by Melody Rose
I decided to keep her guard down for now. I bowed and extended my hand to her, feigning the part of a gentleman. “Mademoiselle? May I help you in to your carriage seat? You must know that I only seek to tease you. I won’t harm you in any way.”
I snapped my fingers now that I could fully harness my glamour spells. I was out of those hideous civvie clothes and back in my typically regal attire. Maybe I convinced her that my past behavior was just an act, and I had been merely overacting the role of a barbaric human. I spied a blush build up in her cheeks and enticement blossom inside of her. She probably thought she was going to get the royal treatment. Silly lamb’s blood.
“Alright,” she said after a moment. “I wanted a change of pace, and you certainly gave me that.” It gave me great joy to watch her legs tremble as she struggled to stand up. I was even more satisfied to appeal to her misguided sense of trust when she took my hand. “Let’s see what you have in store.”
I squeezed her hand to reassure her. “Excellent.” I then applied a bit more force than necessary but disarmed her with a dashing smile. “In we go.”
I helped her into the carriage and sat next to her so I could get a clear view of her reactions. Aurelius leapt in and curled up beneath us as he flopped his head down on Joan’s feet to announce that he was close at hand. She twisted over to look at me in puzzlement, and I was concerned that my glamour had worn off.
“Who’s going to drive the carriage?” Ah, so she wasn’t put off to my sitting next to her. Just dense and unobservant. She’d learn.
“We commissioned a wizard and a sylph…” I began to explain, but she furrowed her brow. More obliviousness I had to endure. “... an air spirit… to enchant the carriage with eternal movement. It answers my call and travels wherever I tell it to, so you’d be best to play nice with me and not get on my bad side. There are all manner of places I can take you, lamb’s blood.”
I gave her a patronizing pat on her thigh and felt her twitch in surprise. It was a lovely sensation if it weren’t for the shriek that followed.
“What?! Is that a threat?!” Joan’s rant rolled down like thunder. “I can’t believe I agreed to this. If you’re not kidding around, I’m going to sic Aurelius on you.” Joan looked down at the pup like she wanted to make a pact with him. Since I didn’t intend to kill her, he wasn’t really alarmed.
“Chilling,” I remarked sarcastically, underwhelmed by Aurelius’ mild nature. I smirked at her squirming as she realized there was no escape, then ordered my carriage to complete my bidding. “Course à Lemuria! Onward to Lemuria… and take the adventurous route. I’m not in the mood for gnomes and nixies. Give her the best we have to show!”
Since I felt confident that our carriage was reinforced with the necessary protective spells to keep us from ending up dismembered or even touched in any fashion, I imbued it with my intention for it to take Joan to the region of the forest roving with haunted spirits. Cercle de la mort éternelle, as our ancestors would call it, better known as “the circle of eternal death.” Here was where tortured souls overcome with rage or resentment congregated. All of their negative energy combined to create a shadowy, somber domain that kept all good-natured creatures at bay.
But it wasn’t only the bitterly departed that dwelled here. The sheer contempt they radiated resulted in a vortex that sucked out all joys and attracted the most vicious of beasts.
Aurelius let out a high-pitched groan. His boggart chases were supposed to prepare him for this. There were cases where malicious spirits needed to be scared into this region so that they wouldn’t torment the living. He placed his paws over his ears to shut the world out. I really did feel bad for him, but he was far too fragile. Besides, my real goal was not to harm Aurelius but to see if I could break Joan. If I did, I could prove that my father was wrong about his champion and then we would do things my way and give rise to an academy that cultivated warrior-mages and fierce familiars.
Joan shot a dirty look at me. “I literally told you a few hours ago that you should keep Aurelius out of these places, and you’re torturing him just so that you can dazzle me with a bunch of special effects and a self-driving carriage. What the Hell is wrong with…?”
That’s when she let out a heart-piercing scream as bloody talons gripped the barred window of the carriage and a grotesque creature bared its fangs and let out a sickening howl. A skinwalker. Perfect. These murderous woodland spirits possessed the bodies of dead mages. They looked like an abominable perversion of nature. They wouldn’t ever end their rampage, even if their form was obliterated. Instead, skinwalkers jumped from body to body in their unceasing rage.
