The verse made clear the King had to pay the Tribute to pluck the thistle growing far away and alone. Was the Tribute sending Carmen back where she belonged? If it was, then she couldn’t be the thistle. Maybe Fate destined another thistle to become his Queen, but he couldn’t think who that might be.
He climbed out into the bell ringer’s croft, and Fergus dropped the bed back into place. Jamie searched Angus’s face. “Did ye find it?”
Angus nodded and looked away. None of these men needed to know about the ruby. That was for him and no one else.
“What do ye do now?” Callum asked.
“We find the witch,” Angus replied. “We find her and destroy her.”
Chapter 21
Carmen crept along a narrow passage in the upper level of a different keep. She listened hard, but she couldn’t hear the monster. It must have run off somewhere else after it chomped Gahkra.
Once she lost hearing of it, she relaxed and enjoyed strolling through the halls. The narrow passage wound higher into the tower until only four doors stood on either side. The higher she went, the fewer rooms fit on either side of the passage until it dwindled to two.
The hall ended at a large window gazing over the grounds. She searched the whole terrain out there with slow, loving eyes. The kitchen garden bathed in the sunshine. A fountain sang its song somewhere beyond the shrubs. The low stable stretched to one side. The many stalls stood open to let the air in for the ghost horses.
What would this place look like full of people and animals and voices? She imagined the whole scene from the window. How many queens and princesses looked down on this country when it thrived and prospered in peace and serenity?
For the hundredth time since coming here, her heart wrenched that she would never see it like that. The moment the curse lifted, she would go home. Why did Fate have to play this cruel trick on her? Why did she have to grow fond of this mystical world, only to have it plucked from her hands at the moment she might actually come to enjoy it?
She turned away from the window. She would never enjoy it, so what was the use in pining over it? She never gave herself the satisfaction of feeling sorry for herself, and she wouldn’t start now.
She looked back and forth between the two doors on either side. One of them contained the witch, so which one was it? She could choose one at random the way she did when she found Gahkra conjuring the wraiths.
She discarded that notion. She came here to find this witch, and she would do it. Gahkra claimed Carmen was the witch, so Carmen should be able to find the witch without floundering around in confusion, knocking things over and breaking enchanted mirrors.
She planted her feet between the doors and closed her eyes. She turned her attention first one way and then to the other. She listened to a tiny voice inside herself. When she thought about the door on her right, she heard a very distinct Yes in her heart. She heard an equally distinct No when she turned her thoughts to the door on her left.
That made up her mind. She opened her eyes and faced the door on the right. Her curiosity drove her to take a quick peek into the door on the left, but she stopped herself. That would only distract her, and she had a job to do.
She faced that door for a long time before she dared touch the latch. Whatever she found inside, it would be some version of herself. What else could Gahkra mean by calling her the witch, by accusing her of killing Robbie and all the others, and by telling her to drown herself in the well to save the Throne?
She had to do this. She had to face this and find out exactly who and what this witch was. If Carmen played any part in the curse, the sooner she confronted it and dealt with it, the better.
She pressed the latch and pushed the door open. It swung back on creaky hinges, and the high-pitched squeak echoed down the centuries to a distant past far away. Carmen recognized the room in an instant. It looked the same as every other empty room in the castle, but standing at the window, Carmen beheld a tall, thin woman gazing out at the countryside the way Carmen herself did.
Long, straight auburn hair hung to the woman’s waist. She wore a plain brown dress that hid her feet. She didn’t turn around when she heard the door. She must have heard it. No one could mistake that sound of squeaking hinges.
Carmen tiptoed into the room. She came up behind the woman. The whole room vibrated with hidden tension. This was the witch. Carmen knew that in the bottom of her soul. This woman, whoever she was, cast the spell that cursed the Camerons for four generations. This woman turned every living thing in the castle into ghosts and plunged the realm into darkness for years.
