Chapter 19
Elise followed Morgaine to the potion chamber, where the witch was about to show her the famed artifact she claimed would help them communicate once Elise departed for the castle.
“Everyone there is a fairy, and you must know witches and fairies are natural enemies,” Morgaine muttered.
“Why is that?” Elise’s brow furrowed.
Morgaine moved a few scrolls and dusted herbs from a shelf. Still reaching far behind it, she began explaining the reason for the animosity between magical beings.
“It’s called resentment,” Morgaine rasped.
“It all started two hundred years ago when fairies began spreading the rumor that witches were a force of evil. They’ve been jealous ever since, seeing as the source of their magic has never produced a specimen as powerful as the strongest witch.
They claim to follow the ancient scripts of how magic should be handled, while witches are merely improvisers.
” Morgaine turned to Elise. “But you tell me, dear, what does any of that matter when a witch’s process lets you feel magic flowing through you like hot blood?
Why should it matter who follows a book best or whose craft is oldest when the manifestation of magic speaks for itself? ”
Elise nodded, unable to argue with what she had not the faintest understanding of.
“So witches are more powerful than fairies, and fairies are jealous, then,” was all she replied.
“Exactly!” Morgaine declared passionately. “Aha!” The witch snatched up a small pouch.
“What is that?”
“This, my darling, is one of my most valuable possessions. It almost ended up in the hands of a fairy, but I tricked her into believing it was a creation from the infernal realms. Once you mention the lower folk to them, you’ll find there is very little they care to investigate further.
At any rate, I made them do what was right.
I truly cannot imagine a more appropriate keeper for the Mirror of Daimor. ”
“The Mirror of Daimor?”
Elise caught a familiar sparkle she remembered from the procession as Morgaine took a small oval mirror framed in thick gold from the emerald velvet pouch. The glass was no bigger than a thumb, and Morgaine handled it with the care one might reserve for a newborn child.
The witch pulled over a stool and sat with a wide grin. “This beauty has multiple uses, and the best part is that it comes in two.” Morgaine took another small mirror from the velvety pouch. “One for you and one for me,” she said as she handed one to Elise.
“How does it work?” Elise asked, admiring the small artifact.
“Just call me whenever you need me, but make sure to be alone. The mirror is too powerful, and in the presence of more than a few people, its function changes to revealing wickedness. It basically allows me to sense evil in others. It’s an ancient thing that goes deeper than any layer of social refinement centuries of civilization may have piled on top of people.
It reaches for the true nature beneath it all, and the mirror turns dark if deceit or a rotten heart is involved. ”
“That’s how you knew the man bothering me in the procession was a goblin?”
Morgaine gave a slow nod. “Many creatures dress as humans to pass unnoticed. You really never know.”
Elise gasped. She figured Morgaine was not the sort to trust just any stranger to come into their house, let alone let her stay and make her their apprentice.
“You used it with me as well, didn’t you?”
“Darling, darling,” Morgaine said. “We don’t have time to waste here. The sooner you go to the castle and become a part of the king’s staff, the better chances you’ll have to avoid that demon coming to take you.”
The memory of Seth came back to her. With the duke’s visit, she had almost forgotten the immediate threat before her.
Her imagination had already begun running into fantasies of working at the castle, and perhaps having Kurt close enough that her own gift for magic had taken a secondary place in her thoughts.
There was something about him that made her forget everything else, her disappointment with Edward included.
Forcing herself to concentrate on the task at hand, she continued, “About Danu, I don’t feel anything different, Morgaine. Are you sure I was claimed by a divinity?”
Morgaine smiled. “Not only am I certain, but Devon is so convinced of it that he wanted to take you somewhere he could keep a closer eye on you and prevent a catastrophe. You’d better start believing it. That’s the beginning of all magic, my dear!”
Elise took the words to heart. “I believe. I just wish I knew what to expect.”
“The sort of magic you could develop is unpredictable, and you need to be prepared for anything. But first, prepare yourself for the wicked fairies, who I have no doubt will try to make your admission impossible.”
