“But Your Majesty,” Barbara protested. “Surely you can take my word for her guilt.”
The Queen and King exchanged weighty looks and Barbara felt her heart sink down to the toes of her high heeled leather boots.
“Majesty?’ she said quietly.
“Brenna came to see Us,” the Queen said, her tone suddenly distant and cold. “She has cast some doubt on your stability. And your loyalty.”
“I see,” Barbara said. She had expected something like this. What she hadn’t expected was for the King and Queen to actually listen to Brenna. “What did she say, exactly?”
“She accused you of trying to influence Beka against her, something no Baba Yaga would ever do with another’s apprentice,” the King said. “This is a very serious charge. How do you respond?”
Barbara took a deep breath. “I am afraid it is quite true, Your Highness.”
The Queen’s expression grew even grimmer, and ice began to frost the roots of the throne. “You admit to this?”
“I admit to trying to protect my friend and sister Baba Yaga,” Barbara said. “I believe Brenna is actively harming her, both psychologically and physically. In fact, it is my fear Brenna has found a way to steal Beka’s life energy, and probably her share of the Water of Life and Death as well. I did try to warn Beka to be on her guard. Alas, she doesn’t think her mentor is capable of such great evils. I, on the other hand, know better.”
“This is a terrible accusation, Baba Yaga,” the Queen said. Her fingers were clenched so tightly around the shaft of her fan, her knuckles were white. “Surely you are mistaken.”
“Have you seen Beka lately?” Barbara asked.
“We have not. Brenna has not brought her to court in recent days.”
“I wonder why that is,” Barbara said, sarcasm edging her voice despite her best efforts to remain composed.
“Brenna denied all wrongdoing,” the King said. “Moreover, she insisted—quite adamantly—that you were either insane, or plotting against Us, or both.”
“I see,” Barbara said in a calm voice. “Then I suppose it comes down to which one of us you trust. You clearly cannot believe us both.”
The Queen’s fan snapped in two. Gazing up at the monarch’s ethereally lovely face, Barbara saw something she had never seen before. Uncertainty.
“This troubles Me greatly,” the Queen said. “We do not know what to think, which is most upsetting. There has never been a situation like this one. If We had not gotten those glimpses of another timeline when We held your ring, We would probably be considering doing something quite drastic to resolve the issue.” She tossed the two broken halves of fan onto the ground. “If you cannot settle this matter quickly, We assure you that drastic is still very much on the table.”
Chapter Seventeen
Barbara dropped to one knee and bowed her head.
“I have always served Your Majesties faithfully and to the best of my abilities,” she said in a quiet voice, feeling an eerie calm stealing over her. “If you do not trust me to continue to do so, you may strip me of my powers and my title right now.”
She waited, head down, unable to see the expression on either of the monarchs’ faces. It was out of her hands now. She would accept her fate without question. There was a moment’s qualm, thinking about Liam, and all she had lost. But if she couldn’t change the timeline back, maybe she could find a way to build a new life with him as a mere Human. In some ways, that would make things simpler, although it was hard to imagine a life with no magic.
She might actually have to learn how to cook.
The thought of Beka being left at the mercy of Brenna was more worrisome than any personal concerns, but that too was beyond her control without the support of those who wore the crown.
A small, cold hand snuck into hers, as Babs waited to hear their fates. Despite their fragility, those little fingers leant her strength, and she thanked the goddess for sending her such a gift. She could only hope that if she was declared to be unworthy of the title of Baba Yaga, the talented girl standing next to her would be allowed to continue her studies, even if it meant that Barbara lost her too.
The very thought made her heart clench in her chest, and for a moment she forgot to breathe. The world began to spin ever so slowly, and black spots danced before her eyes.
There was a moment of silence, and then, finally, the Queen spoke, her tone crisp and clear.
“Stand up, Baba Yaga,” she said. “Of course We trust you.”
Barbara let out a puff of stale air and got to her feet, not quite as gracefully as usual. She gave Babs’ hand a squeeze before letting it go and facing the couple before her.
“But Brenna,” Barbara started to say.
The Queen held up one white hand. “Can be very persuasive, it is true. And this situation is odd beyond even Our own broad standards for that word.” She cast her violet gaze over the various unusual members of her court, all standing at a distance just far enough away to be out of hearing, but not too far to observe the proceedings. Odd was, at best, a generous word for the wide range of Paranormal creatures that peopled the Otherworld.
“It is not so much that We doubt your veracity,” the Queen went on. “There were, as you have pointed out on previous occasions, very good reasons why We encouraged Brenna to retire in the first place. Her behavior had become erratic, and there were some indications that she had developed an unhealthy desire for power beyond that suitable for her station.”
The Queen sighed, looking unusually vulnerable. Despite her delicate beauty, no one ever made the mistake of underestimating the fierce and deadly thorn hidden beneath the soft petals of that particular rose. In all the years Barbara had been coming to court, starting when she was a child younger than Babs, she had never seen the Queen waver in her strength and resolve. Until now.
“Then what is the problem, Your Majesty?” Barbara asked. “I don’t understand.”
