Something bumped into her and she stumbled. Leaf was locked in battle with a man who looked a bit shorter than his comrades. The man’s sword technique was clumsy, using wild swings instead of precise movements. He sliced through Leaf’s arm, which grew back within a matter of seconds. With a grunt, Leaf backhanded the small figure, knocking him to the ground.
“Leaf!” Wormwart called. “Take that one prisoner!”
Leaf was on the marauder instantly. The dwarf hauled him up, pulling a knife and laying it against the writhing man’s throat. The figure stilled at once.
“Hold your fire!” someone called in the distance. The arrows stopped flying.
Leaf pulled the captive toward the cottage. The other dwarves retreated with him, all still facing the woods with their weapons drawn.
Natalia slowly backed up, watching for any movement but seeing only shadows within growing darkness.
“Yeh leave us alone and abandon our mines, or we’ll kill him!” Wormwart yelled. “Yeh have twenty-four hours to tell us yer decision!”
Light from the open door flooded the grass at her feet, and Natalia turned, stepping inside the cottage. Leaf was already standing in the dining room with the prisoner, as was Slither. Wormwart came next, his upper arm oozing blood from a good-sized cut, and Avalanche lumbered inside after him. The huge dwarf dropped the stag off onto the table. It looked so different from the deer she saw last night, which looked more like a machine than flesh and blood.
The door closed, and Midnight bolted it shut. Natalia quickly slipped the dagger back into her boot. “What were they after?” she asked.
“Our dinner,” Wormwart said.
“We saw it first!” cried the hooded figure, struggling against Leaf’s hold to no avail.
“But yeh didn’t actually take it down, now, did yeh?” Wormwart spat back.
Natalia ran a hand over the fur. It was soft, except for the metallic spots, which were cool and hard.
“Uninfected animals are hard to come by nowadays,” Wormwart said. “The Queen’s Dark Magic has had years to spread, which means it’s had years to infect healthy cells. This deer looks almost completely natural. It should have enough clean meat to last us a month.” He slapped its hump and then wheezed. Though Wormwart looked winded, his eyes were bright as burning coals. “Tie him down there,” he said, pointing to a chair.
Leaf sat the figure down in a chair, holding him down while Goldentongue wound a length of rope around his chest. The figure slumped forward, the hood covering his face.
Wormwart walked up to him and jerked the hood back. Unruly, short brown curls framing a round, freckled face looked back at the dwarf, and the boy’s lip trembled, though his eyes remained clear and defiant. He was young, barely over thirteen-years-old. His ragged clothes had holes and mud stains throughout the fabric.
“What’s yer name, boy?” Wormwart demanded.
The boy dropped his gaze, not answering.
Wormwart growled, making to smack him.
“Don’t!” Natalia said, grabbing his wrist. “Can’t you see he’s just a boy?”
The boy’s head snapped up, eyeing her first with confusion and then wide-eyed awe.
“A thief is a thief, no matter what age,” Wormwart said. He jerked his hand from her grasp but lowered it at his side. He gestured to the boy. “Lock him up. And make sure he’s bound.”
Slither held a knife to the boy’s chest. “Come along, sapling,” he said, grinning.
The boy eased away from Slither, fear in his eyes. When he didn’t move, Slither poked him harder and he abruptly stood. Slither prodded him in the back to urge him along toward the cellar.
Natalia stepped forward. “He can’t go down there!”
Everyone turned to look at her.
“Why not?” Wormwart asked.
“Because –”
What could she say? That there was a monster down there?
“Shut up, gurl,” Wormwart said tiredly. “I’m not in the mood to listen to yer prattle.”
Wormwart pushed past her, taking a seat at the table as Slither led the boy away.
Natalia watched them retreat with heavy shoulders and then turned to face Wormwart. “Will the marauders come back?”
“Not tonight,” Wormwart said, sounding weary yet agitated in that token way of his. “They fear the woods at night, and I can’t blame them fer that.”
