Step into Magic

by Day Leitao

  Perhaps this was one of those awful nightmares in which everything goes wrong and nothing makes sense. But it couldn’t be a nightmare because food still tasted like food. The problem was that she didn’t even know how to start arguing against absurdity. “I… no. Uh… If I wanted to help Lylah I could have given her the shoes when she visited me.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Except you couldn’t.”

  “Uh, no, but…”

  “And you admit you met her before coming. And that you thought she was nice.”

  Where was he going with that? “Well, yes. In truth, she was nice. Very different from you.”

  He nodded. “And that’s why you betrayed us.”

  “No. I mean now, now you’re being mean. You seemed nice before.” She looked at the door—where Cayla was—and hoped to get some support. “Cayla, help me, tell him what happened. That we were close to the meeting of the rivers, then we went to the hill, then we were captured, and they wanted to cut off our hands, then our fingers.”

  Cayla remained silent.

  “Help me,” Karina pleaded to the princess. “I saved your life, or at least your fingers. C’mon, we were in this together.”

  Her plea caused no reaction from the girl at the door, who kept staring at some random point on the wall.

  Odell looked at the princess then addressed Karina, “That means you did use the shoes to get here.”

  What was that now? “No. I mean, I don’t know.”

  “How, then,” Odell asked, “can you claim you saved her life?”

  Karina shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. Fine, maybe I used the shoes to save her life. But maybe not. Regardless, she should speak up for me.” She turned to the girl. “Cayla!”

  Again the girl answered only with her silence. Karina felt betrayed, and she didn’t understand why she was being accused like a criminal.

  Odell continued his interrogation, “You’re saying you were close to the meeting of the rivers. How could you have gotten so far?”

  Cayla’s silence got to her nerves.

  “Why don’t you ask her?” Karina pointed to the princess standing at the high door. “Ask her why she had to get a ride from her boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, almost boyfriend, almost brother, whatever.”

  Cayla looked pale but still stoic, except for a slight movement in her head, as to say no.

  “We can see through your lies,” Odell said. “The only reason you need to slander the princess is because you’re desperate.”

  If there was one thing Karina didn’t like was being called a liar. She got really angry with those people who were turning against her, especially the girl she had considered her friend. “It’s true. Every word.”

  Odell looked seriously at her. “Your lies won’t help you. Or anyone for that matter.”

  “I’m telling the truth. Cayla even has his twin necklace, the one with the orange stone, and she talks to him using it.”

  Odell laughed. “What nonsense. She never had a twin necklace, and even if she had, twin necklaces can’t do that. Do you know why magic doesn’t work in this room?”

  Karina shook her head.

  “It’s yellow,” he said. “Yellow blocks magic. No magical artifact would be yellow—or even yellowish.”

  “I’m saying what I saw.”

  He shook his head. “You’re making up lies.”

  As he said this, she noticed he had a ring with a yellow stone similar to the one in Cayla’s necklace.

  He noticed it caught her eye and waved it. “This, for example, is to protect a person from magic, which must be the case with her necklace. If she had one. Your lies won’t help you.”

  Karina was about to ask what would help her, when she heard yells coming from behind the door where Cayla stood. Cayla turned towards the noise. Odell looked at the door and seemed worried.

  “Just a moment,” he told Karina before moving towards the door.

  He sounded strangely normal when saying this, as if he had paused his evil-mode button. Karina heard some voices amidst the confusion.

  “Go away, you’re forbidden here,” a man said.

  “Odell’s the one who should be imprisoned, he’s a traitor!” a woman yelled. It sounded like Nia.

  Meanwhile, Odell reached the door, pulled a ladder, climbed it quickly, then closed the door behind him, blocking all sound. Karina was again left alone in a yellow room with smooth walls, hearing nothing of what happened behind them. At least now she would be able to eat. She tried to think. Perhaps Nia was right: Odell was a traitor who had turned against Karina, but the problem was that he was not acting alone. Since Karina had no idea about what happened behind closed walls, she had to try to make assumptions based on what she saw. Odell, and whoever was backing him up, seemed to fear Karina would use the shoes and take the power. What nonsense. She would certainly not be able to handle a kingdom of crazy people. And she didn’t even want it. But the weirdest thing was that if they were so afraid of the shoes, how come they left them with her? It made no sense. But then, if they were so afraid they didn’t even want to look at the shoes, maybe they didn’t want to touch them or something.

  The idea that Odell was the traitor made sense, especially given how concerned he seemed when he heard Nia accusing him. But why was Cayla silent? Unless… what if someone was standing behind her? Actually, Karina had heard voices; someone had in fact been standing behind her. Perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything about Darian. But then, he did seem involved with the finger cutting crazy people. Another weird thing was that Odell seemed to defend Cayla or perhaps Darian, even using chromo magic science to back up his arguments. Oh, Karina should stop trying to understand anything or she would go crazy. But maybe that was the explanation: everyone was crazy. Crazy, crazy. The worst part was that she would have to deal with them and try to find a way to save herself, but she had no idea who to trust anymore or even what to do. If only she had returned home when she had the opportunity. Or better, stayed home. She made a mental note never to accept invitations for other dimensions from strangers again. Hey, why hadn’t anyone ever told her that? But it was too late now. And what was the point in learning with an experience that would never be repeated? Anyways, this is where Karina was, and from where she would need to find a solution and a way out.

