by E M Graham
He may have been right. Then again, he didn’t know everything.
Willem stood up and draped one hand on my shoulder and with the other he grasped my left hand to help me stand. He gave a big show of hugging me which I had to endure without visibly cringing at the physical touch, then he let me go on my way.
Sandy and I walked back to the castle in the twilight of the afternoon in total silence. The sun had taken an early goodnight behind a cover of dark blue and charcoal clouds, and even the shadows had melted into the dusk. Without him ahead of me, leading the way, I might not have found the twisty path on this mountain side.
I was still feeling chilled to the bone from the whole ‘Willem in my head’ experience, and not a little bothered by my body and mind’s reaction to him. I hated this betrayal.
What was lying ahead for me? He’d said he would be with me the whole while, if we were to pull this off. If he’d given me orders, I could at least have the satisfaction of disobeying, of doing the opposite to what he demanded, anything to stop this in its tracks. But he hadn’t, so I couldn’t divert the train of affairs.
Chapter 19
I COULDN’T STOMACH the thought of eating after this, no matter how hungry I was. I could barely swallow my burning rage, let alone a lunch of cold mutton stew. And I had a doozy of a headache coming on.
Like a wounded animal, I needed to get away for some quiet time to deal with my thoughts. An underground burrow would be ideal, far from the noise and the lights and the ill will of the Kin, but the castle had lots of dark gloomy spots in which to curl up and nurse my hurts and try to make sense of everything that was happening.
Hugh had said I might suffer delusions because of the harm Willem had inflicted on me. Hallucinations. Was this it? Had my mind placed Willem in the shepherd’s robes because some dirty, tainted corner of it still longed for his touch?
But this was no illusion. Sandy and Willem planned to steal the Crystal Charm Stone and I was going to assist them. Or at least, that’s what they believed.
My plan? It was simple, yet also the most dangerous thing I’d ever contemplated; it would require a delicate balancing act and a ton of faith that I could actually carry it out. I had already proven I could contact my mother through Willem’s connection inside my head. So I would appear to be working with Willem and Sandy, right up to the moment I was about to lay my hands on the stone. I knew the sorcerer well, he would almost be beside himself with excitement at that point and that’s when I would demand to see my mother once more. He would argue and push against me, I knew, but I also was sure he would do it, just to get our hands on the crystal.
I would use that moment to cast the safety spell we’d learned, using the power of the crystal to strengthen my Intention, and then I would let go of the stone and walk away. By this means I could foil Willem and save my mother at the same time. It was a long shot, yes, but after having seen my mom enslaved by that horrid beast the Ice King, there was nothing more important to me at that moment in time.
The fear, the nervous excitement, the trepidation I was feeling at my bold plan, was all combining to make me feel quite sick. It was almost a physical illness, my head starting to pound like the pressure was too much and my pulse racing, throbbing through my veins. Outside, all was grayness, the silvery light of the cloud covered day. I opened the window to catch the cool breeze and let myself breathe in deeply of the salt sea and the moors, barely hearing the far sounds of waves and wind amidst all that pulsing inside my head. It grew louder and louder, ever more insistent until I could feel it banging inside my skull, reverberating through my very bones and the stone ledge I sat on.
I had to get outside, away from all of this. My head still pounding, I jumped off that ledge like the hounds of winter were chasing me and out through the nearest exit from the castle. I was getting to know this place pretty well in the week I’d been there so far.
The paths leading away from the castle were now like second nature to me, and I knew all the rabbit tracks and where they led. I aimed for the heights, the hill above the castle.
And still the pounding, throbbing followed me, louder, entirely filling my head. Was this the Armageddon Willem had promised, come so soon?
Just when I felt about to explode, it did, but it wasn’t inside me after all. I felt the pulsing in my skull but the air all around me filled with a harsh whirring noise, lights flashed outside the glass, and I could feel the earth trembling beneath my feet. I must have been out of touch from the real world for too long, the world of mechanical cars and trains and planes, for the minute I saw the large body in the air I recognized the sound for what it was.
