The Golden Year and the Sorceress

by Isabella Hardiman

  "Leonardo's father, of course. What a silly question...he was the one who placed you in that town...under the care of those mundane, the ones you thought were your parents..."

  Leonardo's father knew my parents. He knew. That is why he recognized me. He knew this whole time.

  My thoughts caused me unbearable pain, so I tried not to think but the silence was on the verge of murdering me.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven - The kings secrets

  She stood before me with a wretched grin.

  "Wh-what do you mean?" The wisps of silver shimmering smoke danced and weaved its way around us and through the heavy thick air.

  "I meant what I said darling." The witch smirked at my shock. "You see everyone has their own dirty little secrets."

  "He couldn't have done that." Was all I managed to say. He hid me? He relocated me? He knew my parents? He changed my name?

  "Oh but he did." she paused whilst dipping her hands into a box of snakes and letting one of the longest ones slither up her arm. "Isaac da Angelo knows exactly who you are."

  "How do you know this?" I raised an eyebrow and stared at her with distrust and above all suspicion.

  "A long time ago...I was like you. Foolish and young, I saw everything in color and everything beautiful. But those days were decades ago...people change. Time has a way of taking its toll on one's soul. But as hard as you might find this to believe, I during my early days was friends with Isaac."

  "The king?" I stared at her in disbelief.

  "Isaac would never admit it but in his youth...he dabbled here and there in magic." Mrs. Grim shrugged. "Isaac da Angelo was nothing but a hypocrite. He wasn't even of magical blood and he was tempted to use it...better yet he had used it."

  "The. King. Used. Magic." The words stumbled out of mouth. He had just passed a law to murder anybody who used magic... and yet he had used it himself?

  "Indeed. In fact rumour has it he loved a sorceress. A girl who had waves of power beneath her very fingers. She was his very first love." The idea of a man as cold as Isaac falling in love was surreal. But the thought of him ever loving a sorceress was not even contemptible, he hated magic. He treated all magical users like something stuck on the bottom of his boot. There was something about his cold exterior that made me think he was not capable of love; let alone love someone like me. "But that was long before he met his queen. Here let me show you..."

  And just like that my vision blurred and I was taken to a middle world. A world of memories that did not belong to me or her. A middle world between the past and present. I almost felt as if I was invading someone's privacy and eavesdropping on their deepest thoughts and desires.

  "Come back here!" A boy calls riddled with laughter. A pair of children stumble through the fields beside the white-stoned castle and not to mention the deadly enchanted forest.

  "Only if you can catch me!" A second voice calls. The sky seems to be filled with beautiful white shapes and there was some sort of energy shimmering from the trees. Like a spectacular light. I could almost smell the dewy grass.

  Then I see the shape of a girl and I see her amber silk gown glisten in the early morning light."Got you!" The boy shouts as he tackles her to the ground and they stumble down the soil covered hill, rolling, and rolling. The sound of children's laughter echoes through the vast land. Soil showered and covered them from head to toe.

  Until they stop between an avenue of trees riddled with white and pink blossom. A roar of laughter was let loose from both bodies. From the boy's build I could tell he must have been around 15 years old and the girl 14 years old. "I told you that I would catch you."

  "Well, you have longer legs." The girl argued.

  The flowers around them seemed to be scattered like frost in winter. Petals covered the forest floor like a blanket.

  "Excuses. Excuses." He sighed. As I got a better look of the boy, I realised how innocent he appeared. There was this glow that hovered around him. This was Isaac? I had never pictured him like this... I had never even contemplated him smiling because the idea seemed ridiculous. Yet here he is...smiling and laughing. This is what he looked like...all those years ago.

  Just a young boy. He was a good-looking child and you could tell he was going to be a heartbreaker in the years to come.I suppose Father like son. I now saw a stronger resemblance between Leonardo and Isaac. It wasn't his bone structure or his hair colour. It was this essence that surrounded them. It was the way they smiled. They both had this smile that you will only ever come across once or twice in your lifetime. It's one of those effortless smiles, it is a smile that makes you feel like they understand everything about you and all your actions. It is a smile that accepts everything you are.

  But there was something in the way he stared at the girl. Some sort of essence in his stare. He stared at her and smiled. Although the way he stared was, the way every girl has always dreamt of being looked at. There was something far too familiar in his look.

  "Isaac!" She complained and played with him. He rolled over sideways even though she had hardly touched him.

  Then something remarkable happened, the sky turned dark with sparkling stars but just above them in this avenue. The rest of the world seemed to be filled with the same sky blue. Around both children were waves of glittering dust. It was of every shade possible and it took my breath away. The flowers elevated into the air, and she seemed to have taken gravity away. Both children's feet were no longer on the ground and hovering far above the grass. A whirlwind of colours and silk soft petals surrounded them.