  Sian rushed through the narrow passageways leading to the yellow tower, the highest security cell in the entire kingdom, built at a time when superstition and outdated beliefs overcame reason. Six guards stood by a translucent door. Behind it was the one loose piece that didn’t fit anywhere. Of course, the prisoner was innocent and completely harmless. Sian would have been astonished if Odell had actually imprisoned a dangerous criminal. Now that he thought about it, he could hardly say that these times were any less guided by superstition and old beliefs. But that should change soon.

  He took a closer look. The girl was sitting on a bed, muttering to herself and counting with her fingers, as if trying to figure a solution to a complex problem. He smiled. Maybe he had the answer to her problem, and she had the answer to his. Not that he would be able to discuss much of it with six guards watching them, but he could at least try to get an idea. The last he’d heard about her was that she’d been caught by his brother’s criminal buddies. Then she was in the castle. The timing didn’t make sense. But then, Cayla out alone with her didn’t make sense either.

  Sian turned to the guards. “Open the door. I’m coming in.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” one of the guards said, “So sorry.” He looked down. “Nobody is allowed to enter.”

  Annoying. And surprising. Sian almost asked, “Not even me?” but they obviously knew who he was. The guard who told him he couldn’t enter seemed uncomfortable having to say no. He looked at the six guards. All about seventeen or eighteen, which was young to be serving in the castle. Beginning of their careers. Eager to please. Changing their minds would be as easy as snapping his fingers. Assuring they didn’t tell anyone about it would be a dif
ferent thing, though. But he had to know who she was and where she fit. He heard steps behind him and turned. Odell. Sian hated the charlatan.

  “What brings your illustrious visit here?” the bald man asked.

  Sian snorted. “Isn’t it obvious?”

  Odell just raised his eyebrows.

  Sian smiled. “There’s a pretty girl down there.”

  The old man shook his head. “Aren’t there enough for you in Siphoria?”

  Sian shrugged. “Too many. It gets boring.”

  “Well, she’s too young for you.”

  The freak either didn’t know basic math or he’d forgotten Sian’s age, but that was beside the point. “Too young to be executed then.”

  The old man grimaced, in what looked like disgust. “Nobody’s getting executed.”

  Sian exhaled, relieved. That meant all he needed was time. He refrained from laughing as he realized he’d managed to get information from the bald man.

  Odell continued, “But, again, with all due respect, I need to ask you to leave.”

  “The guards are here.”

  “Royal guards. They can remain in a Royal-only area. I do appreciate your visit and your concern, but your advice is not needed.”

  With Odell there and aware about Sian, talking to the girl would be impossible. Next time he wouldn’t even be allowed in the corridors. But then, if she was there, perhaps whatever she knew or whatever she meant wouldn’t affect the coming events. Maybe. He took one last look then turned to leave, but decided to have one last jab and turned back to Odell. “Tell her I said hi.”

  “She’s never heard of you.”

  Sian frowned. “What an empty, meaningless life.” He sighed and shook his head while laughing inside. The old freak had just given him another piece of information.

  Alone for a long time, Karina feared being forgotten, realizing that she preferred to have someone accusing and questioning her and not having time to eat than being alone without any clue about what was happening, even though the accusations didn’t really shed any clue. When the high door finally opened, she was happy to see Odell. Cayla wasn’t there this time. He looked so distraught Karina would have pitied him if he hadn’t been acting so evil.

  She decided she was tired and didn’t want to argue or answer any more questions. “Listen, just take the shoes, I don’t care. I just want to go home.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You know it doesn’t work like that.”

  Karina looked down, but then she remembered something. “Actually, it does. Lylah told me I could sell the shoes. I can sell them for a ticket home. How’s that? Then you deal with them. I don’t care.”

  “It doesn’t work like that.”

  Karina waved her arms in despair. “How does it work then? What do you want?”

  “First, I want you to talk about, uh, the person you said betrayed Cayla. Tell me what you know about him.”

  Karina felt guilty that he pressed on this point, not knowing whether Cayla was still on her side or not.

  “I… I made that up.”

  He raised his eyebrows in surprise and seemed pleased. “I see. So now you are confessing you were lying.”

  Karina shrugged. “If that’s helpful, yes.”

  “I want the truth here.”

  Karina sighed. “What happens if I tell the truth? Can I go? And if you don’t believe me? And if I lie? Seriously, just tell me what you want.”

  “Just answer the questions. How did you get to the place where you claim you were captured?”

  “The place I claim we were captured? Does it make a difference? I just want to go home. I can even take these shoes if you really don’t want them. I’ll hide them really well.”

  He shook his head. “We know that if we let you go, you’ll help Lylah.”

  “Wasn’t I going to take the power? And wasn’t she dead?”

  “Now you want to convince me she’s dead?” Odell asked.

  “Uh? No. The people there, the ones who wanted to cut our fingers, they said she was dead.”

