by Bonnie Lamer
Exactly what I wanted to hear. I roll onto my back once again and close my eyes. “I thought you would see it my way.”
A pillow lands on my face with what I feel is excessive force. “You’re still a pompous jerk.”
I take the pillow and place it under my head and grin. “Yet, you still hold me in your heart.”
“You were awfully sure of that when I performed that spell earlier, weren’t you?”
That gets me to open my eyes and look at her. “I hoped that was the case. I was happy to have it confirmed.”
With a satisfied smile, she lies on her back and slips her hand into mine. “What am I going to do if I can’t control my magic when Grandpa comes?”
She is getting stronger; I need to help her realize that. “You gained control of it this afternoon.”
She snorts. She is still cute when she does that. “Barely.”
I give her hand a squeeze. “Neither barely nor heartily changes the fact that you did gain control.”
She shrugs. “I guess not.”
We are quiet for a few minutes. I try very hard to stay awake to continue the conversation, but it does not take long for my eyes to close again and for sleep to set in.
Chapter 5
My short nap does wonders to relieve my exhaustion. I am not sure where Xandra is when I wake up, but I know she will be back soon. In the meantime, I need to get dressed. I magic a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. My favorite ensemble. When Xandra comes into the room, she stops and lets her eyes rove over me. Perhaps this is her favorite ensemble, as well.
After a moment of pure sexual tension, she walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. I hold her close, ignoring to the fact that her freshly showered, cold wet hair is soaking my t-shirt. A small price to pay to have her in my arms.
As much as I would like to stay like this, okay, as much as I would like to lift her up and carry her back to bed, I know that our precious alone time needs to come to an end. I kiss the top of her head and step back.
“I guess we have to get back out there, huh?” The enthusiasm in her voice is very underwhelming.
“It would be wise.”
She groans. “Fine. You should kiss me first, though. Then at least I’ll have something good to think about.”
She is the perfect girlfriend. I pull her back into my arms and kiss her, as requested. A kiss that is slow, deep and thorough. It is even harder this time to pull away. But, I must. “I believe it is time we spoke with your grandmother about who we are up against. Knowing their strengths will help us determine their weaknesses.”
She looks unsure again. “I hope so.”
When we walk back into the kitchen, we encounter emotions so thick, I am afraid of drowning in it. I am not sure if I want to align myself with any of them other than Xandra. Her mother is the definition of miserable, her grandmother is about to have a nervous breakdown, and her father wants to kill, well, his wife’s entire family would be my guess. Which makes them all so close to the edge, it would be easy to tumble over with them. Xandra’s little bouts of insecurity are nothing compared to what these people are feeling.
One thing Xandra is never insecure about? Ignoring people’s raw emotions and starting a new conversation. “What can you tell us about the Witan?”
Relief washes over the Angel’s face. “Quite a bit.”
“Great.” Xandra sits down at the table and her father vacates the chair he was pretending to sit in so that I may sit down. He moves to a corner of the room where he can plot the Angel’s death in peace.
In the meantime, the Angel begins to tell us of the Witan. “I’ll start with his Derwydd. She’s the King’s advisor, and when the King is not available, she acts as judge and jury to Witches who have become too visible to the Cowans or have broken any other magical law.”
Xandra is offended yet again by the use of the word Cowan. It is simply a word; I do not understand the big deal with it. She rolls her eyes and says, “They’re humans, okay? And until last week, I thought I was one, too. And my brother is half human.”
Oh, please tell me that I misheard her. It has been obvious that her parents have intentionally not mentioned her little brother. The proof is on the Angel’s face. “Brother?” She turns to her daughter. “You have a son?”
I shake my head as Xandra tries to back pedal. Unsuccessfully. She really needs to learn how to keep some of her thoughts in her head instead of letting them all jump out of her mouth at will. She gives up after a minute and simply asks her grandmother to continue with her dissemination. Which she does.
“Maeva is your grandfather’s Derwydd. She is…intoxicating.”
Ah, I know what that means. “She is a seductress?”
The Angels lips are pressed together. “Yes.” She may claim to be indifferent to her husband, but she is not. Jealousy flairs in her eyes as she says that one simple word.
“What’s a Seductress?” Xandra asks.
I cannot resist teasing her. “She has the ability to seduce. She can persuade others to do her bidding by making it seem seductive.”
Sarcasm drips from her mouth. “You’re just a walking dictionary, aren’t you? Thanks for clearing that up for me.” I chuckle, which annoys her more.
Her mother jumps into the conversation, ruining my fun. “A Seductress is someone who can use her magic to persuade others to do things against their will – no matter how desperately they fight against her. She taps into a person’s deepest desires.”
Xandra’s attention is drawn back to the conversation at hand. “That sounds wrong. Why would Grandpa want someone like that around?” I try not to laugh at the color rushing to her face as she realizes the obvious answer to that question.
The Angel ignores the blush on Xandra’s face. “A Seductress is a powerful ally. Many challengers to your Grandfather’s throne have been settled by Maeva without bloodshed. And when someone has broken one of our laws, a little time with Maeva will make them confess to everything and more easily comply with their sentencing.”
