“I’ve seen it once before. I was very little at the time. A couple was due to be bonded, but there was a small boy in the village that was on his deathbed. They decided to ask Mali to bring forward the bonding and perform the ritual, which he did.”
“So what does it entail?” I asked, pouring us both a very large glass of wine. Bryony was shaking with the effort of reliving the event and describing it to me. Hopefully, the wine would settle her nerves.
“I’ll never forget it. They were brought to the middle of the village. Once there, they were put in the middle of a star that Mali had marked out on the grass, the same star that’s tattooed on his head. Then he began to chant. He encouraged us all to follow along with him. I did because I didn’t know what was going to happen. After a few minutes, it looked like the very colour was being sucked out of them. Then, they got paler and paler until there was nothing left of them at all. A few wisps of colour floated through the air into a bottle that Mali had been holding. He put the stopper in and gave it to the little boy, who inhaled it. He survived and went on to live a healthy life. I remember asking my mother when the couple was coming back. I was so confused as to where they had gone. When she told me that they were never coming back, I realised we had essentially sucked the life right out of them. There was literally nothing left of them at all, just a set of footprints in the star where they had stood.”
“You are saying they sacrificed themselves for the boy?”
Bryony nodded tearfully.
“And now Mali expects Aspen and I to do the same for the village?”
“Yes.” Her voice was so small; I barely heard it.
“I won’t do it!” I said loudly.
“Mali has told everyone that it’s the only way to save the village. He’s ordered everyone to watch for you escaping. If they see you trying to leave the village, they have to bring you back.”
I was absolutely livid. How could he do this to me? After every bloody thing I’d done for him.
I wasn’t upset though. I was angry—really angry.
“What time is it?” I asked. Bryony looked at me questioningly but answered all the same.
“It’s a little after eleven.”
Mali always had a break at eleven. I knew exactly where I’d find him. The time had come to end this ridiculous charade.
I marched right out of the house before Bryony could stop me and straight into the back door of the temple.
Mali looked up from his desk, his face fell when he saw me. He quickly recovered from his shock, and pulled his face back into his usual haughty expression. One that I’d seen every day for three years but only now recognised it for what it was. The reason for this shock, no doubt was the fact that I’d caught him with his other woman. The Spade was sitting on his desk, and until I came in, had been leaning towards him. It looked like I’d interrupted a make-out session.
Good!
Mali stood up. “What are you doing in here? You should be in your house.”
He had his usual air of superiority, but I could tell I’d flustered him.
“Don’t tell me where I should be!” I shouted back at him. “Bryony just told me what you have in store for me. How convenient that I have to sacrifice my life to save the village just as this whore arrives.”
The woman stood up and pulled herself up to her full height, which was considerably taller than me. “Who is this Mali?” She looked affronted by my term for her. Well, I was affronted by her just being here, so tough luck.
“I’ll deal with her, my darling. Why don’t you go in to the temple and meditate?” His tone was so soft with her. I’d never heard him talk in that way to anyone before, and I’d certainly never heard him utter a pet name before.” Just thinking about it made me sick.
She reluctantly walked towards the door leading to the temple, obviously not liking being left out of what was going on. She needn’t have worried. I planned on shouting a lot. She’d hear every word, even through the door. I watched her as she went. I couldn’t tell what type of shifter she was, but she wore a lot of make-up and perfume. Perhaps, she was a skunk shifter. It would certainly explain a lot.
I would have smirked at my wicked thought, but I was too angry at Mali for smirking.
“I’m not doing it, Mali!” I spat out once the door behind the skunk had closed. “Just because you have a girlfriend now doesn’t mean I’m going to disappear. Literally disappear according to Bryony. Are you going to suck the life out of me Mali? Well, I’ve got news for you; you already have, and I have no intention of letting you do it again! Find yourself another idiot who will play your game. I’m leaving Yelpish, and you won’t stop me.”
“Calm down Iris. Take a seat.”
“Calm down? Are you not listening to me?”
“You can’t leave. The villagers will stop you. I’ve placed them on lookout all around the edges of the forest that surrounds Yelpish. They will stop you because it means keeping their village safe from attack.”
“Wouldn’t they be better off looking out for the Spades rather than me?”
“They will be doing that too.”
“I wonder how your friend will feel about you killing her fellow countrymen?”
“We won’t be killing anyone. The magic you and Aspen generate will form a force field around the village. No one will die.”
“No one but Aspen and me, eh?”
“Sometimes, we are called upon to make sacrifices, Iris.” He spoke down to me as though I were a naughty child, who didn’t understand a simple concept. If I thought I could get away with it, I’d have picked up the paper knife on his desk and shoved it right up his nose.
“What sacrifices are you making, Mali? I don’t see any! Let me tell you what I see. I see a pathetic old man, who wants to get rid of the one woman who truly loved him more than any other because she has become an inconvenience for him. A man who lies and cheats and finds it easier to kill me than explain to the village he’s seeing someone.”
