Chapter 6 #2
“It sounds good, Mother. Sounds like we truly won’t have to worry about our financial situation anymore.”
She nodded slowly, the color returning to her cheeks. “Or devils like
Chancellor Blackthorneand Friar Jameson.”
“That’s the best part.”
“They’ll be at the engagement celebrations tonight, though. And the wedding. They want to be witnesses.”
“Of course, they do.” Bastards. I hoped that someday they’d get a good comeuppance.
“They can’t take anything away from us now. We just have to stick to the plan.”
“Sure.” I swallowed hard, and she tightened her grip on my wrist.
“I’m sorry. I know you think I’ve given up on your father.”
“But you have.” My retort held more sting than I intended. I couldn’t help it, though. I wasn’t sure she understood how trapped I felt. My family were the only people who could help me, the only ones I could rely on. Now I didn’t even have that.
“I understand why you feel that way. But everyone has done everything they could. Even at the risk of breaking the magical laws. I don’t know what else we can do.”
I blew out a strained breath, and she released my hand, sitting straighter.
A sign that the lighthearted mood had changed.
“At least it looks like we don’t have to worry about the wraith.
Your portaling also appears to have gone unnoticed.
Your grandmother believes it was cloaked by the mystic energy of the moon. ”
“I’m sorry for the danger that could have caused us.”
“Let’s just move past it. I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson and won’t do anything like that again. Especially when you’re in Zyvaris.”
“I won’t.”
She raised a sharp brow. “Have you made your notes?”
“I have.”
I hadn’t written about last night yet, but I got everything down in detail up to the point where I woke from my portaling coma.
My notes would ensure my future self knew what I’d done, and the danger I’d caused. But I felt sorry for the heartbreak and disappointment that version of myself would experience when she found out I’d come close to finding a solution but failed.
“We’ll visit on the eve of the next memory reset. We plan to do so for as long as we can. I’m sure our presence won’t be needed eventually. Thayden will get used to your needs and will know what to do.”
My reservations about Thayden would always be there, but even I didn’t think it was okay to expect him to get used to me and my curse. I didn’t even think it was okay for my family.
Whatever happened, I needed to be able to take care of myself. I couldn’t rely on anyone. I was getting older. I’d be twenty-one in the autumn. When the curse first took its effect, I was fifteen. I was a woman now. A woman who knew she wanted more from life than being controlled.
“Thank you for thinking so far ahead.” I nodded my gratitude.
“You don’t have to thank me for that. We all want to support you the best way we can. I just need you to stay away from magic in any shape or form.”
Her warning took me back to my previous worries of her stripping my powers. I decided I should ask to put myself out of my misery. “Mother, are you thinking of taking my powers?”
The hardness in her eyes suggested I was right. “I was. But your grandmother convinced me it would be a bad idea.”
The tightness in my heart loosened, but my stomach still twisted at the realization that having my powers stripped could have been a reality.
“Your grandmother still believes it should be your choice, and if we did so while you are cursed, we may be putting you in more danger. She also made a good argument that your powers kept you safe from the wraith. If such a thing were to happen again, you’d need your powers for protection.”
Thank the Gods for my grandmother’s wisdom and powers of persuasion. “Thank you. I don’t want to be without my powers.”
“That may not be up to you. Like everyone else, Thayden believes your powers have been bound, but I’m certain he’ll request that we take your powers completely once the curse is broken.”
I let out a sarcastic laugh. “So, while I’m cursed, I get to keep my powers. What a cruel joke.”
“Elariya please, don’t make this any harder.”
“I’m not trying to.”
A poignant smile floated across my mother’s lips. “I know your life hasn’t been easy, but strength will come with time, my love.”
How much time?
I wished someone could tell me. Time was the cruelest villain. A fucker high on vengeance, always circling back to steal what I couldn’t protect. It seemed that we’d be doing this war dance until the world ended, and even then, time would still have the upper hand to defeat me.
And what about everything else?
Like the wraith…
Chills clamored up my spine as the memory of its haunting presence froze my mind.
“Mother, what if the wraith finds me in Zyvaris?” I breathed out the words, unable to disguise my fear.
I didn’t want to talk about the wraith, but I needed to get my worries about it off my chest. “I don’t think it was mistaken.
Or that it just suddenly forgot its encounter with me.
