by Sharon Booth
As if to prove his point, Belasko hopped onto my shoulder.
'See?' Sirius laughed and gently stroked Belasko's head. 'Thank you for everything, old chap,' he told him. 'Take good care of my sister.'
Belasko tilted his head, then flew off to perch on the wall where he gazed down over the river, as if keeping guard.
'Proof enough?' Sirius asked.
'The family will never accept this,' I whispered. 'The raven has always been a man.'
'The family will accept this,' he promised. 'They all know how amazing you are, Celeste. You underestimate yourself.'
'I don't feel amazing,' I confessed. 'I feel like a big, fat failure, and as if I have no purpose in my life.'
'But now you do have a purpose. Take care of the estate, be the raven. And, Celeste, trust me, you're far from being a failure.'
'Maybe,' I said hesitantly, 'we could share Belasko? Or maybe I could get my own raven? Maybe one will appear any day now.'
'Nice try,' he said, laughing, 'but no chance.'
'But the prophecy said so,' I said desperately. 'Ravens two will reign once more, remember? Who's the second raven, if not you?'
'Oh, Celeste,' he said kindly, 'I think we both know the answer to that one.'
****
Sirius had promised he would break the news to the family.
'Trinity's meeting me at Castle Lodge in about fifteen minutes,' he told me. 'We'll tell them together. Do you want to be there?'
'I should be, shouldn't I?' I said reluctantly.
'There's no should in this situation,' he assured me. 'I'm happy to tell them without you there. It will give them time to digest the news and ask any questions they may have.'
'In that case,' I said, 'as cowardly as it seems, I'd rather stay here and have some time alone to think.'
'It's not cowardly.' He squeezed my hand. 'It's a lot to take in, and you need time for that, without being bombarded with questions. Stay here a while. Soak up the sun. Enjoy the views. Who knows?' He gave me a crooked grin. 'You may find some answers while you're here.'
I nodded, unconvinced, and he dropped a kiss on the top of my head then left me alone to think.
Belasko, I noticed, didn't follow him. He hopped along the castle wall and watched me, head tilted.
'So,' I said, 'is it true? Are you my familiar now?'
Belasko assured me it was true all right. I'd never heard him communicate in that way before, and it startled me. He promised me I'd get used to it, and we would make a great team.
'There's so much I have to ask you,' I said. 'So much I don't know. You'll have to help me, Belasko.'
He pointed out, rather sarcastically, that helping me was what he was there for. However, he added, any further questions could wait for now. I apparently needed to go over to the benches near the keep.
'What for?' I asked.
To take in the view. It's spectacular.
'The viaduct?' I wrinkled my nose. 'Well, yes, it is, but it's not as if it's something I haven't seen before, is it?'
Rather impatiently, he told me to do as I was told.
'Gosh,' I gasped, 'you're nowhere near as polite as Spirit. I can see we're going to have some cross words.'
Belasko reflected that most good friends had cross words at some point, and it didn't mean they didn't care about each other, and would I please stop being so stubborn and go over to the benches by the keep to look at the view?
I realised he wouldn't let it drop, so I did as he told me. As the keep loomed before me, I realised one of the benches was already occupied. My steps slowed, and my throat tightened.
'I wondered when you'd come over,' Hector said, without even looking round.
I took a deep breath and counted to ten, then headed over to sit beside him. I noticed Branwen was sunning herself on the other bench. Within seconds, Belasko had joined her, and the two of them flew over to sit on the wall and admire the view.
'They're already good friends,' he said, nodding at them and smiling, as if we were proud parents.
'Belasko ...' I shook my head, hardly believing myself what I was about to tell him, '...Belasko is my raven now.'
'I know,' he said. 'Branwen told me.'
He turned to me and I stared at his dear, kind, handsome face and longed to touch him, but didn't dare.
'Hector,' I said, 'one thing's puzzling me, and my sisters.'
'Oh? Just one thing? Not bad.'
I rolled my eyes at his friendly sarcasm. 'Okay, but let's deal with one thing for now,' I said.
'Go on.'
'How come you haven't wiped our memories? You removed all traces of yourself from the minds of the members of the High Council. Why haven't you done the same to us?'
'Well,' he said slowly, 'there's a good reason for that. You see, I'll be around your family quite a bit from now on.'
My heart thumped. 'You will?'
'Yes. What no one knows yet, and what I'm about to reveal to them, is that Aither is a Guardian.'
'Aither?' I squealed. 'Baby Aither? Are you sure?'
'Oh yes. When he was sleeping on Aurora's knee, I could barely take my eyes off him. The power was pulsing through and around him. I could see it, feel it. Guardians are born, you see. It's not a choice. And we can't give up the Guardianship either. It's not like witchcraft where powers can be removed. Aither will feel the pressure of the responsibility he's inherited, and he'll need someone to guide him. They've chosen me to do that.'
'Lord,' I said, my eyes wide as I considered the repercussions of this little revelation, 'Father and Aurora will be over the moon. And Zephyr will be ecstatic!'
'Zephyr will never know,' Hector said. 'He's a member of the High Council. We never reveal the identity of the Guardians to them.'
