An Obstinate Witch

by E M Graham

  The ice was seeping under my skin, my fingers were numb by now and I could almost feel my internal organs frosting over, yet that flame of anger burned steady within me. I was not prepared to perish here on the ice.

  ‘Meg!’ I cried, despairing. ‘Margaret! You said you would bring us back, then do it!’ As I shouted, my eyes flew open, but I saw only a flash of the Northern Lights before everything flickered and the snows swept up in a whirlwind that blocked out all sight and sound and feeling. And then in that split second, I saw Willem, his hand holding firmly to my chain of silver.

  As we left that dimension, I felt the last tug on the silver chain like an anchor.

  23

  EVERYTHING WAS QUIET NOW, and dark, and I could smell the balmy air of Tomnahurich, like walking into a greenhouse. I’d done it. I’d brought my mother home as I had set out to do. Without even opening my eyes, I allowed myself to fall into Mom’s embrace, and I soaked up the essence of her in my arms. She was bonier than I remembered, and I of course had grown in the past ten years, but I buried my face into her shoulder and breathed deeply, and there, deep beneath the overlying animal smells and the peat smoke of the Ice King’s court I found her. The full moon’s power still thrummed in me and it was pure joy. I’d done it.

  We’d done it. I opened my eyes to find Margaret’s violet eyes not two feet from me.

  She stepped back. ‘Well, that’s a relief,’ she said. ‘You really had me worried, I thought you weren’t going to make it in time. Do you know how long you were over there?’

  I glanced at the moon to my left. It had travelled far in the space of time we’d been gone. Perhaps two hours had passed. It hadn’t felt that long. Or had it?

  ‘You barely made it in through the window of time,’ Margaret observed tensely. ‘You cut it pretty close. But you achieved your goal.’

  Mom hadn’t moved from my arms, and she was staring all about her in wonder, at the trees and the life and the stars, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the world she hadn’t seen for so long.

  Fergie’s reaction to her return was more visceral, she was literally lying on the ground and kissing it, trying to hug the shrubs and grasses.

  ‘You did it, Dara,’ Mom said with wonder in her voice. ‘You brought me back to the world. I think, you brought me to a world anyway, but at least it’s not there and I’m with you.’’

  ‘We did it,’ I said, squeezing her even more tightly. ‘I can’t believe you’re here. Really here with me.’

  ‘And where exactly is here?’ she whispered.

  ‘Scotland,’ I told her, and felt her start.

  ‘What? How in God’s name have you...’

  She was cut off by Margaret. ‘We haven’t much time,’ she urged. ‘Look down there, Dara, what do you see?’

  I broke Mom’s embrace, drawn by the urgency in Margaret’s voice and looked far below us to the bottom of Tomnahurich. I saw the lights of Inverness still twinkling in the first light of early dawn, and police and army vehicles, all flashing red and blue and yellow lights.

  ‘It’s the Kin,’ I said slowly. ‘They know we’re here.’

  ‘Come!’ Margaret barked.

  I turned to gather up Mom and Fergie when I felt a tug at my waist again. That damn silver chain! I would be so happy to have that cut from my body. I pulled it with my hand, intending to wrap it around my waist in order to flee when I saw what held it. Willem stood not five feet from me, the chain securely around his own wrist and a frightened look on his face. That had been him grabbing the chain and he’d hitched a ride with us.

  ‘You!’ My fury hissed through my clenched teeth, and I dropped my mother’s embrace to reach out for his throat. It was an instinctive reaction, this desire to cut off the air he breathed, to finish him off, for that was the only way my anger could be sated. Margaret stayed my hand, so instead I grabbed the silver chain around my waist and whipped it from him, not caring for his scream of pain as the silver tore itself free from his wrist.

  ‘We are on the Hill of the Fairies,’ he said bitterly as he nursed his wrist. The blood was oozing out between his fingers. ‘Of all the places you could bring me, you chose this land.’

  ‘If you don’t like it, you can leave.’ I gritted my teeth. ‘I didn’t ask you to come here. Fly off, or whatever it is that sorcerers do.’