A helicopter in from the mainland, the chop-chop of its rotors unmistakable now as it came round the hill. This was a big ‘copter, the kind with two sets of rotors, front and back, like the ones used by big oil to transport their workers offshore for the three-week rotations to the ocean rigs, back home. The kind that big businesses all over the world used, the ones with lots of might and money behind them. But this wasn’t painted the standard Hi-Viz yellow; it was black with tasteful gold runes running along the side.
It was the Kin’s own private helicopter. It settled just out of sight, the beat slowing until all that was left was the throb of the echo reverberating in the air. I ran further up the hill, hiding behind a lonely rowan tree growing in the midst of a pile of sharp boulders, the only thing which had saved it from the ravages of hungry sheep and allowed it to mature, and I peered out to watch the huge beast settle.
The movement of the rotors had just begun to peter out, slowing by slight degrees, when the door opened. After a pause, the passenger disembarked. This ‘copter was of such a great size, he had no need to duck under the blades.
His unmistakable broad shoulders in that long black wool coat of his were a welcome vision to my eyes; his familiar confident air like a balm to my senses. Yet at the same time that my heart was soaring at the sight of him, I was conscious of a weight forming in the pit of my stomach, filling me with something like dread.
For I knew, without even forming the thought, that his presence on the island was a wrench in my plan to save my mother. I would not be able to tell him what I meant to do; I couldn’t even breathe a word about Willem being on Scarp, for Hugh would act in my best interests and scuttle the whole thing.
Hugh. Shit shit and triple shit. I had no choice, I had to go speak to him but what I would say, I had no idea. Unless... unless he had a way to bring me to the Ice King’s court.
HE COULDN’T see me from my perch above his heads, obscured low sunlight shining through the scraggly rowan tree as I was, although I saw him lift a hand as if to shield the low sun from his eyes as he searched the hillside. I ducked down, and closed my mind to him, just in case he was sending out feelers.
Perhaps it was time to lay my cards out on the table before him, tell him everything that had happened. How the medallion was tainted with dirty magic, and I had brought it on to the island with me. How Willem planned to use my power for his own ends. How I’d tried to tell Johanna, but she didn’t believe me.
Yes, this much was clear in my head.
The Crystal Charm Stone did exist, and was hidden inside the broch with no entrance except for the deep heavily magicked tunnel from the castle. What had Sandy said about it? It was the lodestone of magic in the western world, the magical north that directed all flow of magic in the ley lines which criss-crossed the earth.
I was so torn; this was a matter of life and death for me, and for my mother. I had no choice in the matter. Now that Hugh was on the island, I needed to go to him and tell everything I knew. Tell him about Willem. Tell him how I’d found my medium finally, and tell him how we were on the brink of winning the Competition, too.
He’d be happy for me.
Yet I couldn’t tell him, for mom’s sake.
HIS FIGURE was fast disappearing past the hill out of sight, so I tore off down the heathery hillside off t
he beaten sheep tracks, making a beeline for his tall figure. He’d almost reached the castle gate when I yelled at him, screamed his name, trying to pitch my voice over the rising wind.
Hugh stopped and turned to watch me running through the seaside meadow, his green eyes warmly smiling at me. I stopped abruptly a few feet away from him, although I wanted to run straight into the arms he held out ready to hug me with.
‘I need to speak with you,’ I said, bending at the waist and holding on to the stitch in my side.
He cocked a puzzled eyebrow at me, so sure he’d been of his welcome. The wind ruffled the thick black waves of his hair. ‘And I want to speak with you.’
It would have been so easy to just fall into his embrace right then and let him hold me, and unburden myself and trust he would take care of everything. It could be that easy.
