《Memorybound》


 Prologue

    Delilah lived in a beautiful castle, surrounded by trees and nature. The buildings of the city were further away, giving her privacy, something she appreciated. The castle had been redecorated recently, and she was still getting used to the way it looked. She paused on her way past the music room. No one had played music in there for a very long time. Paintings lined the walls, and the long corridor that stretched from her chambers, past the great hall and to the dining room was well lit by several windows.


    The night before she had had a terrible dream. She was sure of it but now that she was awake and moving, she couldn¡¯t remember it. She did not want to. She paused at a beautiful painting of children. They all stood around a dog, and one little girl was hiding something behind her back. Maybe she did remember that one. Probably she had told Mathias to keep it. He knew which ones she was particularly fond of.


    The castle was quiet this morning, but her own chambers were far enough from the kitchens that it wasn¡¯t unusual. Outside her windows, a well manicured garden greeted her. She missed the flowers of summer already. The cold had set in for good now, but at least its icy fingers didn¡¯t reach her here. She continued walking. A sharp pain in her thigh made her pause. She looked down and lifted her beautiful green skirts.


    She gasped. What had happened to her leg? It seemed fine a moment ago. A long gash ran from her upper thigh to her knee. It seemed like she could remember what had happened, but then it slipped away as quickly as her dream.


    Mathias came running up to her. He was a handsome young man with red hair and a shaven face. ¡°Your majesty, are you well?¡±


    She felt confused. Embarrassed by how high she had hiked up her skirts, she let them drop. ¡°I seem to have cut my leg, though I cannot remember how I did it.¡±


    ¡°Here, let me help you to the dining room. Then I will send someone in to look at your leg.¡± He was such a good steward and she liked the way his strong arm wrapped around her waist. It was much easier to walk with him helping. ¡°You definitely need to eat. We need to keep your strength up.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I am having so much trouble thinking clearly this morning.¡± He smiled at her and for a moment she thought it was a cruel smile, but no, that wasn¡¯t right.


    ¡°I will get you a tonic that will clear your thoughts, but it is very important that you eat.¡±


    The dining room was just off of the kitchen, and it was large for just one person, but it was her castle. Maybe she needed to hire more servants to fill it. A table was set in the corner with a white tablecloth, fine china and silverware. She hadn¡¯t realized how hungry she was. Mathias helped her to the chair and she sat. ¡°Thank you,¡± she told him.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    He bowed. ¡°I will return with that drought as I promised.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about my leg.¡±


    He sounded almost insulted. ¡°Of course not.¡± He bowed again and was gone. Delilah ate hot porridge, three poached eggs and an apple. It was all perfectly warmed, and the apple was as fresh as if it had been picked this morning. She felt that she hadn¡¯t eaten in days. Maybe it was because of her leg. Her body was trying to heal. That was probably why she was so hungry.


    <hr>


    Delilah felt better. The food had been delicious. She would have to tell the cook. Cooks could be such fickle servants.


    Someone in front of her cleared her throat. Delilah looked up to see a woman seated across the table. She was dressed immaculately in red, making Delilah wonder where she had come from. She was beautiful with coppery skin and high cheekbones, but who was she. There was something familiar about her smile. It was almost vicious, like she was about to growl.


    Something about this woman made her nervous. She wasn¡¯t sure why. No one should make a queen nervous and yet¡­


    Finally Delilah found her voice. ¡°Welcome.¡± She couldn¡¯t remember the woman¡¯s name, but she should know her, shouldn¡¯t she? ¡°Would you also like something to eat?¡±


    Mathias walked into the dining room and bowed to her and the other woman. Then he poured wine and handed a glass to the stranger. The way the woman¡¯s eyes wandered over Mathias¡¯s body, made Delilah feel uncomfortable, but Mathias didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    He handed a glass to Delilah.


    She cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit early for wine?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the draught I told you would help with your memory.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± It smelled exactly like a deep red wine.


    ¡°Your guest is Lady Lilleth,¡± he whispered in her ear.


    ¡°Thank you for coming, Lady Lillith. It is so kind of you to pay me this visit.¡± She couldn¡¯t help thinking of the fact that she couldn¡¯t remember exactly why the woman was here and what she needed. Surely this wasn¡¯t a social call. She would¡¯ve remembered her friends.


