by Sarra Cannon
Or that Zara would convince her mother to let me live.
Footsteps outside the door made my stomach twist into knots. I brought my knees in close to my chest and sat pressed tight against the stone wall.
The door scraped the floor as it opened. Light streamed in from the center room, and I realized that I was locked in one of the torture rooms on the third floor. The only problem was that every single demon gate had a torture room just like this. I could be anywhere.
I raised a hand against the light. I’d been in the dark so long, it hurt my eyes.
“Harper, I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in you,” Mrs. Ashworth said. She set a lantern down on a small table near the door. “Did you really think you could run away from your responsibilities?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. My throat was dry and scratchy, but I couldn’t even moan or grumble.
“Don’t try to speak,” she said. “I can’t have you telling lies about me, so I took your voice with a spell.”
I struggled against my chains, then flinched as the wounds on my wrists opened fresh.
Two women stood on each side of the open door. Twins with short auburn hair. I recognized them as the two tigers who captured me in the meadow.
Mrs. Ashworth’s lips curled into a smile. “You have no idea how much of a favor you’ve done for me,” she said, closing the door so the women couldn’t hear. “I’ve been trying to figure out for weeks how I was going to convince the Order you needed to die so that a more responsible family could take over the line.”
Mrs. Ashworth took a few steps toward me, then squatted down until her eyes were even with mine.
“Now, you’ve basically done all the work for me,” she said with a laugh. “All you had to do was attack me and the rest took care of itself.”
She stood and paced the room. “You know, you also did me a huge favor by clearing up some questions I’ve had in my mind for years. I had all these holes in my memory. Inconsistencies I couldn’t quite figure out,” she said. “Well, not until the other night when you reversed that spell and all of it came rushing back.”
I closed my eyes. I couldn’t stand the sight of her.
“It all makes sense to me now,” she said. “Your mother and I were best friends for years. Apparently, I was the only one who knew about her pregnancy. She never even told your father. He was a huge mistake anyway. A married man who was only using her because she was beautiful and his wife was frigid.”
My eyes flew open. I struggled against my shackles, but lost energy quickly. She knew who my father was.
“Somehow, your mother found out I had this plot to end your family line,” she said.
I opened my mouth to try to speak, and Mrs. Ashworth laughed again. She dragged a chair over toward me and sat down.
“I had no idea she’d figured it out until that night we met in the old Randolph house,” she said. “I thought we were meeting to talk about her birth plan or something, but then I saw Jackson there and knew something was wrong. She wiped my memory of you before I’d even told the crows about you. I didn’t remember a single thing about her pregnancy until the other night when you released the spell.”
I wanted her to shut up, but I was powerless.
“She tried to wipe my memory of the plan to kill her too, but she was missing a key part of the whole thing. The crows. She thought I was working alone, but the crows were the masterminds behind the whole thing. They were the ones with the spell books, not me. When she wiped my memory, she had no idea there was an even bigger threat waiting for her.
“When they came to me talking about this plan to kill her, I was so confused,” she said. “I didn’t have any memory of making this plan with them, but they quickly reminded me. And of course, I realized it was brilliant.”
I clenched my fists so tight, I could feel my nails digging into the skin on my palm. I opened my mouth to scream at her, but nothing would come. I forced my legs to work and stood up, pulling against the chains with all my might. I wanted to rip her throat out.
“When they killed her and the ritual didn’t work, they thought I was trying to double-cross them. I didn’t understand it at the time, but now it’s all clear to me. They wanted to kill me too, but luckily, I convinced them that they needed me. They even helped me come up with the idea of a home for troubled girls to try to search for you.” She smiled. “Guess it worked.”
Everything was coming together in my mind. Lydia Ashworth had been trying to be the Prima of Peachville for years.
I thought of the lengths my mother had gone to in order to keep me safe from these people and fell to my knees. She’d sacrificed everything for me.
And when all was said and done, I’d ended up in Peachville anyway.
A New Focus
Mrs. Ashworth left me alone in my cell and no one visited except when the twins came to bring water. I had no concept of time, but without food, my energy was drained.
I was going to die. The image of Priestess Winter wielding the ritual knife kept me awake, but I refused to meet death trembling in fear. I had to at least try to fight back.
Instead of thinking about the end, I focused all of my energy on trying to get my voice back. I knew exactly why Mrs. Ashworth had chosen to take my voice from me. She was scared I would tell the others about her betrayal.
The High Council valued loyalty. I doubted that Mrs. Ashworth’s plot to kill my mother and take over the role of Prima all those years ago would make them happy. They would probably still kill me, but Mrs. Ashworth would get what she deserved too, I felt sure of it.
I had to get my voice back so that I could tell the truth about what happened to my mother. I owed her that much.
I summoned enough strength to sit up, crossing my legs and placing my hands palms-up the way Lark had taught me. I shut out the noise of my grief and cleared my mind of everything. I’d gotten so used to using Zara’s butterfly as my focus, but all the butterfly made me think of now was Priestess Winter in Aldeen, Kansas. I sighed. I needed a new focus.