I opened my mouth to say more, but he gently took me by the arm and led me into the new wing of the castle through the grand Victorian entrance. I looked up in awe again at the high ceilings all painted midnight blue with golden stars. I noticed other things too, stuff I hadn’t seen on that first night, like the intricate mosaic tiles laid around the hearths of the fireplaces, the carved faces in the corner moldings. It was warm in here, warmth like I hadn’t felt since I reached the island.
‘Come in here,’ he suggested, opening a door I hadn’t been in before, and I found myself in a small sitting room, a comfortable place with pristine cream carpeting and pale blue silk sofas, with a fine Queen Anne dining table and chairs in another corner. The wood panelling lent more warmth to the atmosphere, while a fire burned in the pretty tiled grate. It was a feminine room.
‘I’m sure Johanna won’t mind us using her sitting room,’ he said as he lightly tugged the velvet sash on the wall to the left of the fireplace.
One of the kitchen servers appeared silently at the door with a tray of tea and scones.
‘We heard you was coming,’ she said, smiling at Hugh as she set down the tray. She glanced at me with a sniff. ‘You’ll be needing another cup then.’
‘If you would be so kind, Hylda,’ Hugh said with his most charming smile.
She took out another matching cup, saucer and side plate from a Queen Anne sideboard, then smiled at him again before leaving the room.
‘I never heard her speak before, let alone smile,’ I said, looking at the door through which she’d exited. I was aware that I was stalling, still uncertain of the direction this conversation would take.
‘That’s because as a student, you have to earn her good will,’ he said. ’Good manners will open the most surprising doors, you’ll find.’ He passed me the cup and saucer, then settled back on the sofa across from me, his green eyes appraising me.
‘What are you doing here on Scarp?’
He smiled at me, and ignored my question. ‘Scarp is agreeing with you. You’re...different. You’re almost glowing with health.’
Christ, trust him to see that. Yes, my short time on the island had changed me, but it wasn’t the outdoor exercise or the diet lending me this look of health, I knew. My natural power had somehow expanded exponentially – I was able to see spells, and God alone knew what else I was now capable of. I would find out of course, that very night.
Sure, somethings about me had changed, but if Hugh knew what I was planning to pull off in the tunnel, he would say I hadn’t changed at all. Still the errant witch.
‘Johanna phoned me,’ he said. ‘Told me you were having a few... difficulties.’
He didn’t know the half of it. I nodded.
‘Yeah.’
‘She said she performed a cleansing spell,’ he continued casually, yet I knew he was watching me carefully, sizing up my every reaction. ‘How did that go?’
What could I tell him? That the Master Elder, Keeper of Scarp had failed in her healing magic, that she hadn’t plumbed the depths of me to successfully wipe out the scar of Willem?
I shrugged and watched the steam rise from my cup.
‘I’ve been thinking a lot about you,’ he said quietly. ‘About... us.’
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. Not now, this was so not the time for talking about a future between us. By not telling him everything about Willem and the plans to steal the crystal, I was betraying his trust in me, and the knowledge of this hurt me to the core.
Yet, there was still a chance. If I didn’t need Willem to find my mother, then perhaps...
‘You said there was no way to get to the Ice King,’ I said, suddenly opening my eyes and leaning forward. I ignored the splash of hot tea on my jeans.
His face grew blank as he sat back a little. ‘That’s correct.’ His unspoken question hung in the air between us.
‘But there must be some way,’ I insisted. ‘I mean, it’s not like he lives off in a magic cloud somewhere, right? Not like he’s in... I don’t know, Narnia, and we can’t find the right closet door to enter.’
Hugh inclined his head. ‘Actually, yes, it is,’ he observed. ‘He is of this world, but he also isn’t, if you get my meaning. That’s not someone you ever want to meet. How do you know about... what’s the meaning of this? Why are you asking, Dara?’
I waited a beat before I answered. ‘It just came up in a conversation recently,’ I said. ‘I’d think like to go there someday. After all this.’