  He shook his head. ‘Dara,’ he said. ‘I am not a witch. My magic is physical, chemical. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Not here.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Willem had failed his sorcerer’s exams only because he was caught cheating, not through lack of ability. He had powerful magic at his disposal and had planned for more through harnessing the Crystal Charm Stone with my assistance. He was wily and cunning, how could I trust anything he said?

  ‘This is Tomnahurich,’ he replied. His gaze travelled out to the horizon, to the water beyond Inverness. And then back down at the flashing lights far below. ‘I cannot perform my magic here, on the hill of the Fae.’

  ‘Leave him,’ Margaret commanded in a too-quiet voice. ‘There are more pressing matters to attend to.’ Her face was strained and drawn.

  ‘What now?’ I dreaded to hear her answer, despite my previous resolve to turn myself in. Perhaps she had a way out for us.

  ‘It’s your choice,’ the other witch answered calmly. ‘What do you want to happen next?’

  ‘Margaret, this isn’t some fiction, some write-your-own-ending book,’ I told her. ‘This is reality. The Kin aren’t going to let us leave. What do we do next?’

  She gave a rueful half smile, only one side of her long mouth drawn up. ‘And the answer is still – what do you want to happen?’

  I wanted to return home with Mom, back to the run-down cottage on the hill where Edna waited. I wanted to return to a Normal life, maybe settle down with Jack, who I hadn’t given a thought to for many weeks, months even. I wanted to put magic and danger and excitement behind me forever, and live the boringest life I could. I had what I wanted now, I had Mom back from the land of Ice, and that’s all I had ever wanted.

  Margaret laughed after I expressed my desires, a light tinkling sound rising over the sirens and shouts far below us, but her mockery cut like a blade. ‘That time has passed, you have already made choices that negate the desire for Normalcy, for a non-magic life. You made these choices through your actions, every step you took on the journey to lead you to this place.’

  ‘No!’ My fists curled by themselves. ‘You are wrong! So wrong.’

  All those things that happened to me? From the fairies back home, to my half-sister’s treachery, from Willem and the Crystal Charm Stone, these had all been outside of my control. I had merely been reacting, trying to salvage the shards of my life as it disintegrated all around me, trying to make sense of everything and myself. None of it had been my choice.

  ‘But this is the time for honesty, Dara. Deep truth. Yes, you needed to solve the puzzle of your mother’s disappearance, and bring her back,’ she said. ‘But what do you really want?’ She challenged me with those eyes. ‘What have you really wanted all along?’

  Margaret lifted her hand to the waning moon overhead. Her face followed, glowing silver, eyes alight as she drank in the power. ‘This,’ she murmured. ‘This is what your heart truly desires. I know you, like I know myself, and I have had many years to contemplate this. You can no longer deny it.’ She drew her hand in an arc until her long elegant finger pointed at me.

  I couldn’t hold it back. The magic inside of me surged again now I was standing in the waning moonlight, like quicksilver snaking through my veins, and I closed my eyes against the deliciousness of the feeling, and I relaxed my hold against it. She was right, of course Margaret was right.

  I could feel Mom start. She let go of me as if she’d been scorched. ‘Dara,’ she whispered. ‘What is happening here?’

  ‘This is what I want, Mom.’ I turned to her, the mother I’d missed so m
uch over so many years, the person who I’d risked everything for. Yes, my search had been for her, but it had also been a search for myself, and in finding my mother, I had found myself.

  Unfortunately, that self was now an outlaw in the eyes of the Kin. I hadn’t killed or drawn blood; I hadn’t stolen anything from them. Yet, I had trespassed against their rules, their unnatural rules, in discovering my own power. And for this I would pay the consequences. Margaret was right, I did want my power, and I wanted to use it and excel.

  But at what cost? A life with no purpose but survival, always on the run. And it would be a long life, thanks to the Crystal Charm Stone, a life without family or a home or meaning.

  I could turn myself in, and trust that all would turn out well after the inevitable long spell of imprisonment. But I had no allies in the Kin, I’d burned all my bridges there, having forced Hugh to finally turn his back on me. It would be the honorable action, perhaps, but where I went, Margaret had no choice but to go, so I would be sending her back to her dungeon.