The mere talk about fairies seemed to sour the witch’s mood.
She spoke bitterly, dragging her words as though each one personally offended her.
“The fairies are haughty beings. They all seem to be cut from the same cloth. They act all the same. One might think they are indeed related. They are scared of witches. If you are ever in trouble, mention the Devil, Hell, or anything of the sort.”
“What should I do once I’m at the castle? Where do I find the stone?”
Morgaine sighed. “That will be the hardest part, my dear. The wretched thing is hidden in the king’s gardens, deep in a labyrinth.
But worry not. Once you enter the maze, it won’t be difficult to find.
Remember, the relic is as large as a boulder and shaped like a crescent moon. Use the mirror if you ever need me.”
Elise swallowed hard. “I’ll do that. I just hope the fairies take me.”
“Do your best and trust that pretty face of yours has bewildered the duke enough to arrange your entrance without delay.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“He came to see you, my dear. I need nothing more to know.”
*****
Elise walked toward the city with such poise she felt like a noblewoman on a mission.
She rose at the crack of dawn with only one goal in mind.
She did not know whether it was the magic mirror in her pocket, the crow on her shoulder, or the fear of ending up in Hell, but she had decided she would be accepted.
She had spent the last two days practicing every potion Morgaine could think to teach her. Dedicated as she was, those two days had served almost as well as two months under the stiff discipline of what Elise suspected was the most powerful witch in the realm.
Seth had not yet come to supervise her, and for that Elise was grateful beyond belief. Even if it was true that the demon was a comely infernal, neither his sharp jaw nor his remarkably handsome face could make her wish to see him again.
Her opinion of him regressed the more time she spent remembering all that had transpired between them during the witches’ festival, and by now he was beginning to settle in her mind as King Beelzebub himself.
Elise picked up her skirts as she walked along the narrow forest road. This time she had chosen a dress that neither displayed her better attributes nor threatened to fall to pieces as she walked.
Soon, she found the opening in the wall that allowed her to make her way into the city with considerably more haste.
Despite the humble attire she had chosen for the day, many of the people she passed still turned their heads to watch her.
More than a few gentlemen offered their company and remarked upon how properly dressed she was.
As Elise advanced along the road to the castle, she could see the enormous fortification perched atop a hill.
It was perhaps fifteen minutes away if one walked at a brisk pace and did not mind weaving around a few horses dragging old wooden wagons loaded with provisions.
With an enthusiasm fit for someone who had been told that the king himself had summoned them for a reward, Elise quickly reached the castle gates.
She was, of course, nervous about meeting the fairies, but she was well-prepared.
She had practiced everything Morgaine had taught her and more.
By now, Elise could blend potions with reasonable competence, and although her magic had not yet bloomed, Morgaine had assured her that no one would expect more from a first-time potion-maker than the handling of ingredients.
Immediately after Elise announced the purpose of her visit to the guards, the two hardy men relaxed their stiff expressions at once.
She needed only to offer them a small smile for one of them to hurry inside and announce her arrival.
She was beginning to feel the task might prove easy and that she had worried without real reason when she was led into the catacombs.
That hopeful sentiment died quickly at the sight of a gaunt man waiting for her.
His face carried such spite that one suspected he was intimately acquainted with the many varieties of misery.
She didn’t need to use the mirror Morgaine had given her to know the small glass would cloud at once.
The man stood in the narrow entrance, nearly blocking the view of the great open chamber beyond. It was as though Elise had been left facing the gatekeeper of the underworld.
“You must be Elise,” he said, his gaze traveling over her with open scrutiny. “I can see why the duke was so interested in helping you, darling.” He let out a dry chuckle.
Elise returned the scrutiny with a glance of her own.
The man’s richly decorated tunic barely covered his lower half.
His bright red leggings left very little to the imagination and appeared determined to accentuate what the tunic had failed to conceal.
Elise noticed a few careful stitches along one side of the legging, and the fabric of his sleeves looked more worn and dusted than bright.
This man was not nearly as powerful as he seemed eager to pretend.