by Sarah Noffke
CHAPTER NINE
When the ancient clock in the hallway chimed the hour, the door to Azure’s room slid open. Her mother kept her eyes low as she closed the door behind her and stopped, her hand resting on the glass knob at her back. She looked like she was ready to sprint from the room at any moment. That was probably because Azure had configured a sunburst-fire dragon, and although small, it was prancing across the expanse of her room, its forked tongue flicking in the direction of the queen’s shoes.
“Configurations are extremely difficult for young witches,” the queen commented, angling her own wand at the yellow and orange dragon. It disappeared with a growl.
Azure brought her blue eyes up to scowl at her mother. “I named him Zeppy,” she said, her voice not sounding as angry as she wanted it to be since she was more confused than upset.
“I realize the information came as a shock,” Queen Emeri said.
“Shock isn’t a strong enough word. Gigantic jolt works. Oriceranquake works. Or even world-shattering. Mother, first you tell me you’re sick and now—”
“I know, my little witch. I’m sorry. This is a lot to take in,” Emeri interrupted, sweeping across the room to the bed, where Azure was perched on the end. She took a seat next to her and it reminded the girl of when she was young and her mother would tell her stories about their ancestors before bed. When her eyelids couldn’t stay open any longer she’d slide back, tucking her legs under the blankets and curling up, and her mother would press her lips to her forehead.
“So my father is a human. It was a lie that he was a wizard from another land, wasn’t it?”
Emeri nodded, her hands in her lap.
“You told me my father was dead. Was that a lie too?”
A guilty smile appeared on the queen’s lips. “I might have just wished he were dead.”
“Mum!” Azure wanted to lay into her mother, but she also felt like she couldn’t push her away no matter how huge the shock. She was sick.
“Azure, your father and I made a mistake. We were in love, and I became pregnant with you. However, your gran found out. She told me if our people knew my child was half human, then you would never inherit the crown. Your father and I hadn’t thought it through.”’
“I’m a mistake?” Azure asked in a shameful hush.
“No, no, no, honey. The mistake wasn’t having you, it was thinking that it wouldn’t matter to the people of Virgo. And your father had other obligations, so it was never going to work out. I had you at the House of Enchanted, and we decided he wouldn’t be a part of your life.”
“What’s going to happen now?”
A pained look crossed the queen’s face. “I fear you’ve lost the crown for now, but I’m fighting it. You’re my true successor, but I have to convince our people of that. I’ll keep the crown at this point, but in the end it must go to you or we will have lost it for good. Our family has produced the reigning monarchs for over ten thousand years.”
Azure realized right then how truly her mother had fucked up. A half-human couldn’t rule the Virgoans under the present doctrine. “Ironic that you did all this to ensure I got the crown, and I’m still going to lose it.”
“You’re not going to lose it. I’ll do everything I can. In the meantime, you have to earn the favor of your people.”
“Mother, I’m half human. It will not be an easy task, and it won’t be fast,” Azure cautioned.
“Daughter, I’m losing my magic. If the Virgoans learn about that, and…”
“And what?”
“The virus, it doesn’t just take away my magic. It’s been… Well, I’m losing energy. I don’t feel quite the same as before.” Queen Emeri’s eyes didn’t connect with Azure’s.
“What are you trying to say?”
She thought about that for a moment, weighing how to answer the question. “I’m saying I don’t know what the long-term effects of this virus will be.”
That wasn’t all she was saying, but Azure had learned long ago how to read between her mother’s words. “This virus, it could be fatal?”
“Azure, there’s no reason to—”
“Answer me!” Azure demanded. Reading the look in her mother’s eyes, she already knew what the queen didn’t want to say.
“Yes, there is that potential. The alchemists need more time. There’s so much we don’t know about this virus,” Queen Emeri told her, slipping back into a businesslike tone.
“What? No! What can we do?” Those damn Terrans are going to fucking pay!
“We will find a solution, but in the meantime I have to ensure the people accept you. It’s crucial that I crown you.”
Her mother was preparing for her death. She was acting as if her end were in sight.
“What can I do to help, Mother?”
Emeri’s arm slid around her daughter’s back, pulling her into an embrace. “You must find a way to earn the favor of the Virgoans.”
CHAPTER TEN
Azure had slipped down until her head was resting on her mother’s lap. She couldn’t let her go. Not that night, not ever. She’d give up her chance at the crown if she could just find a way to save her mother.
Disappointment swelled in her chest when the queen gently pulled away, letting Azure’s head drop to the bed below. Half asleep, she felt herself floating as her mother levitated her into place at the head of the bed. Once her head hit the pillow, it fell to the side and dreams crashed down on her, pulling her into a world where things weren’t real and her life hadn’t turned upside down.
When Azure awoke the next morning she wasn’t wearing the coronation gown, but rather a white nightgown. Beside her a clacking sound arrested her attention. She raised her head, her blue curls falling into her face. It took her eyes a moment to adjust before she could make out the woman sitting next to her bed. Her gran tapped her heel on the floor as if she impatiently awaited something, arms crossed on her chest.
