The lightning squirmed all over his body, and he shrank back into a man. He lay spread-eagled on the ground. His head lolled to one side, and his black hair fell across his face. His eyes rolled half-shut, and his gaze rested on Hazel.
For a fraction of an instant, their eyes met. Then Hazel started the words again in a different tone. Her voice echoed across the field, all the way up to the ridge where the ghoul army camped. She boomed out the spell for all the world to hear.
A bolt of lightning fizzed in Elle’s ear. She barely had time to turn around to face her enemy when another bolt exploded in her face. She stumbled back, tripped over Fergus, and hit the ground hard.
Ghouls gathered all around Hazel for the final assault. Jamie, Callum, and Angus fought the ghouls in the air. Elle didn’t want to check how they were doing. Where was Robbie?
A hideous ghoul in the shape of an old hag drifted over her face. The ghoul extended disembodied claws to catch Elle. Her skin crawled. She couldn’t let this happen. She had to defend Hazel, even if she only did it for a few more seconds.
The ghoul inched closer. A blue-white crackle of lighting appeared in the old hag’s hand. The demon pulled back its arm to take aim. At the last second, Elle raised her sword and struck the lightning out of the ghoul’s hand. The bolt bounced back and hit the ghoul instead.
The ghoul flew away shrieking. Elle got to her feet. She could do this. Those things weren’t as invincible as they seemed. She brandished her sword.
Carmen fought on the other side of Hazel. She and Elle were the only ones left to protect Hazel. How much longer did Hazel have to work before the portal opened?
Elle danced one way and then the other. She snatched up one of Ewan’s swords and faced the ghouls two-handed. She deflected as much lightning as she could, but the ghouls still gained ground
All at once, Carmen let out a scream. Elle spun around to see two ghouls lay hold of Carmen’s arms. They lifted her off the ground and sailed off into the sky with her. “Elle! Elle!” Carmen screamed. “Help!”
Elle dropped her swords and raced to her friend. She seized Carmen’s legs and tried to pull her back down, but the ghouls held on tight. Carmen’s boot came off, and Elle fell to the ground along with it.
She didn’t have a chance to save Carmen now. Ghouls rushed at Hazel going a mile a minute. Elle snatched up her swords and lunged for Hazel just in time. She pranced one way and then another. She whirled in a full circle, but the ghouls still closed in. They would be on top of her any second.
Hazel’s voice rose to a bellow. She shouted the magic words at full volume. She no longer cowered on the ground over her Tarot cards and lavender water. She rose to her feet and extended her hands above her head. She called out the magic words to the ghouls in a booming command to do her bidding.
Elle couldn’t look at her. Hazel wasn’t a bumbling wallflower anymore. She was a witch of enormous power. It took this moment to unleash it. It took Fergus’s faith in her and the threat against all their lives.
The ghouls fired their lightning at the larger target. Three lightning bolts rocketed toward Hazel’s body, but at the last second, they veered upward and entered her hand. The white energy crackled down Hazel’s arm and disappeared.
Every bolt of lightning she caught made her voice louder. Her words echoed far and wide to the distant mountains and forests. The sight of her gave Elle a glimmer of hope. She turned her back on Hazel, ready to fight and die to make this spell happen.
The minute she turned around, her jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out. A ghostly apparition cantered into the air above the ridge, and Elle recognized the ghoul rider. Alan sat on his ghoul horse and raised his arms above his head. One hand held a sword shooting lightning in all directions. The other hand held the limp, floppy body of a man by the neck. It was Robbie.
Elle roared in rage at the sight, but there was nothing she could do. She slashed her sword at every bolt of lightning that came near her, but she changed her strategy. She tried to bat them at Alan, but she couldn’t aim them well enough to do any good.
He charged on the winds toward her. He pointed his sword at her and shot a thousand bolts of fire at her. She didn’t care. Let him come and face her if he dared. One of them would die on this field, and as long as she remained standing, she would fight him.
His horse picked up speed. He thundered down the mountain and over the plane. Elle crouched to spring. The field fell silent all around her, or was that just her intense concentration? She would kill him. She would destroy him for what he did to Robbie.
