Good Luck, Bad Luck

by Jenni Ward

  “Here I thought you left it because you didn’t want to see me again.”

  “Oh no, Quinn, it wasn’t that at all.” Mary placed her hand on his arm and he finally turned to look at her.

  “Do you still want it? I mean...it isn’t much now...the magic is all gone...but...well...I’d like you to still have it...it is yours after all.” Quinn’s voice was barely above a whisper as the setting sun lit the sky.

  The light reflected from his eyes and she saw the blue-green eyes she wanted to become lost in.

  “Yes, I would.”

  Quinn smiled and Mary pulled her braid to the side and turned to make it easier for him to place it around her neck. She felt the coolness of the stone as it settled against her skin. When she turned back, Quinn reached out for her and pulled her close. His arms circled her waist and she rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes as she listened to his heart beating.

  Her hand reached up and found a similar cord to her own covered by the shirt he wore. Tugging gently at the cord, she pulled it from its concealment. A similar stone hung from a setting the same as her own. It felt warm in her hand as she held it.

  “I never knew you had one too.” Mary looked up at Quinn and saw him smiling down at her.

  “It’s how they work, the same type of stone infused with the magic of a sorcerer. The stones call to each other.”

  “That’s really quite clever.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You could come back with me, Quinn, back to Tiani.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be much use in a school, but I can learn.”

  Reaching up, Mary rested her hand on the side of his face. Quinn rested his own hand on hers, and she felt his hand press against her waist. Her eyes focused on his face as flashes of the moment in his house filled her with anticipation. She knew only two things at that moment: that she would have her school and she would have the man she wanted there too.

  “I’m sorry for all the trouble. Sorry for...”

  “Shhh.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “You forget that I started it all in motion, maybe the book knew all along. Perhaps everything is going to be just as it was supposed to be.”

  “You believe this is all predestined?”

  “Maybe a little of it is, but I think it’s up to us to get there.”

  Quinn caressed the side of Mary’s face and she felt the warmth of his lips as they found hers. She held his face in her hands as she kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm.

  “We should head down the stairs before we can’t see where we’re going,” Mary whispered.

  “If I had my magic, I could have lit the way.”

  “Well this is more adventurous.”

  Quinn’s laughter joined hers as they parted. Mary’s hand grabbed his as they walked back down the stairs to the room where they’d left the supply pack. With each step, Mary enjoyed the happiness she felt and relished how alive she felt.

  Once back in the room, Mary saw Quinn reach into his pocket and pull out the pouch.

  “What’s that?”

  “From Cashel apparently.” His fingers toyed with the string but didn’t move to open it.

  “Don’t you want to know what’s in it?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Come on, open it up.”

  Mary watched from beside Quinn as he tugged on the string and the pouch opened. She leaned in closer as Quinn reached in and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

  “Is that all?” Mary asked disappointed.

  “What were you expecting?”

  “He’s a sorcerer, right? Maybe some sparks of magic?”

  Quinn laughed and kissed her on the forehead. “Not sure the magic ever worked the way you think it does. Well, let’s see what the paper is.”

  With the paper unfolded, Quinn held it up to try and catch the last of the light before it disappeared.

  “What does it say?” Mary asked

  “I don’t know, I can’t read it anymore. I guess without the magic I lose everything it gave me. Here.”

  Mary took the piece of paper and squinted at it to try and make out the writing. It says, “Power does not possess people; people possess power.”

  Mary heard the quiet sigh they left Quinn’s lips. “You were hoping for more?”

  “If I had my magic...maybe I could have stopped Cecilia.”

  “Are you sure you want to try and stop her...”

  “I must Mary...I may not be a sorcerer any longer, but I still made the pledge at the Academy...I must try at least. Besides, Cecilia would never hurt me; she’d argue, but never do anything else.”

  Chapter 28

  Quinn and Mary dismounted the horse and hurried up the steps and into the Gathering Room. They paused inside the room partially concealed by the drape that separated the entrance from the main room. Mary peered through the gap and saw Prater standing up front near the preparation rooms.

  “Sorceress,” his voice echoed around the empty room.

  Mary stepped to the side to allow Quinn a view of the scene as well. As they watched, one of the doors opened and Cecilia appeared with her arms folded across her chest.

  “This is neither the time nor the place, Prater,” she hissed and turned towards the door.

  “We had a deal sorceress and you failed to keep your end of the agreement!”

  Prater took a step towards Cecilia, and she spun around with her hand outstretched.

  “You’re not going to try anything foolish, surely, Prater. I really thought that you were smarter than that.”

  “You made a deal with me.”

  Cecilia groaned and raised her hand towards the door beside her own.

  “What’s she doing?” Mary whispered to Quinn as the edge of the door shone blue before returning to normal.

  “She’s sealing Michael in the room; probably for the best that he doesn’t see any of this.”

  “Let’s get one thing straight, Prater, yes, we made a deal, but you left out an important detail.” Cecilia pointed her finger towards him. “You never stated a timeframe.”

  “Neither did you, sorceress.”

  “What do you think he’s going to do?” Mary whispered to Quinn who shrugged in response.