It called me a thief. What if I stole something and can’t remember? ”
Mother's face transformed at my words, the color bleeding from her cheeks, leaving behind a ghostly pallor that made the scattered freckles across her nose stand out like drops of blood. “I don’t believe you stole anything.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you’ve always been supervised, and I always know where you are. I only slipped up the other night.”
“What if something like the other night occurred and you don’t know.” There were so many possibilities floating around my mind. Trying to figure out what I had and hadn’t done without my memories was an impossible quest.
“Listen to me.” She gave me a hard stare.
“Whatever that thing thinks you took is something valuable. Something highly magical that I’m sure you couldn’t get in this part of the land.
Or any part of the mortal lands. You haven’t been around anything like that.
We would have felt the presence of such a thing.
Believe me we would. So please do not worry about that.
” She forced a shallow breath and tried to compose herself, but the fear lingered in the tight lines around her mouth.
“I trust what you’re saying, but right now we don’t know where the wraith went. What if the wraith comes after me when I’m in Zyvaris? There’s no one magical there to turn to. There’s more chance that it could come after me then.”
“If that happens, you call for me,” came a subtle voice from the door.
Mother and I looked around at the same time to find Grandmother standing there.
I stood and brought my hands over my heart. Hope filled me just for seeing her.
She walked into the room and gave me a faint smile but it was gone before it fully took fruition.
“Grandmother.”
The hard expression she’d worn the last few days was still there, but, like my mother, there was a softer look in her eyes. It gave me hope. I would have hated to leave for Zyvaris while she was still not speaking to me.
“This will help you if ever you need me.” She held up a necklace—one of her favorites. It was a silver chain with an oval-shaped amethyst pendant attached to it.
“You’re giving me your necklace?”
She nodded and walked behind me to place it around my neck.
I looked down at the pendant resting on my chest. The jewel beamed a bright purple in the sunlight with a ripple of light that seemed to flow through it.
“I put a locator spell on it.” Grandmother turned me to face her and Mother, who was now standing.
She didn’t look as if she was in complete agreement with the necklace, but she wasn’t saying anything.
Yet. “If ever you are in danger, all you need to do is hold the pendant close to your heart and tap it three times. Do that, and I will be there, wherever you are.”
“Is this wise?” Mother asked before I could speak.
Grandmother faced her with her chin lifted, showing her seniority and power. “It is wiser than allowing her to leave without it.”
“What would you do if trouble came?” Mother actually looked afraid.
“Whatever it took. Even if it meant unleashing my full powers.”
My breath caught. She’d assured us the wraith wasn’t in the mortal realm anymore, but it was obvious she was still worried about it, as we all should be.
I felt even worse for my foolish mistakes. I should never have performed that damn spell. Never.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Mother stiffened but nodded.
Grandmother returned her gaze to me. “Twilight shielding will protect you while you sleep and the necklace while you’re awake.”
“You put a twilight shield on me?” I breathed, relief flooding through me.
“Yes.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” That would at least help me to sleep easier.
“I know. Please do not ever cast any form of blood magic ever again. And you are not to portal.”
“I promise I won’t.”
“Good. And like I said the other day, it’s best you don’t think about magic anymore.”
Reluctantly, I nodded, but I couldn’t help but think of last night again, and the disarmingly handsome Fae male I thought I saw. And those silver threads. I wanted to ask her about them and the man but didn’t want to ruin the moment. At the same time, I needed some form of closure.
“May I ask one more thing about magic, then no more?”
“You may.”
“Can the burnout from portaling make you… see things? Like people and other strange things?”
“Yes. That’s one of the most prominent of side effects. When I first started learning to portal, I saw all sorts of things. From griffins to goblins.” A reminiscent smile played on her lips. “Once I even saw an entire army of Elvin warriors.”
“Similar things happened to me too,” Mother conceded. “It’s perfectly normal. It may take a few days to settle down, but it will.”
That confirmed it, then. I’d imagined the silver threads and handsome Fae male.
A tug of something I could only describe as disappointment pulled on my insides. It was stupid. I shouldn’t feel anything but relief that I’d imagined him.
Mother gave me a curious stare. “Are you okay, Elariya? Are you seeing things?”
“It’s nothing to worry about.” I tapped my temple. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. We’ll leave you to sort yourself out. It’s going to be quite a busy day. Get some more rest if you need to.”
Rest?
No. Sadly, there was no rest for me. Not today. Nor any other.