“The problem, my dear Baba,” the Queen said, “is that if the allegations you make against her are true, then We have made a terrible mistake.” Next to her, the King looked grim, but did not disagree.
Barbara had to lock her knees to keep from kneeling again, more out of shock than any sense of humility. The Queen never admitted she was wrong. Barbara would have bet on all three moons falling out of the sky before such a thing would happen.
“I wouldn’t say that, Your Majesty.” Not if she wanted to keep her head, anyway.
The Queen shook her head. “You would say exactly that, Baba Yaga. And have done so, but We were unwilling to listen. Instead, We have allowed this wrong to continue, rather than to admit Our own misstep.”
The King took his consort’s hand, but his eyes were centered firmly on Barbara. “Perhaps We have become complacent, these many years of ruling without any serious challenge to test Our wisdom. It would appear that We have made an error in judgment.”
“If all you say is true,” the Queen said sadly, “then We not only erred in sending Brenna back to resume her role as Baba Yaga, but also did a grave disservice to young Beka. She should not have been punished for losing her supply of The Water of Life and Death—not if Brenna was responsible for stealing it. Even if Brenna is not purposely causing Beka harm, as you say she is, We have caused harm with Our actions, for which We are filled with profound sorrow and remorse.”
Barbara had no idea what to say. If she disagreed, it would appear insulting and disingenuous, since the royal couple was finally admitting she had probably been right about Brenna all along. But if she agreed, she risked offending them even more. Not to mention that it was unnerving to see the Queen so genuinely distressed.
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as the Queen’s words lay heavily in the air. Then a small clear voice spoke up into the void.
“Sometimes I make mistakes too,” Babs said kindly. “I am still not very good at living in the Human world. When that happens, Barbara always tells me that no one gets it right all the time. Sh
e says that as long as you are trying your best, you shouldn’t be upset with yourself. All you can do is to learn not to make that mistake again, and if you made a mess, try and clean it up to the best of your ability.”
Barbara held her breath again as she waited to see how the Queen would react, preparing to jump in front of Babs if necessary to defend her.
But after a long pause, the Queen leaned forward and said, “You are a very smart little girl. And fortunate to have such a wise mentor.”
She held up her hand when Barbara went to speak. “We have made a mistake that put Beka in harm’s way and allowed a dangerously out-of-control Baba Yaga to gain even more power. This must be remedied, and sooner rather than later.”
Her stern gaze settled on Barbara, and there was no sign of the previous moment’s softness. “You have three days to figure out a solution to this problem with the timeline. At the end of those three days, We will summon all the Baba Yagas, including both Brenna and Beka, and tell them to bring their Water of Life and Death with them so We might replenish it.”
This was something the Queen did periodically, so that made sense. Barbara had no doubt that the rest of whatever Her Majesty had planned did as well. So why did she have a feeling she wasn’t going to like it?
“Once they are here,” the Queen continued, “We will strip Brenna of all her magical powers, not just those which she acquired during her tenure as the Baba Yaga, as punishment for her crimes. Possibly her life will be forfeit as well—We have not yet decided. If, as One supposes, the Water Sickness is to blame for her misdeeds, it seems wrong to exact so serious a toll for an illness brought on by her long years of service. But she cannot be allowed to harm anyone ever again.”
Yes! Barbara thought. Perhaps in this timeline, it wouldn’t be too late to stop Brenna before she did permanent damage. The Riders would be safe. Beka, well, it would be a simple matter for the Queen to facilitate her physical recovery by giving the young witch a large dose of the magical Water. Beka’s psychological recovery would be a more complicated matter, but hopefully having the Queen return the role of Baba Yaga to her would be a boost to her confidence. Barbara and Bella would do what they could to help as well.
“That is very good news indeed, Your Majesty,” Barbara said. “But I need more than three days. I can’t figure out this spell to mend the unraveled strands of time that fast. I’m only just beginning to experiment. I have to be cautious, to ensure I don’t make things worse instead of better. I was planning to call on my sister Babas to help.”
“Three days, Baba Yaga,” the Queen said in tone that brooked no disagreement. “That is traditional, and more than fair. And you will stay away from Brenna, and neither see nor speak to the other Baba Yagas until you are all gathered here.”
“But what about the children?” Barbara asked, looking over her shoulder toward where they sat, too silent and well-behaved. “If I can’t fix the timeline, they will never be able to go home.”
The Queen allowed the tiniest of sighs to escape her perfect lips. “That would be unfortunate, there is no question. And Maya will still be fetched back and punished if you can prove her involvement. But if you have not fixed the timeline in three days, We shall resolve all these matters and be done with it. The children will be found good homes in the Otherworld and stay here. But We will abide no more of this chaos and confusion. Your apprentice was correct. When One makes a mistake, One must correct it. If this means that timeline will continue on its current path, that is a small price to pay for setting other things right.”
She waved one hand to indicate the audience was over.
“Three days, Baba Yaga. No more. We will be done with this.”
There was clearly nothing more to say. Barbara and Babs made their way back through the throne room in silence. It was only once they were almost all the way back to the doorway that Babs spoke up.
