Page 21

Chapter Twenty-One

G enoa extends her hand to me. “Give me the grimoire.”

An ache fills my bones, like I’ve swam too deep, and my ears feel like they’re going to pop as she tries to use her magic to command me to obey. But I refuse to move. I won’t let her control me.

“Stubborn little thing. Perhaps a rune of protection is hidden somewhere on you?” She leans to my ear. “Without the help of your little bodyguards, what can you possibly do against me?” Somehow, in the blink of an eye, she holds my mother’s grimoire in her hand and tilts it forward and back.

“Give that back!” I attempt to snatch it from her, but she holds it up and just out of my reach.

“Ah-ah. This book may hold a lot of knowledge, but most importantly, it holds a tender place in your heart.” She smiles like a viper.

Kai runs and reaches up to snatch the grimoire, but she wheels around and slams her palm against his chest. He rockets across the room, strikes the pillar the orb was on, and goes tumbling, dropping the orb and sending it rolling.

“Fools! All of you!” she snarls.

My heart slams against my ribs and I can barely breathe. “Give. It. Back.”

She clicks her tongue. “How could you be anything without this little book? What significant thing have you accomplished in your pathetic magical career? What would happen if it was...” She closes her hand into a fist, and fire ignites across the pages and envelops the cover.

“No!” I shout and snatch it from the air, but I have no choice but to drop it as the flames burn my palms. I cannot stop the flames from devouring it. All of my mother’s knowledge, her years of failing and learning, trying and teaching, gone.

Gone.

Just like she is.

Genoa tilts her head back and laughs. A sound that should be light and filled with joy is dark and menacing.

I drop to my knees.

The pain in my hands pales in comparison to the pain in my heart. I’ve lost everything. Kai, Garrett, my mother, and now her knowledge. I really am nothing. I hold no value or worth to anyone.

“Kai, my darling husband. Come.” Genoa drapes her hand in the air, fingers loose, arm extended toward Kai.

My Kai struggles to his hands and knees, and then to his feet. He’s gritting his teeth, struggling to control himself.

“Genoa!” Tem calls. “Have you forgotten our marriage bond? Do you forget he cannot be your husband?”

She sneers and faces him. “I consider you dead to me,” Genoa replies. “I can remarry if my spouse is dead.”

Fear keeps my feet planted. I can’t process what to do.

Do spells have to be spoken? Genoa doesn’t utter spells. I can’t tell if it’s Kai’s voice or the orb’s.

I’ve never cast a spell without the incantation. I’ve never even created a rune without saying the words aloud. I know only those with incredible power and experience can use magic without speaking. Perhaps if I had listened to Kai and attended the university, I might be able to use those kinds of spells.

Let Kai’s strengths fill you , the orb whispers through me. What does he have that you can access?

Kai is a soldier. Were it not for his gaze locked on mine, I would probably tremble with uncertainty. His brows shift and I can practically hear his voice tell me that I am brave too. But Kai has strength and determination I don’t normally have, and the orb tells me I can access that. These characteristics provide a level of clarity to my mind I didn’t know was possible. Instead of standing frozen in fear, I can think.

Magic is part of you, like a thought. That voice I know is the orb. Use what is around you, Elowyn. You know how to do this.

I look around the room.

Outside of the windows at the side of the throne room I can see wild valerian flowers, tiny white flowers on long green stems in clusters that are often mistaken for hemlock. I know those can be used as a sleep aid, but I would have to get someone to sneak it into her drink. The flowers on the corner of the room are lilies of the valley, but I don’t think there are enough that I could truly make her ill. And did I point out I don’t have time or means to make potions?

My attention drifts back to the valerians, then dart to the sorceress.

I don’t have to make her drink it. Maybe I just have to make her smell it?

Kai moves, snapping me back into the moment. He reaches a hand out toward the fireplace, where flames slowly lap at the logs beneath.

“What are you doing?” Genoa asks, her tone more curious than accusatory.

“The person I love has magic,” he states. His gaze narrows on the flames as he concentrates, and suddenly flames burst from the fireplace and toward his hand. He lets out a startled yelp and flings the ball of fire at Tem, but luckily it hits the wall beneath the fairy.

Intentional or not, the heat causes the ice holding Tem to melt, and he drops to the ground. When he hits, there’s a loud crunch like something has been broken.

Genoa growls. “Captain, get your weapon and stop the prince.”

Garrett draws a sword from his hip that wasn’t there previously and heads toward Kai with it poised.

Kai glances around for something to defend himself, but he has no weapon and the only thing he can use would be an icicle.

It’s time for me to stop worrying about everything that could go wrong. It’s time to realize I am not a weak little forest witch who can only enchant with runes. I am a magic user capable of saving my kingdom from this insane fairy sorceress. If Kai can use the power of the orb to access my magic and grab a fireball, I have the ability to use more power than I thought possible.

