One of the guys asked me to call Celeste into the library, and I did so without acknowledging them. As she appeared beside me, they began explaining what had happened and asking her for insight on the situation. I tuned them out and continued to mope silently.
Their muted conversation carried on around me as I pouted. I had ventured so far into my own thoughts that I did not hear them calling my name until Xavier laid his hand on my shoulder, causing me to jerk upright.
“Wha- I'm sorry. Are you talking to me?”
The three of them looked at me wryly. “Have you not been paying attention my child? I would have assumed you understood that this is a matter of utmost importance?” Celeste hovered directly in front of me.
“Yes. I mean no. Hell. I'm sorry. No, I have not been paying attention, apparently, but I do understand the importance.”
“How can you understand the importance of the subject if you weren't even listening to the conversation. We could have been discussing tea leaves for crying out loud!” I could tell my brother's patience had begun to thin when it came to my pity party.
I took a deep breath, exhaling out for as long as I could. Then I did it once more for good measure. “I said I'm sorry. However, I do happen to know that whatever you may have been discussing, it is probably important.”
Taryk shot him an exasperated look and sat down next to me. “Please stop feeling guilty. We all make mistakes. What matters now is that we get the best grip on the situation possible, which means we need all hands on deck, okay?” He gave my leg a gentle squeeze.
“I know, and I am sorry. I just feel like a failure. I endangered us all.”
Xavier laid his hand on my arm and smiled gently. “Let's just do what we can to make smart choices from here on out. That's all we can do for now anyways. Help us make a plan.”
And so I did. We plotted and planned to the best of our abilities, using whatever resources we had available to us.
After a while Yuri returned to report that the sprites had been unable to find hide nor hair of the blasted Solomon. Either he had an out-of-this-world hiding place, or he had managed to cross the wards. My bet was on the latter, unfortunately. We hadn't given him any inkling that he needed to be hiding from us.
Yuri agreed to lend some of their warrior sprites to help guard Jewel. Their small size would make them easy to hide, so it would be less obvious that the stall was heavily fortified, should anyone with poor intentions make it that far.
As we walked down to the stable, I filled Yuri in on what had happened with the crystal coffin. Instead of blaming, she sympathized with how hard it is to lose a parent, as she had lost both of hers in the early days of the dark mage's time here.
“I can't imagine losing her, then believing you might be able to get her back, just to find out she really is lost. I'm so sorry.”
“That's the thing. Her soul is still trapped here somehow. Otherwise, she would have a statue in the Hall of Remembrance back at the chateau. Whether she is truly deceased or not, I cannot say, but either way she needs our help. But I would have bet my own life that she lay in the crystal coffin. I saw her clear as could be.”
“Well, as you are learning, magic can play many tricks on our perception. We will help you. She will reach her eternal rest, one way or the other. I promise.”
Reaching the stables, I saw Topaz in the door of her stall, looking out toward the fields. I introduced Yuri and the sprites she had brought to watch over them.
“Are you okay? You seem stressed.”
“Something is not right. I can't say exactly what, but there is a disturbance here.”
I looked out the direction she had been gazing. Closing my eyes, I reached out, hoping to sense whatever she may be feeling. Unfortunately, that area of my skills still needed quite a bit of work. While I could detect other souls in the area, that did us no good since they were everywhere within the castle wards.
“Do you believe they are close? Or do you feel like it may be beyond the wards?” I would take whatever input she might be able to provide.
“I cannot say. I will continue to monitor the feeling and let you know right away if anything changes.”
After filling her in on all that I could, I took a peek at the still-sleeping Jewel. She looked so peaceful lying there, blissfully unaware of what went on around her. Knowing and trusting that we would keep her safe, she simply slept.
I walked Yuri to the wards after picking up the remainder of her crew. They would be returning to the outside to bring back one last group of volunteers as large as they could find. With time being of the essence now, we planned to use the small army we had gathered and move forward, rather than try to grow our forces and be caught in an attack unaware.
As we said our goodbyes, I looked her in the eyes. “I wish you were staying here with me.” She had become my close friend, and I wanted her to stay by my side.
“I shall return tomorrow. From then on out, you will not be able to get rid of me no matter how hard you try.” She kissed my forehead gently, then sped off with a jaunty wave.
As I walked down the tunnel and headed for the staircase, I stopped by the door to the only occupied cell.
“How are you doing in there, Angus? Are you getting everything you need?”
“Yes, Chosen. Bored to death, but comfortable.”
“Sorry you are bored. It really shouldn't be too much longer before all of this unpleasantness is over.”
“Glad to hear it.” His solemn tone made me feel bad for him all over again, but there would be no more making impetuous decisions for me. I had already made more than my fair share of wrong ones. And hopefully I told him the truth—there really wouldn't be much more time for him to spend down here before he could go home.
I headed up the stairs, stopping at the midway landing. Reaching out with my senses, I attempted to tell if any magic leaked from the sealed room that held the coffin. The temptation to walk down the hall and open the door made me shudder.
