3. Broken Pieces
brOKEN PIECES
Irene
Raven Hall swept into view in the distance after the carriage drove through the quaint town of Crowsbury.
The thatched roofs and half-timbered houses reminded me of fifteenth-century paintings.
The town was part of Alex’s estate, and he took good care of it.
The streets were even and clean. The school had been refurbished last year, and there was a new library on the High Road.
The mansion was a royal palace with more than two thousand rooms and over nine hectares of land, but the house didn’t seem that big from the outside. A spell hid its true size. Still, it was impressive with its turrets, large diamond-paned windows, and pointed gables.
Alex helped me out of the carriage, his beautiful silver-grey eyes sparkling. When I slid my hand into his, the bond gave a little flutter.
My lips were sensitive after the kiss, and as if reading my mind, his gaze dropped to them.
The familiar scent of lemon polish and beeswax welcomed me when we stepped into the entrance hall.
The first time I’d seen it, I’d found it cold and stern because of the white marble floors, the imposing sweeping stairs, and the austere Grecian columns.
But now only the beauty of the frescoes and the elegance of the soaring ceiling caught my attention.
Something else caught my attention—Darius’s multicoloured, star-shaped aura as he walked down the stairs.
As a wizard, his special aura shimmered, full of brightness, different colours, and glowing tendrils moving around. Just watching it lifted my mood.
He was munching on an oat biscuit with gusto. His magic consumed a large amount of energy, which he recovered by eating. “News about Graves?”
I handed my coat to the butler. “Lucy hasn’t seen him in a while. But he gave her some money, which made us think Graves’s situation isn’t as desperate as we thought.”
Darius finished the biscuit. “I have excellent news.”
“What have you done?” Alex frowned. “Did the library collapse after the spell you unleashed?”
“It’s really good news, and it’s funny that you mention the library.” Darius gestured in the direction of the upper floors. “The rearrangement of the library is almost complete.”
A delighted gasp came out of me. “What?”
Darius had cast a spell on the library to rearrange the books over two years ago. The library had to be the largest one in the world with over two hundred million books spread over fourteen floors. Not that I’d seen anything of it aside from a wild tornado sweeping a vast room.
An air of triumph appeared on his face, and sheer happiness glowed yellow in his aura. “I reckon it’s a matter of weeks. Then we can all explore the wonders of the modern Library of Alexandria.”
“You mean the horrors,” Myrtha said, walking down the stairs.
She wiped dust from her face. Her sable hair was dishevelled, and her starry white gown was ripped in places.
“Look at me. I barely took a peek into that infernal room, and I almost got killed. I seriously doubt the library will be accessible in a few weeks.”
As the queen of the wilis, she radiated a pearl-like light, but the usually wonderful effect was dimmed by her untidy state and the layer of dust.
Darius waved a dismissive hand. “Where is your sense of adventure, of danger?”
“I have never had it.” Annoyance appeared with a brown light in her aura.
“Maybe it’s your age.” Darius tugged at his pristine jacket. He must have cast a spell on his clothes to keep them always clean. “Two hundred and fifty years. It’s a quarter of a millennium. Not a joke.” He leant closer to her. “Are those wrinkles and grey hair?”
Alex and I exchanged a glance.
“He has a death wish,” he whispered.
Myrtha narrowed her gaze to a slit. “You know, scientists have proved that women with wrinkles and grey hair live longer than the men who point them out. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She marched upstairs. “I need to refresh myself.”
Darius smiled, watching her go up. “I can help you get refreshed in a moment.” He pointed at himself. “No dust on me.”
She spun around. Her aura was ablaze with burgundy shock. “Excuse me?”
He held up a hand. “With a spell, obviously.”
“Obviously, my answer is no.”
“Fine. I won’t use a spell then.”
She groaned, muttering under her breath. Darius followed her upstairs.
Their bickering voices carried through the stairwell.
Alex chuckled and took my hand. The gesture was easy and familiar without any tension in his fingers. “They will never stop arguing.” He kissed my knuckles, and his soft, gentle lips left a tingle on my skin. “I have to meet my agent. I’ll see you later.”
