“What sort of gift?” Farlow asked.
To answer his question, Calipee held up the folded paper handed to her by their sister, Melita. Farlow noticed the wax sigil seal had been broken.
“You’ve looked at it?” He knew the answer but wanted to be sure.
“Yes, and it is what mother said it would be; a request from the queen to safeguard her only living child. She wishes to go with Renella.” Calipee looked at him.
“How is that possible? The princess is set to perish with the rest of the Ormshire maga,” Farlow said in aversion.
“That is the request.” She looked at her brother.
“The request is that she not die?” He was confused by what she said and did not understand how she could not.
“Correct, but not only that. The request is that none of the maga die but are placed within a world of my creation. There they will live mortal lives, die, and be reborn until the day Tyson and Renella are reunited.”
“What of the power needed to break the curse and destroy the Buio King?”
“Once reunited, they will resume their own immortal lives, living in the created world together until the power we need to defeat him is found.” She blocked the wind from the sea with her bright purple wings, and every so often, flapped to rid them of water.
“So, what you’re saying is this power mother spoke of may not be around for one hundred mortal years or more?”
“Yes, what of it? It’s only a year to us, but it may be more than that. Mother was unable to ascertain how long this power would take to flourish,” she said with a wave of dismissal.
“Sister, my head is spinning. Why could we not speak of this at the palace with the king and queen? They should know of this.” He shook his head.
“The queen had reason to believe there were spies working amongst them.”
“I see.” Farlow had suspected as much himself, but he didn’t dare bring that up to the king. He had enough on his mind.
“So, why the urgency to leave Hearthstone?” he asked her.
“I need time to work such a creation. I need the power from our home to help. The heart stone is powerful, but it is the power of Pylira. Our power source remains the strongest. With it, I will be able to create such a world and a way for those who wish to move between them.” She looked to the sea. “We are here.”
She pointed to the green horizon of their land. An ethereal display of lights shimmered across the night’s sky. The colors of the fairies’ wings grew brighter as they lingered over the coast of Aurora, guiding their ship home.
Chapter Thirty-one
Past
The lights of the candles flickered around the room as Tyson sat at his sister’s side. He had been told she had woken for a moment and asked to speak with him. That seemed like a lifetime ago, he thought, sitting quietly and waiting for her eyelids to rise again so she may speak with him. The days moved slowly, and the nights slower still, as they awaited what was to come and for Tabitha. If she didn’t wake before the curse was fully in force, he didn’t know if she would survive.
Time still moved slowly, and all in the castle were asleep, save for him. He’d been scared too, thinking if he had slept, she would wake, only to fall deeper in sleep.
Tyson and Renella saw the bright lights burst into the sky and fall around the land, signifying the curse had been started. They were told it would take a full night and day to be complete, so she had only needed to last one more day and night, then she would be taken and well again in the future, when their troubles would all be over.
Tyson worried much about how long that would be. He would be stuck with his father, who would be unable to use magia, but still able to make Tyson’s life miserable. Tyson would live on and worry about Renella, Tabitha, and his mother each day that went by without them. One day without them, he thought, sounded like an eternity alone. There would not be a single person he could confide in or worry with.
“It’s late, my prince,” a gruff voice said to him from the hall.
“Who’s there?” he asked in a whisper.
“It is only me.” The silhouette of a short, stout man entered the room before he saw his uncle’s face. “I did not wish to disturb you, but you look troubled.”
“My sister lay there unconscious or sleeping, I cannot tell. So… Yes, Uncle, I am troubled.” He returned his gaze to his sister’s still frame. The lights flickered across the stone walls.
The night was cooler than usual. It had not gotten as cold as he remembered it in Hearthstone. The weather was usually much warmer in Ormshire than the other three realms, and hotter still than on the mountain where Hearthstone Palace sat.
“I know, child, but she is fine. She merely sleeps now. Sleep heals so many ailments.” The man waddled, more than walked, to the other side of Tabitha’s bed.
“It’s still troubling. Any other time before now, I wouldn’t mind her sleeping so much, but I must speak to her before…” He let the thought fade away.
“I know. Your mother has commissioned Hogarth and myself for your safekeeping.”
“So, she has spoken to you?” He looked at his uncle to guess what he thought of their plans. He would have hated to be wrong about them. Their whole plan was for nothing if the uncles were not on their side.
“Don’t look so worried. We gave her our word that we would, no matter the cost to ourselves…” Tyson must have been holding his breath, because he felt his lungs tighten and he exhaled. “There, that’s better.” His uncle noticed his relief. “I have spoken to a few young ones who are willing to help as well, with the after… anyway.” Gareth reached a stubby hand to Tabitha’s shoulder. Once his hand touched her, the color in her cheeks started to come back.
Gareth and Hogarth were the best suited to help them and receive the gift of magia, since they already held a form of magia in their healing abilities. They would be able to sharpen and master it far better than any other.