'Oh, poor Zephyr. He'd have been so thrilled, too,' I said. 'But we're allowed to know?'
'You're his close family, and he'll grow up with you. You need to know so you can help keep him safe and grounded. It's a big responsibility. My parents struggled with it, especially my father. But then, they weren't witches, and it was all new to them. I was lucky to have the instruction and guidance of my own Guardian, until I came of age. He helped my parents to understand the magical world they had no part in and gave them reassurance. We'd all have been lost without him. Hopefully, I'll be able to do the same for Aither and his parents.
'My dad died years ago, but my mum continued to do everything she could to protect me.' He sighed. 'Maybe she was a bit too protective of me, but her reasons were sound, and her heart is pure. I owe her so much. I think you'll love her, and I know she'll love you.'
So, he wants me to meet his mother? Why? When? I was too nervous to ask in case I'd misunderstood.
Instead I promised him no one in my family would ever reveal his secret, nor Aither's.
'I know,' he said. 'I never doubted it. Anyway, enough of that for now,' he added, shifting on the bench so he could look at me more comfortably. 'How are you coping?'
I puffed out my cheeks, hardly knowing where to start. 'It's all rather strange,' I said. 'It's been one heck of a year so far.'
'I know, I know. But it was always meant to be, and you came through it. The storm has passed. You're in the sunshine now, and you're the raven, just as you were destined to be.'
I dipped my head, feeling ashamed. 'I don't feel like a raven,' I confessed. 'In fact, I feel like an imposter.'
'How on earth are you an imposter?' he said incredulously. 'Look at you! At what you did! You're a powerful witch, Celeste. You totally deserve your position.'
'But that's just it!' I burst out. 'People keep saying I'm a powerful witch, but I don't see it. If it had been true that I'd brought Blaise through time, as everyone thought I'd done, fair enough. That would have been amazing. I could have accepted that I was something special if that was the case. But I didn't, did I? I was just the magnet that drew him here. It was Blaise and Jennet who mastered time travel, not me.'
'You should be very glad it wasn't
you,' he pointed out. 'Witches must never time travel, and we strip the powers from those who can. It hurt me to remove Jennet's magic. It would have broken my heart if I'd had to remove yours.'
'But you would have done?'
He hesitated, then nodded. 'Yes. I would have done.'
'Lucky for both of us I'm a useless failure then,' I said lightly.
'So, walking around inside someone's memories isn't anything special?' he said, smiling gently at me. 'You think every witch can master that?'
'I was with you,' I said, kicking wretchedly at the gravel around my feet. 'I doubt I'd have managed it otherwise. I couldn't see anything — not until your voice calmed me down and made me focus.'
'Oh, you'd have got there eventually,' he said with certainty. Suddenly, he shook his head, clearly exasperated. 'You really don't know, do you? You don't know what you did!'
'What?' I frowned, not understanding. 'What did I do?'
He leaned towards me, and I saw the excitement in his face. 'Celeste,' he intoned, 'you summoned me.'
I didn't understand what he was talking about. 'When? When did I summon you?'
He threw back his head and addressed the sky. 'When did she summon me, she asks? She doesn't even realise!'
He grabbed my hand. 'That night at the river — the night they pulled Blaise from the water. The night I removed his magic. Do you think it was a coincidence I was there at that very moment?'
'I thought it was a Guardian thing,' I admitted.
'A Guardian thing?' He burst out laughing. 'Very technical! Celeste, my darling Celeste, I was there because you brought me there. How much clearer can I make this? You. Summoned. Me.'
'But — but you're a Guardian. How could I?' I protested. 'I wasn't even thinking about you!'
'What were you thinking about?' he asked.
I thought back to that night, to the moments before Sirius had shouted to tell me someone was in the river.
I'd been longing for the perfect man to find me. I'd seen him step out of the shadows and walk towards me. I remembered I hadn't been able to see his face because of a dazzling light around him, but it hadn't mattered, because I'd felt the most perfect and complete love and adoration between us, and I'd known, as I'd always known, that he was the one I'd been waiting for.
'You!' I gasped and stared at him in wonder. 'It was you. My perfect love.'
His hand covered mine, and I saw the gleam of tears in his eyes and understood at last. 'It was always you,' I said breathlessly. 'I thought it was Blaise, but he was just the means to find you.' Suddenly it was all making sense. 'I was Blaise's way into the present, but he was my way to you. If he hadn't arrived, I might never have noticed you. And if I hadn't been so obsessed with him, I might never have kept myself pure for you — for the Guardian.'
I realised what I'd said and blushed deeply, but I didn't move my hand, and neither did he.
'Do you understand now the power you possess?' he said, and I heard the pride in his voice and recognised the love in his eyes. 'No witch can summon a guardian, Celeste. No witch in history. But you did. I wasn't at the riverside that night to intercept Blaise. That was a lucky coincidence. I was at the riverside for you — because you'd brought me to you.' He shook his head in wonder. 'You're amazing, and there's so much more to come from you.'
