by Anna Edwards
I feel for Juniper, but her emotions are blocked, and I can’t read her. I think about where she might have been taken…the King’s castle. I’ll start there.
I go to teleport, but a small hand on my shoulder stops me. Emmie stands with tears in her eyes. Her gaze firmly focused on Juniper’s mum, who lies bleeding out on the floor.
“You have to save her.”
“I’m going to save Juniper.”
“No, her mother. Without her, there’ll be no Juniper. She’s devoted to her. Please, Jacobi. You aren’t a monster. You have a special gift and can save the mother of the woman you love.”
“What about Juniper?”
James, Lucas and Mrs Donovan appear beside me.
“We’ll save her together, but Emmie is right. Juniper will need her mother.” Mrs Donovan goes over to Juniper’s mum and kneels beside her, taking her hand.
I turn to look out over the crowd watching me on the stage.
“Caspian Academy will save her,” James addresses the audience. “No one has the right to take one of ours or falsely accuse one of us either. If you’re not with us, then leave.” A few people run for their lives, but the rest stare up at the stage intently as I walk over to Juniper’s mother and place my hand over her wound.
Let’s hope I can save both mother and daughter.
I pace the room.
When my father brought me here, he deposited me in this sparse bedroom and told me to ‘behave’. I’ve been here for five hours and pacing for three. I’ve tried to escape, but there’s a magical force field holding me here.
I think about my mum again, I know she’s okay, she has to be. Jacobi loves me, and he’ll have saved her for me.
No. My focus needs to remain on killing my father, once and for all. I think I may be the devil in disguise, first the man in Syria and now here, I don’t feel any remorse about what I did or what I intend to do, though, and I wonder whether I should.
Should I mourn a monster? Should I mourn my innocence?
I do know one thing, I’m not marrying Michael. There’s no way, no matter what I’m threatened with.
Suddenly my father appears in front of me.
“Juniper, gosh we’ll need to get you cleaned up. Can’t have you marrying Michael while looking like the type of trash who spends time with Jacobi Ashdown,” he sneers at me, then leaning in close to my face he speaks quietly, sinisterly. “You mess this up for me, and you’ll follow your mother in death, or worse than that, I’ll banish you to Tartus. You’ll be stuck in our magical version of Hell for all eternity.” He stands up straight again, and a smirk dances on his lips. “Do you know what’s happening out there now?” he asks, pointing towards a boarded up window. I don’t answer, but he continues anyway, “My army is preparing to march on Caspian Academy and on anyone else who opposes my reign. You’d do well to remember the Ashdown boy as he was because he won’t exist for much longer.”
I surge towards him but he disappears, and his chuckles bounce around the room long after he’s gone.
I move to the window and try to pry the wood away so I can see a glimpse of light, but all I manage to do is make my fingers bloody. With a sigh I lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling, trying to formulate a plan.
A click tells me the lock is opening, and a blonde haired girl steps through and slams the door shut behind her. “Come on, quick,” she whispers, hurrying me with her hands.
“Who are you?” I whisper back.
“Someone who’s going to get you the hell out of here. Now, come on,” she grits through closed teeth.
I can’t help a smile slipping onto my face, and her eyes widen as she shakes her head. “Everyone’s right, you are a little scary and crazy.”
I frown, not sure of her meaning, but there’s no time to ask as I follow her out of the door. She guides me down a long corridor, making us stop every so often so she can suss out our surroundings. She could be leading me to my death, but somehow, I think not. After a few twists and turns, she takes me to another bedroom, this one has doors leading outside to a set of stairs.
“Go,” she urges, shoving me towards the door.
“Wait, who are you, and why are you helping me?”
She looks over her shoulder and heaves out a sigh. “My name is Clara, I’m one of your father’s followers.”
My eyes widen, then narrow as I brace myself for God knows what.
She holds her palms up. “Shoot! Let me come out with you, and I’ll explain more.”
I’m not sure I want to go anywhere with her, but what choice do I have? I walk outside with her following behind me.
