Magic

by Shelby Hild

  Behind them, the other women were being helped down from the high doors of their own carriages to the ground. Many were noticeably stretching as they stepped away and toward the front of the manor.

  Prince Aiden walked forward with Darissa on his arm. His brother offered his arm to Vivilyn who smiled and nodded. Thankfully, the drive had calmed the pain in her head to just a dull throb.

  The sound of the fountain in the distance reminded Vivilyn of the waves from the beach as they would rush in.

  Despite not even being half the size of the Ettravil Palace, she still looked up in awe at the Crysteal Manor as they approached.

  The four of them, plus a cameraman, made their way up the stairs. She could see Darissa trembling with nerves and cold.

  As they approached the front door, Vivilyn saw two gray-haired people standing in front of the entrance. It wasn’t nearly as grand as the main entrance to the palace—before the first explosion that destroyed the dark, carved stone—but the white doors had clear glass between different pieces of moldings giving the impression of clouds captured within.

  The other women were rapidly catching up, and she was sure a few of them were even running. They couldn’t allow Vivilyn and Darissa any more time alone with the princes than they’d already had.

  All the women were lined up at the bottom of the stairs while the princes went up to the current masters of the estate, Darissa’s parents. Her mother curtseyed and her father bowed to the princes.

  Prince Aiden lifted the Baroness of Crysteal’s hand and kissed her knuckles.

  They chatted quietly while the women settled down awaiting directions about what to do next. Then with a small wave, Prince Aiden and Prince Ethan bowed to the Baron and Baroness before entering the building.

  Vivilyn held Darissa’s hand comfortingly as the other woman stared at her parents.

  The baroness was leaning heavily into her husband’s arm as though she didn’t think she could remain standing much longer. Both had wide smiles, though, as they looked at the women.

  “Welcome, Ladies,” the man greeted them.

  Darissa squeezed Vivilyn’s hand so tightly the blood circulation was temporarily cut off. Then after a quick deep breath, Darissa ran forward, unable to contain her excitement at seeing her parents any longer.

  Her mother’s smile faltered slightly as Darissa began to suddenly move, but it returned as soon as her father opened his free arm to embrace her.

  “Mama, Papa,” Darissa said, as she held her father securely.

  No one in the crowd moved except for a single cameraman. In the distance, Vivilyn heard something fall from one of the carriages. She hoped it wasn’t breakable as their bags were being unloaded. She assumed there was another entrance where all their belongings were being taken as it was determined whose stuff was whose and where the women would be staying.

  “Rissa,” the man said, as the family pulled apart. “I’m so happy to see you, darling.” Both Darissa and her mother smiled towards each other.

  “You’ve gotten so big,” the baroness said, tilting her head slightly. She raised her hand to her daughter’s cheek and wiped away a tear.

  The baron shifted his attention back to the crowd in front of him.

  “We are so pleased to host you here at the lovely Crysteal Manor. You will have your choice of rooms on the third and fourth floors. Unfortunately, since there are so many of you, we will need for you to double up in the rooms. But any of the rooms with beds are available except for the top floor, which is for the royals.”

  “I’m going to show Vivilyn our room, Papa,” Darissa said, as she ran back and grabbed Vivilyn’s arm. “We’ll be staying in my room.”

  “What?” Vivilyn asked, slightly shocked as she was pulled up to Darissa’s parents. She hadn’t anticipated being dragged up in front of the baron and baroness still in her travel clothing. Especially with her head still lightly pounding with the dull ache from the incident on the way there.

  “Mama, Papa, this is my best friend, Vivilyn. You’ll come to adore her just like me.” Darissa pushed Vivilyn in front of her so her parents could get a better look.

  Vivilyn didn’t know what to do.

  Do you curtsey to a baron and baroness?

  She didn’t get long to worry about it because Darissa’s father pulled her into a hug, not unlike her own father would. It didn’t seem a very baron-like thing to do, but then again, she didn’t know what barons were like, so she patted his back three times as he hugged her.

