The Potion Diaries

by Amy Alward

  ‘I wish there was some way to get a message to her,’ Evelyn said. She felt annoyed, and then she felt annoyed that she was annoyed. Sam was out of the country. Did she know that someone was stealing her magic? All their magic?

  ‘I’m sure she’ll be on her way back,’ Molly said, as if reading Evelyn’s mind. ‘I mean, everyone will be wondering what has happened to us.’

  ‘That’s true,’ she mused.

  ‘My mum and dad will be Freaking. Out,’ said Bethany.

  ‘I miss my mum,’ said another classmate. The thought jumped through the class and Evelyn realised she needed to distract them or else they might become hysterical with worry. There was no time for hysteria. They needed to work together.

  ‘Come on now, guys,’ Evelyn said. ‘We can fight this. Who wants to join my Princess fight squad?’

  Molly’s hand shot up, along with the rest of the class.

  ‘He’s saying it’s an ORA virus,’ said a voice that the Princess recognised. She looked up to see Renel standing in the dream world in front of her. He wasn’t the only one to appear. She recognised several of Renel’s assistants, Palace cooking staff, a few members of the janitorial team and Molly’s teachers.

  ‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘Not you as well.’

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ said Renel. ‘It’s spreading throughout the Palace. Stefan can barely control it. He is being very open now that the only way to stop the virus from getting worse is to quarantine our minds and our magic in sleep. ZA have been developing an advanced sleeping potion based on the formula Prince Stefan had in his possession, but there wasn’t enough to go around.’

  Evelyn swallowed hard. ‘Is that what he’s calling it? A virus?’

  Renel frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  But there were too many people around to explain.

  ‘Molly, Bethany, can you come here a moment?’ She took the two girls aside. ‘You see all these new people? We need to work together to keep ourselves safe. Have you heard of the oneiros?’

  ‘Nightmare-bringers . . .’ Bethany replied, terror clinging to her words.

  ‘We are all living in a dream, which means we could also be living in a nightmare. But we can stop them. You see this Palace hallway, that you’ve already designed around us? If you tell everyone here to keep on imagining the Palace, filling it with all the good thoughts we can remember, we can create a safe place for us all. Can you do that?’

  Molly’s jaw set, determination in her eyes. ‘Yes, Princess.’

  The two girls rushed off to inform the others about how to fortify the dream-Palace. It was only then that Evelyn was able to get a moment alone with Renel.

  ‘It’s not a virus,’ she said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s a person. Someone is purposefully draining us of Talent. Keeping us in this sleep state . . . this dream world . . . slows the process. It means we can’t be drained of our magic completely.’

  ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘I met the other Prince of Gergon here, when I first arrived.’

  ‘Ah.’ Renel stroked his beard.

  ‘He showed me what was going on. There’s a tower in the centre of a walled town the dream-Gergons are living in. Whoever is in that tower is taking the magic. As long as we stay outside the walled city, we can slow the drain – but the oneiros are powerful and terrifying – they will push us toward the city unless we can be strong against them.’

  ‘Why don’t the Gergons leave?’ Renel asked. ‘We could bring them here?’

  She shook her head. ‘They’ve given up. They’re too afraid of the nightmares. It’s easier to stay in the city.’

  Renel frowns. ‘Well, in Nova the spread is contained to the Palace for the moment, but all it will take is one affected person to leave and it will spread throughout the country.’

  ‘How dare the Prince blame the ORA, when he knows full well the drain originated in Gergon!’ said the Princess.

  Renel nodded. ‘Ordinaries and Talenteds pitted against each other. I haven’t heard of anything more disgusting.’ This, coming from Renel – who might have been the world’s biggest Talented snob – meant Stefan had seriously crossed a line.

  Evelyn bit her lower lip and stared at the dream-Palace slowly being fortified around them. It was something, but it wouldn’t be enough. The longer they waited, the harder it would be to block out the nightmares brought by the oneiros. She locked eyes with Renel and clenched her hands into fists. ‘We can’t sit around here and wait for someone in the outside world to help us. We have to find out who is in that tower. And then we have to figure out how to stop them.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Samantha

  KATRINA TAKES THE ROAD MUCH FASTER than the Waidan did, and I’m thrown against the car door as she whips up the mountain roads. I brace my hands against the ceiling, gritting my teeth as we skid dangerously close to the edge and a steep drop.