    Lillith looked unhappy. ¡°Your majesty, I come to you because I need your help. Trouble is on the border to the east. I come from there, you know. My farm has been overrun with enemy soldiers. I fear what is happening to my home even now.¡± The woman paused, looking heartbroken. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. Had she been calm a moment ago?


    ¡°I am sure I can find a way of helping you. I will send some of my soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Your highness, I fear that may not be enough. I do not mean to impose on your generosity, however the border is being overrun. You must send more of your soldiers than just one contingent. I fear my home will be in ruins by the time I get back.¡± The woman began to sob.


    ¡°I am sure we can send all but my personal guard¡­¡± She trailed off. A massive pain throbbed in Delilah¡¯s head. It came on suddenly and she rubbed at her temples. She remembered people screaming, a man burning to death. That was her dream. That was the terror that had woken her up this morning. Finally the pain subsided and she looked up to tell the woman she would do everything she could. She looked down at her empty plate. Was it the tonic that was hurting her head so?


    She looked back up but Lillith was gone. Then from behind her, she heard her voice. ¡°There is something I need you to retrieve for me. Send the soldiers and get me what I need.¡±


    Delilah nodded. ¡°Of course, Lady Lillith. Anything you need.¡±

 Chapter 01

    Hailey focused her magic one more time. The windows flashed from the storm outside. Rain sleeted down the windows, lighting the room even farther for a moment. Hailey ignored it. She felt the thrill of power run through her as she concentrated everything she had on the princess. Aurora lay sleeping, beautiful as ever, a statue to the girl she once had been. Her wall had been repaired, but Hailey could see where the damage had been done. Aurora had been asleep for so long now that Hailey could barely remember her as anything other than the girl who was trapped in the spell.


    Thunder rumbled through the castle, and Hailey almost dropped her spell. Around the princess¡¯ bed, she had placed sprigs of holly, and candles. She had been careful with her arrangement. Everything was in the right place, she was sure of it. She closed her eyes and held her arms out in front of her, hands pushing flat as if she could move the spell by pushing on it. ¡°Impello,¡± she said. Sweat broke out on her forehead, despite the chill. Finally, she let go, hands dropping to her side. Nothing happened.


    She pulled a piece of chalk out of her pocket and walked to the other side of the bed. The thick carpet had been removed from this side, so that Hailey could keep track of her progress. Thirteen lines, each about the width of a pinky finger were drawn on the tiled floor, against the line of the shimmering spell.


    The room was decorated with lavender, not the pink it had been as long as Hailey could remember it. The same furniture decorated the room, a table with a mirror, a wardrobe, and a large bed, The servants did not like to come into this room, as many of them had been trapped in the same spell. Lightning flashed again, reminding Hailey that she needed to close the curtains. The princess lay on new sheets in a deep purple gown that had been fashioned especially for her. There were no buttons on the back. Instead, it was open at the back so that all Hailey had to do was tuck it around her. The queen insisted on her daughter being presentable for the nobles who would come to look at her, not to mention the foreign dignitaries who were supposed to make an appearance eventually. She would have to change her dress tomorrow. Hailey was the only one who could touch the princess and not end up asleep.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about what they have done to you,¡± she said, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. People wanted to see the princess for some reason, and the king and queen had agreed to let them. Hailey could not understand the fascination. Had they never seen a person before? Maybe it was the heir that they wanted to see. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.


    The spell had moved ever so slightly. She made a new mark on the floor. At this rate, it would take her a year to half way wake the princess. What would happen if only part of her woke up? Hailey could not imagine the panic. It wasn¡¯t like she could pull the princess out of the spell either. It was tied to her, so moving the spell from the center of her chest to right over her heart may actually do more harm than good.


    She flipped through her book of spells again. Maybe there was something else in here that would work. It was becoming a daily frustration. Barinon had known how to undo this spell. She just needed to figure out what he had planned to do and do it. She missed him, not only for his guidance, but for his patient manner. She hadn¡¯t felt so alone when he was here, teaching her things. Now, there was just her, the princess¡¯s only hope was a mage with so little training, it was laughable.


    ¡°Never mind,¡± she told herself. ¡°You can do this. You have to keep trying.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Glancing at the spell book one more time and moving the holly away, she focused. Moving her arms wide, she brought them back in slowly, as if she were taking the spell in her arms and compressing it. ¡°Viesco,¡± she said. Nothing happened. She had thought that she and Barinon had shrunk it as far as they could manage. She would have to try something else tomorrow. Maybe she could find something new in the books.


