Chapter 66
Becky
When Becky’s eyes opened, there was a bright light shining above her.
Did she die…again?
No. There was supposed to be peace in death, and she was far too irritated. “Lyssa. I know we should encourage you to shine your light, but could you not do it right into my corneas?” Becky squinted to see beyond the little girl casting her starlight over them. The kitchen was not destroyed.
Instead, it was…changed.
The once dingy, worn walls were now vibrant and bright, the stone changed to warmed brown, the walls with bits of ivy growing upon them, small flowers blooming wherever it touched.
Even the stained glass window was changed; everything was brighter. Everything and, it seemed, everyone.
Lyssa dimmed her light a smidge, staring at the room in awe. “Did—I do this?”
The flap of the guvres’ wings as they swooped around outside the window indicated their retreat. It had been foolish of them to think the animals would commit any harm when their young lay inside. But no one could have guessed the extreme room makeover.
“What happened?” Blade sprinted back into the kitchen, sweat glistening on his forehead as he immediately ran to Becky, pulling her into his arms. “I saw them fly up, and I thought— Gods, is this how the boss feels all the time? No wonder he’s so uptight.
I want to wrap you in thick cushions.” He stopped his tirade when he took in the rest of the room.
Gideon helped up Keeley, whom he must have grabbed when Lyssa screamed. “The venom should’ve killed us.”
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong, children.” Moira—Fate—appeared at the door, her eyes crinkled in delighted mischief. “With the right people, destruction can become creation.”
Keeley threw her arms in the air. “Have you been hiding in the manor the whole time?”
Moira shrugged, unbothered by the perturbed faces staring her down. “I used to live here. You don’t think I know every nook and cranny to go undetected?”
Lyssa blinked, and Rebecka stepped closer to her, protective against any perceived threat. “The guvres and I…made the kitchen…” Lyssa trailed off, at a loss for the right word. Which, in Rebecka’s opinion, should alarm all of them.
Fate hobbled over to Lyssa, crouching down to face her, eyes twinkling. “Magic. Your starlight and the guvres restored life to this room.”
Rebecka stepped closer still, noting that the once-dull-brown table was a turquoise color, the legs curved and adorned with soft yellow flowers. “This is what the room was supposed to look like, then?”
Fate grinned. “It’s what the whole of the manor was meant to look like. The fading of the magic isn’t new. The world has been dwindling in color since its creation.”
Blade cleared his throat. “How do we get it back?”
Fate pulled out a lovely paintbrush with a white oak handle and soft pink bristles. “We paint it again.”
“If we need to paint the whole of Rennedawn, I’d recommend a much bigger brush, Moira.” Keeley blinked at the object. “Unless… Is it enchanted?”
Fate cackled. “Not in the slightest. I bought it secondhand at a craft fair.”
Becky snorted, planting her hands on her hips, still looking about the room in awe.
As was Edwin, his eyes welling up when he saw the beautiful detailing that appeared against his stove, the bright, happy glow coming from the pots and pans atop it. “It’s so beautiful.”
Clarke and Cassandra clomped out from inside the cabinets they’d hidden in, leaping about the room like it was a playground. The animals were so attuned to each other, they swooped in the air in complete unison, their little wings carrying them with tiny puffs of sparkling purple mist.
Lyssa held up her hands, meeting the venom with her silver-white light. It gleamed, splashing bursts of brilliant color all over them.
Rebecka flinched, feeling something strike her, but it wasn’t painful.
It felt like a warm glow around her heart, and when she peered down, she found her brown dress was now a bloom of fuchsia and green.
Her practical loafers had been replaced with intricately woven daisies, and though she had no idea how such shoes could be comfortable and structurally sound, somehow they were.
“That was amazing!” Lyssa stared in awe as everyone in the room got a splash of color: Gideon’s simple attire was replaced with a shirt of vibrant blue, and Keeley’s red leathers disappeared beneath softer ivory material trimmed with shimmering gold.
And Lyssa’s day dress was gone in favor of one with a large tulle skirt, iridescent and covered in butterflies.
And Blade…looked exactly the same.
When he saw her noticing this, he gave her a sly grin, motioning to his obnoxiously colored vest. “Can’t fix perfection, I’m afraid.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled, faltering when she remembered. “Were you able to send a raven for Roland and Marv to return?”
Blade ran a hand through his hair. “I did just in time to spy the guvres headed right for the kitchens.” Clarke toddled over and nibbled at Blade’s ankles. “Found a snack, did you?” Blade picked him up with a grin.
“Why is it so important they return, Rebecka?” Joseph had a rabid curiosity in his gaze—one that let her know his was a mind that never stopped asking questions. He wanted to seek answers to all he knew. That had once been Rebecka’s mindset, too.
She was unsure when it had changed.
“I thought perhaps if Marv still can’t answer our questions about the traitor without the poison killing him, perhaps he can tell us what he knows of the handkerchief?”
Joseph was silent for a moment before he spoke. “I believe that with the guvres’ venom and Lyssa’s starlight, you can do more than heal the manor’s magic.”
Becky’s heart began to race, overcome with a singular feeling. It was the one that signaled life was about to shift on its axis once more. “How do you know that?” she asked carefully.
Joseph stood up straight with a miraculous smile upon his face. Blissful relief.
“Because when I initially walked into this room, I was suffering from the Mystic Illness,” Joseph stated, and Edwin’s lips parted, his eyes widening.
Joseph scanned his body, noting the colorful robes replacing his previous cloak, a flourish to the sleeves that reminded Rebecka of one of her mother’s old dresses.
But she forgot all of that when Joseph looked up and said with joyful disbelief: “And I think I’ve been cured.”