“Did I say the wrong thing?” she asked in a small voice. “Telling the Queen what you said about making mistakes and cleaning them up?”
Barbara thought about it. “No,” she said finally. “The Queen is right. We can’t risk anything worse happening to Beka, or to anyone else. We’ll just have to do our best to figure out a better solution in the three days we have left.”
She could only hope they could.
Barbara spent the rest of the day doing small experiments with some of the spell ingredients. She was particularly intrigued by the more esoteric bits and pieces that Jazz had chosen, the ones that were only available in the Otherworld. The teen had scribbled some notes to explain her thinking, and Barbara found it fascinating to see how far outside the box (or at least, the box she was used to, based on tradition and her own training) Jazz had gone.
If nothing else, it was a good demonstration of why they needed to bring in new blood, like Jazz and Babs, who had minds that didn’t work exactly the same way as those who had come before them. It made Barbara feel a little old, but also grateful to be witnessing the evolution of the next generation of Baba Yagas.
The three special items she had brought back from the Otherworld were all things that Jazz had gleaned from different spells in Bella’s magical book and then used—at least in theory—to create something different.
Barbara looked at the vial of centaur tears. She only had twelve, and that was how many the original spell had called for. She didn’t dare use up too many in her trials.
The spell in which Jazz had found them had been one for Transformation. Much of spell work was based on the principle of sympathetic magic, that is to say, like calls to like. Thus, one might use a candle to represent fire, or a bowl of water to represent the ocean.
Barbara’s hypothesis was that the centaurs’ very essence was that of transformation. Half horse, half man, they were therefore constantly in the state of transforming from one type of being to another. Since she was attempting to convert one timeline into another, she thought this theory might prove helpful.
The phoenix eggs were an even more powerful force for transformation, and also represented the continual mutability of life. As for the Kalpataru leaf, the ability to grant wishes was pretty self-explanatory. And since Barbara only had one, there was no way she could experiment on it.
So she took the more mundane components she was considering using, like rosemary and crystal quartz, and combined them with bits of phoenix egg and the tiniest fraction of a centaur’s tear, and tried to get a feel for what might work and what might not.
It was not what one would call an unqualified success.
She’d tried taking a hardboiled egg and seeing if she could reverse the process magically, and return it to its raw state. She got close, once, but the end result was messy and made the Airstream stink of sulfur. Chudo-Yudo put one paw over his nose and eventually retreated outside.
After that, she tried unbraiding three strands of yarn and creating a spell to weave them back together again. She ended up with a knot that no amount of tugging at would undo. Not exactly the result she was hoping for. Although on the bright side, at least it didn’t smell.
So it was with mixed frustration and relief that she heard the distinctive sound of Alexei’s enchanted Harley. She really didn’t have time for interruptions, but on the other hand, she wasn’t getting anywhere and her temper was beginning to fray worse than the wool she’d been working with.
Alexei flung open the door of the Airstream and greeted her with his usual exuberance and a giant hug. (He was the only Rider who would ever have tried such a thing, and somehow, she never minded.)
“Baba Yaga!” he said. “It seems like years.” He tossed a gaily wrapped bag in Babs’ direction. “Hello, little one. I brought you something.”
Barbara hoped that whatever it was didn’t explode or make rude noises, He’d brought gifts that did both, back in their other life together.
“What are these?’ Babs asked, unwrapping a package filled with brightly colored blocks. “And what does one do with them?”
&
nbsp; “They are called Pegos, or something like that,” Alexei said. “And you build things by putting them together in different arrangements. Or so I was told by the woman at the store where I bought them.”
Apparently they were a good choice, since Babs immediately sat down and started puzzling out various combinations. They looked like fun and Barbara felt a strangely powerful itch to sit down and fiddle with them herself, but she had a feeling that Alexei hadn’t come all the way back here to bring Babs a present. Although it wouldn’t be the first time he’d done something like that.
“What’s up?” she asked quietly. “Have you news?”
“I have a great thirst,” Alexei said with a grin. “Also news, but with this dry throat, I am not certain I will be able to impart it…”
Barbara rolled her eyes but fetched him a beer anyway.
After he had downed half of it, he rested his massive body on the edge of the sofa, facing Barbara. “I don’t have any definitive news,” he said. “Just a gut feeling that Maya is planning something. I’ve seen her sneaking around the fracking site in the middle of the night, when there is no good reason for her to be there. Whatever she’s up to, I think it is going to happen soon.”
Barbara trusted Alexei’s gut. After all, it had been around for thousands of years. Instinct plus experience made for an impressive skill set.
“Any idea what she has planned?” Barbara asked.
Alexei shrugged, a small seismic event. “Some kind of sabotage probably,” he said. “Not sure what. But she doesn’t strike me as the type to go small when she could go large instead.”
So, nothing good, Barbara thought. “Anything else?”
Alexei hesitated. “I have heard the sounds of a child crying coming from the house at night,” he admitted reluctantly. “I wasn’t sure if you would want me to do something about it or not. It isn’t exactly Baba Yaga business.”
Wickedly Unraveled Page 18