Halfway across the field, the horse paused to rear. It pawed the air and squealed its otherworldly challenge to anyone in sight. Elle couldn’t wait another moment. She darted forward and grabbed Robbie by the belt. She tried to haul him out of the ghoul’s grasp, but the horse only cantered into the sky again.
Elle hung on for dear life. She wouldn’t let go of Robbie for anything. The horse got fifty feet off the ground, and the ghoul turned around and struck her on the head with his sword. Elle cringed from the blow, but her grip held.
The ghoul urged its horse toward Hazel. Elle had to act. She had to stop this thing getting to Hazel, and she had to get Robbie free from its clutches. Even if he was dead, she had to do something. She swung her sword at the ghoul, like that could do anything. To her surprise, the metal clanged against the sword and knocked it out of the ghoul’s hand.
The ghoul rounded on her in a rage. It beat her again and again around the head. The ghoul might be made of mist and smoke, but those blows were very real. They hurt, and lights flashed in front of her eyes. Her head swam, and her grip loosened. She almost fell.
Just then, Hazel’s voice touched her ear. She still spoke the magic words, but something in Hazel’s tone told Elle this was it. Elle gave a mighty wriggle and wrenched Robbie out of the monster’s grasp.
She and Robbie plummeted toward the ground far below. The ghoul snarled down at the humans’ pathetic efforts to defeat him. He spurred his horse and drove in fast toward Hazel.
At that moment, a blinding flash of light exploded out of the bowl of lavender water. It burst across the plane, all the way to the limit of the sky. At the same instant, the ghoul that used to be Alan fired his lightning at Hazel. A tremendous blast of flaming white fire hit her full in the chest and flung her backward.
Elle hit the ground hard and bounced. Searing pain shot through every cell of her body. She floundered up from the black pit of unconsciousness to see the ghouls rushing at Hazel in a huge white cloud. They galloped on their horses and sailed through the air, but instead of colliding with Hazel, they all sucked into the bowl of lavender water. They vanished, and Elle succumbed to the darkness.
Chapter 35
Robbie opened his eyes and stared up at the high lofty ceiling of the Grand Dining Room. Groans, screams, and sobs echoed all around him. He picked up his head, and his eyes went dark. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him. He put his head down and closed his eyes.
“Ye’d do better tae lie still, lad,” a voice told him. “Ye’ll no be goin’ anywhere fer a while, I reckon.”
Robbie opened his eyes one more time, but he didn’t try to move. He spotted Angus sitting on a chair next to him. “What…. what happened?”
“It’s all o’er,” Angus replied. “She did it. Ye and Elle and Carmen and Ewan and Fergus and ‘azel—ye all did it. I didnae think ye would, but it’s all done. The ghouls are gone. Now it’s a simple matter o’ pickin’ up the pieces.” He looked around and chuckled. “And there’s a mite lot o’ pieces tae pick up, too.”
Robbie dared turn his head one way and then the other. He lay on a straw pallet on the Dining Room floor. Large holes gaped in the plaster of the ceiling overhead, and the grand chandeliers no longer hung in their places, but the roof and walls and floor remained intact.
Pallets just like his lay in rows all over the floor. Ewan, Jamie, Callum, and Fergus all lay nearby. Blankets covered them, and they kept their
eyes closed. “Are they…are they goin’ tae be awricht?”
“Aye, lad,” Angus replied. “E’erythin’s goin’ tae be awricht now.”
Robbie swallowed hard. How could he say these next words? How could he say them to Angus, of all people? “And…and the womenfolk? Are they….?”
Angus bent over him. Tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to smile, but his mouth twisted. “They’re ‘ere. They’re in other rooms. Elle ha’es a broken leg and a broken arm from savin’ ye from that thing. Ye both landed hard from high up. I saw the whole thing. Carmen ha’es a few broken ribs and a nasty tear across’t her shoulder. ‘azel….”
Robbie waited. His heart screamed for Elle. He had to get to her. “And ‘azel? Is she awricht, too?”
“We dinnae ken if she’s awricht or no. She took a heavy blow. She’s no regained conscious since it happened. Beyond that, she’s unharmed. We can only watch and hope fer the best.”
Robbie sank back on his pallet. “I mun’ get up. I mun’ go tae see Elle.”