“There,” she orders, pointing towards a path which leads to what looks like caves.
“Where is this place?” I mutter to myself, looking back up to where we came from. “It’s a castle,” I say stupidly.
Clara rolls her eyes, and I almost hit her, almost. She leads me into a dark cave. “Right, from here you can escape,” she tells me, glancing back up to the castle.
“Explain what the hell is going on. Now,” I demand.
“Okay, Cliffsnotes version. My family is under a spell. They’re following King Ambrose, and I’m here because I’m trying to find a way to get them out. Your father has someone in that castle, someone powerful. Someone who is being held against their will.”
“Who?” I interrupt.
She shrugs. “I don’t know, it’s not something I’m privy to. But this person has been forced to share their powers with your father, making him almost invincible. You need to get away from here and find a way to defeat him. Only you can.”
She starts to move away, and I grab her elbow. Her eyes widen on my hold, and I see a glint of fear. I drop her elbow, frowning, but before she goes, I need one more answer.
“Why am I the only one who can defeat him?”
“Because your father isn’t your real father.”
“I know that,” I tell her.
“Then you know you’re the real heir to the throne.”
“You’re not making sense,” I mutter, aggravation climbing up my skin.
“Your father adopted you because your real parents were the Magical Kingdom’s true King and Queen. I don’t know what happened to them, but you are the true heir, and therefore, you’re stronger than your father, than anyone actually.”
Her answer blows me away, and I don’t have the chance to ask anything else as I stand, frozen to the spot, processing what she’s just told me. All I can do is watch her retreating back as I realise why he adopted me, and it makes sense why he never loved me. I feel a dark emotion swirl in the pit of my stomach and I grin. Now it will be even easier to kill him.
I close my eyes and call to Jacobi, knowing he’ll hear me and come for me. He always will.
Within seconds, he arrives. His hands move over my body, checking for any damage and I stifle a giggle as his eyes land on my face.
“This is not funny,” he growls.
“I know,” I reply, still smiling. “But, I knew you’d come.”
“You did?” he responds, relief in his eyes.
I nod. “Yeah, I knew all I had to do was call.”
He kisses my lips, and a thrill chases through me.
“What’s been going on?” I ask before he whisks me away.
“War,” he answers.
“War?”
“The last five days have been a battle between Ambrose’s soldiers and those on the other side, on Caspian’s side.”
“Five…five days?” I breathe out, sliding down onto my bum.
Jacobi crouches in front of me, “Juni, Juni, what’s wrong, baby?” he asks, cupping my cheeks.
“I thought I was gone for only a few hours.”
He shakes his head. “No, he brought you to Valheld. Time moves differently here. You’ve been gone for days.”
“My mum…”
“Is okay, I saved her. James, Emmie, Lucas, Mrs Donovan, and your mum are all waiting for you at home.”
&nb
sp; “Home?”
He frowns. “You remember the hideaway home I took you to?” I nod. “I moved them all there.”
“But what about Caspian Academy?” I question, my hands gripping his biceps.
“Someone is always there,” he reassures me. He looks down at the ground for a second before meeting my eyes again. “I tried to search for you, but I couldn’t find you.” His words are whispered, and I can feel the raw pain in them, it’s haunting.
“There’s a powerful witch in there,” I say pointing back to the castle. “They have it cloaked, I think.”
Jacobi’s eyes close in pain, and I kiss his lips softly. His shoulders relax as his whole body releases tension, and he moves our kiss from soft to intense.
“I missed you, Juni, I missed this. I was scared, so scared that I was too late, and I’d lost you.”
I watch as he swallows down hard, trying to control his emotions. It causes my eyes to well with tears, and I bury my face in his shoulder as his hands slide to my hips.
“Can we just run away?” he asks, his tone is light, but I think if I agreed he would whisk me away forever.