  Prater took another step towards Cecilia until he stood an arm’s length away from her.

  “Don’t think that you can get away without holding up your end of the bargain,” Prater stated.

  “Could we possibly settle this after the ceremony? It just seems a little...inappropriate to deal with this at the moment,” Cecilia replied with a smile.

  “We’ll deal with it now.” Prater seemed determined on the matter.

  “What type of bargain do you think they made?” Quinn asked as he turned to Mary.

  “She came to see Prater, while I was staying there. They made a deal that if he could find a spell that would break the binding then she would give him something in return.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  Mary shrugged. “It just didn’t seem possible that he would find such a spell. I’ve spent far more time in the book building than he ever did, and I never found anything like that.”

  “Stay here, Mary.”

  Mary reached out and held his upper arm. “Quinn...”

  “Please, Mary, stay here.”

  She heard the pleading in his voice, but didn’t want him going out there, not with both Cecilia and Prater to face. His hands reached out and held her face. She sighed as her mind tried to process the possible outcomes for all.

  “Mary, you’ve got your plans for the future – you need to be safe so that can happen.”

  Mary nodded, but said no more to Quinn as he released his hold. He crouched down before he crept out from behind the drape he kept low to the ground concealed by the seats as he moved down the aisle.

  “Perhaps it is you, Prater, who doesn’t get the gravity of the situation – we’ll deal with it later,” Cecilia hissed.

  “S
orceress, I know the rules and my rights in our deal. You need to follow through, now.” Prater took a step back as Cecilia growled and moved towards him. “Just like a sorceress, you really thought you could outsmart a human, didn’t you? I broke that binding and I will have my reward.”

  Cecilia smiled at him as she took another step forward. She pointed her finger out towards him and he took several steps backwards in response. Behind the drape, Mary shifted her feet; she felt uncomfortable hiding away doing nothing constructive.

  A door opening on the other side of the platform drew everyone’s attention across the room. A short little man holding a book looked up to see Prater and Cecilia. In the aisle, Quinn crouched down to stay out of sight.

  “Binding man...” Cecilia’s voice wavered, and she lowered her hand.

  “I see you are both ready for me, but where are the witnesses? I need two for the ceremony to go ahead.”

  “Oh please, give me some credit, binding man. You honestly think this is the man I want to be bound too?”

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Prater objected.

  “Oh dear, I’m not from here...” he picked up a sheet of paper that had been resting on the top of the book. “Cecilia, is it? Forgive me, child.”

  “Forgiven, binding man, but you’re not needed here yet.” She smiled at the little man and tilted her head to the side, and her red hair fell to cover her shoulder.

  “I’m not sure what to make of this, young lady, perhaps we should withdraw to the room on the side and confer for a moment...”

  “We don’t have to do that. Cecilia, I think it is quite clear that I broke the binding between Michael and Mary; how long could it possibly take for you to just grant my end of the bargain and be rid of me?” Prater said.

  At the back of the Gathering Room, Mary whispered to herself: “What does he mean he broke the binding? Quinn broke the binding...he said he had seen the dragons...he lost his power because...” Mary watched on as Cecilia and Prater stared each other down. The binding man shuffled his feet. Quinn, still crouched down, moved down the aisle keeping close to the seats.

  Quinn reached the first row of the seats and paused. Mary watched as he turned and looked back in her direction, sparing a smile for her. Her hands gripped the drape as Quinn stood up and walked towards the trio.

  “Break the spell, sister,” Quinn’s voice broke the silence and drew the attention of all three towards him.

  Prater turned sharply to face Quinn while Cecilia leaned to the side to look at him as he came into view.

  “Well hello, baby brother, fancy you coming to my binding, too. Today really is my day for being popular for once.”

  “Come on, Cecilia, you’re getting what you want.”

  “You want me to take my little spell off that girl?”

  Quinn nodded, “I broke the binding; now remove the spell.”

  “How do I know it was you who broke the binding? That man in front of you says he broke the binding, and for all I know he might actually be telling the truth – as unbelievable as that is seeing that he is a mortal.”

  “Sister, please remove what remains of the spell on Mary. Let this all end here - walk away now before the Sorcery Council act. Sister, the Three Kingdoms can’t go to war again...” Quinn took a step towards her with his hand outstretched. “...please.”

  Cecilia tapped her foot on the ground, and it echoed around the room. Her gaze skipped between the two men and as she placed her hands on her hips

  “What, before I am bound to Michael?”

  “Young lady, it would seem...” the binding man began as he watched Cecilia.

  “Urgh, I don’t have time to listen to you!” Cecilia raised her hand and the binding man froze with his mouth open. “Look, and this goes for both of you, let the ceremony be done with first. After that, I promise that both of you shall have what you want. I can’t be more generous than that, now can I?”

  “I don’t trust you, sorceress.”

  “My sister is a lot of things, Prater, but she does keep her word.”

  “Don’t think I have finished with you. I don’t know how you passed that test, but Quinn, you betrayed me, and I don’t forgive easily.”

  Quinn increased the distance between himself and Prater; Mary noticed though that he didn’t move any closer to his sister as he did so.