  I have a million questions careening through my brain, but there are people who know more than me, and I have to trust them. Grandad is definitely one of them. I call him from the car as Trina drives, and he rapidly gives me instructions for what to do when I reach the magic pool again. I have to repeat some of the instructions back to him, and Trina shoots me a worried glance. I can’t think about it now. His plan sounds crazy but it has to work.

  I shake the doubt out of my head, along with my worries about Molly and my fervent wish that Zain was with me. I need to focus. If I can get inside the Palace to see Molly and the Princess, I can verify for myself that it is the same problem that affected the villagers in Long-shi a thousand years ago.

  And then I can ask the Prince if he knows who the source is in Gergon.

  We pass through the ancient archway and Katrina stops the car. It takes me a moment to get my bearings, but I remember that we walked past the ancient theatre on the way through. Once I locate it, I hurry through the twisting pathways, pausing only to make sure I pass the landmarks that I remember: the living quarters, the weighing station and the stables.

  We reach the ancient house of Tao Kemi. Stepping inside, the same feeling of unsettling dread creeps around my shoulders. I feel magic thrumming through these walls and it’s disturbing precisely because there shouldn’t be so much magic here. He broke the natural order of the world for his beloved, and then paid the consequences with his life.

  I shake off the dread and dash through the living quarters – avoiding the new holes in the floor – to the hidden basement. The pool looks innocuous, its dark, serene waters holding secrets beyond measure.

  ‘What is this place?’ Trina asks.

  ‘It’s a pool of liquid magic,’ I say. ‘When I touched it, it unlocked a story that Tao Kemi had preserved here.’

  ‘Wow. I wonder what other secrets this place must hold.’

  ‘One of them Grandad told me about on the phone in the car. He said I could use this place as a kind of Transport into the Palace.’

  Trina’s eyes bulge out of their sockets. ‘What?’

  ‘I know. It sounds kind of insane.’

  I stare at the pond with new eyes. I’ve heard of other forms of Transport screens, early trials that were notable for lots of errors. It would be the equivalent of travelling in one of the first cars ever made: cool, but insanely dangerous. Especially without someone on the other side to pull us through. Not dangerous. Impossible. That word seemed to be coming up a lot lately. ‘Grandad explained it like this: the volcano connects all the streams of magic around the world, so it works like a modern Transport screen . . . except a lot more dangerous. It hasn’t been attempted in at least a thousand years, so who knows if this is going to work.’

  ‘Wow. Do you think the Waidan knows?’ Trina asks.

  ‘Probably. But I was the one who was able to activate Tao’s hidden message, when no one else could.’ I stare at the “Kemi” tile on the floor and feel determination settle in my bones. ‘Now, I’ve got to see if its magic will work for me
again.’ I give my phone to Katrina, take off my shoes and socks and slide tentatively to the edge of the pool.

  ‘Wait – you can’t really be travelling to the Palace using this pool of magic, can you?’

  ‘Not my body, but my mind can, apparently. If there is someone on the other end to receive me.’

  ‘And who will that be? Prince Stefan won’t want you in the Palace – he thinks the ordinaries are behind this.’

  I shake my head. ‘Too many questions, Trina. At this point, I just have to trust in Grandad. Just . . . watch me, okay? If I start to sink, or anything looks strange, then pull me out.’

  Trina flexes her arms. ‘I’m trained to react in these situations. I won’t let you down, Sam.’

  ‘I guess there’s nothing else for it . . .’ I gulp and, after a deep breath, I take the plunge, slowly lowering my whole body inside the magical water. It pools around me, encasing me in its strange warmth. It tingles against the bare skin of my feet and ankles. I lift my palm up through the surface, and liquid slips through my fingers, slightly more viscous than normal water, dripping slowly back into the pool.