He trailed his fingers over my palm while going away, and the bond vibrated in my chest.
It took me a few minutes to reach my bedroom, so big was the palace. The earthy, ammonia-like smell of the lime plaster the builders had used to install a modern lavatory in my bedroom lingered in the air, even though a few weeks had passed since they’d finished.
The result was wonderful—a large ceramic bathtub, a modern water boiler, and shiny new tiles. Taking long, hot baths had become my favourite pastime.
I was unbuttoning my jacket when there was a knock.
Carabosse swept into view when I opened the door. As a witch, she possessed a glowing aura like Darius, but while understanding his feelings was easy, Cara’s were more cryptic.
“May I talk to you, Irene?” She brushed past me before I said anything. She gazed around with her keen grey eyes. “What a lovely room. With a proper lavatory. The duke truly cares for you.”
Alex showed his love for me in many ways, but I had to admit the new lavatory was extraordinary.
“What troubles you?” I studied her aura where a steel-grey light dominated. “You seem worried.”
She faced the window overlooking the gardens. “What does it feel like to be a wili?”
The question caught me off guard. She was a powerful witch who had once belonged to the Wraith Court before it’d been dismantled after the Civil War.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything you can tell me.” She turned around in a flutter of black crepe fabric.
“Why do you wear only widow’s weeds?” I asked out of sheer curiosity.
Surprise flashed orange in her halo. “Black contains magic and avoids dispersion. It makes it easier to channel magic in the right direction.”
“Darius doesn’t wear black.”
She shot her gaze towards the ceiling. “He is a different type of wizard. He doesn’t need to channel his energy. Now, I’m trying to understand how a wili’s power works.”
“Shouldn’t you already know that?”
Light crimson spread across her aura—embarrassment. “I know many things about a wili’s power, but I want to learn something more, something more personal, something I can’t find in books.”
“You should ask Myrtha.”
She tilted her head. “Myrtha and I aren’t really friends.”
Well, Cara and I weren’t really friends either.
“It’s difficult to answer.” I sat on a stuffed chair and offered her another one.
“When Myrtha found me, I was dying after Rothbart had attacked me.” A quick vision of the sorcerer flashed across my mind, sending a chill down my bones.
“I had no strength and was in pain. But when I woke up here, I felt reborn although I didn’t guess I had supernatural powers until they developed. ”
She didn’t sit. “What can you do exactly?”
“I can move things with my mind. Look.” I focused on the vase of flowers on the windowsill, thinking about lifting it.
Energy flowed out of me and…the vase cracked, spilling water everywhere.
I winced. “I need practise.”
A mauve flame—admiration—coursed through her aura, which confused me. Admiration for what? I’d just destroyed a vase.
“But you need to die to become a wili, don’t you?” she asked.
I picked up the pieces of the vase. “No, the transformation is not like that of vampires. I was almost dead. Myrtha must transform a woman into a wili before she dies. But to maintain my powers and not to fade, I must kill at least one evil man each year.”
I didn’t look forward to killing someone, but wilis were vengeful spirits; they avenged women who had been betrayed and attacked by a man they’d trusted.
She shrugged. “It should be easy enough.”
I twirled a finger over the sad porcelain shards. “Do you mind recomposing the vase? I like it.”
“Well, it’s not my sort of magic.” She shifted her weight. “As I said, I’m not like Darius. My magic is different.”
“Do you mean you can’t rebuild the vase?”
“I have a more careful approach to magic and use it only for…” She waved her arms, gesturing at something big. “Big projects.”
Her aura was pulsating with crimson.
“Am I embarrassing you?” I asked.
She flushed. It had to be the first time I’d seen her blush.
“No, of course not. Dark witches are never embarrassed.” She let out a nervous chuckle. “That’s all, I suppose. Thank you for the information.” She left the room in a hurry.
I didn’t understand how magic worked, but breaking things was easier than repairing them.