by Rachel Angel
“How could the love between two beings ever be blasphemous?” I said.
“How wise you are, child,” Fortuna said. “But Esmeralda thinks only of power, and the notion that I should give it to a human was too much for her to bear.”
“I feel it, Mother,” I said suddenly, as a cold, wet weight settled on my shoulders. “I feel her anger. I feel her hatred.”
As the mist turned colder, Fortuna faded away.
“You do not deserve this!” Esmeralda shouted through the mist. “You do not deserve to be kingmaker nor the fae seer. You do not deserve any kind of fae magic at all!”
Chapter 14
Violet
The mist thickened and turned from lavender to deep purple then to black. On the thick wall of black mist that continued to thicken, I saw my mother’s death.
Horrified, I cried out and turned away, not wanting to see. But when I heard Esmeralda’s cackle, I turned to face her.
“You!” I spat at her. “You’re the one who killed my mother!”
Amused by my horror, she continued to laugh, a diabolically disturbing sound.
“You made it look like an accident. You made it so the human world didn’t know she had been killed.”
Grinning, Esmeralda looked at me with feigned pity in her eyes. “Ah, but Fortuna should have died long before she did. Alas, at my first attempt, your mother proved to be too strong. Despite having lost much of her powers when she was punished for marrying that humanoid, she was still too strong.”
“I guess that goes to show just how powerful she really was,” I said, proud to call Fortuna my mother.
“You say that with pride, Violet. You show no trace of guilt at all.”
“Guilt? Why should I feel guilty?”
“Have you truly not made the connection?”
A knot grew in my belly, painful and annoying as I began to see where she was leading me.
“The moment your mother conceived you, part fae, part humanoid with that man, she began to grow weaker. But, after you were born, she lost virtually all her powers. She was completely and utterly vulnerable, defenseless… easy prey.”
I held back the stunned gasp that was lodged in my throat.
“You, Violet, being half human, took much of your mother’s magical powers with you when you were born. Like a dry sponge, you absorbed it all. Like a baby who suckles on her mother’s breast for nutrients, you sucked out virtually all the magical powers she had.”
“You mercilessly attacked a young mother, weakened by a recent birth, and you want me to feel guilty about it?” I said, refusing to let her see just how deeply her words had affected me. Of course, I was devastated to learn that my mother had died, weakened by my birth. But then again, I knew I was in no way responsible for my mother’s untimely death.
Esmeralda chuckled. “It had to be done, dear child,” she said. “In the best of times, your mother was a questionable Kingmaker. Once she married that unworthy being, she lost all credibility. She had to be disposed of. Her legacy had to be destroyed before she could give any powers to your father.”
She walked around me, stalking me in the dissipating lavender mist. I longed to have my mother back. I longed to hear her words of wisdom.
“As it so happens, your mother foresaw her untimely demise and prepared for the inevitable. With a spell unbecoming of her, she gave what remained of her powers to her human husband.” She grinned and growled, baring her teeth as she snapped her jaw tight. “Killing her was then child’s play.”
She looked at me with murderous eyes. “And you, just a silly little pawn in a game that is far too sophisticated for you. You think that you can simply win a competition, battle it out with human warriors. You know nothing of the world of fae magic, and you don’t deserve to.”
Taking a step closer to me, she raised her fist and pointed it at me. “I will squash you like the annoying insect that you are.”
Suddenly, the lavender mist completely disappeared, but as I continued to look at Esmeralda, she became increasingly bathed in a strange purple glow.
At first, I took a step back, wondering what the purple glow meant. Was this a part of her magical powers?
Her eyes grew wide with surprise and horror as she stared at me and also took a step back.
That’s when I realized that the purple glow was actually coming from me. I looked down at my hands and even my belly where the glow penetrated the lilac silk and glowed brightly.
Although I had no idea what the purple glow meant, I was reassured to see that Esmeralda feared it.
“I may be new and naïve when it comes to the world of fae magic, but I’ll be damned if I’m just going to stand here waiting for you to kill me the way you killed my mother.”
Without even thinking about it, my hands instinctively rose, palms up as purple blue flames spewed out, singeing Esmeralda’s eyebrows before she dodged out of the way.
Laughing, she looked at me with condescending mirth.
“You are hopeless,” she let out when I once again tried to attack her but missed. “But do keep trying. I’ve not been this amused in ages. In fact, not since watching your mother breathe her last breath have I enjoyed myself so.”
I leveled out my right arm, shooting the purple blue flame and managed to touch the heel of her foot as she jumped out of the way.
“I must confess,” she said with a snicker that seemed lightly laced with fear. “Your abilities are surprising considering the fact that you are a mere human hybrid. I guess you owe that to the great powers Fortuna had.”
I glared at her, suddenly hearing in her words just how much Esmeralda coveted the powers my mother had.
“This had nothing to do with the fact that my mother married a human,” I said, looking pointedly at her. “The only thing you really want is to harvest these magical powers for yourself.”
Esmeralda let out a loud cackle, but her hooded eyes showed just how unamused she really was.