  “Sorry,” he said with a few coughs as he released her. “We are a hugging bunch here at Crysteal Manor. And a good friend of Darissa’s is always like another daughter for me.”

  His smile was the exact same as Darissa’s. His eyes crinkled in the corners and one side raised slightly more than the other just like his daughter. Although her eyes were a slightly lighter green, it was obvious Darissa got most of her looks from this man.

  “My father, William, and my mother, Eleanor,” Darissa said, her face slightly red as though embarrassed she’d forgotten to introduce her parents.

  “It’s so pleasant to meet you,” Eleanor said with a nod of her head as she gripped tightly to William’s arm.

  “Come on,” Darissa said, pulling Vivilyn’s hand again. “I want to show you our room.”

  Vivilyn felt her heart start beating quicker with excitement as Darissa’s joy at being home was infectious.

  “Then maybe we can go to the library?” she asked with a hopeful look at her father.

  “We will be in there for a bit after making sure all the other ladies are settled,” William said. Then he whispered to his daughter, “Your mother seems more comfortable there these days than any of the other rooms.”

  “Perhaps you can help me find something later,” Darissa said, as the door inside opened.

  “Anything for you, sweetheart. We are so pleased you’ve come home safe and sound,” her father said. “Now, go show your friend around.”

  Inside, the walls were as pure white as the outside. The entire front room, although big, looked even larger because it was so bright with the huge windows all around and the glass door.

  The only decoration in the entrance way were two large paintings straight ahead. Both pictures were of a lake that had giant lily pads across the surface, one during the night and the other during the day.

  “That’s Dream Lake,” Darissa said as she pulled open the large doors between the two pictures. “The pads in it can easily hold people, since they’re so big.”

  As they walked through the building, more colors appeared, gold and silver, red and green, even a few purples. It was elegantly but not extravagantly decorated. Where the palace had been filled with tables and chairs to the point where Vivilyn wasn’t sure if it could house anything more, the Crysteal Manor had just enough in it to seem glamorous. No more than that.

  The two women went up four flights of stairs and then went to the left.

  “The princes will stay in the rooms on the right. And when any of the rest of their family show up, they’ll be housed there as well.”

  “Isn’t this the floor we’re not supposed to be on?” Vivilyn said as Darissa moved down the hall until they reached a gray door.

  “Well, I’m going to stay in my own room and we do have to double up, so I thought you’d want to stay with me.” Darissa stopped and looked at Vivilyn. “I hope I didn’t overstep assuming you’d be okay with being my roommate. I just—"

  “It’s not that,” Vivilyn said quickly. “I appreciate you wanting me to room with you, it’s just… I didn’t realize we would be on a different floor than everyone else.”

  “My family stays on this floor,” Darissa said. “Gran-Pawpa was granted this place after he brought a fossilized egg back as a gift for the queen.”

  Vivilyn’s mind threw her quickly into a throne room where Queen Frederica sat regally. Her eldest son, Brian, sat at her side with his brothers standing stiffly behind him.

&nbs
p; “Stop squirming,” he whispered to Bryton, the youngest of the princes. “If you distract everyone, then you won’t get any cake.”

  “Don’t threaten him with cake,” Warrick said between the two, slightly louder than he meant to if his cringe meant anything.

  “There’s just one more gift, boys,” the queen said without moving at all. “Then you can run off and play before dinner. Cake will not be served for hours.”

  “Yes, mother,” they all said as a man with gray eyes and matching hair stepped forward.

  Vivilyn recognized the woman behind him as a much younger version of the Baroness of Crysteal. She had a large box held in front of her.

  “My queen,” they both said before kneeling on the carpet.

  “Rise, my subjects,” the queen said, remaining still as a statue. “What brings you before me on this occasion?”

  “Many years ago, you set me forth with a mission,” the man said. “Although I was unable to completely succeed in my part of our deal, I was able to bring you this.”