I tried thinking of my mother, but there were too many emotions tied to my thoughts. Same with Jackson.
After hours of frustrated failure, I finally fell into a deep sleep. In my dreams, I was running through a field of white roses. My mother ran beside me, our blonde hair matching in the sunlight. She stopped in the middle of the field and plucked a white rose from its stem. She handed it to me with a sad smile, and when I woke, I felt so much sadness and regret for never knowing her.
Later, it occurred to me that a field of white roses was kind of ridiculous. Roses grew on bushes, not like wildflowers in fields. But the dream felt so real. And my mother had loved white roses.
I ignored the pain in my bruised body and sat up again. I cleared my mind of all things, then brought up the image of a single white rose in the darkness, its light growing brighter as I finally connected to the power within the core of my heart.
The High Council’s Decision In This Matter
When the Council finally came for me, I was surprised to see Zara standing with her mother. I tried to make eye contact with her, but she avoided my gaze. Her porcelain skin was marred by dark bruises. God, did they beat her? Why? To see if she knew where I was hiding?
I looked away, my heart breaking for her. Deep down, I knew she was a good person. It wasn’t her fault she’d been born into such a strict family. I didn’t blame her for standing by them. What choice did she have? It was loyalty or death.
Despite the pain in my weak legs and the severe hunger in my stomach, I stood to face them. I vowed not to let them see my fear.
“I’m sorry it has come to this, Harper,” Priestess Winter said in her sweet musical voice that mirrored her daughter’s. “You had such great potential.”
She sighed, then motioned for the twins to release me from my chains. My wrists were red and cracked where the cuffs had held me. Instead of wincing or showing pain, I held my head high. They led me thro
ugh the center room and down the stairs into Shadowford.
So I’d been home all along.
I was surprised when they stopped outside my bedroom door.
“We’re going to let you shower and change,” Priestess Winter said. “You look terrible.”
Gee. Can’t imagine why.
Movement down the hallway caught my eye, and I saw Mary Anne’s blue eyes peeking through the opening of her doorway. I shook my head, begging her with my eyes to stay out of this. It was bad enough I had to face this, I didn’t think I could deal with watching anyone else get hurt today, too.
Slowly, she closed the door, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes to get cleaned up and changed,” Priestess Winter said. She handed me a white dress. “And don’t even think about trying to escape. We’ll be watching your every move.”
I almost laughed. After not eating for days, I barely had the energy to stand up straight, much less try to escape.
In my bathroom, I undressed and stood under the flow of hot water, washing the sweat and grime and blood from my body. All too soon, though, the twins shut off the water and ordered me to get dressed. With aching arms, I pulled the white dress over my head.
The single diamond earring was still sitting there on the edge of my sink. I grabbed it and held it in my fist, then followed the twins downstairs.
Outside, my eyes searched the woods. Would Jackson come for me?
Part of me wanted him to stay as far away from this place as he could get. The demons had admitted that they didn’t have the power to fight the High Council. If they came for me, we’d all die together. In my mind, I begged him to stay away. To keep fighting until he could build his army and change the world forever.
The walk through the woods to the ritual room was almost an out-of-body experience. I felt removed from myself, not wanting to feel whatever it was they were going to do to me. My feet carried me down the stone stairs and to the center of the pentagram on the floor. The twins told me to stand in front of the blue stone portal, and I did as I was told.
The room was full of witches, both from Peachville and the High Council. I looked each of them in the eye one-by-one. I wanted them to see me for who I was before they murdered me. I wanted my brown eyes to haunt their dreams at night.
Mrs. King stood to my left. When our eyes met, I could see she’d been crying. There were so many messages in her eyes. Regret. Pain. Helplessness. I knew she wasn’t strong enough to fight the High Council on her own, but it still hurt to see her here.
Mrs. Harris and Brooke both stood near the front. When I looked at Brooke, my supposed friend, she looked down. Her mother whispered something in her ear and she lifted her head, but wouldn’t meet my gaze. I clutched the diamond earring tighter. I didn’t think Brooke was an evil person. Before her initiation, she’d actually been kind of sweet. But she had shown me what greed and power could do to a person. She was a perfect example of the kind of corruption the Order was responsible for.
Priestess Winter and Mrs. Ashworth moved to stand in front of me. Mrs. Ashworth’s daughter Lori, the girl who owned the store downtown where I’d first met Drake, came to join her mother.
“Take her necklace,” the priestess said.
Zara stepped forward and, still not meeting my eye, reached around my neck and unclasped my necklace. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
“Bring it to me,” her mother snapped.
Zara handed the necklace to her mother, then moved aside.
Mrs. Ashworth lifted the silver chalice with the blue stone up into the air, and Priestess Winter placed the necklace into it. I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry and burning. My heart raced, but I did my best to keep my face free of emotion. I refused to allow any tears to stain my cheeks today.
“This is a difficult day for the Peachville Order,” Priestess Winter began. “It is never easy to face someone who has betrayed us, but I hope you all understand that the High Council has no choice but to punish this girl for her treason.”
The room was silent except for the soft sobs of Mrs. King.
