by Toni Cox
“My girl, my brave girl.”
“I am here, Father.”
“You must leave, Dana. It is not safe for you anymore.”
He forestalled my protest by putting a finger to my lips.
“I will be fine.” He gestured behind him, and I glanced into the gloom. “There is a bed and food and water. They will look after me, for now.”
I swallowed hard, trying to suppress the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. “It’s this Councillor William’s fault.” I pouted.
“No,” my father shook his head, “William is a good man. Dana, listen to me now. The people may be right, and I may be the cause of all this. When did this strange magic of yours start?”
“In March. Around the spring equinox.”
“That’s what I thought. The attacks started shortly after.”
Balling my hands into fists, I nodded.
“Don’t be afraid. It is not you causing the attacks. Seek out a woman by the name of Arianna. This is important. She might be able to explain your magic.
“Who is …”
A key turning in a lock behind us made us both look up in fright. The key rattled, as if it was stuck.
“Go, Dana, you cannot be discovered here. You cannot help me if you’re in here with me. May the Goddess be with you.”
I squeezed his hand as the key rattled again. A furtive glance to the oaken door I had come in told me I would not make it in time without being seen.
The room before me was bare besides an overturned table and a bucket next to it. Chains hung from the stone walls opposite.
As the key finally clicked in the cursed lock and the heavy door scraped across the stone floor, I bolted across the room to the right. My heart thundered frantically as I tucked in the flapping ends of my robe, pressing myself flat against a broken stone pillar.
The jovial talk of the guards stopped as they entered, and they exchanged a few whispered words. I could hear footsteps coming my way.
“Guard, I need some water,” my father called from his cell.
“One moment,” the guard answered.
“I am still the king. You are to treat me with some dignity.”
“One moment, I said,” the guard repeated.
The footsteps were closer, now. I inched further around the stone pillar, eyeing the oaken door on the other side of the room. Could I make it?
If I ran, they would see me. Could I outrun them and then lose them in the palace?
“Just one cup of water isn’t too much to ask for a king, is it?”
“Give him some water,” one of the guards said, very close now.
I could hear one set of footsteps retreat, and then the clink of crockery that the guards must have brought with them.
The scrape of a leather boot on stone told me the other guard was only another yard, or so, from the stone pillar I hid behind. My heart pounded as I smelled a breath of fresh air around the crumbled rock.
I explored it with my fingers. A crack. The attack must have damaged this wall.
Just then, the guard launched himself and sprang around the corner.
Chapter 2
The rough stone scraped against my cheek as I squeezed through the narrow slit of broken dungeon wall, drawing blood.
My breath rasped in my throat as I stumbled into the darkness beyond, and then I froze, holding my breath.
I didn’t think my eyes had ever been that wide open as they were now, staring into the blackness, listening to the guard scrambling around the narrow fissure I’d escaped through.
“It’s too narrow,” I heard his muffled voice, “maybe I imagined it. There’s no-one here.”
The sounds stopped, leaving me alone in the darkness.
Hesitantly, I lifted my hand, palm forward, letting the mysterious glow spread around me. As my eyes adjusted, my breathing eased.
I was outside of the castle underneath some dense shrubbery. No moonlight, or street lights, penetrated beneath the thick foliage.
Heavy, mouldy leaf litter covered the ground, muffling my footsteps as I ducked through the dense trees and shrubs.
These dark, thorny shrubs surrounded the palace on two sides. As kids, we used to dare each other to go in, to brave the darkness.
My skin crawled as the branches clawed at my clothes as I wriggled my way through. Something snagged my foot and tripped me as I tried to pull it free.
Crawling on my hands and knees, I finally came out of the bushes at the end of a short and narrow back street. Three houses had their backs to the street, but their lights were dimmed.
I hurriedly extinguished the glow from my palm. Drawing the hood deep over my face, I ran to the nearest streetlight and stood beneath it for a moment, undecided.
I searched the darkened sky for the floating lights that marked the districts.
Above, like fat raindrops, the lilac fae lights of the Lavender District floated in the air.
“Lavender,” I whispered, trying to remember any of the district’s streets. I had come out at the back of the palace.
The short back street intersected with another narrow road, this one curving around a row of colourful houses.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, keeping to the edge of the pavement.
It looked like the magic that had shaken the castle had left the city untouched, for I could see no sign of destruction as I walked.
At this time of night ~ or was it almost morning ~ the streets were deserted. It felt like I walked for miles before I finally came to a road of which I knew the name.
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” I whispered.
I now knew how to make my way to the Tulip District, even without glancing in the sky to search for the faint orange drops that indicated that sector.
My life had been thrown upside down in a moment, and my father’s revelation about my strange magic had not made it any better. That was not a reason to stick my head in the sand, though.
I needed to find answers, but first, I needed help.
***
Gingerly, I tiptoed through the beautiful flowerbed in front of the window. “Alyssa,” I knocked softly against the pane. “Alyssa.”
