by Anna Edwards
“Take him. Save him for me.”
Taya nods. She comes closer to me and puts her hand on my shoulder.
“It’s time to go, Jacobi. We need to get those powers out of you once and for all.”
“Taya, don’t do this. Whatever is motivating you, it doesn’t need to lead down this road.”
Taya utters a few words, and we’re flying through the air. My head spins. I’m not in control of the magic around me at the moment, and I can’t handle it. I’m someone who likes to be in total control of my own body. It’s why I hated not being able to command the Guardian powers.
Eventually, we land in a dark room. The lights flick on, and sitting on an ornate, jet black throne in the centre of the room is King Ambrose. Next to him stands the man I now know is his son, Michael. Taya steps towards them and stands next to the throne on the opposite side to her brother.
“The world could have been so different for you, Jacobi, if only you’d loved me instead of her,” Taya takes the King’s hand. “Did I do well, Daddy?”
Daddy.
Taya winks at me. “Michael isn’t the King’s only child.”
The King claps. “You did fabulously, my princess.”
“No,” I mumble, my legs feeling weak. I’m trapped with no way out.
“Send the call out to, Juniper,” the King orders. “She has an hour to get here and consent to marrying Michael, or Jacobi Ashdown dies.”
“Did you feel that?” I ask, turning to Rose.
“Feel what?” she replies, stepping away from the scroll she was reading.
There’s an imbalance in my body, something’s wrong. “Jacobi,” I whisper his name and move to rush after him.
“Wait!” Rose calls, and I jerk to a halt. “You need to think this through. This may be the only chance you get to read these scrolls. What if this is a distraction?”
I close my eyes and absorb her words. She’s not wrong, but what if Jacobi’s in danger?
Suddenly a pain radiates through my body so rapidly I can’t move and I can’t scream. I can see Rose panicking, rushing towards me, but I’m frozen in place as a message filters through my brain, the intent clear, I can see it behind my eyes. After what feels like hours, but is probably only seconds, I’m released, and I stumble forwards. Rose catches me in her arms.
“What happened?” she questions a wobble in her voice.
“They have him. King Ambrose has Jacobi.” I swallow down the bile sitting in my throat. “I have an hour to meet them and consent to marry Michael or Jacobi dies.” I find it hard to breathe, my chest burns and my head is a mess.
“They can’t have realised the Superiors won’t allow the marriage to come to fruition in the magical world.” Rose places her hand on my shoulder, and I feel a warmth flow into my body. It calms me and I close my eyes, sucking in a slow breath and exhaling just as slowly.
“A spell?” I question.
“Mmm,” she replies, “it’s a calming spell. You need to be able to focus and think logically, but I have a suggestion.”
I turn to face her. “You do?”
She nods. “Look at this,” she says pointing to the only scroll I haven’t looked at. “I have read all of them, and this is the only one I’ve found which is about the future. The others are annotating events that have already passed, things we already know. Unless you’ve found something else?”
I shake my head and sigh. Unfortunately, she’s completely right. These scrolls are useless. They would have been amazing a year ago and may have meant innocent people like Sebastian wouldn’t have had to die, but now all they tell me is what I’ve already learnt from living through the events described. I step over to the scroll and read the words aloud.
“There are more than physical beings in play now. The world doesn’t always work in the flesh and bone only.”
I look up to Rose. “What the hell does that mean?” I ask. She shrugs and her eyes move back to the tapestry on the wall. With another sigh, I continue reading.
“The Witch is the strongest. The Guardian is the only one on a par with her, but he will not have his full power until he believes in himself.” My eyes widen at the script, and I know, without thinking about it, Jacobi doesn’t yet fully believe in himself or his capabilities. “The Witch is special. She can do things others cannot. She can bring the worlds together. She can talk to the Superiors.” My head snaps up, and Rose and I lock stares. She nods, and a tentative smile creeps onto her face. “I can talk to the Superiors?”
She nods. “That’s what it says.”
“I wouldn’t even know how to,” I complain, worried I only have an hour to get to Jacobi and time is ticking away.
“Read the last part,” Rose whispers.
I frown at her eagerness and look back at the words hanging on the wall.
“The Witch is the balance within the world, keeping evil magic from overthrowing the humans and taking over. She will be the link between the Gods and the humans. She will be the messenger and the Guardian will protect her for eternity, even in the next life. They are bound. They are created for one another, but if they fall in love, then they are truly the strongest of us all and could even challenge the Superiors. They are inherently good. They will always stand on the side of truth and take their rightful place in the magical world. To speak to the Superiors, the Witch will need a vessel.”
I look up to Rose again. “That’s it? That’s all it says?” I complain. “What does it mean a vessel?” I bang the scroll down on the table in frustration and start worrying about Jacobi again.
“Think about it carefully. If you wanted to talk to a God, an angel, a Superior, how do you think you could do that?” she urges me to think of the answer.
I take a seat on an old wooden chair and close my eyes, dropping my head back while I think about the past few months, the life changes that have happened, and then back to my early childhood. I could never remember past being adopted, but something niggles at the back of my brain. A memory which has been deleted from my mind.