“And let me guess, they’re sentenced to death,” Xandra says.
The Angel is shocked. “Good heavens, no! We’re not barbarians. Their power is bound one to three times, depending on how powerful they are, and then their sentence is to live magic free and incarcerated anywhere from thirty days to life.”
Oh, she is playing right into Xandra’s trap. How amusing to watch. Xandra asks her, “So the death penalty never comes into play?”
With an emphatic head shake, the Angel says, “No.” It is obvious the minute she realizes her mistake.
It is obvious to Xandra, as well. She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. “So, let me get this straight, then. Even though I have not committed any magical crimes, I have not used my magic to intentionally inflict harm on another Witch or human, and I saved this realm from the Fairies coming back to wreak revenge, I am somehow evil enough to be put down like a dog.” Turning to me, she says, “It’s a good thing I didn’t hurt my leg up in the mountains, you would have had to shoot me to put me out of my misery.”
I love it when she’s facetious in situations such as this. “I probably would have tried splinting it first.”
She nods appreciatively. “Very considerate of you. And you’re not even a blood relative.” Thank god for that. My thoughts are way too impure towards her to be related to her.
The Angel tries to backpedal. “Of course it is wrong what your grandfather and his Witan want to do. That is why I’m here.”
As much as I am enjoying this back and forth, I understand when Xandra’s father suggests we move the conversation along. Getting back to the topic at hand, Xandra continues to ask her grandmother about the Witan. “Fine. So, how do you fight against a Seductress?”
I can answer that one. “You have to see her for what she really is. A Seductress’s power is in her ability to make you see what your heart wants to see. If you favor thin blonds, then that’s what she looks
like to you. If you like rugged men, then that’s what she looks like to you. She becomes one’s physical dream. Once she has caught your interest, she wheedles her way into your mind and convinces you that you are living in a fantasy world with your dream lover and she can get you to do almost anything.”
Xandra’s brows come together. “Okay, but what if you’re already with your dream lover?” She just made my entire year with that one little comment. There is no stopping the smug smile that jumps onto my lips. With a heavy blush, Xandra ignores me and keeps talking about the Witan.
For the next several minutes, we discuss the power of a Seductress. Xandra is confused that she cannot just mimic the type of magic a Seductress uses. Her mother then explains that, like Fairies, Witches each have a type of magic they do exceptionally well. Yet another lesson she could have learned years ago instead of taking valuable time explaining this to her now. I can think of much better ways Xandra and I could be spending our time. If I continue this train of thought, everyone will know what I am thinking about.
“If she’s that good, then how do you fight against her?” Xandra asks.
The Angel’s lips press into a firm line. “Most can’t. That is why she’s so powerful. It takes a strong talisman to shield you from Seductress magic.”
“Okay, then how do I make a talisman like that?” Another spell? Apparently, she did not learn her lesson earlier. This should be interesting.
The Angel’s answer draws my eyes away from Xandra. “There is an ancient way, a way that requires a lot of power.” Ancient magic. Performed by a powerful novice. This may end up being the end of the world for everyone. She avoids my eyes as she says, “It is similar to the Fairy trap your mother has set up outside.”
“You know about that?” Xandra asks.
“A Witch can most often feel the magic of another. I felt it as I passed through it. I didn’t know specifically what it was meant to trap, but I reasoned that out.” I wonder what the tally is now for her lies. Angels and Fairies can taste the magic of others. Not Witches.
“Okay, how do I do this?”
“You use tree magic.”
Xandra is obviously confused. “What do you mean tree magic?”
I have to try hard to keep my face blank. When she said ancient magic, she did not mean ancient magic of Witches. Or Fairies. She meant the magic of Fallen Angels – those who chose to fall to help Cowans survive. This magic has been lost for millennia because, other than the one sitting here, Angels do not choose to fall anymore. They felt their guidance was no longer needed, nor wanted. So, they stopped coming. “Interesting,” I say and the Angel’s eyes lock with mine, daring me to tell her secret. I am much too curious to see this magic performed than to out her.
“What’s so interesting?” Xandra asks as her mother says, “I’ve never heard of this before.” I believe I will keep my mouth shut and let the Angel answer these questions. After all, it is her secret.
“Tree magic is for the most part a lost art with Witches.” The Witches did not lose it, they never had it. And the Angel is having a hard time keeping the guilt of her lies off her face.
Xandra manages to pull me in to the conversation, after all. “Can Fairies do tree magic?”
That is an easy enough question. “No.”
She scowls at me and I have no idea why. I gave her an honest answer to the question she asked. “Do you know what tree magic is?”
Okay, another easy question. “Yes.”
“Do you think you could use multiple syllables?”
Ah, she wants me to elaborate. But, that would bring me into lie territory and I have already decided to let the Angel field those questions. So, I go with, “No.” I try hard not to laugh when Xandra throws me a dirty look for teasing her.
Choosing to not engage me any farther, she asks her grandmother, “How does it work?”
