It took twenty-four minutes to reach the gates of Gardenside. "We'll walk from here," Cyrus said, reaching for the handle of the car.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, thanks."
We both exited the vehicle and went through the gate, beginning the quarter-mile trek down the road to the house. I pondered my next question until I realized Cyrus never answered my last.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"Lily suspected."
"She doesn't even know me."
Cyrus stifled a laugh. “The first day you were here, you drank tea with her."
“Okay?”
“Witches are very natural people. One of the first tricks you learn, even before you get magic, is reading tea leaves.”
“Reading tea leaves?” I grew frustrated. This whole witchy mess was just that, a mess.
“Yeah, you have someone drink the tea, and then the leaves leftover answer a question. In Lily’s case, she asked about your history.”
“That’s personal.”
The leaves begin to rustle with a slight breeze. I felt burning in my hands, my wrists.
"Look," Cyrus spoke softly, staring pointedly at my hands. I glanced down. They were red hot like I'd been a fire poker too long in a fireplace.
"What's happening?"
"You're emotional. Angry." Cyrus smiled a big toothy grin. "You're fiery."
I laughed, and my irritation dissipated with the heat. "I hate you!" I joked.
“She had an inkling,” Cyrus continued. “The day you showed up and a huge storm rocked the Carolinas out of nowhere for a day? And then the cafeteria. She was insistent that you were the Rosdahl baby.”
"Rosdahl?" I stopped walking, tugging on Cyrus's sweater to tell me more.
"Your mom. She was Wanda Rosdahl. She was a good witch. A friend of the family. I was only a few months old when the sacrifice happened, and still can't remember the trial."
"Her trial? Why?"
"She broke witch law. When the Order decrees something, you don't hide from it or run. They're doing it for the greater good."
"They were going to kill me." I was desperate to protect my own life. And if someone wanted me dead sixteen years ago, what did they want now?
"And that's why the war broke out. After the trial, there was a huge disagreement on how this issue should've been handled. Some say you should've been a child of the Order. Raised by them, taught by them. Some say they should've let Wanda handle it. Some said the baby should've died."
"And that's how your parents died."
"In a fire lit by the Order, yeah. Most of the rebels from the war were in the fire. Kind of put an end to the war."
I felt my chest begin to burn with anxiety. I continued to walk. There was an explanation—sure. A reason why my whole life up to this moment had just been disappointment and discontent. But now there was a new reason for me to feel sadness and anxiety: I caused people to die. I caused kids just like me to be orphaned. My own mother was still out there, and she hadn't come back. Too busy fighting a war over... what? What now was she fighting for?
Gardenside came into view through the trees, and eventually, we stood outside the steps. "I'd rather never known," I whispered. "About any of this."
"What do you mean?”
I shrugged. "I've gone my whole life accepting that something was wrong with me. That it was best to keep to myself and nobody would care. But now there's this whole war that went on because of me. You lost your parents because of me. My mom went on some trial because of me."
"We would've fought a war even if you didn't exist, Noa."
"Why?"
"Because the Order isn't the same. Once a sacrifice happens, the High Priestess gets really sick and dies. With no one to replace her, they just elected someone from the Order. High Priestess Vagle isn't special, she isn't bloodmade. And they've turned all of witchkind into something we never wanted to be."
I felt tears brim in my eyes. "I have to go.”
“Noa, wait.”
I stopped, turned slowly, to let Cyrus get one last word in.
“Witches believe in being good. It is our responsibility to use our magic wisely, and keep truth, integrity, and a desire to harm no one. The Order doesn’t abide by the most basic core values that we all were raised on. Your death was just the last straw.”
I went inside, ignoring the stares of the house staff as they outwardly wondered why a teenager was home from school already. I stormed past them up the stairs and into my room. I was the reason for a war. The reason people died. Where is my mother?
I cursed at myself. Why didn't I ask Cyrus what came of my mother? Tears brimmed my eyes. My mother. I had one. One that only gave me up because she had to, not because she wanted to. I slid onto the ground. My mother would've just let me die if she didn't want me. That would've been easier, right? So I had been wanted.
I stood up abruptly, going to Lily's desk to search for the book she had been reading out of earlier. I searched for the story of my birth but didn't find it. I cursed.
There was a candle on Lily's desk, a brand new one that had never been lit. I stared at the wick intently, willing it to light. I wanted to control my own power, versus letting it control me.
I was done being the outcast. The trouble maker. I was going to harness my magic. Find my mother. Have a family.
The wick ignited, and for the first time today, I broke out into happy tears.
CHAPTER 9
Lily came into the bedroom slowly, dropping her bag. “Noa?”
It was late into the afternoon. I had heard the bus rumble outside for the past few minutes. I knew it meant that Lily would be home, and Lily no doubt had heard of the day’s events from Cyrus. I was grateful I had been left alone to sit and think.
“I’m here,” my voice croaked from not speaking in hours. I flicked my fingers again, and let the flames I created consume my hand. I made a fist, the fire dissipating. Then I flicked my fingers.
“Whoa,” Lily said in awe as she rounded the corner. “You picked that up fast.”