“I never cheated on you, Iris. We were never together.”
“But you slept with her, didn’t you? Slept with a woman, who is already married, with children no less.”
He did look shocked then.
“How did you… Never mind. What’s done is done. Accept it, Iris. Go out as a hero.”
“I don’t want to go out as a hero. I don’t want to go out at all. Aspen will never agree to this.”
“He already has. Now go home and accept your fate. Please don’t try to escape; you can’t. The bonding will happen in two days, and then the ritual will happen the day after.”
“You are lying. Why would Aspen agree? He’s the only one in his family that can work. I’m not going to do it! I don’t care what you say.”
He sighed then.
“If you don’t agree to it, I’ll have to do it to someone else. I’m sure Bryony will jump at the chance of bonding with Aspen. They are quite the star-crossed lovers. If you want that, I’ll go and ask her now.” He stood as if he was about to leave. He’d got me, and he knew it. He knew me well enough to know that I’d not let Bryony die in my place, and I thought I knew Bryony well enough to know that she would, given the chance.”
“No!” I said.
“So you’ll do it then?”
“Yes.” He’d won. I left his office, feeling despondent. It looked like I had no choice. I was going to die in three days’ time. Back in the cottage, Bryony was sitting where I’d left her. I retook my spot on the other chair and picked up the bottle of wine I’d left next to it. Then, without bothering to pour it into a glass, I drained what was left of the bottle.
“Aspen has agreed to the ritual,” I said finally, once the burning sensation of the wine going down my throat had passed.
“I knew he would,” she said quietly. She wasn’t even surprised.
Maybe he was much nobler than I.
“The little boy I told you about earlier,” she continued, “that was Aspen.”
That explained
a lot. I stood up.
“More wine?”
“No, I should really be getting on with your dress.”
“You still want to sew the dress?” I asked incredulously.
“I may as well. It would be a shame to waste the material. You’ll be wearing it the last time everyone sees you. What a way to be remembered.”
Yeah, great. The last people will see of me, I will be swathed in a big poufy ball of shimmering green. Fantastic. I uncorked the second bottle and took it to bed, picking up the book I knew the ritual was mentioned in as I went. If I only had three days left, I was going to spend them drunk.
Bryony kept to herself, but she did bring me food at some point in the afternoon. She didn’t speak as she handed me a plate of sandwiches, but I did notice she had placed some of the chocolate on the side.
I read the book about the summoning ritual, or the bonding ritual as Bryony had called it, all the way through. The book was entitled, Ancient Mystic Practices, A Guide. It was unnecessarily long and as dull as dishwater. I remembered being fascinated with it when I’d first received it. Now, I saw that it was a big pile of garbage, a bit like my thoughts about Mali then.
The part about the summoning ritual was actually the shortest chapter of the book and situated near the end just before the appendix. It was extremely vague and described it exactly as Bryony had. It didn’t say how you could perform it, though, nor the secret words for the spell. Mali must have had the book that told him the spell because he’d already performed the ritual.
More importantly, there was nothing in the book about how to stop the ritual and make it look like it hadn’t worked. That was the only way I could think of getting out of the mess I was in.
I fell asleep in an angry and drunken stupor.
2nd February
“I have to get out of here!” A night of sleep filled with terrifying dreams had left me feeling exhausted but determined. I wasn’t prepared to die. I didn’t want Bryony to either. I wasn’t sure if Mali was lying when he said he’d put Bryony in my place for the ritual. After all, he only wanted me out of the way and was using the impending Spade attacks as an excuse, but it was a chance I wasn’t willing to take.
I jumped out of bed and found Bryony where I’d left her the night before, sitting under heaps of green material. It was actually beginning to look like a dress now. I couldn’t tell where it began and ended, but I could, at least, see a sleeve. She was adding the pink to it now. I was never particularly fashion conscious, but I wasn’t sure if green and pink went well together. I probably shouldn’t be too bothered, even if it was the thing I was going to be buried in.
“Do you want some breakfast?” she asked, taking her eyes from her sewing for a minute.
“Didn’t you hear me? I’m getting out of here, and I want you to come with me.”
“They aren’t going to let you escape.”
“Well, I don’t see any downside to trying. What’s the worst Mali can do to me? Kill me? He’s already going to do that. The people of Yelpish grow up knowing only peace. They might try and stop me, but no one will hurt me. I want you to come too.”
“Why?”
I faltered, not sure what to tell her. The truth was I didn’t want her dead, but could I tell her that, knowing she might volunteer it of her own free will if it meant spending a night with the love of her life. It seemed completely ridiculous to me, to kill yourself over one night with a guy, but what did I know? I thought Mali cared about me, and here he was trying to kill me. I wasn’t one for knowing how people’s mind worked when they were in love. It drove people crazy! However, I saw no choice. I worded it as carefully as I could.
“I want you to come with me because I’m worried that they will kill you in my place. You’re my bond helper, so it’s a possibility.”