I open my eyes and look at Rose again. “When you saved these scrolls, did you find anything else? Maybe a jewel or stone or something…” I shake my head. “Something which could be used as a vessel, to keep my memories from me?”
She gasps and grabs the top of a cabinet to steady herself.
“There was a ruby. It was a perfect oval shape and so smooth, I remember it clearly,” she says, but then pauses. “Your mother, she had it.”
“My mum is involved in this?” I snap, shock rippling through me.
Rose shakes her head. “No, Ambrose gave her the jewel. It was mounted as a pendant on a necklace.”
I shoot up from the chair. “We need to get back to Jacobi’s house and wake everyone up.”
Rose closes her eyes, grabs my hand, and in no time at all, we’re standing in Jacobi’s living room. Muttering a few words, she rids the house of the sleep spell. I hear movement and groaning, and within minutes, Emmie, Lucas, James, and my mum are all standing in the living room, frowning at us, aware we placed them under a spell. “It was for your own good,” Rose states, but they continue frowning.
I sit them down and explain everything we’ve learnt and tell them what’s happened to Jacobi. I get varying degrees of response, including Lucas picking up a chair and throwing it through the back window, which Rose quickly repairs with magic. I then turn to my mum.
“Mum, have you got a necklace with an oval ruby pendant?” I ask her.
She frowns and thinks for a moment but then looks up at me and nods. “Yes, it belonged to your grandmother…” she breaks off, her words dying on her tongue. “It belonged to King Ambrose’s mother,” she amends, and her gaze drops to the floor.
I shake my head, already knowing that isn’t the case. Automatically, I know what it is and where it came from. “It was my mother’s,” I tell her.
Her eyes snap to mine again and a sheen fills them. I don’t want to hurt her, she’s still my mum, but my real
mother and father were snatched from me, and I want to know about them.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
Reaching out, I grab her hand. “It’s not your fault, you didn’t know. But now I need that necklace. Can you get it for me?”
She nods. “Wait here a moment,” she says and blinks out using magic.
I turn to look at the others. “We’re near the end of this now. We might not win, but whatever happens, we’re close. If you want to bow out, I’ll completely understand. There’ll be no badmouthing those who choose to step away. This is potentially a life or death situation.”
“I want you to go, Mum,” James says to Rose.
She shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”
“Mum,” he snaps.
“No!” she snaps back.
“Okay!” I shout, holding my hand up. “This is how it’s going to go,” I say, just as my mum appears back in the room. “I’m going to face King Ambrose on my own.”
“To hell, you are,” Mum argues.
I turn to her. “He nearly killed you last time.” My words evoke a pain in her eyes which tell me she still loves him. I look towards Rose. “I need you to stay and look after my mum. I also need you both to place protection spells upon me and Jacobi when I leave.”
My mum stares at the floor, and Rose steps up next to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders giving her a squeeze. James looks at me and mouths a thank you. I smile at him and look towards Lucas and then Emmie.
“Don’t even think about telling me I’m not coming,” Lucas snaps.
I grin at him. “I need you there. Jacobi needs you there,” I reply and his shoulders drop as he thinks about his best friend. “But I also need you to do something else first. I need you three to visit the council and share all the evidence we have about the history of what’s happened. Rose will give you the scrolls and both my mum and Rose will back you.” I heave out a heavy breath. “I also need you to go to Caspian and tell the whole story to the students. They all need to understand and spread the information to their parents.”
“But they might not believe us,” Emmie says quietly.
I look towards her and nod. “They might not, but we need to give them the option to choose. Until now, they’ve all been brainwashed because their parents had their memories removed. Now they get to choose their own path.”
“And what about you?” James questions, stepping over to Emmie and capturing her hand in his own. “What if you don’t make it?”
My mum cries openly now, and Rose tucks her against her chest.
“Then, I’ll live my next life.” I shrug. “This is my destiny. Now I have to live it and see where it takes me.”
“Here,” my mum sniffles, handing me the ruby pendant Rose spoke of.
The second it touches my palm a riot of memories, thoughts, emotions and knowledge hits me, pushing my body down into a chair as I breathe through the beautiful onslaught. When it’s done, I remember everything. I remember my real parents, and their unconditional love for me. My father had dark eyes and dark hair, love shone from him. He would pick me up and swing me around, my legs flying in the air as my giggles erupted. My mother had my lilac eyes and silver hair. Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful. I was her biggest love. I remember my mother singing a song to me at bedtime.
Look to the skies and close your eyes, my pretty princess,
Whisper on the winds, and the angels will be listening.
But for now, sleep soundly, Mummy and Daddy will watch over you.
“I remember a rhyme she would sing to me at bedtime,” I tell the others. “I think it was her way of making sure I knew I could speak to the Superiors.”
They all gasp, but my head is elsewhere.
“We all have our plans, and I only have thirty minutes until I have to get to Jacobi, but first I need to do something. Are you all clear with what you have to do?”
They all nod and mumble words of agreement. I take one last look at each of them before spiriting myself away to the top of a mountain in the Alps. I sit down with my legs crossed, close my eyes, and follow my heart.