Even knowing that couldn’t stop Carmen’s heart from going out to her. She couldn’t hate this woman, even when Carmen knew what she’d done. The witch killed almost fifty men to stop Angus reclaiming his Throne. She killed Robbie and Connor and maimed Brody. How many others had she killed and tortured and destroyed in her vendetta to repay some long-forgotten slight?
Carmen eased around to the witch’s side to catch a glimpse of her face. Maybe once she saw the witch up close, she would know how to deal with her. The witch turned to face her at the same moment, and Carmen gasped out loud. “Hazel! What are you doing here?”
Hazel stared into space above Carmen’s shoulder. A thin, soft voice came out of her. “I…. I don’t know.”
Carmen took her friend by the hand. Yes, Hazel was very real, unlike that shade of Sadie out in the forest. This really was Hazel Green, the same Hazel Green Carmen had known for ten years.
Carmen moved her own face around to cut off Hazel’s line of sight. “You have to think, Hazel. How did you get here? You cast a spell in your house, remember? You wanted to send us all to King Arthur’s Camelot, and we wound up here.”
Hazel looked around the room without seeing anything. “Isn’t this Camelot? Isn’t that where we are?”
Carmen worked hard to keep her voice calm. “No, Hazel, we’re not in Camelot, and we need to figure out exactly how we wound up here. Think, Hazel. It’s important. A lot of people have lost their lives over this, and more people will die if we don’t figure this out. We were in your living room, and you cast a spell. Can you remember what happened after that?”
Hazel blinked. The spark of recognition flashed into her eyes. It almost died away to nothing again, but she fought back to return Carmen’s fierce gaze. “I…. I remember I was repeating the magic words. I heard all your voices rising. There was a flash, and I smelled smoke. Then, the next thing I knew, I was here. I was standing at that window, and then you came in. That’s all I remember.”
Carmen compressed her lips. She couldn’t lose her patience with Hazel now. She always belittled Hazel in the past. She never thought Hazel was of any account. Now she knew for certain Hazel really did have some power. She always did. It lay dormant inside her, just waiting for a chance to come out.
“Gahkra said I’m the witch, but you’re here, and you’re the witch.” Carmen thought out loud. “Maybe we’re both the witch. Maybe all five of us are the witch, and your spell was the curse.”
Hazel’s eyebrows went up in the middle. The shade of desperate fear crossed her face. “How is that possible? I never meant to cast any curse on anybody.”
Carmen crushed Hazel’s fingers in her hand. “Listen to me, Hazel. I’ve seen a lot of things since I came here, and one thing I know for certain now. Nothing is impossible where magic is involved. Now this is important, so listen carefully. You have to remember exactly what you were thinking about when you cast that spell. You have to remember exactly what crossed your mind right before the flash of light. What were you thinking about? Were you thinking about Camelot, or were you thinking about something else?”
“I…. I….” Hazel stammered. Her eyes flicked around the room. “I…. You’ll laugh at me, Carmen. You’ll say I’m stupid, and you’re right. I never belonged anywhere in our world. I knew that a long time ago, and all I ever wanted was to go where I really belong. I learned that spell, and I thought I could us
e it to transport myself to Camelot. I thought I belonged there, like Nimue from the Arthurian legends. Do you remember the story, Carmen? She became Merlin’s apprentice. She made him fall in love with her so she could learn all his magic. Once she did that, she trapped him inside a tree until the High King comes again. I thought I could be like her. I thought maybe if I went there, I might find somewhere I belonged for once.”
Carmen’s heart sank. “I’m sorry, Hazel. I’m sorry I ever laughed at you or even thought you were stupid. That was wrong of me, and I know now why you never really belonged in our world. So you were thinking about that when you cast the spell?”
“I wasn’t thinking about Camelot,” Hazel told her. “I was just hoping and praying I would end up where I belonged. That’s all. I’m sorry. I never meant for anybody to get killed.”