  Automatically I tilt my head back, so I’m lying in the water. I’m not convinced that it will support me, but when I raise my legs I end up supported, floating like a rubber duck on the surface.

  Now all I have to do is repeat the last of Grandad’s instructions. I close my eyes and speak the words: ‘Tabitha. Tabitha of Nova, I call you. Answer me.’

  Tabitha? I know that I know that name. But from where? I do as Grandad said and continue to repeat the words.

  Suddenly the liquid that’s been surrounding me turns to solid. I’m locked in the water. My body instantly switches into panic mode; I want to flail my arms and legs but I can’t move them. I can’t turn my head. I open my eyes, darting them right to left. The water looks normal. But all I know is that I can’t move.

  ‘Try to relax,’ says Trina, sounding much further away than the edge of the pool.

  Relax? She wants me to relax?! It’s not possible. It’s—

  The view in front of my eyes changes. No longer can I see the dusty ceiling and stone walls. The world blurs and shifts in front of my eyes, and when it settles again, it looks as if I’m standing inside the Palace. It’s a room I’ve been in before: a small suite next to the Princess’s room.

  ‘Are you there?’ says a gruff, female voice that seems to reverberate in my skull.

  ‘Wait, who is this?’ I’m so confused. Am I really here, inside the Palace, or am I still floating in the pool?

  ‘Oh good, you are there. Here, hopefully this will help explain things.’

  My vision spins around the room, stopping in front of a mirror. ‘Oh my god,’ I say, but the mouth in the mirror doesn’t move. That’s because I’m looking through the eyes of the Queen Mother. That’s who Tabitha is. But of course – only Grandad would be so audacious as to refer to her by her first name.

  The wrinkled but determined face in the mirror grimaces. ‘ “Oh my god, your Highness,” is much more appropriate.’

  I choke back a groan at how rude I’ve been, but the Queen Mother doesn’t seem to have any time for apologies. She turns away from the mirror. ‘We have to move – if the Prince finds us then we are in big trouble.’

  ‘How bad is it?’ I ask.

  ‘I’m worried. Very worried.’

  The dread that’s been eating at me takes another bite out of my nerves. The last time the Queen Mother was worried, it was when ZA were about to administer the wrong cure to the Princess during the Wilde Hunt.

  ‘What do you need to see?’ she asks me.

  ‘The Princess – and Molly. I need to find out how they are so I can figure out a cure.’

  The Queen Mother nods, then passes through the wall of the room, into a long hallway. ‘You, girl, were the only one who saw through the Prince’s act. I don’t believe the ORA is behind this – the changes started when my granddaughter married him. Look at the havoc he has brought to Nova.’ Bitterness laces her words. ‘I hope you can stop him. The Kemis have never let us down.’

  ‘Your Highness, if you don’t mind me asking, how have you managed to avoid the spread of the virus?’

  ‘I haven’t been in such fine form myself,’ she says, as she stifles a cough. ‘So I have kept to my quarters these past few days. I do not want to end up like the rest. But when Ostanes got in touch – I knew I had to help.’

  ‘Do you feel like your magic is weakening?’ I ask.

  The Queen Mother’s voice raises a pitch in alarm. ‘How did you know that? I thought it was just the fact that I was getting older.’

  It’s sounding more and more likely that this is the same potion that Tao Kemi created.

  The Queen Mother comes to an abrupt halt outside a pair of ornate double doors. ‘They’re in here,’ she says. ‘They’ve had to use rooms with doors as one of the symptoms of the virus is a drain in Talent.’ Princess Evelyn once told me that many of the rooms used by the Royal family had no doors – because their magic was so strong, they didn’t need them. They could walk straight through the walls.

  There’s a sound like a door slamming shut behind us. Without wasting another moment, we enter the room.

  ‘Oh no,’ I say. Even the Queen Mother seems shocked – through her eyes, I see her hand flying to her mouth.

  We’ve entered a huge room that looks like it might have once functioned as a ballroom – three enormous chandeliers hang in a line down the centre of the room, and richly patterned damask wallpaper covers the walls. Now, it’s a makeshift hospital. There are at least thirty beds, each with a child in it, wrapped in sheets up to their necks. They all have their eyes closed and are still – deathly still. There’s no moaning, no writhing in pain, no whimpers.