Natalia paused. “What are you going to do with the boy?”
“Weren’t yeh listening?” Wormwart wiped the blood from his arm and stood. “If they don’t agree to leave us be, I kill the boy. No questions asked.”
“You can’t do –”
“I can do whatever I want!” he screamed, halting her tongue. “I am the leader of this clan – not yeh!”
She bit down on her lip hard, while her hands clenched the dress. “If you must have blood, then take mine instead and let the boy go.”
Wormwart looked at her, like really looked at her, from top to bottom. His gaze came back up and rested on her face, suspicious. There was also something else there.
Disbelief.
Looking like he had seen a ghost, he cleared his throat and turned away. “Don’t be absurd. Now away with yeh, before I decide to throw yeh down there with him.”
She swallowed hard. “I’m not giving up.”
Wormwart sighed, staring straight ahead with a disturbed look on his face. “Somehow I don’t doubt that,” he murmured. The words sounded strangled, and when she didn’t move right away, he wheeled on her and shouted with such venom that it stopped her heart for a beat.
“I said ‘away with yeh’!”
She stood there for a few stunned seconds before sweeping past him. Without a backward glance, she ran upstairs to her room and shut the door. Her fingers felt along the worn wood for a lock, but she did not find one. With a sigh, she turned and rested her back against the door before sliding down to the floor. She stared at the thatched ceiling.
Her sister was trapped in the fortress with her conniving stepmother, and a boy who hadn’t had the chance to live was going to be executed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
And try as she might, Natalia couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow it was all her fault.
Chapter Nine
Mirror, Mirror
Someone was watching her – she could feel it.
Her eyes snapped open. She had no idea how long she had been asleep. She didn’t even remember stumbling over to her “bed.”
Frantically, she looked around the room and sat up.
No one was there.
Running a hand over her face and through her hair, she stood and stumbled over to the window. Gazing at the stars was like watching fish sometimes, in an ocean of black; they could calm and soothe her mind, welcoming her to think and relax. It was the only time she could forget the world was going to hell.
Her breath fogged the glass, and she wiped it away with the hem of her dress. A tall white figure caught her eye below.
Via was standing beside the well, wrapped in a red robe. She was staring straight at Natalia, her skin glowing like moonlight. Via raised an arm and beckoned with the crook of her index finger.
Natalia stepped away from the window and into the shadows. Her breath was coming hard. She closed her eyes, warring with herself. Via had helped her. That had to count for something.
She does walk straight through walls, though. No Charmed – no human – you’ve ever heard of can do that.
Natalia chewed on her lip. If she’s that powerful, then maybe she can break the binding contract and help me save the boy and Rose.
Steeling her resolve, Natalia tiptoed toward the door and cracked it open. All was quiet, so she stepped out into the hall. Her foot caught on something rock-hard and she nearly went down, grabbing onto a mound that felt rough yet warm to correct her balance. It groaned, and she jumped back before it reached up to scratch the spot on its arm she had let go of.
Natalia studied the mound.
It was Avalanche.
“Is something wrong, miss?”
She jumped again, closing her eyes briefly before turning to find Goldentongue staring at her. He gripped a sword in one of his hands.
“What’s that?” she asked.
He looked at the weapon. “Some cultures call them swords. Others refer to them as –”
“No, I know what it is. I meant, why do you have one?”
He looked annoyed at having been interrupted. “Because Wormwart asked me to guard you. Well, asked ‘us’ to guard you.”
She glanced at Avalanche. His head lolled to one side, a trail of drool running down his chin, before his head snapped up again, and he sleepily blinked his tiny eyes, smacking his lips.
“Yes, well, he’s doing an excellent job,” she said, crossing her arms. “Why, may I ask, did Wormwart instruct you to guard me?”
“Oh, he didn’t ‘instruct’ in any manner. He ordered us.”
She waved a hand, as if to say it didn’t matter.