I pushed her as close to the window as possible. “No, no! What’s wrong with you? Denying reality in order to calm your nerves. These aren’t special effects, as you would say.” I brought my lips close to her ear and spoke to her in a sinister whisper. “You can feel it now, can’t you? With your abilities, unrefined as they are, you should be able to sense that this beast loathes you from the bottom of its being and seeks nothing but your undoing.”
Joan broke out in a cold sweat and tried her best to twist away from the claws of the skinwalker. “What the fuck did I do to deserve this?! I don’t want to die!” I watched her aura burn with the will to live as Aurelius pinned himself to the ground, too afraid to help.
“Good.” I pulled her away from the window and to the far end of the carriage seat. Since she was beside herself with anger at the situation I put her in, I had to resist the urge to hold her. Her refusal to surrender meekly to death was intoxicating, and it was such fun to console your prey periodically. “For what it’s worth, you never were going to die. The window has a protective spell with numerous failsafe charms. I know you’re terrified, but it’s really not the worst this part of the woods has to offer.”
She panted and looked at the hissing skinwalker, and the realizations that this was real and that she was safe both dawned upon her. “Okay… I… fucking… believe… you…” Joan managed as she tried to catch her breath. “This obviously isn’t the quick visit to a school that I thought it would be. So why the Hell did you bring me here? I can buy that we’re going to see a castle, but it’s probably going to be haunted. Were you even serious about classes, or was that just a ploy to get me where you wanted me?”
I weighed her questions to decide which were sensible to answer. “No, I can’t imagine it will be a short visit. My father will want to have a word with you, and knowing him, he’ll detect what little promise you have and overblow it to a giant’s proportions.”
I then laughed at her conceit that I was trying to woo her in any way. I could have my pick of any enchantress I wanted. Why would I go knee high in lamb’s blood if I could help it?
“And this isn’t about where I want you,” I assured her with an uptilt of my chin. “I’d never even think of touching one of your kind, but you’re a means to an end. Either my father’s right, and you’re the champion who will tame the most formidable beasts...” I eyed her with disdain, “... doubtful, with your lowly breeding… or you’re an ordinary mortal with a knack for Cavallian chasers that aren’t even fully grown.” Aurelius whimpered as if to enunciate my point.
Joan huffed at my barbs. “So there will be classes concerning how to treat animals? And cooking? Also, could we, you know, get the Hell out of here?” She fidgeted with discomfort as she glanced at the horrors of the circle of eternal death playing out around us.
I sighed with exacerbation. “Yes. And as I said, you needn’t worry about the cost. Whether you succeed or not is no concern to me. In fact, I’m hoping for the latter so that my father can lose face and hand the proverbial keys to the castle over me. I know what’s best for the academy.” I then gathered my will to direct my carriage away from the gnashing skinwalker. “I can’t figure out why you’re so fixated on this cooking business. Beast taming is a far nobler path.”
“I like what I like!” she proclaimed defensively. “Can we just get moving so I can
see this school of yours? I’ve been through the wringer, but hanging out here in this creepy place is just overkill. I’m pretty sure I can handle a couple of classes.”
I rolled my eyes. “You think so? Very well.” Anyone who tried to rush me as I replenished my powers was an impatient nitwit. “Le chariot, à Bouclier des Bêtes!”
I altered our course to the academy and treated her to a glade of unicorns so she could gather her nerves. She could pay for her insolence later.
8
Joan
What a wild ride. I couldn’t even find the words to express the insanity I had just witnessed, and while I’d had my run of bad days, I’d never felt like I was knocking on Death’s door before. It could have been a perfectly nice time even if a carriage was kind of corny and his new ensemble was kind of outdated. I had to admit he was handsome in a movie-vampire way, all mysterious and brooding. My stupid ass even thought it was going to be a romantic tour through some fantasy forest to thank me for helping Aurelius, but nope! He went full horror flick on me and proved that magic was real by having some creature straight from Hell go for my jugular.