“Well, it’s about damn time you woke up. It’s nearly sunrise,” Sari, her gran, said.
Azure closed her eyes, remembering the night before. Her mother’s confession. Her own secret revealed. The crown.
“Sunrise, huh? So sorry to keep you waiting. Didn’t realize I was late for a meeting,” Azure quipped, pushing into a sitting position.
A strange look sat on her gran’s face, one that seemed to challenge Azure to speak up.
“You knew and never told me,” Azure finally accused.
“You weren’t supposed to know. Ever,” her gran replied indifferently.
“But my soul stone?” Azure asked, turning to the dresser where she’d left her amethyst the night before. It was gone. She swept her eyes around the room.
“Never mind that now, child.” Sari still called Azure “child” even though she hadn’t been considered in that light for a long time. The old woman was rocking back and forth, although the chair in which she sat wasn’t a rocker. Sari was always doing strange things like that. She’d been labeled “the weird queen,” which, when surrounded by a thousand witches and wizards, was quite a title to achieve.
“Do you know who my father is?” Azure asked.
“I do not,” the old woman said, still rocking, but with a smile on her face now. It was a habit of hers to smile like she knew a secret and was just waiting to reveal it.
“Well, what do you know, because you’re obviously here for a reason.”
“I know that your mother is getting sicker. More than she’s letting on.”
“Yes, she told me. She and the cabinet members are suffering more than the loss of their magic,” Azure said, remembering the night before.
“She didn’t tell you that. You filled in those details.”
“What? What do you mean?” Azure asked.
“The cabinet members who have contracted the virus are losing their magic, the same as your mother. However, they aren’t suffering from any other symptoms yet, although the virus might still be fatal. A witch or wizard without magic won’t live as l
ong as we do.”
“They aren’t as sick as mother. Why?”
Sari pressed her wrinkled mouth to the side, her eyes going with it as a new disappointment took shape on her face. “Azure, have you ever wondered where Emeri’s soul stone is?”
Azure shrugged. “She says she keeps it hidden for safety.”
“It’s hidden all right. Damn it, I turned this house upside down looking for that stone. The truth is, it’s not in Virgo. I finally got that much out of your mother. She traded her soul stone.”
“Why would she do that?” Azure asked.
The look in her gran’s eyes struck Azure across the face. “Dear child, she traded her soul stone for you.”
“What?” Azure sprang to her feet, her blankets tangling around her torso. She tore at them, her eyes on her gran and disbelief flooding her head. “A witch would never part with her soul stone. It’s a death—”
“Yes, it can be a death sentence,” Sari said, cutting her off and rocking harder now. “And your mother is suffering more than the others from the virus because she doesn’t have her soul stone to draw on. Our amethysts rejuvenate us. They protect us. They give us immunity when we’re faced with disease. And your mother doesn’t have it. But Azure, she gave it up for you willingly.”
“But to whom? And why?” Even as Azure asked, she already knew the answer.
“I believe she traded the stone to your father in order to keep you, but honestly, Emeri wouldn’t ever tell me.”
“Well, I’ve got to get the stone back,” Azure declared, reaching for the wand on her bedside table.
“I agree,” her gran said.
Azure pointed at her armoire, which took up one whole wall. The doors opened and a pair of hiking pants and a black top flew through the air to land on the bed.
“Mother has to tell me who he is.”
Sari laughed a bit dryly. “I’ve been trying to get that information out of my daughter for over two decades. I’d say you would have better luck asking a unicorn to be our housemaid. Those creatures are less stubborn than Emeri.”
“Fine. I’ll find him without her help, using a detection spells. He’s my father, so I should be able to somehow create a spell that connects us.”
“Now you’re thinking, child.”
“That insinuates that I wasn’t thinking before.” Azure’s face took on a mock scowl.
“If you insist,” her gran cordially agreed.
“Anyway, I’ll start by searching New Egypt, where many humans are found. Maybe one of the Light Elves will have some information. He could be on Earth. I’ll need to find a spell that can help me…” The look on Sari’s face made Azure pause. She had her lips pursed and her eyes were gazing to the right with a tentative expression.
“What?” Azure asked, slipping her hand through her sleeve before buttoning her shirt.
“I think I can make your search a little easier. I only know one thing about your father; it was the only piece of information Emeri would give me. It was the reason I urged her to keep your true identity a secret.”
“Tell me,” Azure demanded, not liking how her gran looked more serious than before.
“Your father is from, and probably still resides in, the Land of Terran.”
Azure’s heart beat with a new intensity. Her father was from Terran, the place responsible for infecting her mother. She’d find him and murder the man. His people. Emperor Richard. She’d find that soul stone and burn down the realm.
“Okay, I’ll start there,” Azure declared, sitting on her bed and pulling on her boots.
“You could take the three-day route through the mountain pass,” Sari mused, a singsong quality to her voice as she tilted her head back and forth.
“Or?” Azure said, lacing the boot tighter than her ankle liked.
“Or you can take the shortcut—”
“Through the Dark Forest,” she said, completing her gran’s sentence.