“Killing me wouldn’t help them. The magic will only come to the newly bonded.”
I waited for her words to sink and understand what I was trying to tell her.
“You mean, Mali will choose me to be bonded to Aspen?”
I watched as her eyes lit up, and then I sighed. This was going to be a hard sell.
“Yes, but then you’ll die.”
“I always thought I’d end up with Aspen ever since we were small. He’s been my best friend forever.”
“They will kill you, Bryony!”
“But I’ll die as Aspen’s bonded mate. We’ve spent our whole lives together, maybe it is meant to be that we spend eternity together too.”
I sat down next to her and took her hand.
“Aspen has chosen to die. He is a noble man, a wonderful man who would put the lives of the villagers over his own. He is truly remarkable. If you die by his side, you will be remarkable too. I understand that, but look at it this way. Without me and without you, Aspen will have no one to bond with. He had to bond with me because Mali told him it was written in the stars. If I went, he’d probably jump at the chance of bonding with you, the love of his life. If neither of us were here, can you see him choosing to bond with someone else? I doubt it, and with such short notice, he’d struggle to get another girl from the village, one who would willingly give up her life as you would. Aspen would have no one to bond with; therefore, there would be no point in killing him. The ritual won’t work with just him.”
“But then the village wouldn’t be protected against attack.”
Ah, I’d not thought of that!
I ruminated for a few seconds before coming up with an excellent plan.
“We’ll take a horse. If we ride quickly to Mistdale, I can tell my father. He will need to know about the Spades anyway. If they are going to attack us, they will surely be reserving their main forces for my father’s castle. He can send someone to protect the village. No one has to die, Bryony, and the best part is, once this stupid war or whatever it is, is over, you’ll be free to be bonded to Aspen. You know yourself that everything Mali says is bull crap. Nothing is written in the stars. Your life is written in your own heart.”
That sounded really good. I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for such a good speech. I could see her mulling it over, thinking about the implications. When the big pile of material was thrown onto the floor, I knew I’d won her over.
“Let’s go. Do you want to take anything with you?”
“Nope!” I grinned. Maybe things weren’t going to turn out as badly as I thought. We sneaked out of the house. It was still dark, but the early morning light was beginning to seep through the thick cloud cover. The clouds would help us, making everything artificially darker. The horse that Bryony had used a few days previously was gone. Someone must have taken it back to the village green where the other horses were kept. We saw no one as we walked around the edge of the village, keeping under the trees for cover. The first spots of rain began to fall as we got to the horses. There were fifteen of them in all, and they belonged to no one and everyone. I untethered the rope of the one I knew to be the fastest and jumped on. Bryony jumped on behind me, and we began to trot through the forest to the outside world.
“We did it!” I said and punched the air. Mali had obviously expected to scare me with his words, thinking I’d stay inside, as no one had even seen us, let alone tried to stop us. The forest was thick with trees so I couldn’t walk the horse too quickly through it, but once we were through, I’d set it into a gallop. We’d hit Mistdale by lunchtime if we rode fast enough. Getting through the forest would take approximately fifteen minutes at the rate we were going. The sound of the rain on the leaves above us was deafening, but the trees provided good cover, so we barely felt it.
“I wish I’d have thought to bring a raincoat!” I shouted back to Bryony as we approached the outer edge of the forest.
Because I had my head turned to her, I didn’t see the trap until it was too late. The horse hit some kind of rope which, in turn, dropped a net down onto us. It got twisted in the horse’s legs causing it to fall, dropping Bryony and me in the process. A large bell in a near
by tree began to ring, no doubt because of the movement of the rope attached to our net.
None of us could stand, but I could turn.
“Are you ok?” I asked Bryony.
She nodded.
“We need to get out of this net quickly before anyone comes. I’m hoping the sound of the rain will cover the sound of the bell.”
We had fifteen minutes, at best, to get out of the net before anyone would be able to get to us. I wanted to be out in five to give us a head start to escape. I began to pull on the ropes around me, trying to find a way to crawl out from under the net. I’d just managed to find the way out when I heard a voice.
“I wouldn’t bother if I were you.”
I looked up to see Mali standing just two feet away from me. Glancing around, I could see no horse. How did he get here so fast? Was it possible that he’d known exactly which route I’d take out of Yelpish and had sat and waited for me? There were a number of routes out, on paths through the forest. What were the chances he’d pick the right one? It was unlikely he’d guess right, not impossible, but unlikely.
“I’ve just learned this new teleportation trick,” he said. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
“You are using magic! I thought you didn’t have any! Isn’t that why you are performing the ritual?”
He had the gall to chuckle at me.
“Yes, it’s true, I should be saving my magic for protecting the village but why bother, knowing I’ll have a whole lot more in a few days, thanks to you. The village will be fine. A simple force field spell, even one big enough for a village, doesn’t use a lot of magic. You don’t need to worry about them.”
Six of Clubs (War and Suits Book 5) Page 6