“Cobi, there’s more,” I tell him. His eyes meet mine again, and he waits patiently. “The person who helped me escape told me I’m the real heir to the throne. Apparently the real King and Queen were my parents, and that’s why I’m so powerful… and I’m the only one who can defeat King Ambrose.” Jacobi curses under his breath, his hands tighten on my hips, but I don’t complain. I know he needs to work through his feelings. “Jacobi, can you take me away from here now before they realise I’ve escaped.”
He nods as his eyes roam my face again. He kisses me one last time, and the next thing I know, I’m in his living room. Emmie is on the floor bleeding, and my mum is crouched beside her trying to help her while James and Lucas are fighting a small group of Kingdom soldiers.
I rush over to Emmie, my body changing instantly into that of a Guardian as I use my powers of healing to give her life again. I know I shouldn’t be able to choose, and somewhere along the line, the spell placed on me has screwed up my true embodiment of a Guardian, but with King Ambrose on the attack, I’m thankful I can.
“Come on, Emmie,” I urge.
Juniper’s mum sits beside me with her hands held in a prayer, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Juniper is helping James and Lucas.
“Please, please,” Juniper’s mum whispers next to me.
It seems to take forever as the battle rages around us, but eventually, Emmie sits up with gasping breaths. Her eyes are wide, and she stares at me with fear in them. Something happened when she was unconscious. Something bad, but I don’t know what. All I can do is heal her wounds. The soul will be hers to fix.
Juniper’s mother pulls me aside. “Go and help the others.”
I nod, and using my wings, I fly up into the air of my high ceilinged living room before swooping down on the Kingdom soldiers. They wave their swords in the air, trying to attack me, but I’m too quick. A bolt of energy blasts past me and into one of the guards; it rips right through his body, and he falls to the floor, dead. I look behind me to locate where the bolt came from and see Juniper. Her eyes are black, and she’s focused only on stopping the Kingdom guards.
I land next to her, and as she fires off several other powerful blasts of energy, Lucas and James stop fighting, and we all stand and watch, in part awe and part fear, the display of her incredible strength. She wasn’t this powerful before, and I know what she said about her being the daughter of the real King and Queen of magic is true.
She forms a ball of energy, ready to throw it at the last guard, but I stop her.
“No, I want to ask him some questions.”
“He hurt Emmie,” Juniper growls, lost in her anger.
“And she’s safe now. I healed her.” I press my lips to Juniper’s, and she shakes her head to bring herself out of the fit of fury she’s in.
“If he doesn’t give you answers, he suffers the same fate as the others. This is our place of safety, and I won’t have anyone attacking us here. I’m sick of always being behind what the King is doing.”
The King, not my father. Her words are telling.
“He’ll talk to me.” I motion for James and Lucas to help me, and we lead the guard into my spare room. Lucas ties him to a chair while I bring another chair to sit in front of him.
“We’re young adults, and we’re not in the habit of killing or being attacked. We should be enjoying the last few months of our studies before we graduate and go out into the wide world. But someone is preventing that.” I lean forwards on my chair, a stern look on my face. “I want you to tell me everything you know. Who sent you? What are his or her plans?”
The guard turns his head away from me, and I sigh heavily. I’m eighteen, I don’t want to torture this man, but I will if I have to.
“Lucas, you remember the spell we were taught to push pain into someone when they’re about to attack us. A last form of defence to prevent us getting hurt.”
“I do,” Lucas replies. He holds his hands up.
“For a few moments only,” I tell my friend.
Lucas recites the spell as James and I watch on. The man in the chair starts to scream in pain. I hold my hand up and Lucas stops the magic.
“Who sent you?”
Nothing. He keeps his mouth tightly shut.
“James, your turn-”
“I’m not torturing him,” James interrupts before I can give him a spell to perform. His face is a little pale. “I’m sorry, Cobi, I didn’t sign up for anything like this. Fighting those soldiers was about my limit.”
“You don’t have to apologise, it’s all right. Let me see if I can find another way.”
I hold my hand up and use my magic to read the guards’s mind. He blocks me from most of the knowledge I seek, but I’m able to find one piece of information which I can use.
