Protestors to the use of magick were at the castle gates, screaming that our rule should end, that we were witches and we had caused this. River sent out his guard and passed off the death of the cattle as a poisoned batch of feed, stating it would be investigated; and since no one had seen Greta’s body, her death was announced later from a heart condition, blaming the excitement of the festivities. It all calmed things a little, but still a few dozen protestors stood at the palace gates and they didn’t only blame us. Some placards blamed Dawn Mandrake and her sons, saying they had brought the darkness back with them and demanding they be banished once more.
Isaac was here, called from his marriage bed; along with my sister, the Mandrakes, and our uncle. Isaac and Thomas were debating a plan of action.
“This entity appears ruthless and powerful and we need to find the same energy in which to deal with it. We will work on this all day and come back to you this evening with a plan. We must enact some spell as soon as possible to stop this as I fear its power is growing stronger.”
Everyone left except my sister, who urged me back into bed to rest. “You can take the tincture, I’ll get Ramona to make you some.” She said stroking my hair. I nodded and let her arrange it, but the moment she left me to rest, I dismissed Ramona, and gathered my grimoire and a couple of other spell books and began reading voraciously. I left the drink on the table. After a couple of hours study, I asked my guard to escort me to the Mandrakes’ property. I wanted to check on Dawn to see if she was doing okay and ask her advice with some ideas I had about incantations. If she thought they could be of use, I’d go find Isaac and Thomas, but I didn’t want to interrupt them if it just seemed like the whimsy of a largely untrained witch.
My powers were raw, but they were strong. It swirled around me like electrical currents, and it needed an outlet. I’d been practising for a while now, but it wasn’t enough. Truth was, I wasn’t sure of what exactly I was capable of. I’d been too scared to try. What if I went out of control; a ticking time bomb?
Dawn let me in after my guards had checked the house again. Stationed outside, I walked down the long corridor behind Dawn as she led me into the kitchen.
“Have you settled in, Dawn? It’s rather a bit larger than your last accommodations isn’t it?”
“It is and at least there are no protestors right outside my windows. It’s lovely and secure. No one around to bother me at all.”
“Except two sons.” I laughed.
“Yeah, that’s true.” She replied, going to fill up a pan with hot water.
Then she turned back around to me and my blood ran cold.
Dawn’s eyes were black, her head tilted toward me, and her smile was evil.
“Honey, I’m home.” She said, and she laughed maniacally.
Chapter Eleven
Leatha
I was frozen in place, but my mind remembered the words from my dream.
‘Your return to the past will give me my future’.
I thought it had been the planes, and an entity from there which had traveled back with me, but it was Dawn who I’d brought back with me.
My mind just couldn’t equate the wonderful woman I’d known with what stood before me.
I had to use some magick and fast.
“I call-”
“Continue that sentence and I shall kill this body.” The entity spoke.
“Dawn, please.”
“My name is not Dawn Mandrake. She is but a vessel for me. One that seems to be proving strong enough to carry my soul.”
“So who are you?” I asked.
The body moved slowly and jaggedly, like a computer glitch. “I’m a wronged sister. Years ago, I should have ruled Andlusan. The first rules remember? But they found me wanting, delicate, and gave the throne to my sister instead. And when I studied the dark arts in order to gain the strength to get my crown back, my sister banished me to the planes. Trapped me between realms. Years I’ve been there, imprisoned, watching, waiting, gaining strength from the dark souls cast there. And then you came and I recognised your blood, my family. And so because of you I was able to return. Meld myself to your DNA because we share genetics.”
“Who are you?” I asked it again.
“My name is Tatiana. I’m your grandmother’s elder sister.” Walking toward me she lifted a hand and trailed an icy finger down my cheek. “And I’ve returned to take what’s mine. Andlusan.”
I watched as her eyes began to bleed.
“Nooooooo. This body cannot fail me. I need it. I will be back for you, Leatha.” She screamed, her mouth forming a garish horrifying grimace.
And then Dawn dropped to the floor, blood dripping from her mouth.
I ran as fast as my shaking legs would carry me, adrenaline forcing me to move, as I called for the guard and Lord Thomas. Then I went back and felt for Dawn’s pulse. It was barely perceptible, and I screamed a tortured scream.
Dawn was fighting for her life and yet her husband was unable to be at her side. Instead he was working with Isaac to find something to heal her before it was too late.
I sat with my sister in her chambers.
“There has to be something we can do.” Mercy paced her room.
“Do we know anyone who can speak to the dead? Not the necromancer, but someone who can converse with those who have passed on to the next world?”
“What you refer to is called mediumship. I’ve not heard of anyone here in Andlusan who can do that. We would need to ask Isaac.”
I shook my head. “I’m not asking anyone else. It would put their life in danger. This is on me. I’m going to look up how to contact those who have passed on and then I’m going to the mausoleum to speak to Grandmother.”
Mercy’s body tensed up. “Leatha, you can’t! It’s too dangerous. You don’t know enough.”