'Hector,' I said, 'I'm so sorry about Blaise. It must have been hard for you, seeing me so obsessed with him.'
'It was our destiny,' he said simply. 'I knew things must play out as they were foretold, and I just had to be patient.'
'I suppose Guardians are above jealousy,' I said.
He shrugged. 'In theory, perhaps. But I'm also flesh and blood, Celeste, and it was hard to bear at times, believe me. There were dark moments, when I feared you'd never see me — who I really was. When I thought, maybe we'd missed our chance. You do know,' he added, cradling my face in his hands, 'how much I love you, don't you?'
'I do. You would have sacrificed your life for me. How could I doubt it? And you know I love you too, don't you? So much.'
'You summoned a Guardian that night by visualising your true love. I think that says it all.'
Branwen and Belasko hopped over and stared up at us, their eyes boring into ours.
'What, now?' Hector asked, laughing. 'In front of you two?'
'I don't think we have a choice,' I said. 'I've already discovered Belasko is one stubborn raven.'
'In that case,' he said softly, 'we'd better do as we're told.'
He put his arms around me and pulled me to him and, I swear, as he kissed me, storms raged and thunder roared — even if it was only in my head.
'Wow,' I said at last.
'Worth waiting for?' he asked, tucking my hair behind my ears and smiling at me.
'Even if it meant waiting a whole lifetime,' I said.
He kissed me again, and I thought, I can do this. I can be the raven. I can be anything with this man by my side.
The fading sunlight dappled the surrounding ground. Way below us, the town quietly emptied; people slowly headed home, contented with the day, looking forward to just another normal evening.
They had no idea that, way above them, two people sat, arms around each other, making plans, sharing hopes and dreams, building a vision of their future.
Belasko and Branwen exchanged approving looks, then hopped away to gaze down upon Castle Clair, wings touching, watching over the town as they should.
A promise kept.
A prophecy fulfilled.
Two ravens on the castle wall.
The End
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About the Author
Sharon Booth is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and an Authorpreneur member of The Alliance of Independent Authors. She writes uplifting women's fiction - "love, laughter, and happy ever after". Although a happy ending for her main characters is guaranteed, she makes them work for it!
Sharon grew up in the East Yorkshire town of Hessle, and now lives in Kingston-upon-Hull with her husband and their gentle, and thoroughly gorgeous, German Shepherd dog.
Since giving up her admin job at a medical practice, she spends a lot of time assuring her family of five children, assorted in-laws and hordes of grandchildren - not to mention a sceptical mother and a contrary hairdresser - that writing full-time is a proper job and she hasn't taken early retirement.
She has a love/hate relationship with sugar (she loves it, it hates her), adores Doctor Who and Cary Grant movies, and admits to being shamefully prone to all-consuming crushes on fictional heroes.
Also by Sharon Booth
Kearton Bay Series
There Must Be an Angel
A Kiss from a Rose
Once Upon a Long Ago
Skimmerdale Series
This Other Eden
Being Emerald
The Skimmerdale Collection
Moorland Heroes Series
Resisting Mr Rochester
Saving Mr Scrooge
Home for Christmas Series
Baxter's Christmas Wish
The Other Side of Christmas
Bramblewick Series
New Doctor at Chestnut House
Christmas at the Country Practice
Fresh Starts at Folly Farm
A Merry Bramblewick Christmas
Summer at the Country Practice
Christmas at Cuckoo Nest Cottage
The Bramblewick Collection
The Witches of Castle Clair Series
Belle, Book and Christmas Candle
My Favourite Witch
A
cknowledgements
As always, my biggest thanks go to my readers. Thank you for taking the time to read my books, leave reviews and send me the most encouraging and delightful messages. I really do appreciate every single one of you.
Thank you to Pat Posner and Jo Bartlett, who between them managed to knock the manuscript into shape by pointing out inconsistencies, questioning some aspects of the storyline and picking up typos.
I highly recommend the editing services of Alys West, The Book Whisperer, who is incredibly adept at cutting to the heart of the story and spotting all the stuff that really doesn't need to be there. She has such a clear eye when it comes to what's essential, and her skills make such a difference to the overall shape of the novel. Thank you, Alys!
Much gratitude to Berni Stevens, who designed yet another gorgeous cover. I've loved every single one of the Castle Clair covers and I'd have no hesitation in recommending Berni to other authors.
Thank you to my wonderful family, for their love, support, and endless patience, and to my two writing families: The Write Romantics — Jo, Julie, Alex, Rachael, Deirdre, Jackie, Helen R, Helen P, and Lynne, and the Beverley Chapter of the Romantic Novelists' Association, whose members give me such encouragement and so many laughs. Thank you all.
Sharon xx
More from Sharon Booth
Belle, Book and Christmas Candle
(The Witches of Castle Clair Book 1)
Do you believe in magic?
Sky St Clair doesn't, and growing up in Castle Clair, a small town renowned for its mystical past and magical legends, she never felt she belonged.
Sky got away from Castle Clair as soon as she could, but when a run of bad luck leaves her homeless and jobless, she has little choice but to accept her sister Star's invitation to return home for the festive season.