    She blew out the candles that had been placed around the room. ¡°Sleep well, princess,¡± she said. ¡°I will keep trying. Try to be patient with me.¡± And then she turned to walk out of the beautiful room.


    <hr>


    Hailey stepped out of the princess¡¯s room, feeling frustrated. The corridors were mostly dark. The candlelight, placed at intervals down the corridor let off enough light to see by, but it was nothing in comparison with mage light. Even with the white walls and the mirrors set behind the candles, it wasn¡¯t enough. But magelight was something that she would need another mage in the castle to be able to keep up. As it was, she always needed to retain enough magic in case of an emergency. Someone poked her in the arm and she jumped. ¡°Aaron, you startled me.¡±


    He smiled, making his cheeks dimple and took her in his arms. She only came up to his chest. Standing next to him always reminded her of how short she was, especially lately. He had muscled out in the last few months, having spent so much time practicing the sword.


    It felt so good to be close to him. She had taken her time to get used to the fact that she was finally growing up. He had been so patient with her that it made her feel guilty. He had never wanted to be ¡®just friends¡¯ with her, and once she finally realized that, she had begged for him to give her time to deal with everything.


    ¡°How is the Royal Mage of Taivalon today?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. It¡¯s bad enough that I have people cleaning my room when I¡¯m not looking and building fires for me. The title is just too much. Besides, I¡¯m not getting anything done. I spent all day setting up for that spell and then nothing. I managed to shove the spell over the tiniest bit, but Barinon didn¡¯t tell me how he was going to undo the spell, he just said that he knew how to do it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll figure it out, I¡¯m sure,¡± he said.


    ¡°You have too much faith in me. I am no closer to a resolution than I was when Barinon died. The king and queen have been to kind to me. It makes me feel guilty for not actually accomplishing anything.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the problem is that you don¡¯t have enough faith in yourself, not that I believe in you too much.¡±


    He looked down at her and she looked into his warm, brown eyes. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. Thank you for waiting for me,¡± she said. A serious look crossed his face. A thrill ran through her as she realized he might kiss her and she was finally ready for it, she was finally ok with growing up.


    She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. He leaned down. Her heart quickened.


    ¡°Miss Hailey! There has been another report!¡± A page ran down the corridor. They both turned towards him. He was all elbows and knees, but quick. His curly brown hair was plastered to his face. He must have been running for quite a while.


    Aaron let go of her and stepped away, but held onto one of her hands.


    ¡°What is it?¡± She felt both concerned with what the young boy had to tell her and frustrated at what he had interrupted. Aaron had been just about to kiss her, hadn¡¯t he?


    The page finally came to a stop, his feet slapping hard on the tile. He gasped for breath, holding his knees. ¡°I ran all the way¡­¡±


    She glared at him. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he had interrupted their first kiss.


    ¡°¡­never mind,¡± he gasped. ¡°There has been another report. I came as quick as I could. I knew you would want to know¡± He straightened his back.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she told him, ¡°and thank you for being quick. This is very important.¡± She looked at Aaron. ¡°We have to go right now,¡± she told him.

 Chapter 02

    Racing out of the castle, Hailey grabbed her cloak. The stables were not warm, but they were sheltered from the rain. They smelled of rain and hay and horses. Hailey shivered at the thought of riding out in the downpour. It had become cold, but not cold enough for snow. She wished it were snow. At least that didn¡¯t soak into your skin, freezing you to the bone. Hailey climbed on her horse, wishing she were better at this or just had portal glyphs all over the kingdom. That may not be a bad idea, she thought to herself.


    ¡°Be careful in the rain, miss,¡± the stable master told her. He was an old man who looked like he never got enough to eat. A puffy white beard covered much of his face, and his hands were gnarled, but he was good at his job. He had taught Hailey to ride and had been patient with her. She had never had the opportunity to be around horses, much less ride them. She was still a bit sore from her last lesson, but she knew she would need to keep practicing. It was a valuable skill and riding in the morning helped to clear her head. Still, she had never ridden in such a downpour. She hoped that the lightning had passed. If the horse spooked, she would have trouble controlling it.


    Aaron was more confidant on his mount. He sat on patiently waiting while she was still climbing up and adjusting herself.


    The sun would be setting in a couple of hours, but it felt much later. It had been dark and stormy all day. The roads were going to be difficult to traverse. Still, she climbed up on her horse. She had gotten into the habit of wearing riding skirts. She never knew when the next possibility would come and so she was ready.