I just wanted to look one more time. I had been so sure that when I placed my hand upon the glass her image would appear once more, and we would find a way to release her from her imprisonment. Other than my own internal struggle, I sensed nothing more in the hall.
Turning to go, I had barely made it up two stairs before all the orbs went dark. The stairwell plunged into inky blackness and I didn't dare move a muscle, trying to pinpoint what had happened. Reaching out via my bonds, I called Taryk, Xavier, and Celeste. They all started my way, but I had no idea if they would reach me before something else did.
I heard Angus hollering down below, wanting to know why I had turned off his lights. Afraid to yell back at him, I stood silently, waiting for the others to appear. It took fewer than two minutes before I heard them calling my name as they made their way down the stairs.
Realizing Angus had gone silent, I wondered if his lights turned back on. Reaching out my hand, I felt for whoever had come down the stairs first.
Whispering, though I didn't know why, I gently called their names. “Taryk? Xavier? Can you light up an orb? I can't see a damn thing.”
“Everleigh... what are you talking about? The lights are already on. We can see just fine.” Xavier sounded puzzled.
“What? It's pitch black in here.”
Taryk grabbed my hand. “I am going to pick you up and carry you out of here. Hold tight.”
As he lifted me into his arms, I buried my head against his chest, dumbfounded. I hadn't been imagining it. I still couldn't see. And Angus had been yelling about the lights as well. Something very strange had happened in this stairwell just now.
“I'm going to see what I can sense,” Xavier's voice sounded farther away. “Be right behind you.”
“Wait!” I panicked at the thought of him being down here alone. Something wasn't right. “I don't think any of us should be alone down here. Come up with us, and then you and Taryk can come back down.”
I could hear that he didn't understand my fe
ar, but he agreed. As we reached the great room and Taryk set me down, I opened my eyes, and could see perfectly. Both of the guys face’s stared back at me, concerned.
“We are going back to check out the hallway and be sure the room is still sealed. None of us felt a warning triggered by magic in the vicinity, but something obviously blinded you.” Taryk still held tightly to my hand.
“It wasn't just me. When it first got dark, I heard Angus yelling too. Then he got quiet.”
“I think,” Xavier said quietly, “that we need to get that coffin out of here. It seems able to affect you if you get close enough to it without triggering any of the sensory spells we laid. It's too dangerous to have it here.”
“But what if her soul really is attached to it? We can't just send it off and leave her somewhere.” The ridiculous fear that I would be abandoning my mother if the crystal box left my possession reared its ugly head. It seemed to make me completely irrational. Taryk tried to gently point that out to me.
“Ev, listen. It's not like we are going to sink it to the bottom of the ocean. We will put it somewhere safe that isn't here. We will lay all the protection we can on it and come back to it when we can. It will be fine, I promise you.”
Once again, rational me knew he was right. But irrational me, who happened to be in charge at the moment, was having none of it.
“No.”
Xavier leaned over and whispered in Taryk's ear, and he nodded. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me along. “Let's go for a walk, okay?”
Glad of the subject change, I agreed. As we got farther from the stairs, and then out of the castle all together, a fog lifted and my brain seemed to clear. What the hell?
I stopped suddenly, dragging Taryk to a halt as well. “How is that possible?”
He peered into my eyes, searching for something. Satisfied with whatever he saw, or didn't see, he smiled at me gently.
“The dark mage's powers are very strong, and she has had many years to perfect the subtle spells. You are strong as well, and have naturally resistant protections, so the best she can do is try to influence you indirectly and without your knowledge. I believe that is why she began in the dreamscape, because you are most vulnerable there.”
The thought caused me to shudder. Now that I could think clearly, I believed every word he said. We needed to get that thing out of there before she had the ability to affect anyone else in the castle.
He turned us around and headed back to the castle. “Your brother has a plan, and we will get it out of here right now. First, I would like to ask you to trust me.”
I nodded. Of course, I trusted him.
“I am going to use our bond to block out everything around you. It will be like a bubble, with only the two of us in it. You will be able to hear Xavier speak, but not via the bond, okay? Do not panic, it will only be temporary. I will give you an image, and when we get to the room with the coffin, I want you to open a portal to that place once we are ready.”
We hadn't even gotten back into the castle, and the thought of removing the cursed box had already started me freaking out. Tugging his hand, I explained that we needed to stop so I could have the rest of the conversation without losing my marbles again.
We backed up a few steps until I had a clear head, and he finished detailing the plan.
“Better?” At my nod, he continued. “Xavier and I will perform an incantation to tie whatever magic that came with the casket to remain with it. Once we are finished and the portal has opened, we will send the casket through. You will close the portal while we clear the space of any residual spells. When we're done, we will return to the library and cleanse you as well.”
“I don't understand. With the pendant, her magic is not supposed to affect me.”
“Ah, but this is sneaky. This spell is not directly cast at you. There is a good chance that she crafted it to seek the scribe magic, or your mother’s descendant. Because it is not being used to attack you directly there is nothing for the pendant to reflect.”