“Ye’re no goin’ nowhere, lad, and that’s an order. I suppose I’m still King around ‘ere, for now at least, at least until ye get on yer feet and start throwin’ yer weight around.”
“I’ll no throw me weight around, mon,” Robbie sighed. “Ye’re the King, and ye’ll stay that way as laing as I live.”
Angus smiled down at him. “Dinnae mak’ no promises ye’ll no be able tae keep. Ye ne’er could keep yer place afore, and I’ll no trust ye tae do’t now.”
Robbie struggled up onto his elbow. His head ached, but he had to move. He couldn’t lie here a second longer. He put out his hand and seized Angus by the wrist. “Ye’re the King. Ye’re my King. Ye’re the ainly King in this country, and I’m yer most loyal servant. Dinnae e’er forget that. Ye hear?”
Angus pressed his hand. “I hear. After the way ye handled yerself these last few days, I’ll ne’er doubt ye again.”
Robbie pushed himself up. He had to stop there and wait for his head to stop pounding.
“Ye’re a blamed fool, is what ye are,” Angus told him. “Ye’re seekin’ yer death warrant, getting’ up after the fall ye took.”
Robbie heaved himself to his feet and steadied himself against the enormous fireplace on the wall. “Perhaps, but I mun’ see Elle. I mun mak’ sure she’s okay. I mun’….”
Angus rose to his feet. “I ken what ye mean. Ye mun’ see that she’s still ‘ere, that the spell han’t ta’en her awa’.”
“Was it so different wi’ ye and Carmen?” Robbie asked. “Dinnae tell me she warn’t the first thing ye checked on when the spell ended.”
“I winnae tell ye that, because she was. She was the ainly thing I checked on. I dinnae gi’e a thought tae ye or the other lads until I saw she were alive and here wi’ me.”
“Then ye’ll ken why I ha’e tae see Elle.” Robbie took a deep breath and pushed himself off the wall.
Once he got moving, his head settled down to a dull roar. He stumbled out of the Dining Room. Urlus in various states of injury, some near death, lay all over the floor. Servants moved between them doing what they could.
Angus followed Robbie into the hall. Robbie looked around. “Where is she?”
“This way.” Angus led him down the hall toward the servants’ quarters, but they found their path blocked. Angus turned off into the Throne Room.
Robbie started to cross it when he stopped. He stared up at the huge black dragon perched behind the Throne. The castle lay in ruins all around him, but the Throne was untouched.
“I guess it’s awricht,” he murmured.
“It’s awricht. They couldnae touch it. I still dinnae understand what they were tryin’ tae do, but I suppose that’s a story fer another day.”
“Alan…I mean….” Robbie stopped. He couldn’t explain.
“Go on and tell me,” Angus urged. “I want tae hear i’tall.”
“He said the Throne was evil. I dinnae believe a word he said, but it may do tae consider why these forces keep comin’ o’er tae stop us. He said the Throne was evil and we were in the wrong. He said the wraiths came tae destroy our family tae stop us gainin’ the Throne. He said they would destroy the castle and the Throne tae correct the mistake o’ the curse.”
Angus frowned. “There’s one thing tae remark in allus. The women are still ‘ere. They ha’nt left. The curse mun’ still be in place.”
“So….is it good or is it bad?” Robbie asked. “Are we fichtin’ on the wrong side allus time?”
“What’re we supposed tae do?” Angus asked. “Were we tae lie down and die when those wraiths came tae our home? Were we tae let the wraiths wipe us out tae a mon? I think no. We’re ‘ere, and I’m on me Throne, and I fer one’ll ne’er stop fichtin’ tae stop anyone from ta’en it off me. I dinnae care what anybody else does. This ‘ere is mine, and I’ll defend it wi’ me life.”
Robbie nodded. “That’s aboot licht I see’t, too. Come on—or ye stay ‘ere while I visit Elle.”
“I’ll show ye where she is,” Angus replied. “Then I’ll leave ye alone.”
He led Robbie to a bedroom in the servant’s quarters. Angus stopped outside the door. “She’s in there.”
Robbie put out his hand for the latch, but Angus stopped him. “Wait a minute, Rob.”
“Huh?”