A shadow moved behind the curtain, and I held my breath. A moment later, my best friend’s sleepy face peeked through the window, looking at me owl-eyed.
“What in the name of all that’s holy are you doing here so early?”
“Let me in,” I whispered.
“Through the window? Are you mad?”
I tumbled headfirst through the window and onto her colourful carpet. I quickly took off my shoes so I wouldn’t trudge in any dirt.
Despite Alyssa’s indignant outburst, she was soon in giggles on the floor beside me.
“What is going on, Dana?”
“There was another attack on the palace during the night,” I took her hand, and we both sat down on her bed. “It was the worst it’s ever been. My father got trapped beneath his bed, and I had to use magic to free him.”
“Yes, we heard the rumble,” Alyssa squeezed my hand. “Did you have to use that weird magic of yours?”
Without a word, I let the glow of my palm illuminate the room.
“The guards arrested my father, and the councillors threw him in the dungeon for treason. My father warned that I am no longer safe in the palace and that I need to seek out someone called Arianna to learn from her where this strange magic comes from.”
Closing my palm, I let the glow fade.
“Maybe you should have gone to your father about it sooner. Dana, what if it really is dangerous?”
My eyelid twitched as I tried to hold it together. Alyssa was the only one I had told about the magic since it manifested.
“Oh, Dana, I am so sorry. How can I help?”
I slumped forward, hunching my shoulders. The weight of it suddenly too heavy for me. It had all seemed unreal until now. It must have been the adrenaline.
When I looked back up at Alyssa, there were tears in my eye
s.
“I don’t know.” My voice choked, and it was barely audible.
That’s when Alyssa took charge; suddenly all businesslike in her pink nightdress and blonde hair.
“Right, you will take a shower to wash all the dust out of your hair, and I will find you some of my clothes to wear. After that, we will have some breakfast. While you are in the shower, I will speak to my father. I think he may know where you can go to find this Arianna woman. Now, off to the bathroom.”
Alyssa was right; the hot shower felt amazing. It eased the tension out of my muscles and helped me think clearer. I dressed in Alyssa’s clothes but brushed down my green hood so that I could take it with me.
“Good morning, Princess,” Ren Yewling, Alyssa’s father, greeted me when I took my seat at the breakfast table once the sun was up. “I am so happy to see you safe. The whole city heard the attack from last night.”
“It was the worst, yet,” I agreed.
“Alyssa has told me about your predicament. That is dire news, indeed.”
“Yes, Sir,” I answered him, looking up into his kindly face. Alyssa looked so very much like him, with her golden curls and finely pointed ears.
“I will see what I can find out about your father when I go to court,” he assured me.
“Dad, why did they have to arrest King Coran? It’s not his doing.”
Ren looked at his daughter. “It’s more complicated than it looks. King Coran has been in discussions with the elders and the mages for weeks, trying to discover the source of this magic. They haven’t been able to find an external source for it, and the mages believe the root lies within.”
“With the king?” Alyssa paled.
I looked down at my hands. “It is fae law that if the king is suspected of harming the kingdom, he be held for a period of three months, during which time he needs to prove his innocence.”
“But, who will do that for him if you’re not there?” Alyssa asked.
“I will,” Ren said, reaching for my hand and patting it lightly. “He also has friends amongst the advisers, still.”
I swallowed, trying to keep the tears from spilling.
“As of the other matter, I think you should see Elder Ronan. He owns the library on the eastern side of Market Square.”
“How will he be able to help?” I sniffed, wishing I could speak to Ren about the magic, too.
“Elder Ronan has made it his life’s work to collect the histories of the fae ancestries. Every fae who ever lived is recorded within his works.”
“Thank you, Master Ren.”
“No need to thank me, Princess.” He dug in his bag. “I will write you a note for Ronan. He knows me well, and I’m sure he’ll help.”
My heart swelled with the love these two people had for me. I had known both all my life, and I couldn’t imagine it without them.
“I will let word come to you about your father’s wellbeing when I return from work this afternoon.”
I watched as the royal court astrologer rose from the table, kissed his daughter, and then strode out of the house with his satchel under his arm.
In my hand, I held the neatly folded note for Elder Ronan.
“Are you done?” Alyssa asked, pointing at my half-empty plate. “We should get going.”
“No, Alyssa, I can’t drag you into this. Let me go alone.”
I cringed internally when I saw her face.
“What? No. I’m going with you.”
“If the guards are really looking for me, then it will be too dangerous for you. Besides, you have school. Let me go to Elder Ronan, and I will meet you back here later.”
I knew the school part was a sore point for Alyssa. Being a commoner, she did not enjoy the freedoms of homeschooling the way I did.
“Fine,” she huffed. “Let me get my bag, and I’ll walk with you half-way.”
With my hood stuffed into a backpack of my own, Alyssa and I strolled down the streets of her neighbourhood. The Tulip District bordered the palace, and we looked around every corner before we rounded it.