“I wonder if it would be possible to put a drop of the potion onto the casket. Its intention is to null her magic...”
He looked thoughtful. “That may work. We will discuss the possibility with Xavier before we make any moves.”
We stood silently for a moment under an old tree. For all the people and creatures on the castle grounds, it seemed remarkably quiet. My stomach did a tiny flip flop as his eyes met mine once more. While there had been absolutely no time for romantic interludes, it had become apparent to me that my feelings for him were growing stronger by the hour.
I actually looked forward to the time we would be able to stop worrying about war and destruction, and maybe even go on a date. I wanted to meet his family. Get to know him better. See where this whole “mate” situation would take us.
He grinned, and I blushed, realizing he could probably hear every last one of my thoughts. I attempted to hide by staring at the green grass below our feet, but he caught my chin and wouldn't let me.
The last thing I heard in my head was “Me too.”
Then he kissed me, and all coherent thought went right out the window. Yep, we needed more time for moments like this.
All too soon, he stepped back and took my hand again. “Let's get to it, so we can make more of those memories together. The sooner we beat her, the sooner we can settle into a life together. I am putting up the block now, so don't panic if you can't feel the others.”
Xavier met us in the dining hall with food laid out.
“You are my absolute favorite brother.”
I sat down and started stuffing my face without waiting for either of them and he laughed. “Well, seeing as I have absolutely zero competition, I would hope so.”
He agreed we should try the potion to see if it helped before we sent the coffin on its way. He didn't think it could hurt. At worst, it simply would have no effect on the spells, and we would continue with our original plan.
Meal consumed, we headed down the stairs. He unraveled the spells that had been laid on the door and we entered the room. It still lay there, looking innocuous as a stationary item could be. I uncorked the potion and dripped a single drop on top.
It had no drastic effect, but the air around it began to shift and shimmer. He instructed me to use another drop or two and when I did the spells broke. I actually felt them give way and disappear.
I knelt next to the coffin and cried. There, for all of us to see, lay my mother. Eyes closed, I couldn't tell if she lived or breathed, but she did indeed lie there.
Both of the guys gasped. “We need to call Celeste to consult quickly!”
I did and she said she would be with us momentarily.
“Hopefully we vanquished only the spells on the coffin, and not whatever spells may be cast over your mother. Luckily the potion did not actually touch her. We need to be sure we did not put her in any danger if she is in some sort of stasis.”
Celeste appeared by my side and gasped. “Amara.”
Chapter Twenty
At Celeste's instruction, I pulled my mother's tapestry into view. While intact, it appeared dull and without much color. Her runes sat empty and she had obviously been stripped of whatever she had not passed down to me.
Relaying what I saw, and didn't see, I did my best to give Celeste an accurate picture. After she had asked her questions, I opened my eyes and looked at her.
“Well? What should we do?”
“We cannot do anything until we discover the key to getting her out of the coffin itself.”
Xavier looked pensive. “The potions nulled all her spells, correct? Perhaps she is held inside by magic only and we can just open the lid and transfer her to a bed?”
After a brief inspection, it became apparent that the creation didn't have a lid to open. It appeared to be crafted out of a single solid rock. Perhaps all we needed was a spell that commanded the crystal to release her. I voiced my thoughts.
“Before we do that,” Celeste interjected,
“we need to be sure you are prepared to heal her of whatever damage may have been done.”
“I am not at all practiced on healing physical bodies.” There was no way I would risk my mother's well-being on a skill I had yet to even attempt.
Xavier jumped to his feet from his position beside the casket. “Endryl! She is a healer.”
“That's right...” I mulled it over. “As long as we are absolutely certain it is safe for her and the baby to enter.”
He agreed. “I will also cover them both with a protection spell to ensure there is no doubt they will be safe. I'll find her and ask her if she will help us.” He had made it through the doorway before he even finished the sentence.
I laughed. “He has it bad, I think.”
Taryk grabbed my hand and looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. “It's not so bad, I think.”
Celeste hovered near us. “Everleigh. I want you to be prepared. It is possible that her body is no longer with us, and her soul is only tethered here via magic. If that is the case, there will be absolutely nothing we can do to bring her back to us.”
My shoulders tensed and my head began to ache at the very thought. But I knew she could be correct. “If that is the case, then I will be thankful we are able to free her soul and release her to be in peace.”
I choked slightly on the last few words, knowing my heart would break all over again if that were the case. But I also knew that I meant every word I had said. Whether she came back to us or went on to be at peace, she deserved more than being trapped in this horrid hunk of stone.
Taryk's thumb made slow circles against my skin as he held my hand, and I found it to be particularly soothing. I focused on taking deep breaths and centering myself for what may come in the next few moments. I could hear Xavier and Endryl approaching, and knew it would only be moments before we knew what the situation would call for. Healing or goodbyes?
Endryl walked right up to me and laid her hand on my shoulder. “I will do everything in my power to heal her, if she is able to be healed.”
Invocation Page 17