“It would save you a full week’s journey back and forth, and your mother—”
“Needs her soul stone. And she’ll have it.” Azure promised, standing and slapping the side of her leg. “Don’t worry about me, Gran.”
“I’m not worried about you. If you die, then I have one less person to fight for the last piece of cherry pie,” she told her granddaughter with a twinkle in her lavender eyes.
“Thanks for the concern,” Azure grumbled. She would head out now, before her mother figured out she was missing. She’d need to collect supplies first, though. Her eyes trailed to a bag stationed by her door. “Is that…?” she asked, pointing to the bag.
“Yes, in that bag is everything you’ll need for the journey. You’re welcome. Also, I’d recommend going on foot since a horse may not be able to traverse the obstacles you’ll encounter in the Dark Forest.”
Azure put her hand on her hip and pursed her lips at her gran. “You’re one crafty witch. Why you gave up the crown, I’ll never know.”
“I like my free time, what can I say?”
“Well, thanks, Gran. I’ll be back soon,” she said, knowing the woman didn’t do sentimentality.
“I’m sure you will, but two things. The first is that retrieving the soul stone will stop your mother’s illness, but it won’t save her magic from the virus. Something else has to do that, and I have no idea what on Oriceran that could be.”
“So what are you leading up to?” Azure asked.
“That you should continue to think about how you can earn the approval of your people. Your mother can’t remain queen for long. The crown belongs to you, but you’ll have to earn it first. You’ll have to do something no Vladar has ever had to do to take the crown. You’ll have to fight for it.”
“And the second thing?” Azure asked.
“Oh good, you were paying attention in arithmetic.”
“Barely,” Azure snapped at the old woman. The sun was coming up and she was running out of time to get out of the House of Enchanted undetected.
Sari stood and took a step, her heel tapping the floor as she did. She held her hand up, fist closed. “I had this made for you. Take it. I think you now know how important it is.”
Azure placed her hand under her gran’s. When she opened it, something light fell into her palm and made it instantly warm. She pulled her hand back to find the blue stone winking at her. The soul stone she’d dislodged last night was now encased in a gold setting and attached to a chain. She picked it up, opened the clasp, and hooked it around her neck, settling the stone against her chest.
“Thank you.” She ran her hand over the stone, which was large but also small. It felt as if it were a part of her, like it held her intuition, her blood, her power. Feeling all this reinforced that she had to retrieve her mother’s soul stone. It was their protection and their insurance.
“You’re welcome. And lastly—”
“You said only two things.” Azure cut her off with a nervous smile.
“I lied.” Her gran returned the look. “Anyway, Azure, it would be helpful if you realized that you hold great power as both a witch and a human, but it’s up to you to discover that on your own. Assimilating those two parts of you won’t be easy, but if you can accomplish it, I suspect you’ll find a brand new kind of magic.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Azure hurried down the steps of the wraparound porch of the House of Enchanted as the morning fog rolled over the grassy green hills bordering the House. Her throat caught on the last step, and she turned back to regard the place where she had been born. I’m half human, she thought, trying and failing to wrap her mind around that idea. How could she feel so much like a witch, feel the power of her people flow through her veins, and not be purely one of them? It wasn’t right. But how could that be? How could who she was be wrong? That was what she had to figure out.
But more urgently than figuring out how to be whole, she had to find her mother’s soul stone. Her own pulsed at the base of her throat. Absentmindedly her fingers found the stone. It
was the accumulation of her powers. It was beautiful to Azure that the powers she hadn’t been strong enough to use until now had been poured into the creation of her soul stone. It proved that her magic had always flowed, like the sun that shines even if hidden behind a cloud.
Azure froze, sensing she was being followed. “You can’t come with me,” she whispered, gazing down.
The black and white feline rubbed the side of his body against her calf, staring up at her. In Finswick’s eyes Azure read disappointment.
“I know I’m always saying that, but this time I have a supremely good reason. I need you to stay here and watch over things. I’ll feel better if I know you’re spying for me.”
Her familiar, whom she’d known for most of her life, sat back on his hind legs and regarded her with a quiet stubbornness.
“Okay, fine, that’s not the truth. Fin, it isn’t safe for you in the Dark Forest. It isn’t safe for me. I’ll worry less if I don’t think I’m leading us both to our deaths.” Azure knelt, offering her hand to the cat.
He blinked his green eyes, a contemptuous expression on his face. Finally he pushed toward her, sliding his head under her fingertips.
Azure wished he hadn’t given her the silent treatment, but at least he’d offered her a bit of affection.
“I’ve got to go. Catch a lizard and drop it in Gran’s bed, will you? It will make her laugh.” Azure offered Finswick one last look before hustling away, clearing the expansive yard in less than a minute.
She swung her gaze to the grounds, which would soon be littered with witches and wizards bustling into the House of Enchanted with their problems and disputes. There would surely be some protesting her potential reign. She shook off the concern and headed for the path through the cemetery, which would be empty at this time of day. It led to a route that traversed the Dark Forest. Not the ideal path, but when entering the Dark Forest, was there ever an advisable way? That was when Azure realized this would be the first time she had ventured so far outside of Virgo.