Christ. There had to be better ways to get your message across.
While I thought that I would never quite forget that moment, Theo decided to at least turn a page and finally get me out of that disgusting mess. I could tell that Aurelius was glad for it all to be over, as well, as he was able to move again and immediately jumped into my lap for comfort.
“That’s okay, boy. I’m really sorry that someone got it into their obnoxious, stupid head that you could handle that place. Who could?” I petted Aurelius and scratched his ears to allow him to settle down, then shot an accusatory look at Theo. “I think it’s all over now unless he has more tricks up his sleeve.”
“Oh, don’t put on airs, peasant.” Theo brushed off my annoyance. “I didn’t put either of you through an ordeal that isn’t expected of all mages and familiars and academies. Try to keep an open mind. I think you’ll like this next ‘trick,’ Joan.”
I was pissed that he was making light of the situation, but at least he used my name. That wasn’t enough for me to forgive him completely, though.
I sneered and crossed my arms. “If it involves trolls, I’m out. You’re worse than a whole pack of them.”
“Charming. Why don’t you just wait and see?” His forehead wrinkled a little at my insult. It would have been satisfying if I didn’t dread where he might take me next.
I guess I would have to go along with his twisted sense of humor. While I didn’t want to see what else he was capable of, I had a hard time believing he could take me anywhere worse than a haunted zone of the forest. I mean, he said it was located on top of a vortex, and that has to be pretty damn bad.
I peeked out the carriage window, and while we had successfully glided away from the bloodthirsty monsters drawn to eternal death, Theo still left us in nightmarish darkness. I could barely make out the silhouettes of trees, and their heavy branches creaked with menace. I caught glimpses of winged creatures with amber eyes and heard them vibrate in the chilled air. I was exhausted, and I couldn’t identify what they were if I tried.
At least they seemed too small to be a threat, unlike those skinwalkers that were creepily human-sized. I was convinced those would have taken me out. I never would have believed in protective spells before that whole mess.
I decided to be a bit of a bitch, both because he deserved it and because I didn’t want to stay here. “I’m waiting, but it’s too dark to see anything interesting.”
“Is it the darkness or your untrained eyes, impatient lamb’s blood?” Theo chided. “If you had any sense, you would be able to spot the djinn dancing with the fire faeries in a sacred ritual.” His eyes were glassy with awe until they hardened with contempt for me. “Here is where they intermingle to evoke the necessary conditions for nocturnal magic. That, and… more carnal ceremonies. Any enchantress worth her salt would treat this area with the respect it is due.”
I think I caught his drift. If he was suggesting what he thought he was, then I was going to flip out on him. I’d show him what no so-called magic school could teach a wussy pretty boy with shitty manners and a bad taste in make-out spots. An alleyway, a cemetery come to life, and an occult fuck zone. He used a lot of fancy words, but I could piece together what this place was for.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I waved my arms around and screwed my face up in distaste. “You have a really weird outlook on foreplay. I’m not here for your Eyes Wide Shut act, you freak.”
He tilted his head at my references. “Foreplay… I do like the sound of that. It’s the most elegant word you’ve uttered so far.” He repeated it again, as though he found a new toy, “... foreplay. It brings to mind enchanted gestures before you reach the crest of your power.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking or that out of touch with my world. Either way, I was pissed off. “Why am I not surprised that Mr. Rich Asshole doesn’t need to know about foreplay?! Agh! Can this be over now?” I stomped my foot for emphasis, and Aurelius yelped as his resting place on my lap was disturbed.
“Yes, this can be over now. Not that I would answer to your bidding, but I am ready to take you to your next destination.” Theo spoke to me like I was a bratty child crying at the back of a car. “If you must know, mages have to recharge before they can cast again. Since you’re so insatiable, I’ll show you what even an imbecile in your world would recognize.”
“... Licorne!” He shouted and gave me an arrogant smirk. I rolled my eyes since I couldn’t make sense of his garbled words.
