by Chanda Hahn
I could do this. I needed to do this. Instead of demanding the magic to help heal, I changed my tactic and tried to coax it. And it answered, rushing to me. My hands grew warm, and the weight lifted from my chest, and I was able to breathe. Her wound closed up, and I continued to pour magic into her, to restore her strength. When I was done, I almost fell over, but instead I turned to the young unicorn who butted his head against me, as if saying, “See, you could do it.”
I was still scared, and didn’t dare to raise my blood-covered hands and touch the creature. I looked behind the baby and saw that Harmony hadn’t left with the others. She stood in the corral; her arms wrapped around the mother unicorn in the gentlest of hugs. Her wide tear-filled eyes watched me. She had seen what I did, and she smiled. It reminded me that she wasn’t the only one here.
Evander! I turned to look back at the prince, before he was kneeling over Elise, but now he had leaned back and was giving me the strangest of looks.
His face a stony mask, his eyes narrowed as he studied me. “Who are you really?” his voice was cold, dangerous.
Elise moaned, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked at me and frowned before turning her head to the prince and crying out to him. “Oh, you saved me.” Her arms reached for him, and he obliged, helping her into a sitting position. She threw herself at him and clung to him. “My prince, I knew you would come for me.”
“Wait, did you do all of that in hopes that Prince Evander would rescue you?”
She ignored me. Evander lifted her in his arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her out of the tent, just as the healer in green robes arrived.
I continued to kneel on the cold floor, my hands covered in blood. The male magician stepped up to me and handed me a towel. “Come with me,” he rushed out. “We have much to discuss.”
“I’m tired and would like to leave now.”
“You can’t.” He leaned down and put his arm around my shoulders. “You’re exhausted and about to pass out.”
I stood up. “No, I’m no—”
Chapter Seventeen
I don’t remember how I made it inside the magician’s wagon. I must have passed out like he said. But I wasn’t out long, for I awoke propped up along a bench with pillows on either side of me. He held a warm drink out to me in a mug with a chip in the handle.
“Drink, you need to gather your strength.”
I took a sip and felt the liquid burn on the way down. “What’s in it?” I coughed.
“Oh, just an herbal tea infused with brandy. It will warm you up real quick.”
I took a wary sniff and pushed it across the hand-carved table toward him.
The wagon was one of the larger traveling wagons. A raised bed with a ladder was at the front of the wagon. Nooks, crannies, and cupboards filled with various scrolls, books, bottles, and jars took up much of the interior. Hung over the side windows were windchimes with handblown glass ornaments that caught the lantern light from outside.
“These are beautiful,” I said, reaching up to gently touch one of the glass chimes.
He blushed and shook his head. “It’s just a hobby.” He rubbed his hands across his knees, and I noticed that he was older than I first thought. His light blond hair and mustache was peppered with white, but at night you couldn’t tell. His hands were rough and calloused. His vest, though well-loved, was quite worn.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He laid his hand across his chest and grinned. “I’m Bravado. The proud proprietor of the Magical Menagerie Troupe.”
“What am I doing here?”
“You needed to be warned.”
“Warned?”
“Yes, warned. What you did saving the girl was reckless and stupid,” he chastised me.
“Yeah, that sounds like me,” I chimed in.
“No. You have to be careful because of the prophecy.”
I froze, a chill racing through my body.
“No,” I cut him off. “Stop right there. I don’t want to hear it.” I waved my hand at him and noticed that all of the blood had been cleaned from my hands. I looked down and saw that my dress was still ruined. “I don’t want to know. I need to live my life without being directed by a prophecy. It is lies.”
Bravado seemed torn. “But there’s more.”
“I don’t care if there’s more. I will not have anyone try and direct my future.” I stood. “Thank you for your time and your awful drink—and believe me, that was awful—but I will be going now.”
“But I’ve waited all this time to tell you the other half. Because all prophecies must be confirmed. There are always two.” He held up two fingers, and I saw the silver ring on his finger. My silver ring that he had already gotten from the ogress.
“No!” I yelled in anger and felt power rip through the wagon. Knocking Bravado back against the bed and causing the wagon to shake and sway on its axles. Whoa! This was the power that came from anger. And why my other sisters’ gifts seemed so much stronger. Because they could easily tap into their anger and rage, where I never held a grudge and struggled to hit any deep emotion.
I flung the wooden half door off the wagon open and stepped down the ladder into the soft grass. I stormed back toward the palace and passed an argument between a large animal handler and Nessa and Tess.
“What’re you two doing back?” The handler’s voice was filled with disdain. The moon reflected off his shiny bald head. His short vest showed the tattoos across his arms and bare chest.
“We didn’t come back, Sorek,” Nessa snapped. “We got ourselves invited to the ball, and not only that but we were selected as candidates for the next queen.”
Sorek let out a great belly laugh and bent over to grasp his knees. “You two? You two weren’t even born in Candor. Whatcha do? Steal the invitations. Buy them from a widow who lost her daughter to the plague. Is that it?”
Tess’s voice became quiet. “How we got them doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, once the king or queenie hear about this, you will be cast out and you will be back here working performances.”