  “What’s that meant to mean?” Cecilia’s hand glowed. “That almost sounded like you were threatening my brother.”

  Prater smiled at her magic that swirled in a ball just above her hand. “You can’t use that against me. I know the rules, too. Books can be so informative!”

  Mary felt a gush of air behind her and she turned to look out of the open doors. A red dragon landed on the steps and her heart skipped. Frozen, she saw the dragon bobbing his head to the side, and Mary frowned at it. This is what she had read about, thought about, wanted to receive some good luck from. Her breathing quickened as she stared up at it waiting to see what it would do with her.

  “Open the drapes a bit, girl, come on. I don’t have all day.”

  “Bad luck?”

  The dragon flicked his tail. “Luck? Good luck, bad luck, girl. I’ve heard about you, have you learnt nothing? Make your own luck; we dragons have better things to do.”

  Mary opened her mouth to reply but decided against saying anything. Reaching behind her, she fumbled around for the cord while her eyes continued to be trained on the dragon. When her fingers brushed against the heavy fabric again, she relented and turned away from the dragon. Her eyes found the cord and she pulled on it, opening the drapes fully.

  The dragon took a few steps forward into the building, before settling himself down to the side where Mary had concealed herself. He stared directly towards the front of the small entrance room. Mary stood awkwardly beside the cord, concealed from the room for a while longer but nervous at the dragon being so close.

  “Hey, I can’t open the door. Can someone try opening the door please?” Michael’s muffled voice called out from his temporary prison.

  “I’ll see if I can find someone, Michael,” Cecilia called back loudly

  “Break it now, sister!” Quinn’s voice reiterated.

  “How many times do I need to say it! Once I am bound, and not a moment before.” Cecilia’s set face glowered at her brother.

  “Cecilia.” Prater waved a piece of paper in her direction. She eyed it for a moment before snarling in frustration.

  Cecilia’s face changed to a glowering look of anger as she flung magic she held behind her, hitting Michael’s door. She flung out her arm sharply towards Quinn, sending a wave of magic forward. Quinn sailed above the rows of seats then collided hard with the stone wall at the back of the room, crumpling into a heap at the base of it.

  A gasp escaped Mary’s lips and she covered her mouth. She looked over at the dragon who watched her for a moment before looking forward again. Leaning forward, she held the drape as she looked around it to see Quinn leaning against the wall, still not moving.

  Mary glanced back towards the front to see Michael leaving the room he’d been in. When he glanced up, he paused seeing Prater before him.

  “You? What are you doing here?” Michael demanded and stepped up beside a startled Cecilia.

  “Ah, I remember you, too. You really have no idea who it is you are going to be bound to, do you?”

  “What are you talking about?” Michael’s gaze alternated between Cecilia and Prater, eventually it settled on Cecilia. “Cecilia, what’s going on here? Why are these people here? And why is the binding man looking like that?”

  “I’ll give you a moment to explain.” Prater stepped back and waved the paper before tucking it inside his shirt. He strode to the back of the room.

  The dragon puffed out some smoke, and the drape fell back into place, tangling Mary in it. She stepped back and glared at the dragon. Moving towards the opening, she watched as Michael grabbed hold of Cecilia’s arms and turned her to face him. M
ary couldn’t hear what Michael said as his words were drowned out by Prater’s boots that had already passed the drapes.

  Mary opened the drapes enough to look towards Quinn. Her grip loosened on the drapes as she saw his eyes flicker open. She sighed in relief. Prater had reached Quinn and crouched in front of him.

  “You betrayed me.”

  “You don’t understand...” No further words were spoken.

  He looked down at the knife protruding from his stomach which Prater skilfully retracted, wiping the blood on Quinn’s sleeve.

  Chapter 29

  “No!” Mary clamped her hands over her mouth as all eyes fell on her.

  Quinn shook his head as he held his hands over the wound and tried to slow down the blood that escaped through his fingers.

  Prater sneered at Mary before standing up and whispering. “Nobody betrays me.”

  Up at the front Cecilia waved her hand towards the binding man. He stumbled forward and his forehead creased at the scene before him. Cecilia turned to him and threatened, “Bind us quickly or your life will not be worth living.”

  “Sorceress!” Prater turned to face Cecilia again, obstructing her view of Quinn.

  “What now? This should not be so complicated!”

  “Sorceress, you owe me,” Prater demanded, “and I warned you not to dismiss me so lightly!”

  “I don’t want to deal with this at the moment!”

  She raised her hand to dismiss Prater, but he moved forward purposefully allowing Quinn’s body to come into her view.

  “That’s not possible, I only pushed him back...what did you do to my brother?”

  Mary couldn’t wait any longer. Moving out from the drapes she rushed to Quinn’s side, picking up his hand in her left she tried to stir him into opening his eyes again. Putting her own hands over the wound she pressed down hard.

  “Too late, Mary,” Prater said, and she turned to see him walk back towards Cecilia.

  With tears in her eyes she turned back to Quinn. She could see his chest rising and falling but it seemed shallow. She pressed down harder on the wound, but the blood continued to escape.