“Technically I’ve been doing it all my life,” I whispered, making a fist again and snuffing out the flame.
“Are you okay?”
“Well, since coming here, I’ve hurt children. I’ve almost killed a snobby teenager.” With every reason to hate myself, I flicked my fingers and snuffed the flames out over and over again. “I learned that my mother died for me. Your parents died for me. Cyrus’s parents, dead. A whole civil war. Me. My fault. While I was living it up in a foster home, people were fighting. Over. Me.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“No, it’s some ancient chick who decided that this would happen!” Both of my hands shot up in flames as I raised them up in fury. I made fists and slammed them onto my bed, snuffing out the fires, my hands back to normal as quickly as they had shot up in flames.
“Noa…there’s more to it. It wasn’t all about you.”
“Tell me about her,” I whispered. “Rhiannon.”
“It’s a long story,” Lily spoke slowly, moving to sit on the ground across from my bed. “And no one is even sure it’s real.”
“I have time.”
Lily took a deep breath. “Uh, okay.” She stood quickly, pulling her ancient notebook out of her desk drawer, then back down again. “It’s the first bedtime story most witches learn. I’m sure Josie and Harry could tell you the story from memory.” Lily chuckled softly.
“Josie and Harry are in on this too?”
“A lot of them are, actually. The war left a lot of orphan babies.”
“Cool. So not just your parents’ death I’m responsible for.”
“Rhiannon was a Celtic girl in an ancient tribe, thousands of years ago. The Vikings took her and her family from Wales in order to marry her off to an evil, demonic man that the Vikings called Okeus. He required wives to give them protection from himself.” Lily picked up the book and showed me what was inside, a detailed drawing of a d
emon in a forest with women behind him, looking fearful.
“One day, she sneaked onto his land to see the fates of the wives and was horrified to find they had no hands. Rhiannon ran back to her people and begged for the wives to be saved, but the leadership was more interested in the safety of themselves.”
“Sounds familiar,” I said, my words dripping with content.
“Rhiannon prayed to the ancestors, not to save herself, but to save the wives. And the ancestors saw that Rhiannon’s request was full of pure intentions, and the people were just as evil as Okeus was. So they killed all the Celtics in Norway and used the life force to bestow the first magic of the world into Rhiannon. She used that magic to destroy Okeus, and save the wives.”
“She really was the first witch?”
“Like I said, it’s just a legend. No one really knows where magic came from. Let me finish.” Lily turned the page, and showed me another picture, this time of Rhiannon apparently being imbedded with magic, shadows of people behind the light.
“The wives were weak and sick from infection. They died soon after liberation. Rhiannon took a piece of each of their souls and put them within herself, so one day she could reincarnate them and show them a better world.
“When the sacrifices began, it was so Rhiannon could start placing the souls back on Earth. It's said that when the sacrifices come back to life, they have the soul of a Handless Woman.”
“So I have some dead lady inside of me?” I made a face of disgust.
“I don’t think yours counts.”
We looked at each other and then burst into laughter.
“What if it's different this time for a reason?” I asked suddenly. “What if Rhiannon sees the similarities between her tribe and the Order now, and she needs me to fix it?”
“That’s possible,” Lily shrugged. “But we can’t know for sure.”
“So how do we figure it out? This morning when I woke up, an entire population of witches wasn’t trying to kill me. And if you’ve figured it out, then what’s to stop them from finding me? Especially in a group home full of witches.”
“We keep it to ourselves,” Lily shrugged. “Cyrus and I, we teach you. And when you’re ready, we bring you to Mama.”
“Mama?”
“This whole place is full of inexperienced kid witches, and you didn’t think the Order put a parent witch to watch over them?”
There was a light knock at the door. Lily shut her ancient book and sat on it. “Come in,” she said.
Cyrus opened the door and let himself in. He had changed from his school clothes to a black v-neck and sweatpants. His hair was wet, and he ran his fingers through it. “I wanted to check on Noa.”
“I got it, dude.” Lily took her notebook out from under her and waved it at him. “We just finished the beauty that is Rhiannon’s story.”
“You’re telling her bedtime stories?” Cyrus scrunched his nose up, then moved to sit on the floor, his back against the wall. “Start with the basics. Like the crusty old book you’re carrying.”
I laughed as Lily threw a dirty look over at Cyrus. She held her book up. “This is a Grimoire. Some call it a Book of Shadows, but I think that’s stupid and Grimoire sounds way more badass.”
“Like a witch book?” I asked, my basic knowledge of witchcraft coming from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
“Yeah basically. Or like a diary. Every witch has their own, but some get passed down through generations. This one was my mom’s. You put stories, herbs, spells, rituals, whatever you want.”
“So to recap,” I started counting my new knowledge on my fingers. “I’m a witch. Everyone here, for the most part, is a witch. I have the soul of a handless ancient lady inside of my body. And I should start a diary.”
Cyrus shrugged. “She’s a quick learner.”
“We have to cast a circle,” Lily murmured, looking through her Grimoire. “Like they do at the Eighth Summer Celebration.”
Cyrus nodded. “We can do that tonight, after everyone else goes to bed.”