“No, Sorek,” Nessa snapped back. “We ain’t coming back ever. And there’s a darn good chance one of us will be queen.”
“Why you think that? Don’t tell me that you believe in that prophecy?”
“We do,” Tess said and pulled a knife from a hidden pocket in her dress. “It could be about us. We were born in the month Nochtember; it could be about but us.”
“It’s not,” he said firmly. “You weren’t born in Candor. You don’t have magical gifts. The prophecy isn’t about you.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re not coming back,” Nessa said.
“We’re family. You don’t abandon family,” Sorek said.
“We’re grateful that you found us and raised us, but we don’t owe you anything. And if you tell anyone about us….” Tess took the knife and made a slicing motion across her throat.
“We will silence you.” Nessa pulled her own knife and, with a flick of her wrist, sent it flying and pinning Sorek’s vest to the poster on the wagon behind him.
“Fine, tis a shame to lose you two,” Sorek acquiesced. Nessa strode forward, pulled the knife from the wagon with a tug, ripped down the colorful poster behind his head, and flung it to the ground.
Even from where I stood, I recognized Nessa and Tess in matching outfits. Ness in purple holding knives, while Tess stood against a black and white target. The poster called them the Dueling Diva’s. The most dangerous show around.
“We don’t live in this world anymore. And we would very much appreciate it if you could make all of these posters disappear. Immediately.”
Maybe I should have confronted them about lying to me about who they were, but then my conscience overtook me. Wasn’t I also lying about who I was? Didn’t I help bring Tess here? And now I was just as guilty as them.
Nessa was tucking her knife into her holster and walking toward me. I waved my hand in front of my body and us
ed glamour to blend into the shadow of the tree.
“I don’t like this, Nessa,” Tess murmured to her sister. “What if Sorek doesn’t hold his tongue?”
“Then I will take care of it. We just need to make sure that no one else recognizes us. At least not until one of us is sitting on that throne.”
“Are you sure you heard that prophecy right?”
“Of course. It could just as much be referring to either of us. So shut your yap and let’s get back to the group.”
“I don’t much care for the quiet one. Eden, is her name, I think,” Tess whispered. “I swear I’ve seen her before.”
“Ignore her for now. If she becomes a problem, then we will take care of her too.”
“Yes, sister,” Tess said, as they walked past my hiding place.
They were coming awfully close to me, and as I shifted my weight, my glass slipper slipped in the grass, clinking against a rock. Tess slowed and looked up, right at me, and I held my breath.
“Someone’s here.” Tess squinted her eyes, her hand reaching for the hidden dagger.
Nessa stopped and looked through the tree line. “No one’s there. You’re just being paranoid.”
“I’m telling you, I heard something,” Tess muttered.
Scared that they would hear my heartbeat or the sound of my shallow breathing, I tried to flick my finger and send a burst of magic at a rock twenty feet to my left, to scatter a few birds.
What I accomplished instead was the flinging of a boulder the size of a dog into the tree line.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know, but that was bigger than a bird. Let’s go.” They picked up their skirts and headed back to the group. I sighed in relief. I hadn’t meant to startle them that much, but at least my scattered magic worked again.
I looked down at my dress and could see the small embers burning out and ash appearing. I sighed, really wishing there was a better way of controlling how long I was gone for.
I moved back behind the tents on the edge of the troupe and waited for the spell to send me spiraling back to the locked room. As I passed into the tree line, I heard soft moans and saw two people wrapped in a passionate embrace to the right of me. The woman’s back was pressed against the tree, her hands wrapped in her lover’s hair as they kissed. From the side, I could see his dark hair and heard her mumble, “More.”
He obliged. Leaning in, he reclaimed her lips.
Seeing them locked in an embrace made me blush, and I wanted to quickly avert my eyes to give them privacy. Their lips broke apart, and she sighed, “Oh, shhhh.”
My head snapped up, and I saw her—Adelle and her secret lover. When he leaned back, I saw his face clearly in the moonlight.
Dorian.
A sour feeling bubbled up inside of me, and pain and jealousy flowed through my body down to my fingertips. I could feel the burning hatred emanating from within me for being so foolish.
I didn’t care anymore. I stepped forward and made sure to make my presence known.
Adelle didn’t turn, but Dorian saw me standing there watching him with accusation-filled eyes.
The embers were growing, and I broke eye contact. I turned and picked up my pace, walking farther into the woods.
“Sparrow, is that you?” Dorian called out.
“Where are you going?” Adelle called out as Dorian began to chase after me. “Dorian?” she sounded put off.
But the spell pulled me back to the room.
Chapter Eighteen
Sleep didn’t come easily back in my prison. I tossed and turned and continually ran through the day’s events in my head. I had revealed myself to the prince, caught Dorian kissing one of Evander’s intended, learned that the two sisters were dangerous, and I was still unsettled about what I was to do here. And to top it all off, it was late morning, almost noon by my calculations, and no one had brought me food or restocked my firewood.
It was as if Dorian was punishing me for escaping, letting me starve and freeze. Or maybe he didn’t realize that I came back? If that was the case, I could be locked in here for a while.