  It was the most beautiful storm I had ever seen. The wind was every colour imaginable. The clouds were sparkling waves of magic. The lightning was the changing colours of the sky. It looked like a painting with every colour from heaven to hell.

  "Wow," The boy gasped and the girl giggled. "I couldn't imagine anyone better to be with under stormy skies." That look in his eyes was like everything fades out, except her, when she takes a breath.

  The girl turned towards him and just like that I caught a glimpse of her face. The girl who stared back at Isaac was none other than me. Had I lost my mind?

  A thousand lightning bolts scattered here and there breaking the memory and shattering it to pieces. I came back to reality at a hundred miles an hour. I gasped for air as if I had been deprived for centuries, devouring thick gulps at a time.

  "That was me." I blurted out between breaths. "The girl she-she looked like me." The girl was an identical copy of what I had looked at her age. It was like going back in time and seeing a younger version of myself. The resemblance was uncanny.

  All the sudden I remembered Isaac Da Angelo screaming at me on the day of the trial. He was scared because I looked like her. I looked like the girl. I looked like the girl from his childhood. But why? How?

  The flashback made my stomach turn. As I thought back to the trial...

  The king, Isaac, stared at me now, his mouth open. He looked at me like he had just seen a ghost. He did not believe his eyes. He muttered something under his breath. He looked partially distraught. Everyone had seen his reaction and everyone was staring. Where was Leonardo!? "Leave us." He finally said. I had never been so scared in my life. Everyone shuffled out without hesitation and the door slammed shut.

  He got up from his chair and walked towards the windows. His back turned to me. "Why do you look like her?" He snapped. Why do I look like who? "ANSWER ME!" His voice bellowed through the room.

  "Your majesty, I don't know what you're talking about." I mumbled. He turned to look at me, his eyes cold and hard. He did not believe me. A large lump in my throat.

  "Don't lie to me witch!" He spat. His face had gone bright red. "I am only going to ask you once, why do you look like her?" Things had gone very very South, very quickly. The king was accusing me of something I did not even understand. Did he think I was somebody else? He was far more aggressive than I had ever thought possible

  "Intriguing isn't it?" The witch dug her long razor sharp nails int
o the sofa and her voice brought me back to reality.

  "What part?" I stared into space, open mouthed.

  "The part when you realise nothing is never what it seems..." she seemed to fade out into a daze, into a world neither here nor there. A middle world in which only my questions would bring her out.

  "He knew my parents, my real parents..." I trailed on.

  "I suppose so." She muttered through gritted teeth.

  "But do you know them- my real parents-that is?" I asked.

  "I am afraid of a child that never reached me. All I know is that: a child was spotted being carried out of the palace walls on the night of the full moon. Along with her was a scroll with the seal of the king in red wax ink and orders to relocate her." She sighed.

  "And how do you know this is me? How can I trust a single word that comes out of your mouth?" For all I knew this could have been a trap or evil plot.

  "Because I was assigned -deary- to kidnap you. You see the king was attempting to hide you, from who or what...we shall never know but that made you valuable."

  "Valuable." I repeated the word through bitter lips.

  "You became an important piece of a game. You see you only hide things that you don't want anyone to know about." She smirked. "The king didn't want anyone to know about you... so you became rather special."

  "So what happened? Why didn't you sell me off?" I stared at her coldly.

  "I got there too late. By the time I reached the village and tracked you down, the screams were already singing the night away."

  "The dark lord." I cringed as the nightmare that haunted me flashed in my mind.

  "Well no...it was his followers that crossed the border and attacked the village.Then you disappeared, and well I suppose I lost interest in you when I realised the king didn't send anyone after you. He seemed to have lost an interest."

  I bit my lip as my memories of starving on the streets and fighting for scraps filled my mind. I almost died of hunger on the streets.

  "He just lost interest." I repeated coldly.

  "Well, if he valued you...he would have looked for you. Don't you think?"

  "So my name isn't Leila..." I processed this new information bit by bit but at the same time all at once.

  "Darling, why on earth would you hide someone with the same name? Of course, not." The witch sighed impatiently.

  "So what's my real name?" I asked.

  "How would I know?" She looked at me as if I was a simpleton. "That information I doubt would have been available for even the king's advisors."

  "Why do I look like her?" I paused. "Why do I look like a girl?" I asked.

  "That isn't for me to tell you." She grunted. "You see, everything has a time and a place..."

  "Stop with the riddles." I demanded. My patience was running low and I needed answers and I needed them now. I suspected she was not even sure herself of why we had traits in common.

  "There's only two people who can help fill in the puzzle and I am not one of them." She sighed duly.

  "Who?"

  "Why the king," That was not an option, I doubt he would tell me anything. I was going to be executed if I told anybody about what I just saw. "The mistress of evil." There was something in the way she said her name. Something dark and sinister.

  Why the mistress of evil? What did she have to do with any of this? "Why her?" I asked. All the sudden a burning pain filled my brain as a flashback filled my mind.