The carriage made a sharp turn and then eventually evened out its rhythm as it glided toward a much greener and well-lit area of the forest. My stomach finally unclenched, and I felt the rest of my muscles relax. A warm sensation washed over me, and I felt the urge to laugh happily for the first time during this maniac’s joyride. So Theo wouldn’t see and get the wrong idea, I cracked a smile only after I turned away to look through the carriage window. As if it knew the danger had passed, its bars faded away until they were completely gone.
I clapped my hand over my mouth, and, incredibly, the sweet but anxious Aurelius stuck his head out the window to get a good look too. Wherever we were before, this was the polar opposite, and that put him right at ease. Unquestionably real unicorns roamed jade-green pastures in a state of perfect serenity. They weren’t just the typical shade of white like on all the merchandise I’d ever seen, but rather the various shades of the rainbow. Some were a deep sapphire while others were a vibrant orange. All the colors of their sleek fur glistened hypnotically under the sunlight.
Theo leaned back against the far wall of the carriage and crossed his arms. He had a real smug expression that just screamed, I told you so. I didn’t even care, though. I was too excited by what I was witnessing. Like an eager kid at the petting zoo, I immediately reached out once a sea-foam blue unicorn got close enough to us. My spine tingled with the surreal pleasure of the sensation, its fur having an impossible smoothness. I could swear that the carriage even slowed down to allow me this one pleasure in an otherwise hectic day. Was that just a trick my mind played on me, or was Theo lightening up on me?
“That’s not what we’re here for,” Theo snapped at me, and suddenly, the carriage was racing ahead. Guess I spoke too soon.
I gave him the cold shoulder and shifted my body so I could lean out the window. Finally, I could have a little peace and completely ignore him as I dreamily watched the rainbowed beauty of the unicorns fade into the distance. I thought that they looked like wildflowers dotting the lush grass.
When there weren’t any other unicorns to look at, my eyes started to water from the gusts of wind slapping my face. I guess I hadn’t noticed that before when I was so transfixed by what every girl dreams to see. Clearly, I hadn’t outgrown unicorns. With a disappointed pout, I decided to sink back into my carriage seat.
“That was a real jerk move,” I complained. Aurelius whin
ed in agreement.
Not one bit of sympathy from Theo. Instead, he just ran his hand down Aurelius’ fur and wiped his hand on the side of the carriage to keep from ruining his expensive clothes. Poor Aurelius. I could feel his self-consciousness as Theo denied him an affectionate pet. Instead, he just judgmentally groomed Aurelius like he was a show dog. This guy seriously went overboard with presentation. Once he was finished with Aurelius, I became Theo’s next target.
“Can you please fix your hair? We’ve arrived, and I don’t wish to walk out of this carriage looking like I’ve rutted a farm maid,” he said that as though it was just common sense. What an asshole. “I have a standard to uphold.”
My cheeks burned, and all my patience went right out the window. “Fuck you. I’m tired of being dragged around and putting up with your bullshit. Now that you’re done taking me hostage, I’ll do what I want. In fact,” I mocked him with a huge grin, “I hope I do embarrass you in front of all your stuck up friends.”
“Suit yourself.” He pressed his fingers against his temple and closed his eyes. I was glad that I was getting under his skin after all he’d put me through. “Téléporter à l'extérieur,” he muttered and disappeared.
Shit! He had left me all alone who knows where to fend for myself. Aurelius whined defensively, and I patted his head to reassure him.
“Sorry, buddy. I know you’d never abandon me, but this is a seriously weird situation. We gotta stick up for each other, okay?”
Aurelius nodded at my words. He almost looked human doing that, and I couldn’t help but like him more than I already did.
When I tried to see what I was dealing with, the carriage window revealed a bridge that spanned out endlessly. It didn’t even seem to lead anywhere, so I just assumed this was another one of Theo’s cruel spells. He probably was listening in on me and waiting for me to beg to save me. All just a ploy to get me to clean myself up because I wasn’t some stylish arm candy.