Hugh shook his head and kept shaking it as he spoke. ‘I wouldn’t advise it, even if it was politically possible. The Ice Kingdom’s borders have been closed for years, both geographically and magically. The only way to get there is...’
‘Yes?’
‘It’s by invitation only,’ he replied, not meeting my eye. ‘And that welcome comes at a high cost.’
Exactly like Willem had said. I was quickly growing frustrated; either Hugh could help me get to the Ice Kingdom and I could cancel my plans with Willem, or he couldn’t.
‘There are ways there,’ he replied. ‘But the situation is dicey, there’s always politics when it comes to the Ice King, and...’
‘Yes or no?’
He stopped short. ‘No, then, if you insist on an easy answer.’
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, each moment dragging on until I couldn’t bear it any longer. My decision was made, and there would be no going back. This might be the last conversation Hugh and I would ever have, and I wanted him to think well of me.
‘We’re going to win the Competition,’ I said softly.
‘Dara...’ he started, then shook his head. ‘I think, with the pressure and everything, the strangeness, and the stress you’ve been under, it would make anyone start to unravel at the edges, especially someone like you who isn’t accustomed to high force fields of magic. My advice to you is to leave the Competition alone. Just concentrate on getting as much out of your time here as possible.’
‘You don’t understand,’ I said. ‘We’re going to win the Competition.’
‘This Competition is unwinnable. It’s merely an exercise for Johanna to judge the inventiveness of the seven, to see how they work alongside others. Nice to dream about, but...’
‘How about if I told you there was a way?’
He smiled at me, and he meant it. ‘Then I would wish you the best of luck. And I do.’
I stood up then, and he rose with me, and I gave him a good long hug, possibly the last contact we would ever have. I couldn’t allow myself to kiss him, because that would be my undoing, I’d never be able to carry out my plan. For I was going to go through with it, and I could only hope I would save my mother.
Chapter 20
SANDY DIDN’T SHOW UP for the communal meal. Fergie and I ate a tense supper in the Refectory with the four others. There hadn’t been much conversation at the table, for we’d made the mistake of walking in together, and ever since then Oliver paid particular silent attention to Fergie, not bothering to hide the suspicion on his face. This of course made her more flustered with the excitement she couldn’t hid
e, so much so that she dropped her spoon a couple of times. By the end of the meal, they were all staring at her, knowing for certain she had switched camps, and probably able to guess from the paleness of my face that something was about to happen. She had kept trying to whisper questions at me, I had to just shake my head and kick her foot under the table, which made us look even more suspicious.
On our way to the agreed meeting place, the hobbit door leading to the tunnel, I drew Fergie aside. I had to warn her of the danger she was opening herself to by aligning with us. We were hidden in one of the side nooks leading to nowhere in this ancient stone castle.
‘Tonight, Fergie,’ I began. ‘We lied, it’s not a dry run. The plan is to take the Crystal Charm Stone away from the island.’ And I told her everything that Willem was planning.
‘He wants you to steal the stone.’ Her voice was flat in disbelief, but her face showed the horror she was feeling. ‘That’s impossible. How could anyone carry that power? It’d burn you to a crisp!’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘But I’m not going to do it. The moment I touch the Crystal Charm Stone, I’m going to use Willem’s own connection to my mind to send a safety spell to Mom.’
She paused as she drew in a deep breath ‘Dara, you barely were able to do that in class. What makes you think you can do that tonight, especially when you’re under pressure? Please, don’t even try this.’
I leaned against the stone wall, suddenly acknowledging the insanity of what I planned. She was right. Who was I to think I could pull off this stunt? Dara Martin, half blood witch. The whole thing was madness. But even in my despair, a glimmer of hope flared through me and I latched on to it like a drowning woman grabs a rope. I may have been a reluctant student of Willem’s sorceries, but he had taught me well.
‘Maybe you can help. I can connect your mind at the same time, and you can do the spell!’