  He gestured at Eleanor who stood up and gave the box to one of the guards. After opening the box, presumably to check for any hidden dangers, the guard handed it to Queen Frederica. Eleanor returned to her spot kneeling on the floor.

  “If we can’t convince the dragons to return to us, then I don’t know what we will do,” she whispered to herself as she gazed at the fossilized egg in the box. Her eyes shifted to her sons behind her and lingered on Warrick, before turning her attention to the gift in front of her. She shook her head, then smiled.

  The next thing she said was louder, so the entire court could hear. “Your family betrayed the kingdom all those years ago. You lost your title and your Rank. Today you have taken the first step to repaying us. For this, you will be granted an estate near the one we destroyed and from henceforth, you will again be known as the Baron of the Crysteal Estate. There are things there that your family will be forever destined to guard. If it is released, your family shall harbor the guilt for what occurs.”

  The door Darissa pushed opened squealed loudly and brought Vivilyn back from her vision. She’d hoped the Seer’s fruit she’d eaten in the vision not long after the first ceremony would have worn off by that point. Although the visions weren’t happening as frequently, they kept her mind jumping about when something was mentioned. For a moment she worried it would never wear off.

  What did her ancestors do to make them lose their rank? Vivilyn couldn’t help but wonder as she watched her friend enter the room in front of them.

  Her jaw dropped when she followed and looked around.

  The walls were white like everywhere else in the manor, but on the other side of the room, large windows looked down to the fountains in the front. Golden tasseled sky-blue curtains hung but were tied back so the view was unobscured. Two columns were between the windows and between those were panels of marble. A golden mask hung directly at eye level.

  The furniture was all a light gold, white, and blue. Two couches sat in an L shape with a table and lamp in between. A glass table sat in front of the couches and there were two chairs that matched them on the opposite side.

  A large chandelier hung overhead.

  “My parents sleep in a room adjacent to there,” Darissa pointed through a room that appeared except for a dark golden rug beyond an archway. “Their room and bathroom are over there beyond view. But we’re going over this way.”

  Vivilyn saw a white piano with gold and blue lining as they went through another doorway.

  The white, blue, and gold theme continued in this room.

  “It’s not much, but it’s my room.”

  There was a large bed with blue sheets and a comforter. Gold curtains hung down and around it. To one side there was a white desk with a gold and blue chair. On the other side was a giant white and blue armoire with mirrors on the doors and golden handles. There was another large window in this room, also facing the fountain in the front of the manor.

  “Not much” must mean something different here, Vivilyn thought as she tried to take in all the different decorations. This single room held more décor than her entire home back in Treelyn, unless she counted the baskets and crates they used to store the produce and herbs for sale and her own artwork.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said as she walked around. The floor was wood but covered in soft blue rugs with white spirals.

  “Thank you,” Darissa said. “There’s not much room for a second bed, but I’m sure we can fit one at the window.”

  Vivilyn looked at the bed that was already in the room. She was sure her entire family could fit on it plus an extra person or three.

  “If that’s what you’d prefer,” Vivilyn said. “Although I’d be fine just sharing one. My best friend from home and I would always sleep in the same bed when we would spend the night with each other.” Maia never really let me sleep though, she thought with a small smile. She even talked while asleep.

  “Oh, good,” Darissa sighed with relief. “I wasn’t actually sure that another bed would fit.” She laughed.

  After a few moments of Vivilyn continuing to look around the room, Darissa sat on the bed with another sigh.

  “Truth be told,” she said, “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  “Huh?” Vivilyn sounded as she let the curtain she’d been holding fall. It was softer than anything she had ever touched.

  “I... since I woke to the person in my room,” Darissa said with a shudder, “I’ve not been sleeping very well. And, I don’t know, things just seem safer with you around. It’s like… I don’t know.”

  “I think I understand,” Vivilyn said, as she came and sat next to Darissa on the bed.