I was about to shoot another spray of purple blue flame when I realized I might be showing her too much of what I was capable of. For now, until I got a better grip on my abilities, I had to hide them from her.
Instead of shooting out flames, I straightened out my arm as if it were my intention, and when she jumped out of the way, I anticipated her move and jumped up to catch her in mid-air.
With the combination of my considerable human strength, now enhanced with my newly discovered fae agility, I rammed her up against a tree, my hand around her scrawny little neck and squeezed with all the strength I had.
The blood drained from her face and her lips turned blue and just when I thought she was about to die, my mother appeared before me.
Struggling to breathe, my mother put her delicate hands around mine. “Please, Violet. It’s me. Don’t let me die again.”
Stunned, I gasped and released her. I took a step back. “Mother, I’m so sorry. I thought it was…”
But the maniacal grin returned, and my mother’s eyes turned black with hatred and disdain. Before I could even understand what had just happened, the entity disappeared.
Chapter 15
Violet
Alone in the fae forest, I realized that I’d been duped. Esmeralda had played her hand well, glamouring herself as my mother in order to force me to let her go.
“Lesson learned, dear Esmeralda,” I said aloud to the trees that surrounded me. “I will not be so easily tricked again.”
Catching my breath, I waited a moment before deciding what my next move should be. For a moment I considered waiting for Esmeralda to return. I knew for certain that she wasn’t through with me. The only question was, when would she strike again?
When she didn’t return, I knew I had to do something.
My men, I thought suddenly. My princes. They were trapped in an endless hallucination and they didn’t even know it.
I turned to head out of the fae forest. Running as fast as I could, I shoved branches out of the way, and jumped over sma
ll bushes as I made my way back to the volcano.
Out of breath, I nonetheless pushed myself to go as fast as I could as I started the climb to the rim of the crater. With every breath I took, I feared for my men.
My lungs burned from the strain as I finally reached the top and looked down into the crater. Expecting the lovely little village that had so enchanted me, I was stunned and just stood there staring at the emptiness of it all.
Gone were the adorable little buildings. There were no colorful fields of wheat and oats. There were no little trees filled with berries.
The only thing that remained, amidst all the ugly blackness of the lava, dirt and dust were my men. From a distance, I could barely make them out, but I could see there was a lot of movement.
I rushed into the crater, running towards them until I finally saw that the movements were coming from them fighting. They were fighting among themselves.
Not arguing or disagreeing but engaged in violent battles. Ollie swung his sword up to block a swing from Henry while Axel and Avery had ganged up on Reggie. It was insane. What could have possibly brought them to such violence?
“Henry!” I cried out as he lunged at Ollie. “Henry, what are you doing?”
“Stay back, Violet,” he called over his shoulder, repeatedly swinging his sword at Ollie.
“Stop it, Henry”
Ollie stepped back and tripped over a jagged piece of lava, falling onto his back. Raising his sword high into the air, Henry prepared to finish him off.
“No!” I screamed as I ran to Henry and stopped the fatal blow.
“Violet,” Henry said, pushing me out of the way. “What are you doing? This monster must be stopped. They’ve come into the crater to kill us.”
“Monster?”
Ollie, taking advantage of the distraction, got back on his feet and attacked Henry.
“Out of the way, Violet,” Ollie said. “I won’t let this monster hurt you.”
He ran to Henry, his sword raised high. Their blades met with a deafening clatter.
I turned to Axel and Avery, hoping to reason with them. “Guys,” I shouted. “You’re ganging up on Reggie. Why? Why are you guys doing this?”
“These monsters are everywhere, Violet,” Avery called out. “Take cover. We’ll take care of them.”
“It’s not a monster, Avery. It’s Reggie.”
“Don’t be tricked, Violet,” Axel said. “These monsters are huge and vicious. They’ll tear you apart if they have the chance.”
“No!”
Cornered by Axel and Avery, Reggie jumped up onto a narrow ledge and climbed out of reach of the brothers.
With no foe to fight, Axel and Avery turned on each other, fighting viciously as if they’d never known each other.
“This is your brother,” I called to them, taking a step closer. “Stop it! Stop it right now.”
“Don’t get any closer,” Avery called out. “The monster will kill you if he has the chance.” He swung his sword with all his might at Axel. “Damn, but these monsters just refuse to die.”
Not knowing what to do, I looked up to the heavens, looking for an answer. How could I break this spell they were under?
“Watch out, Violet,” Ollie called out as Henry came to me.
Henry ran past me, but when Ollie came by, I forcibly stopped him and passionately kissed him. He resisted for all of a second, then gave into the kiss and finally calmed down.
“Violet,” he said, looking at me then looking around him. “What’s going on? Where did all the monsters go?”
“Sit tight,” I said. “I’ll get back to you soon.”
I climbed up onto the narrow ledge and came to Reggie, pulling him in for a tender kiss. He immediately opened his eyes and saw what was happening around him but was still clearly confused.
As Avery and Axel continued to fight, I ran between them, forcing them to stop swinging their swords.