“That’s good. We will need all the help we can get.” Tyson held his sister’s hand at the sound of her rousing. She moved as if in pain, and Gareth put his other hand on her wrist.
“What’s happening?” Tyson gave a look of alarm.
“She is just experiencing the memory of the attack. That pain… I cannot take from her.” The look he gave was one of sorrow.
Tyson quickly realized he would not be alone during the ordeal. He would have Gareth. Hogarth was not as empathic as his younger brother, but he would have him as well.
Tabitha moved in jerks, and Gareth held her still. Her eyes fluttered open and closed, and finally they opened, and she looked at Tyson.
“Brother!” she cried.
“Yes, I’m here.” Tyson scooted closer to her side.
“I will leave you.” Gareth brought Tabitha’s hand up and kissed it as a mother to a child. “Good to see those eyes,” he said and left the room.
“Brother, I need to speak with you.” Tabitha tried to sit up.
“Easy.” Tyson helped her lift her head and propped her up on more pillows.
“What’s on your mind, Sis?” He sat next to her on the bed, negating the chair.
“I wanted to say goodbye before this life comes to an end. I couldn’t bear leaving you without saying so.” Tabitha coughed. Her throat felt like it was on fire.
Tyson moved to the dresser across the room and fetched his sister a glass of water. He held it in front of her, saying nothing while he helped her take a few sips. The liquid was cool and soothed her.
“We will be together again. You will come back, and you will be better,” was all he could think to say.
“You’re a liar.” He noticed her wit had not left her. “No one knows whether or not I’ll come back at all at this point. You might want to get used to being an only child during all this.” She tried to laugh, but it turned into a hard cough instead.
“Stop this,” he scolded her as he helped with the glass. “As long as you remain alive before the curse takes hold, you wil
l be reborn with the rest. Maybe you’ll be reborn with magia. How does that sound?” He laughed that time and made her smile.
Tabitha rested her head against the pillows and closed her eyes.
“Tabitha,” Tyson begged his sister.
“Don’t worry, I’m not dead. My head hurts.” She opened her eyes once more but left her head where it lay. “Where is Renella? I need to tell her something.”
“She has gone to bed. It’s my turn to watch over you. She has been here since it happened.” He stood to fill the glass with more water. “She blames herself. If she hadn’t put you to the ground, the guards wouldn’t have thought you were an intruder.” He placed the glass on her bedside table. “They all jumped on you at the same time. One had his sword drawn. It was pushed into you during the collision. He hadn’t even meant to.” He paused for a moment and decided to sip the water himself.
“Thought that was for me?” she teased.
“I take everything of yours for myself, remember?” He regretted saying it even as it left his mouth, but her coughing fit meant she had found it funny. He held the glass to her lips, but that time, she took it.
“One good thing came from this.” He looked down at where her wound had been. “Father showed he does care for you. He killed the guard himself.”
“A little late if you ask me, and a waste of a life.” She smiled at her twin.
They were nowhere close to being identical. They were of the opposite sex; he had magia and she did not. His straight blond locks glowed bright in the moonlight, which made it look white. Her hair was mousy brown and curly. However, they both had the same clear blue eyes. Looking into his sister’s, Tyson had always felt as if he were looking into a piece of himself. He could not have imagined what life would be like without her with him.
Tyson took the glass from his sister and placed it back atop the table. He looked at her again as something caught his eye. The locket slipped out of her nightdress when she moved. She grabbed it and tucked it back where it belonged.
“Renella asked me to wear it,” she said quickly.
“She cares for you,” Tyson said with a bit of jealousy. Not because he thought Renella cared for Tabitha more, but because Tabitha cared for Renella more than she had for him. At least the mess their father caused had them speaking more than they used to.
Tabitha never much wanted to spend time with her brother growing up. She had been born a girl, and with that, she should have been the one to receive magia. When they were three, Tyson had taken a doll away from her, but he was nowhere near her at the time. The doll flew across the room into his hand, and he threw it into the fire in their father’s study where they had been playing. It was that moment when Ourobus had started to love one child more than the other. Tyson was favored by all, and Tabitha a distant memory, as she became used to being shut away. Her mother loved her dearly, but the heir came first. By the time Tabitha had turned thirteen, she had come to grips with the reality she would not have magia, since every child had experienced their powers in one way or another by eleven.
Tyson thought of Renella just then. What if Tabitha were the same as her? Maybe she would find her long lost love and together, they would ignite the magia within her. That is what he wished for her, but he would not get her hopes up.
“I’m tired.” She snapped Tyson from his thoughts. He could tell it became a struggle for her to speak.
“Okay, I’ll leave you, so you can sleep.”
“No, don’t go. You have to tell her something for me.” She looked up at him.
“Tell Renella?” he asked.
“Yes…” She paused with her head up, but her eyes were closed.
“Tabby?” he whispered.
She opened her eyes and looked right at him, so he could see the whites of her eyes.
“Tell her… I said… to take care …of you. If I come back…” She closed her eyes that time, just for a split second. “If I come back, I will find the both of you. I will search for you.”