“The High Council’s decision in this matter is final,” she continued. “As loyal members of the Order of Shadows, you must accept this decision and pledge your loyalty to a new Prima. I realize this won’t be easy, but this is the only way to preserve the coven and make sure this girl does not put the rest of you in further danger.”
She paused, adding weight to her words.
“It is the decision of the High Council that Harper Madison Brighton be put to death.”
I Owe My Mother That Much
Beside me, Mrs. King fainted.
My legs felt weak, but I would not fall to my knees. I kept my eyes straight ahead as several witches rushed to Mrs. King’s side, moving her to the stairs. I was glad she wouldn’t have to see what was coming next.
The tension in the room was so thick, I felt that I could open my mouth and breath in the taste of it.
I knew in my heart that there were a lot of people in the room who didn’t approve of the High Council’s decision, but they were too afraid to speak up. As individuals, they were powerless. It would take an army to defeat the Council.
Mrs. Ashworth clutched the cup tight in her greedy hands. Excitement glimmered in her eyes as Priestess Winter lifted the silver ritual dagger.
“Do you have the spell books with the ritual in them?” the priestess asked.
Lydia Ashworth nodded and looked to Mrs. Harris. Brooke’s mother reached inside her robe and pulled out the crow’s spell books.
I took a deep breath, knowing it was now or never. The fire at my core was weak, but it was there. I drew from that fire, giving everything I had to release the spell that held my voice captive.
“Wait,” I said. “I deserve a moment to speak before the sentence is carried out.”
The sound of my voice sent a ripple of excitement and shock through the room.
Mrs. Ashworth’s grip on the chalice tightened. “Absolutely not,” she said. “You are a traitor condemned to death for your betrayal. You don’t deserve to speak.”
“Please.” Zara touched her mother’s arm. Tears filled her eyes as she finally lifted her head to look at me.
I held my breath, praying that this one word from Zara would make a difference.
Priestess Winter looked at her daughter and nodded. “I will allow it,” she said.
“Thank you.” I swallowed, ignoring the burn in my throat. I looked at Mrs. Ashworth. The fear in her eyes was beautiful. “You speak to me of betrayal?”
I opened my palm. The diamond earring glittered in the torch light. “I have learned more about betrayal here in Peachville than I ever dreamed possible.”
I threw the earring down on the stone floor at Brooke’s feet. Her eyes grew wide with tears. She turned away from me, her shoulders shaking with sobs.
“My mother was murdered by the same witch who destroyed this ritual room a few weeks ago,” I said. “But that’s not the whole story. The crows had an accomplice all those years ago. Someone in the Order.”
The energy in the room shifted.
“Lydia Ashworth was my mother’s best friend,” I continued. “Most of you probably remember how close they were. But Mrs. Ashworth didn’t believe my mother deserved her position as Prima. She plotted with the crows to steal the Prima line. She helped them kill my mother here in this room nearly seventeen years ago.”
Voices whispered in the semi-darkness. Priestess Winter shook her head and looked to Mrs. Ashworth.
“That’s a lie,” Mrs. Ashworth screamed. “She’s grasping at straws, trying to save herself.”
“It’s the truth,” I said, looking at the priestess. “I feel I owe my mother that much at least.”
Priestess Winter lifted her hand in the air, commanding us to be silent. “There is an easy way to settle this,” she said.
She stepped forward and placed both of her hands on
my temples.
My eyes were forced closed. At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, then images began to flash before my eyes. My life in Peachville played over in my mind in fast-forward. She was searching my memories. The images slowed down as she reached the memory of Mrs. Ashworth’s betrayal. She knew the truth now. I expected her to let me go.
But she didn’t. My memories continued to flash.
Suddenly, I was in Aldeen with Lea again. The image of Priestess Winter’s knife slicing the throat of the Aldeen Prima froze in my mind, then went black.
My heartbeat roared in my ears. She knew that I had seen the truth of what happened in Aldeen. Priestess Winter stumbled backward, her eyes wide.
I started to speak, but she quickly raised her hand, sealing my lips shut.
She took a deep breath and regained her composure, but I could see the distress in her eyes.
“She is telling the truth,” the priestess finally said. She motioned to the red-haired twins. “Take this woman to the dungeons.”
Mrs. Ashworth screamed out in protest. Zara took the chalice from her hands as the twins dragged Mrs. Ashworth from the room.
The whole time, Priestess Winter did not take her eyes off mine.
Betrayal
The room erupted in chaos.
Priestess Winter held up her hand and demanded silence from the coven.
“The High Council will deal with Mrs. Ashworth later.” She looked to me. “I’m truly sorry about what happened to your mother, but that still doesn’t justify your actions or your words against the Order.”
Sounds of protest went up, but the priestess would not hear them. “Silence,” she said. “The High Council’s decision is final. Is there anyone here who wishes to go against the decisions of their leaders?”
No one spoke.
She turned to Mrs. Harris.
“With Mrs. Ashworth gone, we will need another family to step forward and serve as the town’s Prima,” she said.
Mrs. Harris’ face lit up with a radiant smile. She made Brooke turn around and face the priestess.