As Garrett engages Kai with the sword, Kai ducks and drives his elbow into Garrett’s ribs.

Genoa turns to me.

My blood runs cold.

But I don’t have time to linger in fear as her hand closes into a fist and sparks ignite around it before a bolt of lightning flies toward me.

My mind can only process two thoughts: deflect it, or grab it. Luckily for me, my hands react before I fully process what is happening—and apparently my brain has chosen to snatch the lightning. The crackling heat envelops my hands and dances between my fingers. I feel sluggish as I turn and throw the ball back at her with both hands, releasing the lightning with as much energy as I can muster. The sensation of magic tingling through me exhales like I’ve been diving beneath water.

The bolt strikes Genoa’s shoulder when she tries to dodge it. It barely seems to faze her as she doesn’t even hesitate before casting her next spell, a flurry of ice daggers.

I step toward the fireplace and, like Kai, take the flames and pull them in front of me, using the heat as a shield. As the ice hits the flame, it melts, which puts out the fire and fills the room with black smoke.

I hear Garrett or Kai grunting, and then one of them shouts in pain. A sword clatters and someone growls.

Using the smokescreen to my advantage, I hurry to my right, my hand out. I know the wall is somewhere this way and all I want to do is get some space between myself and Genoa.

I am clever and resourceful , I tell myself as I fish out the golden ball from the pouch. “You are the orb that was used to turn Kai.”

Yes .

“Show me the enchantment she used.”

Clever girl. I vividly see the runes Genoa used spread across its surface.

Almost instantly, the smoke in the room clears as Genoa casts a spell to blow wind through it.

My heart leaps as realization hits me. “There isn’t just one rune!”

I’ve used runes my entire life. But never have I seen them combined to create a spell or enchantment. I’ve used them to heal, to repel bugs, and to shrink things, and they’re such a basic form of magic that almost anyone with the tiniest bit of magic can use them. But there are more to runes than basic enchantment. I learned that a long time ago. The smallest twist on the edge of a line can change the entire meaning of the rune.

And now I know they can be used together to create something more powerful.

I may not be able to read the fairy’s runes and understand what spell she used. But I don’t need to.

I quickly look up as a figure runs toward me, and I see Kai slide on his knees to my side. “What are you doing?” he asks. He grips his ribs and Garrett is sprawled on his back, dazed and blinking at the ceiling.

“I’m going to use Genoa’s spell against her. I need you to distract her. Watch out!” I grab Kai and pull him down, narrowly missing an arrow of ice.

He lands on top of me, somehow supporting himself on his forearms instead of landing with all of his weight on my chest. It would be romantic, being this close to him, if it weren’t for the sorceress already calling upon another spell to kill us in the background.

“Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast.” Kai pushes himself up and runs at Genoa.

I wish I had time to dwell on how handsome he is, how brave, and how good he smells. But I roll up to my knees and focus all of my attention on the golden orb in my hands.

“Oof!” Kai goes flying past me, sliding on his back across the ground.

My mind quickly races for what runes to call upon. Re hume, re ezdna, let ruendin is the spell for shrinking. I don’t necessarily need the entire spell, just the ezdna , for the size, and ruendin , which creates the rune itself . If I change hume to... ellidian that would be the proper word for small animal, but I could even be more specific with... moroshin ? No, amphaudin . Audin is the rune for life, and amph should be enough to make her a frog.

“Get back on your feet!” Genoa commands. I glance up to see Garrett fumbling to his feet, but Kai throws broken icicles at Genoa purely as a distraction.

I don’t have time to ask for confirmation before I cast the spell, and I barely have enough time to quickly etch the three runes on the dirt ground. It’s far from ideal. I can barely make them out, and I know there is significant risk in rushing it, but I have no choice.

Heat scorches my right ear and I lean away in a flinch. I look over to see Kai duck out of the way behind his mother’s throne as the fireball slams into the wall where he just was.

Our gazes lock.

I quickly say, “ Re amphaudin, re ezdna, let ruendin. ” The sensation of magic rests in my sternum like a buzz of excitement.

The fireball aimed at Kai is quickly followed by a gust of wind, which slams into me, but the words have been spoken. Luckily, I’m kneeling on the floor and the wind only has the strength to blow me backward instead of sending me rolling. To my amazement, the runes float into the air and settle on the orb. The instant they touch, their color changes to orange.

She faces me, her expression contorted into nothing less than a monster.

The orb is slowly rolling in her direction.

Her teeth are fangs, her wings gray, and her complexion pale. “The orb! How dare you try to steal it!” she screeches.