  “Nothing bad can happen here,” Darissa said, her smile wide on her face again. “It’s home. Nothing bad happens when you’re home, right?”

  Chapter 4

  Vivilyn couldn’t even begin to grasp the beauty or the enormity of the Crysteal Manor library. Books were scattered across tables making it seem like there wasn’t enough room in the 76 different bookcases to hold all of them. Which could definitely have been the case since all of the shelves appeared full.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to everything I see being so grand,” Vivilyn muttered to herself as she tried to count how many books were on the closest bookcase to her.

  “I hope you don’t,” Lord William said from his chair in the center of the room as he watched his daughter standing at the top of a ladder looking for a specific book.

  “It’s one of the things I’ve tried to instill in Rissa. ‘Never forget the wonder that is around you. When things cease to be wonders, you stop being able to see things for what they are.’”

  “Papa,” Darissa said from the ladder. “Viv doesn’t need any of your wise words right now. We just need the book about phoenix.”

  “The phoenix fires burn strongly,” Lady Eleanor sang from her chair, looking out the window. “They’re rising from the sands as we speak. Perhaps they can burn the darkness before it overwhelms us.”

  Lady Eleanor looked over to Vivilyn, her gray eyes seemed to hold knowledge of something Vivilyn wanted to know, but also didn’t want to know at the same time.

  When Vivilyn gave no response, she said, “The eyes are opening, and the dragons will soon roar.”

  Darissa slipped on the ladder slightly, causing a few books to fall to the ground. The clatter the books made as they hit the ground caused Eleanor to jump. She smiled but stopped speaking.

  “Whoops,” Darissa said as she looked to where they fell. “Wasn’t me.”

  She smiled as though she’d made a joke and a dark shadow fell over her face before quickly fading away. Vivilyn walked over and picked up two of the books Darissa had been collecting.

  “Myths and Mythologies of the Kingdoms,” Vivilyn read. “History of Etilidus.”

  “The book you’re looking for is Dark Truths of Etilidus,” Lord William said as he turned the page in his book.

&n
bsp; Vivilyn wasn’t sure he was actually reading the book in front of him because his eyes didn’t remain on the pages for long. He followed his daughter’s movements closely.

  “Do you know where it is?” Darissa asked as she climbed back down the ladder to the floor. Quickly, she picked up what remained of the mess she’d created.

  “Not off hand,” he said, “but I’m sure I could track it down given a bit of time. Why don’t you girls go spend some time with the others? We will be along soon.”

  “Okay, Papa,” Darissa said, sounding disappointed.

  Vivilyn followed Darissa out of the library on the first floor. They walked around a bit before finding all 123 other women sitting and talking on an enclosed porch next to an area for fires to be lit at night.

  The chill in the air caused Vivilyn to shiver.

  “Winter is here,” Jolene said from outside as soon as she saw Vivilyn and Darissa. “I’m so excited for cold weather clothes. I’ve got a cute faux fur-lined coat that is so pretty.”

  “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a real winter,” Louise said. “My team had to make clothes specifically for colder weather.”

  “That’s nothing,” Brayleigh’s voice cut through all the conversations like a bolt of lightning. “Vivilyn over here had to have all of her clothes made for this.”

  “Of course, she did,” Freya said from the other side. “You wouldn’t expect someone like her to have clothing appropriate for the Enchanted Trials, do you?”

  Some of the women laughed.

  Brayleigh walked up to Vivilyn and looked her up and down.

  “I don’t understand why you’re still here.” She shook her head. “It’s so obvious you don’t really belong. You’re just pretending. You’re just a… a fraud.”

  “Brayleigh,” Darissa said firmly through the silence that followed.

  A black shadow completely covered Brayleigh. It wasn’t from anything over her or next to her. It seemed to Vivilyn that the darkness was coming from within her. As she looked at everyone, she noticed most of the people had a similar thing, but none as dark as on Brayleigh’s face.