    They stepped out into the cold and instantly, Hailey¡¯s face was covered in icy cold rain. This was not going to be a pleasant ride. They had only begun and she already worried that they might not get there in time.


    Her breath clouded in front of her and she blinked constantly, pushing the rain off of her face at intervals. They headed east, out of the city and into the trees. None of the trees provided any shelter. The firs, while tall had branches all the way to the ground and the beech trees had dropped almost all of their leaves.


    Hopefully the rain would slow her opponent as well. The horse seemed sure footed enough until they rode down a path and slid. Her heart was in her throat. A moment later, her mare caught her footing. What would happen to her if it tripped? Still, they couldn¡¯t slow. This was a risk worth taking.


    The trip seemed to take forever. The rain finally let up, slowing to a trickle. It helped her see better, but it did nothing for the roads. It would be muddy for days now. The clouds overhead still threatened to let loose another downpour and it was getting dark. Hailey began to shiver, a never ending shudder, that tightened her muscles almost painfully. The cold had soaked her through. Aaron rode ahead of her. He had become so much more confidant in himself. She was proud of what he had accomplished. The soldiers seemed to accept him now, and some of the younger men even looked up to him.


    Finally the muddy road branched out to reveal a small village. Everyone was in doors. She could hear voices, but saw not a single person as they made their way through. The windows shone yellow from the small houses. This village had been built on the edge of the shimmer. Hailey could just make it out in the rain, a waving wall of green and blue magic that had been there as long as she could remember.


    They headed straight for the largest house. It was set on a hill and ten times the size of the buildings surrounding it. That had to be it. It was a large building, beautifully built with four columns covering the porch. A woman shooed a lamb back into its pen, and Hailey realized she recognized her. ¡°Esmerelda!¡± She called, but Esmerelda didn¡¯t turn. Hailey frowned. Maybe she didn¡¯t hear her.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    A man sat on the porch, despite the cold, smoking a pipe and presumably waiting for them. He was a nobleman, dressed in a well fitting jacket and trousers. He stood when he saw them, coming forward into the mud, despite his fine clothes. Hailey dismounted and held onto her reigns.


    ¡°Thank you for coming all this way,¡± he said, bowing to her.


    ¡°Of course, she is still here isn¡¯t she?¡±


    A look of confusion crossed his pale face. ¡°Where else would she be?¡±


    ¡°Looks like we finally got here soon enough,¡± Aaron said, dismounting. Then he took the reigns from her hands. ¡°I¡¯ll see to the animals and keep an eye on the shimmer. You deal with the girl.¡±


    <hr>


    The manor was a welcome relief to the cold from outside. She handed the butler her wet cloak and he took it outside to shake it off, frowning at her as he did so. She should have thought of it, but she was so excited that she had finally gotten here in time. It was a well lit room, a fire crackled in the hearth and a large mirror was hung on one wall. Long draperies framed two windows and a pair of chairs were tucked into one corner. Hailey avoided looking in the mirror. It would just make her nervous. The last three places she and Aaron had run to had been peasant¡¯s homes.


    A well dressed woman greeted hurried toward her, she picked up her heavy green skirts as she walked. The woman had high cheekbones and dark skin. Her hair was piled high on top of her head, as was the current fashion. ¡°Thank you so much for coming. They didn¡¯t say why we should be worried about children with headaches, only that we should inform the king.¡±


    ¡°Your daughter may be showing signs of becoming a mage.¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Come with me,¡± she told Hailey, stepping out of the foyer.


    She followed, hoping that that was exactly what was happening to the girl and that Hailey could get her to the castle, and keep her safe.


    The girl was lying in a bed on the second story of the manor. She was flipping through a book and moaning occasionally. She had taken on the darker skin of her mother, but not as dark and was a beautiful child. She was dressed in a warm, light green dress. ¡°Have you come to help with my headaches?¡± The child asked.


    ¡°Juliana, you have not even introduced yourself. This is the royal mage to the king.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite all right,¡± Hailey told her. ¡°I came as quickly as I could.¡±


    Juliana frowned at her. ¡°You rode through the rain?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It was important that I get here as soon as I could manage.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you came. My head hurts all the time lately.¡± Hailey sat on a chair across from the bed and Juliana¡¯s mother stood with hands clasped at the end of the bed.


