Page 16 of Magic Blooms

fifteen

The meeting of the magical council wasn’t set to occur until late afternoon. I had hoped Joshua would come retrieve me so that we could work together on our investigation, but he remained inexplicably absent from Fox’s End that day.

Instead, I “put my magic to good use” for Lorraine. At least that’s how she had described the busy day spent out in the yard. She pointed to her trees, plants, bushes, and flowers one by one and asked me to move them an inch forward or to the side using my magical affinity for nature.

And little by little, we accomplished very little.

Honestly, the work she had me do was not unlike asking a famous artist to produce a stick figure. The property had already been well cared for, already looked wonderful as is.

At least all the moving back and forth seemed to put Lorraine’s mind at ease somewhat. It made her feel like she was doing something instead of sitting around waiting for whatever happened next. I understood that very well myself.

What I couldn’t understand was why Joshua had promised to include me, only to disappear yet again. His treatment of me had proven maddeningly inconsistent, as had his ability to keep his word.

By the time the meeting was set to begin, I was more than ready for it. Lorraine allowed for a quick shower and change of clothes before she drove us both to the Elyria municipal building. Despite its importance, we arrived with only a few minutes to spare before the scheduled start time.

While I found most of the buildings in town to be charming and quaint, this one proved anything but. The towering structure let off an air of intimidation as we walked up to the entrance side by side.

The brick exterior of the building was aged and weathered, and the white tower in the center, while beautiful, could probably use a new coat of paint.

“Really, you don’t have to come in with me. I can handle this,” Lorraine reminded me for the dozenth time in the last half hour.

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

She should’ve known my curiosity would’ve never allowed me to skip something like a magical council meeting.

The only doubts I had related to how secretive I should continue to keep my presence.

Lorraine didn’t seem all that bothered by people knowing I was here today.

She said various magical beings came in and out of Peach Plains, so it was impossible to keep track of everyone.

I watched various townsfolk wander into the building. They all looked so normal from the outside. But then again, I guess I did, too. Lorraine made it sound like there were many different types of beings that congregated here, but maybe all the people were the same and only the magic was different.

I still had so much to learn.

Back in Vilea everyone’s magic was element-based, and most of us had devoted ourselves to earth or water. Abilities like mine were extraordinarily common and often not needed. There were so many others who could use their magic to get a job done, so why call on the pretty daughter of Orthoceras?

As such, I’d never nursed my talents. Never learned what all was possible.

If only I’d been taught or asked my family to guide me more, maybe I could be of more use now. Just like Lorraine, I was now lost in a raging sea of what-ifs and what-might-have-beens.

No one paid me much mind as we crossed into the large meeting room. Lorraine, however, was stopped every few steps by someone new who wanted to wish her luck.

I took this opportunity to study my surroundings, which were comprised almost entirely of wood.

Wood walls, wood benches, wood railings—everything wooden—facing a long table on a stage up front where a line of rather official looking people sat sternly, watching as the rest of the congregants poured inside.

Lorraine waved a quick goodbye and marched straight up to the front row where she settled in beside Jasmine.

I grabbed a spot near the back and watched those in front of me chat animatedly about what they expected to happen here today. The air felt charged with a shared anxiety. No one wanted to see Lorraine punished—no one besides Gerry at least, from what I overheard.

The bench shook as someone took a seat beside me.

Joshua. Why would he avoid me all day and then come sit right next to me now? His constant ability to surprise me rankled. How should I react now? Confront him about the broken promise? Play it cool? Keep the focus on Lorraine until the meeting had ended?

I just didn’t know, so I settled for uncrossing and recrossing my legs, offering him a guarded smile, and murmuring, “Hey.”

He gave me a small nod of recognition. “How’s Lorraine holding up?”

I shrugged. “We did chores around Fox’s End all day. I think as long as she was busy she wasn’t thinking too much about everything. But now that she’s just sitting there and waiting for this to start, I’m sure she’s about to pull out all of her hair.”

I meant to stop talking after that, his question having been answered. But my concern for our shared friend overrode my desire to treat him coldly. “You don’t really think they’ll shut down Fox’s End, do you? I mean, none of this was her fault.”

Unfortunately, Joshua’s expression didn’t give me much hope. “The council is less concerned with being fair and more worried about setting a precedent.”

“But she didn’t do anything wrong,” I muttered.

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Lorraine is the one in the line of fire.”

“No,” I cried loud enough to turn a few heads. Dropping my voice to a whisper, I said, “We need to find the person who did it and tell the council. They won’t punish Lorraine if they had the person who actually did it. Where were you today? I was counting on you, but you never came.”

The corners of his mouth tugged down in a frown. “I had a hard time after… You saw my hands, and I…” He trailed off as a new presence entered the room.

The mysterious figure floated down the aisle, long black robes billowing in the wake.

A large hole on the back of the robe had been torn right across an intricate design of symbols stitched in gray, curved on top and jagged at the bottom.

Joshua grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. “Play it cool,” he whispered into my ear.

Play it cool? The killer was in the same room as me and I was supposed to keep quiet?

I wanted to jump up, point my finger, and shout, but I fell completely silent as I watched our killer reach the front of the room and take the last empty seat at the council’s table.

No.

I sucked in a breath, trying not to shout my rage as the figure’s hood dropped to reveal a strange-looking woman.

Her skin was so fair, it was practically translucent.

Dark veins the color of bruises crawled just beneath her skin, and her dark hair hung long and limp down her back.

The most unsettling part, though, was her lips.

Tinged blue as if in death—just like Karen’s had been.

Only her light blue eyes still appeared to be of the living, and that made the rest of her all the more grim.