  Odell laughed. “And you believe everything you hear?”

  Karina scratched her head. “I really have to stop that, like when two girls came to my room and told me I needed to help them save the world and defeat an evil woman. Believing what people tell me, what nonsense.”

  For a second Odell had half a smile, not an evil smile, but the smile of someone really amused, then he became serious again. “Well, you’re confessing then. You’ll have to stay here for now. Don’t try anything silly; it won’t work.”

  He walked towards the door. She was glad he didn’t insist on his questions because she would have to tell the truth, and that seemed to upset him even more. But there was something she wanted to know. “Wait!” Karina yelled. “How long are you going to keep me here?”

  Odell turned around. “As long as it’s necessary.”

  “And how long is that?”

  He started going up the ladder.

  She repeated the question: “How long is that? How long?”

  Odell ignored her.

  Karina yelled, “Hey, it’s not fair, you told me I’d be taken home, you told me it was safe. I only came to help. Hey—”

  The door was closed.

  11

  A Plea for Help

  Karina sat and stared at the part of the wall where the door had been a few seconds before. Could she have gone up the ladder and tried to escape? Foolish. She picked up the shoes again. Could they blow up the walls? Even better, blow up the castle? She was so upset she thought she could do it out of spite, even though she had no idea how she would go about doing it or even if the shoes could blow up anything. She also remembered Odell saying the shoes didn’t work there, but she had never heard anyone utter so much nonsense in so little time, so he could be lying—or mistaken. Or he could be telling the truth.

  But perhaps blowing up walls was worth a try. She put the shoes on, closed her eyes, and tried to imagine an explosion. Was that how the shoes worked? Nothing happened. She tried again, but this time for a second she thought she was in that complete darkness, stuck in the middle of nowhere, so she stopped trying to do anything and took the shoes off. She was starting to understand why people were so afraid of them. And the idea of blowing up anything was silly anyways, why would she blow up a castle when she was inside it?

  The problem with her reasoning was that she that she was relying on a lot of information given by Odell, the unwise one. Now, he did have a lot of advice on the shoes for someone who was so afraid of them. Did he have its manual hidden somewhere? Or did the information come from his league with Lylah? Why then he kept Karina locked claiming she was the one in league with Lylah? In fact, Lylah, that was the answer! Perhaps the so-called witch could help Karina go home. The trouble was how to find her. Was she sitting in her fortress or whatever, counting the days to buy back her shoes? What was she doing? Knitting? Raising an army? Planning an attack? No way to know. Still, having an object that an alleged powerful witch wanted should be worth something. Karina held the shoes, closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on Lylah, thinking about her as the nice woman who had visited her. Karina thought without saying out loud, “Lylah, Lylah, can you help me?” Nothing happened. The only thing Karina remembered was Lylah saying, “It doesn’t work like that.” No, wait, Odell was the one who’d said that.

  Karina’s new plan was to wait for someone to show up, then beg for freedom. The only problem was that nobody showed up for hours. Going to the bathroom was annoying, there was a little curtain, but she feared being seen from above, because she felt she was being watched. Nobody picked up her food tray with leftovers, which was disgusting. When she got hungry, she ate some fruit and bars that were also on the table. The light on the ceiling never changed. Still, she eventually went to bed and fell asleep, which was a comforting escape from her nightmarish reality.

  Karina woke up hours later, not knowing if it was day or night. The food had been changed, and it
was all non-perishable this time, perhaps meaning no one would come see her anytime soon. This was so unfair. How would she beg then? Unless she was being watched. She could give it a try.

  “Help! Let me out. I’ll do anything. I don’t want to use the shoes. I don’t care about the shoes. I don’t want any power, in fact, I don’t want anything.”

  She kept shouting stuff like that until she got tired and her throat hurt. At least this time there was a jug of water and a glass, so she didn’t need to drink with her hands. She spent the day alternating between trying to figure out what was happening, trying to tell herself that she should elaborate an escape plan, shouting pleas for help or forgiveness and even shouting threats, because hey, she still had the shoes. Nobody came and eventually she fell asleep.

  Karina woke up with a hand on her mouth, and she felt terrified thinking perhaps she would be killed. The lights on the ceiling were dim. Karina looked around and saw long blond hair. Nia. Karina wanted to jump and hug her, so happy she felt, but the hand on her mouth kept her from moving.

  “Try not to make any noise,” the woman whispered.

  Karina was even happier then, because that could only mean this was a rescue mission. How great it was to finally see a friendly face.

  Nia looked around and asked, “Where are the shoes?”

  Karina tried to mumble something with difficulty, then Nia lifted her hand and allowed Karina to speak.

  “They’re on me. On my waist. Do you want to see them?”

  “No, no, it’s fine. I can get you out of here, but I need you to promise me a favor.”

  Karina wondered if the woman wanted the shoes. “What favor?”

  “I want you to get my son, then get us out of the castle.”

  Karina stared at the woman’s belly, which was still large. “Son?”

  “He was born two days ago.”

  “How am I supposed to get him?”

  “Your shoes. You can use them to teleport.”