I make like I’m trying to reach it before her, but with her wings she’s much faster than I am. She snatches it from the ground, wheels around, and flings her hand at me. Icicles sting my face, which I shield with my forearm. Dazed, I blink through the bright white light in my vision and finally focus on the icy prison surrounding me, pinning me against one of the floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows.

Through the pillars of ice, I watch a warm glow of light slowly enveloping Genoa.

“What have you done?” she demands, shaking her hands and looking down at her arms. In a flickering image, Genoa’s fairy form fades in size and shape from her arms to her legs until she has become nothing but a frog. “You turned me into a frog?” she screams.

Garrett staggers, his sword stopping mid-blow as Kai rolls away. His eyes are back to normal and he has a bruise already forming on his jaw. “What...happened?” he asks through deep breaths.

Kai faces me. “How was that supposed to help? I thought you were going to kill her!”

“I don’t kill things!” I shout back.

“Can’t she just reverse the spell with her magic?” Kai asks.

I stare up at him. That...had actually not occurred to me. She created her original spell, and any good sorceress would have come up with the counter spell for this very spell just in case she accidentally touched it and needed to turn herself back, which means at any moment she could return to being a fairy.

Tem crawls out from the icy throne, looking awful and bleeding from his head. I’d forgotten all about him. “She needs...to use...light magic.” He winces. “She needs to get outside.”

“Then catch her!” I yell at Kai, pushing with all my weight against the ice to try to break it.

Garrett, still dazed, staggers and reaches for the hopping frog headed for the front door.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Kai says and runs after her.

With the effort of unfamiliar magic sapping my strength, I barely have the energy to push against the ice, let alone use another spell. But I have to stop Genoa. I have to help them catch her before she can reverse the spell. With the little strength I have, I draw the fire one last time from the fireplace to melt one pillar just enough for me to slip out of my prison.

I stumble through the open front doors of the castle in time to see Kai dive for the frog. But without warning, without even a sound, a hawk dives from the tree and plucks her from the ground.

“That’s not a frog!” I shout in horror.

But the hawk refuses to listen. He lands on a branch and tears into Genoa.

I clamp both hands over my mouth.

Kai slowly gets to his feet, eyes wide and face pale. “That...that could have been me.” He gulps and slowly faces me. “I could have...died that night.” He closes the gap between us and draws me into his arms. “You saved me. Not only that night, but just now.” He holds me tightly. “Elowyn. I don’t deserve someone as good as you.”

I laugh, too tired to consider a different reaction, and lean into him. “And I didn’t even attend university.”

That draws a choked laugh from Kai, and he loosens his grip.

“Tem...” I pull away from Kai and rush back inside.

Tem leans against the wall with Garrett now tending to him.

“I am so sorry,” I blurt to the fairy.

His eye is sad and he nods solemnly. “I knew she was gone when she saw me. She was beyond saving. Cruel fates befall the cruel.”

I bite my bottom lip.

Kai hugs me from behind and pulls me tightly to him. “I knew you could do it,” he says, his breath brushing my ear.

“That makes one of us.”

He chuckles and turns me to face him. His eyes draw me in and shine with pride. I don’t know why my heart swells so much. Mother always expressed her pride in me, but seeing Kai acknowledge my abilities and love me for them brings tears to my eyes. I’ve fought for so long to feel wanted and needed, and here it is in Kai’s arms.

“Is it true?” he asks tentatively.

“What?” I ask.

Kai looks at Tem. “Is it true I’m not married to Genoa?”

“She’s dead now, so it wouldn’t matter. But no. You were never legally married. The orbs connected to the two of you because of your true love for one another. Her orb connected to you, Elowyn. Maybe the other orb attached to Kai, but because the two of you hadn’t admitted your feelings, they couldn’t really reach you.”

Kai’s eyes light up.

I cannot resist my own rush of excitement.

“Elowyn.” He cups my face in his hands. “I love you. I always have.”

My chest clenches. “Kai...” I swallow hard. “I love you too.” I crush my lips to his.

He wraps his arms around my shoulders and slides one hand down to my lower back. I slip my hands up his muscled back and hold on while his lips caress mine. His warm breath caresses my cheek while his lips caress mine. The kisses travel down my jaw to my neck. My fingers grip his shirt and I press as tightly to his body as possible.

We fit together like a puzzle, and a piece of my heart has been returned to its rightful place. I should have forgiven him long ago. As his lips claim mine again, I adjust my hold so my fingers tangle in his black hair.

I settle on my feet, my heart pounding so hard against my ribs my chest might explode. And I don’t care if it does.

He smiles and strokes his knuckles across my cheek. “You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever known. Will you be my wife?”

I laugh and wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him again, then mutter over his lips, “Do you even need to ask?”

He chuckles, vibrating my lips. “Is that yes?”

I look into his beautiful eyes. “Yes.”

I am finally where I belong.