Carmen nodded. She relaxed her grip on Hazel’s hand. “It’s all right. It’s not your fault. It just happened. Now we have to figure out what to do about it. You and I are the only people who can put it right, so I need you to work hard to clear your head. You cast one spell, so you must know how to reverse it and lift the curse.”
Hazel started to shake her head, but Carmen drew her toward the door. “It’s all right now. We’re together, and we’re gonna do this. I have some friends downstairs. I’m taking you to meet them, and we can all work together to get this done.”
“How could I curse something without meaning to?” Hazel asked.
Carmen guided her out of the room and down the hall. “I have no idea, but the curse happened before we came here. Angus—that’s my friend I’m taking you to meet—he said it started seven weeks before we came here, and the Camerons lost the Phoenix Throne four generations ago. This castle has been under a curse ever since. I don’t know. Maybe there was some kind of time warp and the curse worked retroactively.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Carmen,” Hazel murmured.
“It doesn’t matter,” Carmen replied. “We’re gonna fix this. Come on.”
Carmen quickened her pace, and the two women wound their way down the long passage out of the tower. Now that she found Hazel and understood that the spell they cast put the curse on the castle, Carmen started to hope. Maybe she could find a way to reverse the spell without killing Hazel.
All the mysteries surrounding this crazy situation started to make sense. No wonder Ross told her she would go home when the curse lifted. Of course she would. Her coming here caused the curse in the first place. The best way to reverse it would be to send Hazel and herself and the others back to their own time where they belonged.
Carmen’s heart raced, and adrenaline burned through her guts. She couldn’t wait to find Angus and tell him everything. He would find a way to send them back with no more killing. Maybe Ross would show up and give them a clue, or maybe they would find the secret hidden in this castle somewhere. The Fire Trilogy must contain some information for times like this.
“Have you seen any of the others here?” Hazel asked.
“I saw Sadie outside,” Carmen told her, “but I don’t think it was the real Sadie. I thought at the time the witch must have created that specter to distract me, to stop me from entering the castle.”
Hazel stared into her eyes. “Am I the witch?”
Carmen blushed. “Well, what I thought before doesn’t matter. Now I know you didn’t do any of this on purpose. I wonder if Ross knows that. He seems to know a lot about what’s going on, and he never specifically stated the witch was evil. It’s hard to know if he’s helping us or not, but he must realize we can break the curse by going back.”
Hazel stopped in her tracks. “I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here. I don’t want to live in that world. You don’t know what it’s like for me there. No one understands. Everyone thinks I’m ridiculous. I don’t want to reverse the spell. This is where I belong. I know that now.”
“You have to go back, Hazel,” Carmen told her. “I don’t want to go back, either. I always belonged there and I never wanted to come here in the first place. Now that I’m here, though…. well, certain things happened and I don’t want to leave, but we have to. You don’t know what it’s been like for these people since we came. It’s been horrible. Angus left home with fifty men, and he’s got five left. We all had to stand by and watch one of his brothers sucked into a fiery sink hole, and that was our fault, Hazel. Gahkra says it was the witch’s power that grabbed him and dragged him into it. We can’t let this go on. We’ll both lose something going back, but we have to. I’m sorry.”
Hazel’s lip quivered. “But it’s so beautiful here. This castle…. the countryside….” She waved her hand toward an open door where the glorious landscape spread out beyond the window.
Carmen sighed. She understood Hazel’s feelings all too well. “Have you noticed there aren’t any people around—no animals, not even any birds in the trees? We’re in a magical realm, and the curse turned every living thing into ghosts. You’ll never see those people as long as you stay here, Hazel. You’ll be utterly alone. Do you really want this curse on your shoulders? I don’t.”
Hazel cast her eyes down to the floor. “No, I don’t. I never thought about that, but you’re right. I didn’t know before. I just thought it was the most peaceful place in the world.”
“Just imagine what it could be like with all those people around.” Carmen took Hazel’s hand and got her walking again. “Imagine what you could do for all those people by lifting the curse. We can do it, Hazel. We’re the only people who can do it, and we can only do that by going home.”