“In a forest such as this, the roots of the trees interlace themselves.” She laces her fingers together as an example. “Where these roots touch each other, the trees share their energy with each other, working together to maintain equilibrium within the forest. It is possible to use this woven network to communicate a spell amongst the trees.”
“So, it spreads like a virus?” I chuckle. Xandra is always so literal.
“That would be an apt description, yes.”
“How do you define which trees you want the spell to travel to?” Good question. I would like to know that myself. This is going to be extremely educational for me, as well as Xandra.
“That can be tricky. Each tree must be precisely marked. If the circuit is not kept intact, the magic will escape its boundaries. That mustn’t happen.”
“What happens then?” The magic of the Angels will explode into the world and cause mass destruction. At least, that is what I have heard. Angels like to live on the edge.
“There are guardians of tree magic and we do not want to anger them. Nor harm their trees with magic.”
Xandra asks the question that has been on my tongue since her grandmother brought this subject up. “So, because our situation isn’t dire enough, you want to teach the person who sets air on fire, a magic that involves trees.” Excellent point.
“You have it within you to perform this magic. I am confident.” That was the closest to the truth I have heard the Angel come.
Xandra does not look at all convinced, but she agrees. Not only agrees, but she is ready to start. Um, we have a bit more to learn here. “Perhaps we should learn of the other Witan members before we begin to prepare,” I say.
“There are six other members of the Witan. Three of them are the binders – Annika, Louhi and Midar.”
“Do any of you have normal names? How am I supposed to remember all this?” Xandra asks in exasperation. Seriuously?
I tilt my head and raise a brow. “I did not know that Xandra was such a common name amongst this realm.” I chuckle at the look she gives me.
The Angel goes on to describe three binders. The first uses Ekstasis, the ability to separate a Witch from the physical body, like in hypnosis. This makes the Witch almost brain dead.
“So he creates vegetables?” Xandra asks.
What is she talking about? Losing your mind is not equivalent to becoming a carrot. Not even broccoli. Many of her metaphors are lost on me. “What do vegetables have to do with the power of Ekstasis?”
She smiles. She enjoys when I am the ignorant one. “It’s just a term we use when things happen like a car accident and the person’s body is still alive but their mind is gone.” Okay, now I am imagining a giant green bean driving a car. I still do not get the reference. But, I will let it go for now.
“That sounds like an apt description,” the Angel says. She goes on to explain how this Louhi can hold a mind hostage indefinitely. He must be fun at parties with all those minds inside his head.
The next binder is able to plant emotions in one’s mind. What a useful skill that would be. As I watch Xandra and think of all the emotions I would like to plant in her mind, I can see how this power could easily become addictive. If I had it, we would not be sitting here talking to an Angel about Witches.
The third binder practices Sympathetic magic. Such a cowardly branch of Witch magic. You do not ever have to face your enemy to use this. It is sort of like playing with evil dolls. Instead of tea parties, you torture the dolls to cause physical harm to whoever they represent. I shake my head at spinelessness of it all.
“Do I even want to know what the last three can do?” Xandra asks.
I am about to speak when the Angel says, “One must always know their enemy.” She took the words right out of my mouth.
“Fine, lay it out for me. I’m guessing they can walk on water and control the elements.” Doubtful, but I would not be surprised if Xandra can do those things eventually. That is a scary thought. The weather changing to match her mood swings. Crops would never have a chance.
Needless to say, the Witches cannot do those things. The next one
the Angel describes is a scryer with a thousand mile range for finding errant Witches. I have to admit, that is an impressive range. Xandra compares him to a bloodhound, which makes me chuckle.
Even her grandmother smiles. “He could be compared to one, yes.”
Xandra’s lips purse for a moment before she says, “If he’s so good at this, why couldn’t he find Mom?” Excellent question.
Her mother’s translucent lips curve up into a smile. “Because a very powerful Witch taught me how to shield myself.” I suspect it was her Angel blood that shielded her. Obviously, I am not going to voice my opinion.
The Angel’s lips form a thin line. “Something that Witch deeply regretted when you couldn’t be found.” If this family was not so riddled with secrets, so much of this insanity could have been avoided. Then again, their secrets led me to Xandra, so thumbs up to their dysfunction.
The next member of the Witan is a Summoner who can compel Witches to follow her. Perhaps I should learn that skill. Xandra is rarely good at following someone else’s lead.
“She’s a modern day Pied Piper,” Xandra says.
Yet another subject I am not familiar with. I am beginning to understand how Xandra feels most of the time. I find I like it as little as she does. “I am not familiar with that reference.”
The amusement in her eyes makes me wish I had kept my mouth shut. “It’s a children’s story about what happens if you don’t keep your word. Basically, a town hired the Pied Piper to get rid of rats that were running rampant. When he did by compelling them to drown themselves, the town refused to pay him. To get even, he compelled all the children except one to follow him away from the town and they were never heard from again.”
“What happened to the one left behind?”
“He was pretty lonely after that.” I have no idea if she is teasing me or not, but it seems doubtful an actual Summoner would have outed himself by stealing all the children of a town.
With a giggle at my confused expression, Xandra turns to her grandmother. “What does the last one do?”