  Yes, I’d rescued my mother, but with either choice I made, I’d lose her again. It was a decision that couldn’t be made lightly, so to delay the inevitable, I decided to minimize the collateral damage of my actions and escort Mom and Fergie down to the Kin waiting far below. I’d had no business dragging my friend into all this, I needed to make that right, at least.

  ‘You need to leave, Mom,’ I said. ‘You and Fergie.’

  Mom grabbed me in her arms again. ‘Oh, no, not without my daughter. I’ve found you now, I’m never letting go.’ The muscles on her wiry arms stood out, and I could feel her heartbeat rising. She was in fight or flight mode, I could smell the fear coming from her. Fear for me, not for herself.

  ‘The Kin are not going to give me a free pass out of this one.’

  ‘I’ll explain to Jon,’ Mom said, her eyes growing a little wild. ‘You can’t have done anything so awful. He’ll listen to me, he’ll protect you. Come with me, you’ll see.’

  I shook my head. ‘There’s nothing Dad can do about this,’ I said, but I turned to go down the hill with her. ‘We’re not back home now.’

  There was a rustle in the air, and a sparkle, and Aonghas was with us, his mighty anger palpable as he stood on the granite altar, his jewelled scepter planted like a declaration of war.

  ‘Enough of this, Meg,’ he thundered. ‘The Kin are getting restless. You lied to me. You must leave, before the Kin break the Pact and enter into the grounds of my land. I have done more than enough for you, and I will not risk my kingdom for this. You must leave, now.’

  Mom grew still as soon as he appeared. ‘Dear Jesus,’ she mouthed into my ear. ‘Dara, is that a fairy? Don’t you know better than to get involved with the Fae?’

  ‘And I thank you, Aonghas, for all you have risked,’ Margaret replied, holding her head high. To me, she said, ’Your mother must go down to the gates. The Kin will not harm her. It is time to say your good-byes.’

  ‘And me?’ Fergie finally spoke up. ‘What’s going to happen to me?’

  ‘You have served your friend well tonight, Fergianna,’ Margaret said. ‘What do you chose?’

  ‘I just want to get the hell off this fairy hill and go back home. I’ve missed classes because of this,’ she said. Her face was a picture of misery. ‘I just want my normal life back.’

  ‘Mom will plead your case,’ I said. ‘You’ll need to tell them everything that has happened to you. Everything I did.’ I shot a glance to Margaret, who nodded.

  ‘They will demand this, and if you’re fortunate, you will not be punished,’ she said.

  I looked from my mother, to Fergie, and back again. They were both staring back at me, one with accusation, the other with a tender love so great it shone. By coercing Fergie to aid me, I had scuppered all of her dreams and plans. Being a witch, even though she was just a Hedge witch and had renounced all Kin, she was going to have to pay a heavy price for my actions. And Mom – I needed her. There was so much time to make up between us, so much to sort out. Yet, the Kin would not allow me that luxury.

  I had to make a choice. Right now.

  ‘Come on, then.’ My voice was strangled. I prayed I would have a chance to plead Fergie’s innocence before they cursed me and bound my magic and shut me underground. ‘It’s time to go to the Kin.’

  And then I acted without even thinking. I reached down and grasped Margaret’s Chronicle. The book was heavy in my hands, the leather warm as I clutched it to my chest. This time, the Chronicle did not give me flashes of Margaret’s life, or the rush of power. It just felt right, so good, I could cry to be giving it up. Which is what I would do, along with Margaret and myself.

  I kept the heavy tome in my hands as I led the way down the meadowed aisle of the ancient trees. I could feel their wrinkled eyes follow me, their gazes impassive, immune to the petty dramas of more mortal creatures such as us. As we reached the bowl, Mom grasped my hand.

  ‘It will turn out alright,’ she said, ‘I’ll make it so.’

  I squeezed her hand and held it close to my body, drinking in her warmth and love while I could.