Hazel’s voice cracked with buried emotion. “If you say we have to, I’ll do it. I don’t want to, but I will.”
Carmen stopped to face her again. “Listen to me. It won’t be like it was before. I’ll understand you. I’ll know you really have magical powers and that you really don’t belong there. You belong to a different world. You won’t be alone anymore. You’ll have me.”
Hazel hung her head and nodded. “I wish we didn’t have to. Don’t think less of me for saying that, but I really wish we didn’t have to.”
“I don’t think less of you for saying it. I really wish we didn’t have to do it, too. I would give anything to do it a different way where we could both stay here and have everything we want. I really would.”
“Are you sure there’s no way?”
Carmen nodded. “I’m certain of it. I was certain before, but now I know it more than ever. This is the only way. Even Ross said so.”
The two women walked on down the hall and said no more. A spirit of peace settled over Carmen. She would break the curse. She knew that now, and she would go back to the world where she belonged, the world where everything made sense.
All mixed up with her happiness and determination, the pang of regret and leaving this all behind stabbed her heart. At least she held Hazel’s hand in hers. Hazel would have her to lean on back in the present day, and Carmen would have Hazel. Carmen wouldn’t have to face that cruel, unfeeling world alone. At least one person in that world would understand.
Chapter 22
Angus and his party descended the stairs, all the way back down the route Fergus showed them. They entered the carpeted part of the castle and found their way back to the landing above the formal entrance hall.
Ewan squared his shoulders. “Now, where do we find this witch?”
Angus froze. His eyes fixed on a point behind Ewan’s back. The big Highlander spun around, and the whole party stood stock still when they saw Ross standing behind them.
The wizard strode forward and halted in front of Angus. He hissed through his teeth the way he usually. “Ye got it, lad. Ye got it.”
Angus nodded. “I got it. Now we ha’e tae find the witch and defeat her.”
“Ye’ll no ha’e tae find her. She’s on her way tae find ye.”
Angus’s head shot up. “What? She is?”
Ross aimed a trembling hand down one of the side passages. �
��O’er there. Ye’ll arm to defend yerselves, but this time, ye’ve got the weapon tae stop her. Ye’ll use the treasure on her, and the curse will be broken.”
Angus’s hand moved to his sporran, but Ross’s bony fingers clamped around his wrist. “Nae! Not yet! Ye’ll ken the moment when ye see her for the first time.”
Angus trembled all over. This was it. This was the moment of truth, the moment he won back his rightful Throne. His comrades listened to Ross’s words, and they prepared to fight, too. They couldn’t know their weapons wouldn’t do any good.
Ross motioned them forward. “Come alang. Ye mun’ meet her halfway. Ye cinnae stand around and wait for her tae came tae ye. She’ll cut ye down. Come alang, lads. Rally and meet her.”
Angus moved forward to follow the wizard. The others hesitated, but when they saw Angus pushing down the hall, they fell in line. They all came so far to confront this witch. No one wanted to remain behind.
Angus’s heart pounded in his neck. He would visit his own revenge on the demon who wrecked his life, who killed his brother and cursed all these people. Now he had the power to pay her back.
Ross strode out in front to lead the way. Angus dogged his heels, and the others spread out in a line behind him. No more hunting around. No more confusion and uncertainty. Ross would show them where to find the witch. They searched all over this castle, and now Angus possessed the ruby.
Ross came to the far end of the passage. He flew up the stairs. Angus’s heels pounded on the wooden steps. He would wake the whole castle with his thunder now. He announced his arrival to anyone with ears to hear.
Ross stopped in front of another door. He paused with his fingers clasped around the latch. “’ere,” he whispered to Angus. “Get ye ready. Don’t pull yer weapon until ye lay yer eyes on the witch herself. If you use it against any other foe, ye’re lost. Understand?”
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