    Hailey glanced out the window. Night had not quite fallen yet. She could make out the shimmer. Aaron and Juliana¡¯s father were pointing at it. She could not make out what they were discussing, and she felt her heart speed up. She had not been completely honest with these people. The girl was in danger of being stolen away. Hailey had come to prevent that, and to steal the child away to the castle.


    She had no idea who or what her foe might be, but children had been disappearing all over the kingdom. Not many, but enough to make Hailey suspect that these were the young mages that Taivalon should have had, and they were being taken away before they even came into their powers.


    ¡°Is there anything else that has been bothering you lately?¡±


    The girl shrugged. ¡°Mama says it¡¯s just my imagination.¡±


    ¡°I would like to know anyway. Maybe it isn¡¯t your imagination after all.¡±


    She hesitated. ¡°You promise not to laugh.¡±


    Hailey smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t laugh. I promise.¡±


    ¡°I see strange things moving in the shimmer, like the shape of something that I can¡¯t make out and sometimes I see a fairy almost make it out. I think they are trying to get to me and I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    It was enough for Hailey. This girl would definitely be a mage. ¡°You didn¡¯t imagine it,¡± she told the girl. ¡°What you¡¯re seeing is definitely real.¡±

 Chapter 03

    The same thing had happened to Hailey when she was younger. She was very young when a fairy had come to her out of the forest.


    It was an overly warm summer morning. Hailey had been working in the kitchen garden and the fairy flew right up to her. ¡°Come play with me,¡± she said in a tiny voice. Hailey knew she had better pull the carrots. She couldn¡¯t just play around with this fairy, but she felt entranced by the beautiful creature. It had shimmering, translucent wings and it looked like a tiny, naked woman. It glowed a soft blue light.


    The fairy had flown around the garden, ¡°come on,¡± it said. ¡°Come play.¡± Hailey chased it, trying to keep up. Then the fairy landed on Hailey¡¯s head. Hailey could barely feel any weight at all. Hailey grabbed for it, but fairies were fast. It flew in big circles, spinning around her and laughing. It made Hailey dizzy to watch.


    Another fairy came, that morning saying that she was her big sister and that she had been lost. She needed to come home with them. Hailey had always wanted a family. She turned to follow the fairies, leaving her basket of carrots behind and she would have followed them too, right out of the kingdom and past the shimmer.


    Lavina came out of the kitchen with a basket, scolding Hailey for being distracted and not harvesting the carrots that Bruce would need for dinner, and the fairy had flown away, back to the forest.


    Remembering her own close call, Hailey shivered. Then she looked at the bed, but the girl was gone.


    ¡°Where did she go?¡± Hailey asked the girls¡¯ mother.


    ¡°She walked right past you, said she was feeling better. Are you ok?¡±


    Hailey waved her concerns away. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just distracted and lost in my own memories of the headaches I had before becoming a mage. Did she say where she was going?¡±


    ¡°Outside to look at your horses. Juliana has a love for the animals and rides ours every chance she gets.¡±


    Hailey raced down the stairs. If the girl had gone, had the fairies come into the house? She dashed down the steps of the porch. Aaron and the father stood and the father had taken Juliana¡¯s hand, but Juliana seemed to want to get away from her father. Hailey breathed a sigh of relief. There weren¡¯t any fairies nearby. She glanced up at the shimmer. She had already wasted too much time. She should get the girl away while she could and if she was a good rider, all the better. There was a person on the other side of the shimmer. Hailey could not quite make it out, but she could see the lights of the fairies dancing around whoever it was.


    <hr>


    A woman, in all black strode forward, surrounded by fairies. Her pale face shone in the fading light. Dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the back of her head. She was one of the most beautiful women Hailey had ever seen. But what was she doing here? Hailey had a sinking suspicion that she already knew the answer to that question.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    The young girl dropped her father¡¯s hand and began strolling towards the woman in black. Hailey ran forward, but Aaron was faster. He screamed and pulled the dragon sword from his sheath. With no more than a flick her wrist, Millicent sent him flying backwards. He crashed into the ground with a sickening crunch. Hailey turned to help Aaron, but then the girl would be already gone. The father was running forward to get to his daughter.


    From the corner of her eye, she saw Esmerelda on the porch. ¡°Help him!¡± She pointed at Aaron, hoping that her once friend would listen. Her heart ached with worry. Esmerelda did nothing of the sort. She sat on the porch as if all of this was a spectacle for her amusement.