“Are you listening to me? Can you help me in any way?” I whisper into the wind, praying for an answer.
‘We are sending you a secret weapon who is much more powerful in death, than he was in life’
The words are whispers in my mind, and I gasp, “Sebastian.” When I open my eyes, it’s true. He stands there, tall, imposing, and so much stronger than he was before.
He smiles. “I’m an angel now,” he tells me, “and I’m going to help you get your throne back.”
“Come on then. Let’s go save my Guardian and finally set the world straight,” I reply, holding my hand out so we can face the onslaught together.
When Juniper appears in the centre of the room, I collapse under the weight of what she’s going to do to save me. Still bound from moving by Taya’s spell, my legs slump to the floor.
Juniper, the woman I love, looks so small as she stands before the King. Her eyes are dark and focused on the man in front of her. The man who’s tormented and destroyed her life, and the man who seeks to marry her to his own son so he can finally control all the power of the magic in the realm.
I see now we’ve been controlled since birth, and it was a ploy by King Ambrose to get to this stage. To get to the point where Juniper was old enough to consent to marriage and therefore make a binding contract.
“Answer me one thing before I do what you want,” Juniper demands. Her voice is calmer than I expect, and it sends a chill down my spine. I can sense the clarity in her thought.
“What?” King Ambrose snarls at her.
“Did my parents suffer?”
The King’s lip twitches with the hint of a smirk. The anger rises within me. I don’t need to hear his answer to know he gave Juniper’s real parents a painful death. I hope they rest peacefully in the afterlife now. Happy in the second world of the ancient magic we believe in. Ambrose won’t be as lucky by the end of today. I’ll see to that. He’ll suffer in the realms of Tartus for selling his soul to the evil side of our beliefs. His lust for power has corrupted him. My soul, the Guardian within, tastes the blood of victory and hungers for the opportunity to finish the King and all those who believe in his succession.
“It wasn’t quick, but it was deserved.”
The calm around Juniper shatters for a moment.
“They did not deserve death from a man they trusted. They didn’t deserve to be parted from the child they adored. I didn’t deserve to have loving parents replaced by a man who desires nothing but power.”
The mask she’s been wearing falls back into place.
A cold breeze brushes over the back of my neck.
A life from beyond.
Someone’s calming her.
But who?
“Your parents weren’t any good for the magical world. They’d have destroyed it in the end. We need to take control and stop hiding what we can do from the humans, who possess no magic. We need to fight for our rights, and with Michael on the throne, that’s what will happen. My son will take the magical realm into a new world where we reign supreme.”
“Delusional.” I can’t bite my tongue any longer. “Michael will try to harvest a power which doesn’t belong to him, and it’ll never work because it belongs to me just like Juniper does. We’re entwined forever, and the true strength of our power comes from that fact.”
“Shut up,” Taya snarls at me, the tendrils of her magic start to wrap around my mouth.
“Trying to take what isn’t yours will only lead to your downfall. A spectacular and painful one.” The binds close over my mouth, and I can no longer speak. All I can do is stare at what unfolds before me.
Juniper turns to me, and lowering her head, she shuts her eyes slowly, takes a deep breath, and then opens them again.
‘I love you’, she mouths before holding her hand out to Michael.
I want to struggle against all the binds holding
me, but the magic is strong. It’s preventing me from doing anything but watching the woman I love being forced to give herself to another man.
The cold chill whispers around me again, and a voice I recognise penetrates deep into my head.
It’s Sebastian.
I feel his angelic presence as he speaks to me. “My grandfather had a strength within him unlike any other, but it only came from him believing in himself and his abilities. That strength can free you, but you have to trust in what you can do, both the good and the bad of being a Guardian. What you do is the Superiors’ choice, and you follow them because they’re inherently good. That’s your path. Believe, Jacobi, and trust the thoughts inside your head. Listen to the thousands of voices calling out.”
“How?” I question, unsure how I’m communicating with Sebastian.
“I’m an angel. No one truly dies unless they deserve it.”
No one truly dies unless they deserve it.
The good and the bad.
“That’s the true meaning behind being a Guardian. It’s following the path which separates the right from the wrong.”
I feel the coiled ball of energy ignite deep within my stomach as the realisation hits me. I catch my breath, and while I watch Juniper walk to where a high priestess stands ready to marry her to Michael, I allow the power of my magic to explode. Taya’s spell shatters. It turns to glass, and it fragments into a thousand pieces on the floor. My wings unfurl like a majestic bird of prey on my back, and I’m flying. I’m soaring and swooping down, ready to attack King Ambrose.
Emma, James, Lucas, Rose and Juniper’s mother all appear in the throne room, backed by the roaring voices of the students of Caspian Academy. I can hear the fighting spirit echoing around the world. All those in favour of good magic, crying out in outrage against King Ambrose and his illegitimate son and daughter.
“No,” the King screams and sends a bolt of energy towards the group of my friends who have just appeared.
I fly fast across the room and wrap them in the protective cocoon of my wings. The strength of my true Guardian nature gives me the power to squash out the flames of the King’s magical energy.