“Get out of the way before you get killed, Violet,” Axel said.
I ran to him and kissed him, then just as quickly turned to Avery and kissed him.
“Watch out!” Henry screamed as he came running towards us all. His sword swung from side to side, ready to lop off the first head that got in its way.
“Henry,” I called to him. “Come to me, my love.”
“I can’t now, Violet,” he said, his breathing hard and labored. “I have to kill these monsters.”
I rushed to him and kissed him, holding him tightly to me as he continued to resist.
“This is not the time,” he said, pushing me away.
I kissed him again, but once again, he pushed me back.
“Violet, I love you, but now is not a good time to become amorous. These monsters…” He pushed me aside and lunged at Reggie.
“Hey, man!” Reggie shouted as he jumped back.
“Henry!”
He turned to me and I slapped him in the face with all the strength I had.
For a stunned and silent minute, no one moved. Henry just stared at me for a long moment before finally bringing his hand to his red cheek.
“Damn,” he said with a pleased smile.
Smiling and happy to see him back to his usual self, I flicked my aching hand wondering who was in more pain; Henry with his red cheek, or me with my stinging palm.
“That was one hell of a spell,” Henry said, looking at the guys he’d been fighting with. “I thought I’d never break out of it.”
“You knew you were under a spell?” I said.
“I knew there was a trickster fae around here and I knew that it would try to fool me, but… It’s so damned hard to know what’s real out here. I knew you wanted me to snap out of it, but I just couldn’t.”
“Until she literally slapped it out of you,” Ollie said with a grin.
“And what a blow,” Henry said, still rubbing his sore cheek.
“Sorry,” I said. “I had to make sure you came out of it before you killed someone.”
Henry looked at the other princes. “Are you guys smarting from the blow? Am I the only one who is in pain?”
Ollie, Reggie, Axel and Avery all smiled.
“What is it?” Henry said.
“She broke my spell with a kiss,” Ollie said.
“A real nice and tender kiss,” Reggie said.
“Same here,” Axel said.
“Ditto,” Avery said.
Henry looked at me, clearly offended. “Well, then why did you slap me?”
“I’m sorry, Henry,” I said with a gentle pat to his shoulder. “But you just refused to snap out of it. I kissed you twice, but you still insisted on fighting these imaginary monsters. I had to do something.”
He smirked. “I guess only princes are subject to being kissed out of a spell.”
“And since we’ve always had a rough and tough relationship, fighting you was the best way for me to get through to you,” I added.
“What happened to our beautiful little village?” Ollie said, looking around at the desolate landscape.
“It’s all gone,” Reggie said. “Everything that we’ve loved these past days.” He looked at me. “What about Chief Waikana?”
“An illusion,” I said. “All of it was an illusion, a glamouring, a hallucination. Call it what you will, but we’ve been tricked.”
As they all looked around at the barren ground around them, I looked into each of their perplexed expressions.
Clearly, none of them understood much about what had happened. I barely understood it myself.
But through it all, I was beginning to understand that, while Arcadia seemed to be like all the other islands on the surface, there was so much more to the island that we didn’t know about.
Chapter 16
Violet
“I don’t think there’s any reason to stick around here any longer,” I finally said.
“It’s about time we got back to Kingsbury Castle,” Henry added.
“Yeah,” Ollie said. “Let’s get out of here.
”
After one final look at the bleakness that had taken over the crater, Henry took the lead, bringing us up to the rim of the volcano.
“Are you okay?” I said to Ollie as I walked beside him. “You seem kind of down.”
He smiled at me, a beautifully wistful smile. “It was nice while it lasted,” he said softly. “This past week with you, lying with you, loving you, dreaming of a future with you. It kind of makes me sad to think that it was all an illusion.”
I grinned at him. “The village and Chief Waikana and his people were all an illusion. Fighting these monsters was an illusion. What we shared was real, Ollie. I remember it all.”
His smile broadened. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.” He walked more briskly and seemed to have found a bounce in his step.
We trudged our way down the rocky side of the volcano. The nice path that had made our way up had disappeared, making the descent difficult. Slabs of unstable rocks shifted and moved with every step we took.
But we finally made our way down and entered the coolness of the dense forest.
“Funny how I always wished the island of Arcadia was bigger,” Henry mused as he made his way through the dense brush. “I always felt it was too small for my exploring eyes, my need for new discoveries. And now…”
“It seems to be an endless series of new discoveries,” Avery said. “Just in the past seven days I think I’ve discovered seven new spots on this tiny island.”
I laughed at their amicable discussion, and as they went on, bantering, teasing and ribbing one another, I thought of our future together.
Each man, without even realizing it, brought something new and distinctive to the group. While they were all smart, strong and fierce, they had individual talents that blended well together.
“Hope the castle is still standing,” Axel mused as we neared the edge of the forest.
Through the few sparsely spaced trees, I could make out the beautiful fields that surrounded my home. I was happy to be back. As much as I had loved my time in the crater with Ollie and Reggie, I knew it was time to go home.