“Wait, what are we doing?” I interjected.
“Casting a circle is one of the easiest ways to get magic flowing through, and also the strongest way to contact the ancestors. It’s super easy to do, and it gets done on the day of the eighth birthday of all witches.”
“Hence,” Cyrus said, “the Eighth Summer Celebration.”
“So let’s get started.”
◆◆◆
Later that night, I found myself sneaking out of a third-story window. I walked stealthily across the roof of the lower level, looking cautiously at the ground with fear burning my chest if I were to fall.
“Just convince yourself to be weightless,” Lily whispered. “It’s the easiest way to get down.”
As if on cue, Cyrus jumped from the roof, fluttering down to the ground as if he were a falling leaf. He landed lightly on the grass and looked up towards me.
“Just tell yourself, with intention, that you are weightless. A leaf or a piece of paper or something. And let yourself go.”
Lily crossed her arms as if she were about to do a sit-up, and then let herself fall backward off the roof. She fell soundlessly to the ground, fixing her position at the last moment in order for her to land on her feet.
My face burned with anxiety. My hands were clammy. If I didn’t do it right, then what happened? “This isn’t easy!” I hissed quietly.
“Just try it!” Cyrus responded.
I crouched down, looking over the edge of the roof in fear. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I pictured myself as a feather, gracefully falling down from the sky, letting the wind carry me down gently so that I was safe on the ground. I felt myself become lighter, as if gravity didn’t apply to me anymore. Then I opened my eyes, and let myself fall from the roof.
I landed just as quietly as Lily and Cyrus did, and a huge smile broke out onto my face. “I did it!” I exclaimed.
“I knew you could,” Cyrus said at the same time as Lily said, “I’m proud.”
Cyrus led the way to our final destination which I hadn’t seen before. Lily and I chattered behind, her trying to explain an entire society of witches as quickly as possible.
“We’re separated into covens, kind of like cities are. And then above that are circles, which are like states. And then there’s the Order of the Twelve Apostles, which are chosen every time there’s a new sacrifice, and that’s the High Priestess’s council. They help her with everything. The High Priestess is like the president. She’s the current bloodmade.”
“What’s a bloodmade?”
“That’s what they call the sacrifices. Their blood is made to be more powerful after the sacrifice.”
“So I’m bloodmade?”
“No, they gave you your own nickname. You’re bloodborn.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay, and who’s the High Priestess now?”
“After the sacrifice was completed, the High Priestess of our parents’ time died. It’s just the way it works. They lose their power after the sacrifice, and they pass quickly after. Because the sacrifice didn’t work in the way it should, the Order elected a High Priestess from itself. High Priestess Vagle isn’t bloodmade.”
“So the Order isn’t even following its own rules right now.”
“And that was part of the problem. The people didn’t think any of this should’ve happened.” Lily was silent now, and I looked ahead to see that we had deviated from the path and now were about to go through the tree line, entering the dark forest. I took a deep breath and stepped with Cyrus and Lily into the trees.
And suddenly we weren’t in the trees. Instead, we were in a large clearing by the river, the moon blaring down on us and casting light onto the open space.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“Mama put a trick on the trees, so that passing mortals wouldn’t be able to catch us during rituals or practicing magic. Anyone with witch blood can come through. Mortals will walk through the trees and come out
on the opposite side of the plantation.”
I turned to see that the path we had just come from was right behind me, but it had a flimsy sheen around it. I put my hand up, and through the shield, my hand easily falling through the protection.
“Come on, Noa, let’s get started.”
I watched as Lily and Cyrus prepared a circle, using items from Lily’s backpack that she had brought with her. They took out five candles, each of a different color. I watched as Lily placed a green candle towards the river, a yellow candle to its right. She continued to place the other two candles into a circle. The fifth candle sat in the middle.
Lily reached her hand out to me, and I walked into the middle of the circle to take it. “Each candle is in its own cardinal direction of a compass,” Lily explained. “Earth is north,” she pointed to the green candle, “Air is East,” she pointed to the yellow candle, “Fire is south,” she pointed to the red candle, “Water is west,” she pointed to the blue candle. Then she reached down and picked up a white candle. “And Spirit is all around us,” she spoke, handing the candle gently to me. “Stand here while we perform the ritual.”
I nodded.
Lily and Cyrus stood at opposite sides of each other, Lily standing by Earth and Cyrus standing by Fire. Lily took out a lighter and began to speak, leaning down to light the Earth candle as she spoke. “As I open to the divine powers that be, I call upon the power of the North and the Earth element to protect and guide me. And so it is.”
The candle lit, and suddenly I felt a cool breeze and the smell of the woods intensified around me. I felt sudden grounding to the situation before me, which before hadn’t felt at all.
Lily headed to the East candle while Cyrus walked in exact sync with her to the West. “As I open to the divine powers that be, I call upon the power of the East and the Air element to protect and guide me. And so it is.”
She reached down to light the yellow candle, and when the flame lit, I felt a much stronger breeze. The smell of nature dissipated, and was replaced with the freshest air I had ever breathed in. Without the pollution of a city, my mind became clear.
The Power of Witches Page 5