  Fergie lagged behind us, her footsteps slow. I paused till she caught up with us, then I took her hand too. She didn’t pull away from me, but she also didn’t grasp mine back. When I let her hand go again, it flopped to her side.

  ‘I’m sorry. You know, I’m really sorry about... about everything.’

  She shrugged. ‘Who cares whose fault it is? I chose to join you. Didn’t have to come up the hill with you.’

  We walked a bit further in silence. A soft rustle followed us, like a rogue wind lost from its fellows. Without turning to look, I knew it was Margaret and her long skirts. She was bound to follow the book where ever it went, powerful as she was she was still bound to the Chronicle which was her creation. It carried her soul, her life’s blood. She had no choice but to go where I went, and I was turning us all in to the Kin.

  She had the power of flight, I knew, yet she could not use it for I was keeping her earthbound. I cried a little inside, because I was losing a potential life of power. I could have been learning to fly bodily with her, she had been willing to teach me everything she knew. The witch and her student, changing the world of the Kin.

  ‘I’m... I guess I’m glad, though,’ Fergie offered. ‘You got your mom back, for all the good it’s done you.’

  ‘What will happen now?’ Mom sounded like she covering up her fear. ‘What will go down now?’

  I thought about it. Really thought, before speaking. There was no way to sugar coat it.

  ‘The Kin are angry,’ I began. Through a break in the trees, I could see to the bottom of the hill, this time on the south side. The sirens had stopped blaring, but the police and army vehicles had their lights flashing still. A crowd of people stood across the road watching to see the excitement, although not much action was happening down there. The armed figures were just waiting. ‘And, well, our time together is pretty short.’

  ‘No!’ Mom cried, and she stopped and took me in her arms again. ‘I won’t let them do this. I won’t let them take you away from me. They’ll have to peel me off you.’

  I smiled into her hair, the thick waves of natural blondish brown shot through with grey. So much like my own, except I’d messed mine up with bleaching and colouring beyond recognition. I tried not to draw the parallel to my life, now was not the time.

  We didn’t take the fairy paths, the short-cuts down the hillside known only to the smaller creatures. Instead, we followed the gravelled road which spiralled an inexorable route down the hill. Willem was following us the whole way, but I made a point of ignoring him.

  But half-way down the hill, I felt something in the air, something terribly wrong and un-fairylike, something that smelled of musty castle rooms and darkness. Something that didn’t belong here. I peered into the trees. I could almost see something, but the shadows were blacker than black in the predawn
light.

  Suddenly, the fae were among us, rushing past in a horde, cutting past us as they fled down the hill on their paths. Aonghas led the horde, his face was grim, his spear held high.

  I caught the Fae princess as she rushed past. ‘What’s happening?’

  She paused only long enough to spit at my feet. ‘See what you have brought to Tomnahurich? The Uncommon Forces have been unleashed and have invaded our land! Any death of fae will be your fault, and yours alone. Aonghas goes to spill his fury onto the Kin. I told him to allow the Forces to take you witches and they would leave us in peace but he would speak with Johanna himself.’

  Cromwell’s Uncommon Forces, those beings of shadow and undead, let loose onto Tomnahurich.

  ‘Can this be possible?’ I asked Margaret. She nodded slowly, searching the trees all around us.

  ‘We too must run,’ she said in a low voice. ‘At least until the dawn. All of us, quickly, to the bottom of the hill. It’s better to have the safety of the Kin.’

  ‘But Mom will be safe, surely,’ I said as I grasped my mother and Fergie by the arms and prepared to take the fairy paths down the slope.

  ‘The Uncommon Forces have no reasoning, they have a task and will fulfill it,’ she said. ‘Whomsoever is in their way will be mowed down. Come!’

  We ran, and slipped and slid down the barely seen paths, in pure fear for our lives. I pushed my mother down the steep rock faces and pulled Fergie as I could. We arrived at the bottom of the hill scratched and bruised and out of breath, but still alive. The sky was lightening slowly, enough that we could now see to the gate, but we weren’t out of danger yet for I could feel the presence of the unseen shadows close behind us.