  The Queen Mother’s eyes scan the children lying in the beds until I catch sight of long dark hair in thick braids – Molly. I try to run towards her, then remember I’m stuck inside the Queen Mother. ‘There! Can you go to my sister, please?’

  The Queen Mother nods, then pads over to the bed. She leans down over my sleeping sister, pulling back the tightly tucked-in covers.

  She puts her hand on her forehead. ‘She feels very warm,’ says the Queen Mother. ‘But otherwise, it looks like she’s simply asleep.’

  ‘This is no normal sleep,’ I say. Molly’s breathing is far too even – and though on the surface her expression is serene, I can almost see her battling beneath it, in the tiny flexing of the muscles on her face. I will save you, Molly, I think as I look at her through the Queen Mother’s eyes.

  The Queen Mother moves away from the bed. She covers her mouth as she coughs violently, and when she pulls away her sleeve I can see specks of white powder on the rich fabric. ‘I won’t be able to sustain you here much longer. And besides,’ her voice drops to a whisper, ‘the Prince will be looking for me. He wants to put me in this dream state too.’

  There’s a loud shout from the far end of the room and Prince Stefan bursts through. Behind him, through the wide double doors, comes his contingent of guards, their wands drawn and ready.

  ‘There she is!’ shouts Stefan, staring down the Queen Mother with laser-like intensity. ‘You must let me put you into enchanted sleep,’ he continues in a more normal tone. ‘It’s the only way to keep you safe.’

  ‘Over my dead body,’ the Queen Mother snarls.

  ‘Make sure she doesn’t leave,’ the Prince says to his guards. I feel a shove – the Queen Mother trying to send me back.

  I cry out into her mind before she has a chance to get rid of me completely. ‘Wait, tell the Prince something for me!’

  The Queen Mother moves until she’s standing in front of the Prince. With her hands she raises a barrier of magic that sends the guards’ spells bouncing harmlessly off. ‘Prince Stefan, I have a message for you. It’s from someone who can help stop the spread of the virus.’

  ‘Save it. There is no one who can stop it.’

  The Queen
Mother repeats the words I say to her. ‘Prince Stefan, I know it’s not a virus that’s causing this. I know someone is draining the Talenteds of their power. Someone who once was ordinary. Tell me who it is and I can reverse it. I can save them – and save everyone who has been affected.’

  The Prince stills – every muscle in his body so tense I wonder if he’s been hit with a paralysis spell. Then his eyes flash and he raises his tiger eyes. And even though I know he’s staring at the Queen Mother, it feels like he’s looking right at me. ‘Who is speaking through you?’ he asks. ‘There is no one! It is a virus from the ORA! Guards – we have an infiltrator. Take the Queen Mother into custody.’

  ‘You might have been able to hide what was happening in Gergon, Stefan,’ I say through the Queen Mother’s mouth. ‘But you won’t be able to hide it in Nova. Let me help you.’

  ‘No!’ says the Prince.

  ‘My magic is weakening,’ says the Queen Mother to me. ‘I must send you back.’ She shoves me one more time, and as she does my last sight is of her magical barrier tumbling to the ground. She is hit with the guards’ spells and crumples to the ground.

  I burst into my body, the water suddenly an icy shock I’m not expecting, all warmth gone. I gasp for air, gulping down a breath so large it kills the scream inside my throat. Trina yanks my arm, and with one mighty pull, drags me onto the tiled edge.

  I splutter on my knees, coughing up the liquid – which tastes foul. Nothing that pretty should taste that bad.

  ‘What did you see? Do you know what’s wrong with the Princess?’ Trina asks, desperation clinging to her every word.

  Honey and lemongrass tea – a potion to help soothe fits of coughing. (That’s an easy one. What we have to do is going to be much, much, harder.)

  ‘Yes. She’s been put in an enchanted sleep. It’s definitely the same root cause as what happened here a millennium ago. I have to call Grandad back.’