“And you didn’t know anything about travelling the planes, but you did it. To save me. To save Billy. So now I will take a chance to save Andlusan.”
At that, my sister’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Then I will read along with you. We will do this together. Just as we rule.”
I nodded because for studying it would make things easier, but when the time came to challenge Tatiana, I had no intention of my sister being part of it.
The next day Dawn remained unconscious, although she was showing small signs of improvement. I set off for the mausoleum, hoping that I had learned enough to contact my grandmother, though I doubted my abilities. Mercy had insisted that Lord Thomas sit at his wife’s bedside and had requested that Isaac gather together every witch and warlock he knew and bring them to the palace grounds.
Opening the door, I took the familiar walk to the tomb containing my grandmother and stood before it.
“Hey, Grandmother. I don’t know if you get to watch over us, but if you do, I’m sure you must know what is happening right now in Andlusan. Tatiana is here. My carelessness caused it. I am so very sorry. Everything you taught me, and I brought a malevolent spirit that is already causing death, destruction, and chaos. The village is at war. I need you, Grandmother.”
I placed a candle in the middle of a black plate at the foot of the tomb, lit it, and recited the spell I’d been learning.
“Blessed Goddess who holds the key
Pray listen to what I ask of thee.
For Grandmother Raine will you open the door
And let her spirit return to the place where she lived before.”
An icy breeze passed through the tunnel and a haziness shimmered in front of me. Then there she was, exactly as I remembered her from my childhood. My Grandmother Raine.
“Child, I cannot stay long, and you must not summon me again. Those who have passed should be left in peace. As you have learned, when you meddle with spirits and travel uneducated you can cause untold damage.”
I dropped to my knees; head bowed.
“I’m sorry, Grandmother.”
“We have no time for apologies. We have to capture Tatiana before it is to
o late.”
I looked up at her. “Tatiana has yet to find a host strong enough. How do we capture her? What did you do before?”
My grandmother’s image flickered in and out. “Tatiana wanted to rule, but she was prone to madness. We were close as sisters, as close as you and Mercy; but when they announced I would be queen, it broke Tatiana further. She asked if we could rule together and I said no. It was the biggest mistake of my life. She swore revenge and now she is back.” Grandmother’s eyes widened. “She has realised who is strong enough to host her.”
“Who?”
“Her own kin.”
I leaped to my feet. “Mercy? She has Mercy? Grandmother, what do I do?” I wept as I spoke. I couldn’t lose my sister. Not now. Not when we’d just grown so much closer.
“Look at me and listen to me, child.” My grandmother said.
So I did.
Chapter Twelve
Leatha
As I returned towards the palace, all hell had broken loose.
“What’s going on?” I asked one of the guards.
“The villagers who were protesting heard of the witches and wizards of the village being gathered together to be brought to the palace. They met them at the village square and they are holding them prisoner until you and Mercy come speak with them. We’ve sent guards, but at the moment there is a standoff as they have weapons and are threatening to remove the old ways.”
I shivered.
“Okay, I will make my way down there. Please assemble a team to accompany me, and I request my sister joins me immediately. Where is she?”
“She has been visiting Lady Mandrake. I shall send someone to collect her and meet you at the square.”
I nodded and began my journey.
Crowds jeered as they saw me.
“Witch. You bring blight to our land.” One shouted. Others jeered similar things and some spit at the ground as I walked by. My guards cleared the way for me to climb onto the stage. There was no sign of Mercy and I realised that I had this moment now; me, alone, to talk to my village and ask their forgiveness for what I had done.
It took some time, but the guards brought the crowds under control and they were silent while I spoke.
“I have a tale to tell you and it is not a pretty one. It’s a tale of selfishness, but I am hoping it will also be a tale of redemption, of lessons learned. If you hear me speak, afterwards I will arrange a vote and if you no longer accept me as Queen, I will abdicate my position.”
Murmurs started amongst the crowds but the guards closed them down.
I took a deep breath. “Before my reign I thought I learned magick, and I travelled the planes to a place called Earth.”
There were gasps amongst the crowd.
“But I did not learn my craft properly, crudely attempting magick and risking my life, all in the name of trying to have fun. And all because I found my life in Andlusan, my future life of being responsible for all of you, so very wearisome. It was only a short time ago and yet that spoiled and inconsiderate child is no longer. Instead, before you is a woman who has realised that the craft that runs through her family’s veins, is something that like anything of worth, should not be used without guidance and teaching. When our mother stopped the use of white magick, she inadvertently drove it underground.
“I became trapped while travelling and had to be rescued. But it appears I brought back a spirit. The spirit of a great aunt. This aunt wishes to rule Andlusan and is trying to possess someone strong enough so that she can take revenge on our village. She wishes to rule and I fear her rule involves each and every one of you doing her bidding. Her spirit is on the loose and it is my fault.
“The only way we can battle her is by all joining together to fight with pure white magick. I understand that some of you have no belief in the old ways and think it is all a route to the demons of the world, and I ask; no, I beg; that you have faith in me, even though I don’t deserve it. I, your Queen.