Goldentongue straightened, his gaze turning disdainful. “He said he didn’t want you doing anything reckless. That was all he said.”
“I see.” Actually, she didn’t. More than anything she was confused. He hadn’t been too worried about her sneaking off earlier and harming herself. Why the sudden concern?
With a curt nod of her head, she went back into the room, shutting the door behind her. The window looked very bright. Crossing the room, she felt for the latch, tipped it open, and then pushed. The window was stuck shut. She pushed again, this time around the edges, feeling it shudder but not move.
A white hand slapped against the glass, right in front of her face. She stumbled back, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.
The face of a girl appeared in the window, her eyes narrowed slightly as she peered inside. “Natalia?”
Natalia sighed hard, going to the window. “Via, what are you doing here?” she whispered. A fluttering of hope danced on her heartstrings, and she almost couldn’t refrain from immediately pouncing on Via about the binding contract. Natalia bit her lip, giving Via time to answer her first question before posing another.
Via didn’t answer. She was too busy piddling with something on the outside of the window. The frame groaned and shuddered, and then Via pushed the window open. “You have to push at the corner. Here,” she said, pointing. Cool night air rushed in, ruffling Natalia’s hair.
“How do you know?”
Via smiled at her sadly. “Because this was my home. I suppose it still is, in a way.”
Natalia opened her mouth, about to ask more questions, when Via spoke first. “Come on. I have something I want to show you.”
She disappeared and Natalia stuck her head out the window. Via was climbing down a vine-covered trellis. Natalia hesitated, her fingers digging into the windowsill.
Via stepped onto the ground and looked up. “Please come? I know you must be wondering about your sister.”
Natalia’s breath caught. “You know of Rose?”
Via nodded.
Natalia braced herself before asking the next question. “Is she alive?”
“I cannot tell you because I don’t know. But I know of something that can.”
Natalia’s heart swelled. The window was small but not so tiny that she couldn’t squeeze herself through with some careful maneuvering. The trellis looked breakable, but the latticework didn’t so much as bow as she lowered herself onto it, avoiding the razor sharp leaves of the metallic vine as she climbed down.
The silver trees loomed overhead, and it hit her where she now was. Suddenly, she wanted to run back inside the cottage. It didn’t exactly feel safe in there, but it had to be safer than the forest.
“What’s wrong?” Via asked. “You look pale. Are you ill?”
The concern in Via’s voice sounded genuine.
Natalia felt herself relax a little. “It’s the forest.” She wanted to add, “And you, because I think you’re a ghost,” but she didn’t know how Via would take it, and she wanted to be on her good side if she hoped to ask for her help in breaking the binding contract.
Via cocked her head to the side. “I don’t understand. What about it?”
“Well, it’s not exactly safe, is it? Especially at night?”
“Oh,” Via said, smiling. “Don’t worry. The forest is my home and my friend. It won’t harm you.”
Tell that to the bear and the flesh-eating deer.
Via offered her hand, palm up.
Natalia looked at Via’s hand for a moment before taking it. Via’s fingers wrapped around her own, warm to the touch and very soft, like they never went a day without lotion.
Via’s face lit up. “I can’t wait for you to see.”
“See what?” Natalia asked, but Via was already pulling her along into the brush and out of sight of the cottage.
Via easily glided through the woods, walking down paths she seemed to know by heart. Natalia could hardly see a thing, despite the pillars of white light streaming through the canopy overhead.
“Where are we going?” Natalia asked.
“You’ll see,” Via said breathlessly. “It’s one of my favorite places in the whole world. I’ve been going there every day since I was a child.”
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen or so.”
“You can’t remember?”
Via’s face was in profile view, making it harder to see her expression. The empty confusion in her voice was the only clue to her feelings.
“No… I mean, yes.” Via sighed. “I don’t know. Some days I can remember; others I cannot. My memories are a blur sometimes.”
“A blur?” Natalia murmured. Via’s lips were pinched tightly together, and Natalia decided not to press the subject further.