I screamed in frustration, letting my anger rage. I stormed over to the door and yanked on the handle. The ward lit up, taunting me about being locked in, but then dimmed. I hated what I was going to do, but I needed help. Needed reinforcements. I needed my sisters.
I searched around for the beetle pin and forgot that I had misplaced it somewhere in the palace. Pulling open the trunk, I searched along the bottom, looking for anything sharp. My fingers found a loose nail, and I wiggled it out of the board and held it up. I pricked my finger on it and stood back up, watching as the deep red drop welled on the tip of my finger. Then I pressed my blood to the mirror on the wall and watched as is shimmered and moved like the drop passed through a plane of water.
“Sisters!” I called impatiently and waited for one of them to answer. Meri was the one who picked up the hand mirror. Her red hair fell in waves to her waist, and her bright green eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Eden! I’m so glad to hear from you. We’ve all been wondering what the ball has been like. Is it fabulous? Did you meet the prince?”
“Yes, I not only met the prince, but I’ve been invited to stay at the palace.”
Her eyes widened. “How wonderful, but why are you angry? What is the problem?”
“I’ve run into a snag. I’m locked in a room with a ward on the door.”
“Is there another way out?”
“A window that is too small to crawl through.”
“What about walls? Can’t you just blow it out?” Such a simple question but one that pained me greatly.
“I don’t think I could do it. What if I brought the whole house down on me? What if it is a load-bearing wall?”
“What would it matter? You would be free? Unless you’re just doubting yourself again. Eden, what have we told you? You are powerful, a sorceress, and are more than capable.”
I shook my head. “No, I almost blew up the Rodan’s farm last time I tried something like that. I don’t think I can. Just help me figure out how to break the ward, and I will be fine.”
“No.” Meri crossed her arms over her chest and pinched her lips. “There are no ways to break through a ward. If there isn’t a ward on the wall, then I suggest blowing out the wall.”
“And alert the whole world that a sorceress is here? I’m trying to keep a low profile.”
“Why? What is wrong with being a daughter of Eville? You should not be ashamed of your heritage.”
I sighed. Meri was a spitfire and one that was not afraid to get into a battle of wits. “Okay, but you know that I’m not as—”
“Poppycock!” Meri snapped. “If I have to hear one more time a woe is me, then I will come up there and drag you back home. You are the most powerful when it comes to glamour. Glamour your way out.”
“But, Meri—” I tried to argue.
“No. We all have gifts. Use yours.” The mirror turned black as my fiery sister cut our mirror call short.
I grumbled and kicked at the wall in frustration. She wasn’t wrong, and I hated that about her.
I heard footsteps coming, and I searched about the room carefully, looking for anything. It wasn’t much, but I saw the teacup left by the house elf. There wouldn’t be much left of her residual energy, but maybe enough to hold on to the glamour just long enough.
Running the cup between my fingers, I stared at the design and felt my body go cold. I hadn’t noticed it before—the design on the teacup, a gold and blue sunburst, wrapped around the lip. It was the same china that was served to me when I had my talk with Queen Giselle and at dinner. It was the royal china set.
Did that mean I was in the palace? Dorian had not taken me to a remote house somewhere in Thressia but straight to the palace. I was hiding here, under the king's nose, this whole time. I chuckled at the genius and the stupidity of the plan. But how did Dorian manage that? Why would he think this was safer than my
assigned room up above? He must have his reasons, but I felt even more betrayed and determined to escape.
I focused on the essence left by the house elf. It wouldn’t be the same, I could glamour myself to look like any house elf, but it wouldn’t truly fool anyone. My living glamours were always stronger if I had a person to mimic.
My reflection in the mirror wavered as I heard Dorian’s footsteps coming. I ran behind the door as it swung open, almost knocking into my long nose.
“Sparrow?” Dorian called out and stepped into the room. I carefully slid behind him into the hall, and he spun when he heard me. I was taken aback by his torn clothes and the soot that covered his face. He looked exhausted and worn out.
“Dinky. Have you seen her? Did she come back?”
I shook my head and watched as he went over to the bed and looked under it and then lifted the lid of the trunk.
“I can’t figure out how she got out to begin with. She is far more powerful than I thought,” Dorian muttered.
I should have ran, taken off, but now that I was in the guise of the house elf, I felt confident. I wanted to see what he would say and do.
“Oh, sparrow.” He brushed his hand across his brow, and I saw the bandages on his hands. He was injured. “You flew the nest too soon. If you only knew of the predators that await you out there. They know who you are.”
The way in which he said that made me nervous. Was it a threat?
I backed away and fell into a side alcove as he took off running down the hall.
“Dinky, alert the others. Try and find her before Oz does.”
I tucked the teacup safely in my apron pocket. I passed two more house elves carrying baskets to a washing room. Neither one gave me much notice. House elves stature was based on the size and length of their ears. The longer their ears, the higher in the hierarchy they were. And poor Dinky had very short ears, which was probably how she received her name.
The farther I traveled through the maze of dark halls, the more I came to realize there were very few windows. I was in the lower level of the palace.
