Fae avoided conflict. But if they found themselves driven to a corner, they did fight. And when that happened, the aftermath was not pretty.
I didn’t know what to expect of their welcome. We were birds, but did the Fae like birds of human lands on their fortress island?
The sand under my toes was cool and the crisp breeze carried the scents of salt and algae. My gaze dropped to my feet, and for a moment, I watched the water sway over the beach. The beach was one of thousands of different types of colorful pebbles and coral. Among the pebbles, a few larger boulders and stones peeked out.
In my nervous energies, I hopped on one of the good-sized rocks, not too close to the water’s edge. The waves splashed close enough and sprinkled the air with fresh droplets of salty mist.
On closer look, the color of the ocean was odd, a darker shade than one would expect, too dark to be natural. I wondered if the fae had something to do with that. I would not want to fall into these waves…Heaven help us make it all the way to the Island, wherever that was.
“Are you still hungry? Want to go get some more strawberries before we go?” Julian asked. He loved his strawberries.
“I wish I could, but I’m worried I’d feel weighted down. I ate so much already, I’m stuffed.”
“Some seeds, then? They aren’t heavy. We need the strength. It could be a long way…”
It could. It was worrisome to not know the scale, at all. I turned to Julian and met his clear, black, glistening eyes that made me feel safe and less lonely every time I met his gaze.
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