  "Leave Eris!" he shouted again. My heart was pounding hard now. My heart felt as if it were about to burst out my chest and run away. She did not seem the slightest bit concerned but all the sudden she started heading back towards the smoke clouds she had come from.

  "Today was just a friendly visit." She paused. "Nothing more than a chat." She smiled and then I noticed her moving her hand rapidly. "Remember though when I lose my temper someone loses their life." There was a snap as a servant in the far corner fell to the floor, dead. With a swish of her finger, she had broken his neck. High pitched piercing screams filled the air.

  "I will be back." She grinned like a cat. "Next time, I won't be kind. Next time people will get hurt." She snapped her fingers and two other servants fell to the floor. Blood dripped and covered the sand. A second set of screams were unleashed from the crowd.

  "Guards!" the king shouted.

  "Mark my words when the next drop of rain falls: lightning will strike, thunder will clash and a fierce wind will break loose. I will be there waiting to make my next move. I will destroy you, King Isaac, your family, friends, your kingdom and anyone who gets in my way." Her words were like a dead woman's broken lullaby.

  "You will not survive this." She looked at the king. "Neither will your precious children or allies. Your kingdom will fall and I will get my revenge. Blood will be spilt," she hissed. "I promise you, this." She laughed and smiled wickedly. "And you know I am a woman of my word."

  She was ready to leave, already centred in thick clouds of smoke. She casted a charm but all the sudden, the crow squawked and began pecking at her viciously. She turned her head to me. Her eyes narrowed. Eris raised an eyebrow. "You!" She was about to say something else but she vanished.

  Me. She knew me. Or she knew the girl who looked like me over twenty years ago...She knew me. Or she knew the girl. The mistress of discord and destruction knew me or at least she knew my doppelganger. I shivered as I recalled her bony fingers, her nickel silver hair and the deep dark secrets that lurked behind her amber eyes. Those eyes were like melted gold but cold- colder than anyone could ever imagine.

  "Why did you want a strand of my hair?" I asked as I watched her conjure a dagger in the air and next to it appeared a lock of my hair.

  Everything slowed down now, including my pulse. She was circling me like a panther. "Child, we live in a dangerous world, in dangerous times. Do you really think I would just hand over the jewel for some gold?"

  That is when I realised what was going on. "You wanted to play both sides." I gulped.

  "Yes," She smirked. "I give you the jewel in case you win and..." She trailed her off.

  "And...what about her? What are you giving her?!" I demanded. I had not trusted her from the start, but one thing was to not trust slowly waiting for some sort of betrayal but another was her being in league with your enemy. "MRS. GRIM."

  She clicked her fingers and I felt myself being dragged back and sucked into a swirling pit of vibrant greens, yellows, and blues. Everything goes dark and all I hear is her voice echoing in my mind. "I am delivering you to the gates of hell."

  "Leila," A voice whispers. "Leila." A hand pushes me back and forth. "Leila..." A voice whispers to me. I am slowly awakened by a pair of blue eyes staring down at me. "Good you're awake..." He paused for a second. "Now, please tell us...WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE ANGEL AND DEMONS ABOVE...WERE YOU THINKING?" He burst out.

  That was the Leonardo I knew.

  "Where are we?" I groaned. I felt as if I had spent the entire night in the tavern drinking- but not just three or four jugs- more like I had drank the entire lake above the Seelie Court and spent the entire day in the boiling desert of creatures. My senses seemed to blur into one. I could hardly think.

  The walls below the ridge smoothly curved to the floor, the walls above arched another three-hundred feet up to giant stalactites. The stalagmites are an unusual type - they look as if they are rounded, irregular, hollow cones, which are concave upwards. The cave wall was filled with impenetrable blackness, I watched my shadow dissolve into surrounding darkness. It was dank and the only sound was dripping water.

  "We are in the lair of Eris." Cam was the first to answer. I cursed under my breath. Mrs. Grim's voice echoes in the back of my mind. I am delivering you to the gates of hell.'

  "Please tell me you don't think we should all keep going and walk through these tunnels in hope of finding a mass murderer?" Josephine asked.

  "Bloody hell no." Leonardo responded. "You and Leila aren't going anywhere."

  "Wait
a second..." I was immediately on my feet.

  "No." Leonardo cut in.

  "That's not-" I stepped forward.

  "No." Leonardo copied me, bringing our bodies closer.

  "I have an equal-" I began to argue.

  "NO."

  "I saved you all at least once..."

  "Leila, read my lips: NO. N. O. It is not going to happen in this lifetime." Leonardo gave me a dark look.

  "She isn't going to agree to it." Theo said. Leonardo's look shifts from me to Theo.

  "Of course, she won't. But she isn't going to have a choice." Leonardo argued. "She has risked herself far too much already. She can hardly move, let alone defend herself. It's dangerous for her." I looked at Leonardo quickly, and caught a flash in his blue eyes.