Natalia tried to tell herself not to trust Via, that she should turn around, but her gut remained unperturbed. Usually it would be twisting by now with a bad feeling, but she felt strangely calm. There was something about this girl, a sadness and loneliness about her that made Natalia want to comfort her.
And if she knows something about Rose, then it’s worth the risk.
Natalia gripped Via’s hand tighter.
They walked for a few minutes, the silence around them complete save for their footsteps and the growing murmur of flowing water.
“Almost there,” Via said.
Natalia looked ahead and completely forgot about asking Via to break the binding contract. The white light was growing brighter. The trees thinned and parted, and the girls spilled into a grand, circular clearing. Beautiful silver wildflowers bloomed all around them, so tall they nearly reached Natalia’s hips. In the center of it all was a small pond, its surface not so much glowing as much as it shimmered with a thousand tiny diamonds. A small stream ran through it, meandering through the trees on either side.
“The river feeds into it,” Via said, coming to stand beside her. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
It took Natalia a few seconds to remember how to speak. “It’s gorgeous,” she breathed.
Mesmerized, she knelt by it, watching as the water shifted between shades of silver, reflecting the metal forest around it. It was beautiful, the one perfect thing she had found since entering this wicked, twisted forest.
“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Natalia asked, looking over her shoulder.
Via eagerly nodded.
Natalia scanned the clearing then looked back at the pool. “You said I would see Rose. Where is she?”
Via pointed to the pond. “Look in there.”
Confused, Natalia bent over the water. “All I see is my reflection,” she said after a minute.
Via’s warm hands rested on her shoulders. “Close your eyes. Envision your sister in your mind.”
Natalia felt ridiculous but did as she said. She saw Rose’s round cheeks, her sweet smile, and her unmanageable red curls that liked to frizz in the summertime.
The water stirred and Natalia�
�s eyes snapped open.
Lights flickered along the surface of the water, which was swirling and rapidly building speed. At first, she thought she was seeing things, perhaps a hallucination brought on by her fatigue, but when she blinked, she was sure of it. The water was changing color, swirling and parting until a picture of a room appeared. It was a grand dining hall, with black drapes across the windows and ghostly candelabra glowing over the massive, rectangular table. The Queen sat at the head of the table, elegant and lovely in a shimmering evening gown with a plunging neckline, while the huntsman, wearing a formal black tunic, sat to her left. The table was set for two, though there was enough food there to feed a kingdom.
Despite the feast spread out before them, their dinner plates remained empty. The Queen looked radiant, practically glowing, with the hint of a smile on her lips. Her cat-like eyes glittered darkly as the doors opened and a girl stepped into the room, her cherubic face framed by a head of vibrant red curls.
Natalia leaned forward so fast she nearly fell into the pool. She probably would have if Via had not held onto her.
“Rose!”
Natalia gazed upon the face of her sister, whose hands were clasped in front of her dress. Everything was in perfect detail; she even saw the red ribbons she had given Rose for her birthday laced up the front of her dress. Rose trembled, struggling to keep her bright green eyes on the Queen.
“Is this real?” Natalia whispered.
“As real as you and I are,” Via said.
“But how?” Then it dawned on her. “It’s another Magic Mirror.”
“One of the few left,” Via said.
“But I thought Magic Mirrors only revealed themselves to Charmed ones. Otherwise, they look like ordinary lakes and ponds.”
“That’s true. They are known to actually take the shape of a normal looking glass at times, too.”
“It worked for me,” Natalia said, not really hearing Via’s last statement.
“So it did,” she murmured.
Natalia looked at Via. “You knew it would.”
She nodded.
“How? I’ve never been able to use magic before in my life. Are you sure the Mirror wasn’t reacting to you?”
“No, it wasn’t,” Via said firmly. “What you see in the Mirror is from your mind and your mind alone. You commanded the image. And the magic,” she added softly.
A White So Red Page 9