    Hailey ground her teeth. What was wrong with her? She had been one of her friends once. Hailey had stayed in the castle because of her. She couldn¡¯t focus on that right now. She had to get to the girl or she would be taken and her father would probably be thrown back like Aaron was. The man of the house finally caught up with his daughter. He almost had her. A wicked smile formed on the lips of the woman in black. The child turned, giving him such a glare that he jumped back. The child¡¯s face was contorted in anger.


    Hailey was close now. She had to get to the girl. Damn you, Esmerelda, she thought. She wanted to turn and make sure that Aaron was ok, but they had come for the child and Hailey would keep safe if she could. Hailey caught up with the father who stood unsure of what to do. ¡°Stay here,¡± she told him. ¡°I will try to get your daughter back.


    Hailey grabbed the girl¡¯s arm. ¡°Stop!¡±


    Juliana pulled free of Hailey and swiped at her as if she were a wild animal. She snarled at Hailey baring her teeth. Hailey leaned back to avoid being clawed across the face. What had happened to her? The child had been completely reasonable when Hailey had talked to her. Her father ran up and tackled his daughter to the ground. ¡°Stop, Juliana,¡± he wailed over and over. Hailey hoped he could handle the child. If she could get the woman in black to leave, maybe the spell that was turning the child feral would go, too.


    The child broke free and began to run towards the woman. Hailey shielded her and tied the shield to the ground. Juliana continued to fight against the invisible barrier, snarling, kicking and hitting at it. Eventually, she would break free, but for the moment, Hailey had other things to worry about.


    Hailey turned toward the woman in black. Hailey threw something at the woman. A moment later, a fireball arced across the sky. The woman dodged the spell and frowned at Hailey, cocking her head to one side as if she didn¡¯t expect Hailey to actually attack her. Hailey had not been preparing for a battle. All of her energy and learning lately had been focused on undoing the spell around the princess. Her light spell formed in her hand and the woman smirked at Hailey. Hailey threw it.


    Right before it hit the woman, Hailey whispered, ¡°Fulgario, changing it to lightning, but the woman¡¯s shield was already in place.


    A wicked smile formed on her red lips. ¡°I admit, I don¡¯t know that one, but I do have one for you.¡±


    A moment later, Hailey found herself flying backwards. She grabbed the shield from off the child, hoping to shield herself in time, but she wasn¡¯t fast enough. She smacked against a tree. ¡°Juliana,¡± Hailey said. She must have hit her head because she was having trouble seeing. Her vision narrowed and everything went black.

 Chapter 04

    ¡°Miss, are you all right?¡± Hailey blinked. Her head throbbed. Standing over her was the mother of Juliana. She had a look of concern on her face.


    Hailey sat up. ¡°I¡¯m ok.¡± But she didn¡¯t know if that was true. She had hit the tree pretty hard. Her ears were ringing and her vision was still a little hazy. She touched the back of her head and her hand came away sticky with blood and bark. What had happened? It came back to her in a flash. ¡°Aaron!¡± She pulled herself to her feet, using the tree to steady herself. Her vision threatened to leave again.


    The sky was black. A man stood over Aaron, holding a lantern.


    Hailey stumbled towards him. ¡°Is he ok?¡±


    The man looked up at her. ¡°I don¡¯t know. He¡¯s breathing, but he won¡¯t wake. I tried shaking his shoulder.¡±


    Hailey knelt beside him. She should have stayed by his side and made sure ehe was ok. Running after the girl had gotten them nowhere. Her heart ached for him. Gently she rolled him to his side. His back was a mass of bruises. One of his arms had been sliced by a stone when he fell. The bone had to be broken.


    ¡°Miss, what¡¯s going to happen to our daughter?¡± Hailey hadn¡¯t noticed Juliana¡¯s mother coming up beside her.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Hailey said, feeling like she owed them the truth. ¡°Children who have the potential to become mages are being taken from their homes all over the kingdom. That¡¯s why we came. We wanted to protect her from whoever is taking the children.¡±


    The woman was crying into her husband¡¯s chest. ¡°Do you know where they went?¡± He asked her and Hailey got the distinct impression that if she told this man where her daughter might have gone, he would wander into the shimmer and get himself killed.