The townsfolk around us started to murmur to each other, but I couldn't make out any of their words, couldn’t rip my eyes away from the ghastly figure before me, the killer in our midst.

“What is she?” I asked, leaning closer to Joshua. And why did the council seem so comfortable with her presence?

“I-I don’t know.” Joshua’s fear enveloped us both. I had a feeling he didn’t see many creatures he couldn’t identify. “She looks like she’s barely alive, and yet she knocked me back with no problem last night.”

“Could she be using magic to make herself stronger?” I wondered aloud. Was that why she had killed Karen? To steal her life force? Magic wasn’t meant to hurt, only help—but clearly something had gone very, very wrong with—and probably because of—the woman now seated before us.

The chattering around us abruptly stopped when one of the council members stood and cleared his throat. He was dressed in a black suit with a black shirt beneath it, by far the most formal of all attendees.

"We've gathered you here for an emergency meeting to discuss something rather dire that has come to our attention.

You may have noticed there is a newcomer among us, and I'm sure you all have many questions.” He glanced down to his right and smiled at the corpse-like woman.

“Fawn, why don't you tell them what you know? "

Fawn? What an innocent name for such a shadowy creature.

She nodded her thanks, then stood and crossed to the front of the stage, staring down her nose as though she didn't approve of anything she saw.

"Magical residents of Elyria," she started.

Her voice was husky, deep, and it almost seemed as if an echo accompanied her words.

"I won't bother you with a long introduction.

My name is Fawn, and my specialty is foresight.

A few weeks ago, something especially disturbing came to me.

Not a vision as much as an… idea. The idea of death.

Death in itself is natural and expected. "

She echoed her words, as though she were speaking normally. Not for emphasis, but rather because she couldn’t help it. "This wasn't a death of one individual or even thousands. This was the death of all magic."

A collective gasp rose throughout the room, and a few people began to murmur again.

I scoffed despite Joshua tightening his hand around mine. Why should we believe anything this stranger said? I realized that I was a stranger to most of the people here, too, but I wasn’t oozing evil out of every pore. Not like Fawn.

Her eyes locked with mine before she continued. "I traced the origin of these feelings to your town. I am here to discover the meaning of it. While my instincts are vague, I am trying to bring about a vision."

The head councilman from before came forward to stand near Fawn and lend his support, although even he didn’t seem to be comfortable standing too close by her.

"Now y’all know we don't make a habit of working with dark practitioners, but Fawn here has gone out of her way to bring us this warning. Before calling today’s meeting, we gathered a team of local seers, and each one of them was able to verify the authenticity of Fawn’s vision.

Magic is in danger, which means our very way of life could soon go extinct.

That is why the council has ruled that Fawn must be aided at all costs in her mission. ”

That was it. I couldn’t just sit here and allow this to happen. I shot up before Joshua could stop me. "She's a killer! That's the woman who killed Karen Harrison, and she broke into Art's office yesterday to complete the last steps of her dark ritual. She should be in jail, not on stage!"

A few shocked gasps followed my declaration, but the general level of surprise was far from what I’d expected.

Joshua moved to my side, wrapping his arm around my waist and whispering in my ear, "Polly, enough. Come sit back down."

I pulled away from him. I didn't care about making a scene. In fact, I bet poor Karen would appreciate my scene. She’d screamed her head off over seeing a little pig; I could only imagine how much she'd scream if she knew she’d be murdered, that her body would be defiled by a dark magic practitioner.

She deserved justice. Not the entire town playing host to her murderer.

Fawn tilted her head to an almost unnatural degree as she considered me. Then she smiled, this jarring display of friendliness somehow more intimidating than if she’d outright snarled at me. "We've met before, you and I."

A chill slammed into me. I didn't answer, neither confirming nor denying her accusation.

"Fawn has already informed us of the actions she’s taken so far in pursuit of her goal," the councilman announced without an ounce of shame in his voice.

"She came to us last night after the incident at Art's, deciding it would be better to work with us outright rather than continuing to dart about in secret. "

“I did kill that woman, but only because it was necessary. I chose someone who wouldn’t be missed to minimize the impact of this sacrifice on your community,” Fawn admitted, her eyes locked on mine.

“Sit down now,” Joshua growled in my ear again, but I shook him off.

“Progress should never require the loss of innocent life. How can any of you trust her after what she’s done?

Why would you want to leave your fate to someone who is most definitely dripping in evil?

” I demanded, charging the stage now, prepared to take Fawn down even if she’d somehow convinced everyone else she was in the right.

Not me. I knew better.

Joshua’s strong arms wrapped around me from behind. The room fell completely silent as he picked me up and dragged me back to our seats.

"Will you just shut up already?" he ground out between clenched teeth.

“The matter has already been decided, so I expect no further protests,” the chairman said, smiling broadly at everyone in the room except me.

Fawn left the stage and ventured out into the aisle, approaching me as she spoke.

“With Karen’s sacrifice, I now have everything I need to complete the ritual.

And it needs to be tomorrow, on the day of the full moon, for my magic to be at its strongest. The ritual when completed will reveal all your town needs to know to prevent this unimaginable prophecy from coming to pass. ”

“Tomorrow all will be clear,” the head councilman affirmed with a tight nod. “Until then, Fawn will need a place to stay. Lorraine, I expect you have an empty room or two available at your inn?"

My heart dropped to the floor as Lorraine nodded her agreement. While not losing her business was definitely a relief, I wasn’t sure the actual outcome of this meeting was much better.

Whatever the case, it looked as though the murderer and I were going to be housemates.

And we both also had the full moon as our deadline to finish things in Elyria.