With my hair still damp and curled into a tight bun, it was almost impossible to tell how red it was. Dressed in Alyssa’s clothes, I hardly looked like a princess at all.
“From here, you just carry on down Cedar Avenue until you reach the square. The library is on the other side of the market. Good luck, Dana.”
We hugged and then went our separate ways. Cedar Avenue seemed endless, and I’m sure people stared at me as I walked by.
The market was already busy when I reached it; rows of carts with fruits, vegetables, flowers, trinkets, and even animals. I took the circuitous route around the outside, keeping to the edge of the houses bordering the market.
About half-way around the square, I made eye-contact with someone when I did my routine scan of the crowd. I quickly averted my eyes, looked down, and carried on walking.
After a few steps, I looked up again to make sure the person was gone, just to find that he was closer, searching for me.
“Oh, no.”
I walked quicker, dodging between people, trying to lose whoever was following me. When I dared to look again, I saw properly for the first time.
City guards. Two of them.
They were looking for me, after all. It wasn’t just my imagination. I wasn’t going to let them catch me to find out if their intentions were friendly or not.
Darting through the carts, I slipped out of view. Keeping low, creeping between the wagons, I scanned the shops along the outside of the market, looking for Elder Ronan’s library.
There! Embroidered pennants framed the closed door on either side, with a carved sign above naming it The Keeper’s Secrets.
I ran across the narrow pavement between the market and the houses, dodging the people walking there, and then slipped in through the door without knocking.
Thankfully, it was unlocked, and once I was through, I leaned against it, breathing heavily, with my heart racing in my chest.
A strange urge to laugh bubbled up in my throat. This was the most fun I’d had in ages.
Bringing myself back to the seriousness of the matter, I looked at the room around me. It was a large, open space with shelves full of books all around. Scented candles in glass orbs burned on every imaginable surface.
“Hello?” I called out tentatively.
When I got no answer, I walked in further, looking around. There was another room, furnished with desks for studying. Each desk contained paper, pens, quills, and ink. This room was also empty.
The next room was smaller, and contained couches and armchairs, presumably for comfortable reading. Thick curtains hung in front of the windows, but three chandeliers illuminated the space. This room, too, yielded no Elder Ronan.
Sighing, I made my way back towards the door. I’d have to wait it out here until the guards left the market. But how would I know? Or, I could sit on one of the couches and wait for Elder Ronan to return. But how long would he be?
“Is there something I can help you with?”
My body flinched at the deep voice right behind me. I had not heard him approach, nor had I been aware of his presence at all.
“I…I am sorry,” I stumbled, “I didn’t mean to enter without permission. I…”
“It is a library, child. You may enter as you please. Now, how may I help you?”
“Are you Elder Ronan?”
“I am, indeed. And you might be?”
“Princess Dana of Silverstalk, Sir. I have come here seeking your assistance.”
The elder’s eyebrows knitted over his dark eyes, and he crossed his arms over his chest. He suddenly looked a whole lot more foreboding than he did a moment ago.
“I am afraid I will not be able to help you, Princess.”
“Why not? You haven’t even heard what I need help with.”
“I know enough to know that helping you will mean trouble. Everyone is talking about your father’s arrest and that you have gone missing. By rights,
I should alert the guards of your presence here.”
“Please, don’t,” I pleaded. “None of this is my father’s fault, I promise. Here.”
The elder raised an eyebrow, but took the note I handed him.
“Dark forces are attacking the palace, but it has nothing to do with my father. He is innocent. I managed to speak to him before he got arrested, and he asked me to seek out a woman by the name of Arianna to speak to her about dark magic and how it could be used against the palace.”
I didn’t know where all these words came from, or why I lied to Elder Ronan, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
My father had said to seek out Arianna about my magic, so maybe she would know about the dark magic, too.
The elder folded the note and slid it into a hidden pocket within his robe.
“Arianna?”
My heart sank. He didn’t know her. “Yes. I don’t have a last name.”
Two loud knocks on the door startled us both.
“Guards, open up.”
“Please,” I begged the elder, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Ronan turned without a word, striding towards the door. Panicked, I fled to the room with the couches and hid beneath the only table within it.
Muffled sounds came from the main room, coming closer. I could hear Elder Ronan’s voice, then that of one of the city guards. Would he turn me in, now?
“Yes, of course, you are welcome in my library any time.”
“You have no visitors this morning?”
“None that I can see, but they usually come and go as they please.”
The footsteps came closer, moving through into the lounge area. When next they spoke, it was a lot louder.
“The princess is to return to the palace at once. If you see her, please advise her to return home.”
“I shall do so,” Ronan confirmed.
A boot kicked the leg of the table, and I flinched. Holding my breath, I waited for discovery.
“Thank you, Elder,” the guard said as they walked away.
With the adrenaline slowly subsiding in my veins, I rested my forehead on the floor and listened for Ronan to close the door behind the guards. This had been too close for comfort.