    ¡°No,¡± Hailey said. ¡°Not exactly, but if you go into the forest, you won¡¯t find her. You also won¡¯t come back. This is a problem I have been working on and I will try to solve it, but right now I have bigger concerns. I believe that your daughter will be safe. I don¡¯t think the woman in black would have dragged her out of here if she wanted to kill her.¡± She is keeping the mages from Taivalon for a reason, Hailey thought. I just need to figure out what that is. She wanted to make it very clear to him what he would be risking if he tried such a thing.


    ¡°Is he going to be ok?¡± A small voice said. It was almost a whisper.


    Hailey looked up and glared. ¡°I should be able to heal him, but I need to get him back. I¡¯m pretty sure he can be moved.¡± Hailey couldn¡¯t remember all of the spells that he would need to recover his health, but she knew it was in her books somewhere.


    Esmerelda just stood there, like had not done anything wrong.


    ¡°Can you bring the horses back to the castle?¡± She asked the couple. The mother nodded and Hailey felt a stab of guilt. She had tried. She should have been able to get the girl away from that woman. Hailey had not been fast enough and in the end, this couple would have been happier knowing that their daughter was safe in the castle, then who knows were in the forest.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry things went so badly. I do need you to step back now.¡±


    Hailey created a glyph near Aaron. He still hadn¡¯t moved and Hailey had wasted too much time already. She created a portal, a shimmering sphere of translucent light. The image in the center of the portal was of the roped off section of the great room. Gasps came from the people behind her. Portals were one of the coolest looking spells that Hailey had learned to do.


    Then she lifted Aaron off the ground. The magic kept him perfectly still. She pushed him through the portal ahead of her and stepped through.


    <hr>


    Hailey had gotten some pretty strange looks as she floated Aaron to her bedroom. She needed another place to keep people who were injured. But she did not want to face the soldiers and have a million questions about what had happened to him. She needed silence.


    The room that Hailey had been given was much nicer than even her room at the manor. It was one of the guest rooms, usually reserved for visiting nobles. It was massive and had a large window, overlooking the lake. It was decorated in deep blue. The curtains had leaf patterns on them and were long enough that they brushed the floor. She had a sizable desk, but it was covered in books, making it seem small whenever Hailey sat at it. The light blue blanket covered her oversized bed. She loved the woven rug, made of various colors in blue. She even had a mirror on her dresser table and a washbasin and wardrobe. Even with all the furniture, she had plenty of room to pace.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Aaron lay peacefully on her bed. The laundress was going to have a fit when she saw what Hailey had done to her bedding. He had landed in the mud. The entire back side of his body had been scraped and covered in mud. She had laid him face down so she could get at the injuries on his back. A bone protruded from his arm but it didn¡¯t break the skin.


    She ran the test on Aaron, making sure that there was nothing else wrong with him. She chided herself for not remembering it when she was at the farmhouse. There was nothing wrong with him, other than the gash on his shoulder, his broken arm and the massive scrapes and bruises across his back. He had also hit his head, but there wasn¡¯t even a scrape.


    She flipped through her books. ¡°Bone knitting,¡± the spell said. She bit at her thumbnail. That¡¯s what he needed for his arm.


    Be sure to set the bone first if the ends of the bones are not aligned.


    Hailey frowned. Was there a spell for aligning the bone or was she supposed to push not he part that was sticking up until it looked like it was straight and then maybe test his injuries again. She continued to flip through the book.


    There was no spell for that. She braced herself for what she would have to do next. Healing had been one of her favorite things to learn, but she still didn¡¯t have much experience with it. She thought about sending for one of the healers. They did this sort of thing all the time, but then she realized how much of a fool she would look. ¡°The royal mage, who can heal things the healers wouldn¡¯t be able to touch needs help with setting a bone because she¡¯s too squeamish,¡± Hailey said to herself


    The problem was, it was Aaron. Her feelings for him made her pause and reconsider her every action. Finally, she cast a spell on him to dull the pain. It only covered his arm, and then she pushed on the bone, grimacing at how much that would have hurt.


    She tested her work again. The test spell moved down his body, pointing out anything that she might need to heal. She could tell that he was developing a toothache, that he had pulled at a hangnail and one of his fingers was now sore. The bones were not straight yet. She aligned them. A slight push and she had his bones in the right place.


    Aaron groaned in his sleep, but still did not wake.


    She took a deep breath, relieved that that was over. Bone knitting would take hours to heal something that should take days. She almost wished she had someone else to practice on. She moved her arms from side to side, ending with her hands on either side of the break. ¡°Ossipaga,¡± she said. A clear blue bubble formed between her hands, knitting the bone together.