“When the unruly spirit is contained, I will ban all travel from Andlusan through magick, to keep us all safe. I will arrange teachings about the old ways for everyone, whether you wish to practice it or not; and I will ask that those of you who have no faith in the craft, also study in ways to keep those who do accountable. We shall form a proper court to include all and you shall vote to decide if my sister rules alone.”
I looked out over the crowds, watching Mercy weave her way through and ascend the stage to the side of me.
The crowd remained silent, waiting for her to speak.
Moving towards her, I clutched her arm.
“Mercy, we must act fast, before it’s too late. Tatiana is coming for one of us. We are strong enough to hold her.”
Mercy’s head tilted to the side.
“That’s right. One of us is.” A sinister laugh echoed around the square and she shook my arm off and addressed the crowds.
“My Kingdom. I am Tatiana, your new Queen, and those who do not pledge allegiance to me shall die.” She touched the guard at the side of her and his veins began to become visible black streaks up his skin and he screamed in pain as his skin blackened and burned.
“Now.” I shouted, and I made my own soul float out of my body and let my grandmother in.
I watched, hovering, as my grandmother in my body addressed the panicking crowds. The witches amongst them began to chant the spell that Isaac had been teaching them.
“Goddess, Mother, one so strong
Bind our will so we are one
Wrap it around she who doesn’t belong
And with our will let the evil be gone.”
They chanted it over and over, but Tatiana just laughed. “You’re not strong enough. There are enough here who do not want the old ways. Come join me.” She shouted at the crowds. “I shall need an army. We shall take over all the kingdoms.”
A man ran to the stage and climbed on.
“I am with you, my new Queen. Let your power have us rule all the land.”
She brought him to his feet, but as she did, the black veins travelled up his arms and his hand blackened. His eyes went wide, and he pulled his arm away screaming.
My body looked out over the crowds and my grandmother’s voice rang out. “My strength is fading. This is your last opportunity before Tatiana rules us all. Say the spell, I beg of you, and I will give my soul to save you all.”
My body dashed over to that of Mercy’s, and the battle of our grandmother and Tatiana began.
“Ana. Listen to me. You don’t have to do this. You were right. We should have ruled together. I was wrong and for that I apologise, but this is not the way. These bodies will not hold us for long. Even strong within your own kin, soon you will begin to weaken. Do you wish to kill your own family? Your great niece?” She held out a hand. “Come with me, Ana. I will come to the planes with you. Let us rule there. In the darkness, in the quiet, in the place of lost souls, let us rule together to try to free those stuck in the void. Sisters ruling together, as it should be.”
Mercy/Tatiana looked out over the crowds who were now all still and staring at the stage. By now, almost all were chanting the spell.
Then Mercy’s body started to travel with the black veins and she held a hand in front of herself.
“If you kill your own kin, you are as mad and as unfit to rule as they always said you were.” My own mouth uttered with my grandmother’s voice.
Tatiana grabbed my grandmother’s hand and shouted “together,” and just like that they were gone and I jolted back into my body and grabbed my sister who cried out in pain.
Isaac dashed to the stage, followed by a number of other witches. They began healing chants, and I watched in amazement as the black veins disappeared and my sister opened her eyes.
“What in the Goddess’ name just happened?” She asked before fainting.
Chapter Thirteen
Leatha
If I said what followed next was a happy ever after, I would have been lying. The month that fo
llowed was one of protest and discourse. But this time those who opposed the old ways had a voice and were represented on the council.
Eventually, it was decreed that only those who had studied white magick with a qualified witch or wizard would be allowed to use it, and that protection of Andlusan would be joint between those who practised and those who didn’t. Two separate armies with one common intention. To keep Andlusan safe. It would never be perfect, but then nothing ever truly was.
Dawn recovered, though she would always have a weakness in her lungs that gave her a permanent cough and a shortness of breath that limited her movement. But she was just glad to be alive and be with her reunited family.
On the day of the voting—the day that the village would decide whether Mercy ruled alone, or we ruled together—we once again took to the stage in the village square. Mercy spoke of how the two of us combined had defeated Tatiana, and how although I had made mistakes, I had learned major lessons from them.
When I addressed the crowds, I said simply that I would rule for the people and no longer saw myself as the focus. That if they allowed me to continue to rule, it was my plan to travel to the different courts alongside the emissaries and help maintain peace in all the kingdoms. Mercy would stay in Andlusan.
When the results of the vote were counted, they had chosen to keep me as joint ruler. I stood on that stage and vowed to never let them down, to fight for them with my last breath.
And someone shouted up from the crowd that they’d already seen me demonstrate that when I had given up my own soul to fight for theirs.
Ten years later
“My goodness me, you have grown so tall, Prince Henry.” I hugged the thin, gangly, dark-haired boy who had rushed over to meet us.
First Rules (Sisters of Andlusan Book 2) Page 6