“Tabitha, don’t…”
“No, Tyson. It’s a real possibility; you have to prepare. We will be together if we can… but if not… you two must take care of each other…for me. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened…” She was exhausted and laid her head down again, her eyes closed.
A single tear fell from the corner of her eye and streaked down her cheek. Tyson caught it with his finger before it could go any further, wiping it from her face.
“Don’t worry, little sister. We will see you again.”
He stood and kissed her forehead. He made sure she was asleep before he left the room.
Tabitha woke again for a moment as her brother was leaving. She hadn’t felt like arguing the facts, so she let him go. She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep for a length of time she could not measure. When she had woken again, her mother sat in the chair beside her bed, looking at the birds playing on the windowsill in the morning sunlight.
“Good morning, Mother,” she managed before the coughing fit took hold of her.
“Good morning, Tabitha.” Sheree looked at her daughter, and Tabitha saw her cheeks were stained with tears.
“Not you too?” Tabitha said to her.
Sheree wiped the streaks away from her cheeks. “No, those were not for you. I know you will be fine. They were for everything else.”
Tabitha looked at her, confused, but she quickly remembered something they had all forgotten. Her mother loved her father, and at the end of this was his demise.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I guess we got so wrapped up in the bad that he’s done, we’ve forgotten you have memories of the good,” Tabitha said after a long sip of water.
“Yes, but that is beside the point. I am sad about that, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that the man I loved has been gone for some time now.”
“If that is not it, then why the tears?”
“I’ll tell you, if you keep it a secret.” Tabitha nodded at her. “I’m afraid of dying.”
“Well, who isn’t?” Tabitha said. “I’m afraid, too, but happy to know we will return. Besides, how do we know the fairies would kill an entire clan of maga?”
“To keep the land safe from your father, yes they would.” Sheree looked at the birds some more.
“So, you’re okay with today being your last day, for however long this takes?” Tabitha looked at her mother.
“Yes, I am. It was my suggestion. Besides, we won’t die. We will be removed to another plane of reality or something. We will come back when the time allows, and things will be better,” she stated.
“If you say so, Mother.” Tabitha looked at the window to watch the birds. She did not remember falling back to sleep, but when she awoke again, she was alone. She had no idea what time it was or how much time she had left, but she could not force her eyes to remain open.
When she woke again, she looked at the window; the sun setting. The day had gone almost completely. She had no more time. In a hurried panic, she attempted to pull back her covers to get out of bed.
“Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” Tabitha looked up and saw Renella grabbing the blankets from her. She pulled them back up to Tabitha’s shoulders as she lay back on her pillows.
“I didn’t think I had time left to speak with you,” Tabitha said to her friend.
“There will always be time for us to speak.” Renella smiled at her.
“I meant before…”
“I know.” Renella grabbed Tabitha’s hand.
“I’m afraid I won’t come back with you. I feel it, Renella. I’m dying,” Tabitha told her.
“You have to come back. You have to return that to me,” Renella said, pointing to the locket Tabitha still wore.
“What is it about this thing?” she asked.
“It’s important that you hold onto it. When you see me again, you will know.” She pushed the locket back inside the neck of Tabitha’s nightdress. Renella leaned into her friend and whispered, “I figu
red it out, Tabby, and everything will be okay.”
Tabitha couldn’t hang on any longer. Her eyes closed again, and she drifted into a deep sleep. The night caught hold of her and took her away.
“How is she?” Tyson asked Renella of his sister.
“She is hanging in there.” Renella gave him a nod.
They had met as agreed in Tyson’s room. The drapes were open, so they could watch the moon as it rose over the land. It was the night before their wedding, which meant it was the night they would say their farewells until next they saw one another. Renella stood in front of the door, having just shut it and the world outside away from them. She stood staring at the painting on the wall.
“So?” Tyson asked from his seat in front of the windows. “Will she be with us when this is over?” He looked weary, and Renella thought him terrified of what her answer would be.
“She will be with us, Tyson, that is a promise.” She walked to him and he stood to receive her. They wrapped their arms around each other, and Renella laid her head against Tyson’s chest.
“The locket will protect her,” Renella said out loud so he could hear. She did not want him to worry, so she had to tell him. She stepped back and turned to face the painting as if she were trying to remember a story she had once heard.
“Your mother asked to speak with me that night, right after we posed for that portrait. That’s when I received the locket.” She turned to look at him. “How it got to be in the painting, I do not know.”
“That’s when you learned of the curse. When we both did?” Tyson asked.
“Yes. It’s also the night your father showed his true colors. So, at the time she gave me that locket, I was willing to wear it tonight and stop the entire curse.” He looked at her questioningly.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“Your mother used buio magia to spell the locket; buio against luce, which was what is needed to work against the curse. She said if I wore that tonight, I would awake tomorrow in Hearthstone, and not have to leave.” She walked to the settee and sat down.
The Curse of Ormshire (The Beast Within Book 2) Page 25