“He’s scared of spiders,” I announce.
I shut my eyes and use magical words to bring the illusion of a thousand spiders into the room, all different sizes and shapes. The spiders descend upon the man in the chair. They climb up his legs and under his clothes, crawling over his body and onto his face. He’s screaming and crying. James pales further and leaves the room. He’s seen too much. I understand and won’t hold it against him.
Lucas and I sit quietly while the guard screams as he’s covered in thousands of spiders which aren’t really there. He doesn’t know that, though.
“Okay,” he eventually shouts. “I’ll talk.”
I click my fingers and half the spiders disappear. Those remaining form a circle on the floor around the man, ready to jump if he doesn’t give us the information we want.
“Talk,” I order him.
“The King, he’s the one who sent us here. He wants…” The man starts to gag. I recognise immediately he’s being attacked by the same spell as the one placed upon Sebastian.
I know I have to think quickly, but I don’t need to, because Juniper appears at the door, and her eyes are black again.
“The King’s magic is in the room. I can feel it,” she says, stepping towards the guard we’re interrogating. She places her hand on his forehead. “He’s being killed because he knows something. He knows the key to us stopping the King.”
“What is it?” I question Juniper as the man continues to gag and struggle to speak.
“I don’t know how to prevent the spell from killing him, but I can see his thoughts. There’s a room in Caspian. It holds scrolls containing the truth, information which will allow me to stop the King. It’s why he’s attacking the school, and he wants me to marry Michael because as long as I’m not with you, my power won’t be able to grow. You’re not just a Guardian of life and death, Jacobi. You’re the Witch’s Guardian. The Guardian of me. The witch with the most power in the world.”
Juniper steps back, a look of horror on her face. “No,” she says, collapsing on the floor as the man takes his
last breath.
I’m on my feet and bringing her into my arms in a split second. “What is it?”
I stroke her face, holding her close as tears fall from her eyes. I can feel the sorrow radiating from her.
James, Juniper’s mother, Emma and Mrs Donavan appear at the doorway. A fearful look of recollection on Mrs Donavan’s face as it seems a thousand memories flood back into her consciousness.
Juniper turns her head to look at Mrs Donavan. “You knew. You saw whatever the King wants hidden and imprinted your memory into the scrolls. What’s on them? Where are they?”
“I had to wait until you were older. I couldn’t stop him from taking you,” Mrs Donavan pleads as I look between Juniper and Caspian’s head teacher. “I was as helpless as everyone else. He doesn’t know it was me who put the scrolls there. There is so much in them. Even I’ve forgotten all I learned. I had to. I couldn’t face them every day.”
“I don’t understand,” I help Juniper to her feet, “explain it to me, Juniper. What did you see?”
“The guard, he was there the day spoken about in the scrolls. He saw everything as well, but like Mrs Donavan, his memories have also been suppressed. I saw it, though,” she states, turning to Mrs Donavan. “You were standing over Jacobi, watching the King reciting a spell. The spell which bound his powers. You learned the Guardian language just to read them?”
“What?” I splutter out in shock. Has Juniper gone insane? Or, more importantly, is Mrs Donavan a traitor?
“King Ambrose stopped me from being able to kiss Juniper and prevented me from becoming the Guardian I should be. Why?” I’m shouting and stepping closer to the headmistress. I’m livid.
“I remember it all now. I didn’t have a choice. King Ambrose was too strong and he was prepared to do anything to protect his secrets and stop Juniper coming into her powers, and afterwards he must have used magic to suppress my memories.”
“Bullshit!” I scream angrily. James steps in front of his mother, ready to protect her against my anger. “Why did you hide the scrolls?”
I’m pulled back by Juniper.
“Because the scrolls give information on how the King and Queen died, and I didn’t want them getting into the wrong hands. They’re the proof needed to stop King Ambrose. They talk of the power Juniper has inside her,” Mrs Donovan explains.