“The Throne is no evil,” Angus told him. “I dinnae care what that ghost thing said. None o’ us are evil. Ye mun’ understand that.”
“O’ course we an’t,” Robbie replied. “I ne’er believed we were.”
Angus nodded and turned away. “Just so’s you believe it.”
He walked off down the hall and left Robbie alone. Robbie gazed after him. He knew the Phoenix Throne wasn’t evil, so why did he hesitate? The Phoenix Throne might not be evil, but the curse certainly was. The curse allowed all those hellish forces through to attack him and those he loved. How could a force for good do that?
It couldn’t, and yet here he was, standing outside Elle’s room. She got smashed to pieces saving him from the ghouls. She defended Hazel until the last possible second. If they all lived in peace in this castle for the rest of their lives, they had Elle to thank for it—and Hazel.
Robbie shook those thoughts out of his mind. The curse—or whatever you wanted to call it—brought Elle to him. That was enough to make it good.
He pushed the door open and saw Carmen sitting on Elle’s bed. Elle lay pale and disheveled on her pillow. Pain contorted her face, and white bandages held her arm against her chest.
She turned her head, and he beheld her stricken countenance. He ached to heal her, to take away the pain he caused her. She saved him time and again, and he never wanted to stop looking at her. She was all the woman he ever wanted. She was a thousand times more precious because he never knew when Fate would yank her out of his hands.
Carmen patted her leg. “I’ll leave you alone now. I’ll tell the doctors to send you over some more of that tea for the pain. You need to sleep. I’ll come back and see you later.”
Elle grasped her hand. “Thank you.”
Carmen smiled at her. She brushed past Robbie on her way out of the room, and she closed the door behind her.
Robbie gazed down at Elle. She gasped for breath, and she couldn’t rest against the pillow. She writhed in pain.
Robbie came to her side and sat down. “Ye’re no well, lass. Ye’re in pain.”
Elle smacked her lips. “I’m burning up. I need to move. I can’t stand being stuck in this bed.”
He got to his feet. “I’ll go find that tea fer ye. Ye cinnae stay licht this.”
“No!” Her hand shot out. “Don’t leave. Please.”
“I cinnae see ye licht this,” he told her. “I mun’ do summat tae help ye the way ye’ve allus helped me.”
She kept her hand extended toward him. “Please don’t leave. I want you here. If you want to help me, sit down here next to me. I…I need you here.”
He sat down, but
he didn’t like it. He couldn’t bear to see her suffering.
She took his hand and closed her eyes. Her breath evened out, and she started to settle down. “Tell me what’s going on out there. Tell me what’s going on in the rest of the castle.”
“Castle!” He snorted. “It’s a pile of loose stone. It’ll tak’ a project tae put it back tae the way it was afore. I can tell ye that.”
“Where are your brothers?”
“They’re all flat on their backs in the Dining Room, which is where I was afore I came tae see ye. They’re all bashed up—all except Angus. He’s struttin’ around playin’ the King on high. He’s lordin’ it o’er e’eryone the way he allus does.”
She opened her eyes and fixed her ferocious gaze on him. “Are they all right? Are your brothers all right?”
“Angus says they’re fine, all but….”
Elle sighed. “All but Hazel, you mean.”
He hung his head. “Aye. No one kens if she’ll wak’ up.”
Elle sank back on her pillow. “I knew it.”
He pressed her hand. “Ye did it, lass. Ye defended her until she cast the spell, and ye got me back from Alan. Ye’re the best o’ ‘em all, lass. Ye’re the best o’ ‘em.”
Chapter 36
Elle eased the coverlet back in her own grand bedroom. Robbie slumbered in the bed next to her. He sighed in his sleep, but he didn’t wake up. He carried her up here by a back staircase that wasn’t destroyed in the bombardment. He insisted she would be more comfortable here than in the servants’ quarters, and he was right.
She used her one good arm to slide her heavy plaster cast across the sheets. She propped her broken leg against the floor and stopped to rest. Moving the cast around with one arm while her other arm hung in a sling wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Every movement cost her a huge effort, but she had to do this.
She took hold of her walking stick and hauled herself off the bed. She hobbled on her cast to the door before she caught her breath. She glanced back at Robbie. He lay soft and oblivious under the covers.
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