    The rest of his injuries were easier for her to deal with. She had dealt with gashes before. She tested him one more time to make sure that everything was mending the way it should. She smiled. He was going to be ok.


    ¡°Next time you go flying, try to keep your arm away from rocks,¡± she told him.


    She began to pace back and forth in her spacious room. ¡°I am such an idiot. I should have hit her with everything I had, charged at her with the mage sword or something.¡± Why had she waited? She had allowed herself to be distracted by Aaron¡¯s injuries and by what had happened to the girl. ¡°I should have seen the threat and ran straight for her.¡± She sat on the edge of the bed. ¡°Why does she hate this kingdom so much?¡±


    ¡°Because she¡¯s evil. Obviously. You know, you talk to yourself, right?¡±


    Hailey spun. ¡°Don¡¯t move. How long have you been awake?¡± She asked him, trying to remember all of the things she had said outloud.


    ¡°I know you talk to yourself because you¡¯re used to being all alone in this castle, but you¡¯re not alone and people can hear you. Sometimes you act like the child who was trapped in here, but you¡¯re not. You¡¯ve grown up. You have to leave some of these things behind.¡±


    Hailey said nothing. Maybe he was in pain and that¡¯s why he was being rude to her. People don¡¯t change overnight, she thought at him, but she didn¡¯t say it. She was not acting like a child.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I feel my arm? What did you do to me, woman?¡±


    ¡°I healed you.¡±


    ¡°Hailey, I¡¯ve only got one good arm and now I can¡¯t even feel that it¡¯s there.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to be in pain.¡±


    He rolled over and sat up. ¡°The rest of me is pretty sore.¡±


    Hailey ignored his comment and then she gasped. ¡°I think I know who the woman was. I should have seen it.¡±


    ¡°Seen what?¡±


    ¡°Who lives in the forest and causes problems for this kingdom every chance she gets?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, but I do think you should bring your magic fingers back over here and make me not hurt so much.¡± He reached for her, but she didn¡¯t need the distraction right then.


    ¡°It has to be Isabella. Come on. We need to tell the king and queen. Maybe they know what she looks like and they can verify it.¡±

 Chapter 05

    Hailey and Aaron stopped outside the throne room. He had grumbled all the way there about what she had done to his arm, but the spell should keep his arm in place, and since he couldn¡¯t feel it, he couldn¡¯t injure it.


    They walked into the throne room. It was late. Was the king still working? The room was empty except for the king and queen who were sitting in the thrones at the far end. It was richly decorated with a painted, arched ceiling. The throne and a smaller chair sat on a raised dais. The queen stood, her light green gown was spotted with pink flowers, and it flowed gracefully as she walked to stand near the throne. Her delicate fingers clasped the back of the ornate throne. Her hair was white, not gray and it was curled to frame her face. The king remained seated. His well cut red jacket and black trousers did nothing to hide the way he slumped in his chair.


    Hailey strolled forward and Aaron came with her, bowing before the royalty.


    Before she could say anything, the queen asked her, ¡°Have you come to tell us that you have finally made progress on the spell that is holding my daughter trapped?¡±


    ¡°No, but¡­¡±


    The queen cut her off. ¡°So you haven¡¯t made even the slightest bit of progress?¡±


    ¡°I have tried¡­¡±


    ¡°Trying is not going to cut it around here. You are the royal mage. You are the only mage, and the only one who can see that spell undone.¡±


    ¡°I am only one person, your majesty. I have come to tell you that I found another girl who could be trained as a mage, but¡­¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve been roaming the countryside instead of taking care of the problems that are right before us.¡±


    ¡°We need more mages. Maybe I will never have the power to undo a spell that was cast by more than twenty mages.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you really think? Have you given up entirely?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. I have spent every spare moment beside the princess¡­¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t believe you can do it¡­¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± Hailey said, clenching her fists. ¡°You are putting words in my mouth. You are acting like I haven¡¯t even tried. I didn¡¯t say that I can¡¯t do it. I said that I don¡¯t know how yet. I have looked through books but there is a possibility that the dragon destroyed the one with the spell I need to know. Barinon had only begun training me. There is a lot that I don¡¯t know.¡± Her voice echoed through the large room.


    She glanced at Aaron, who shook his head slightly.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t see what is taking you so long. You could have¡­¡±


    ¡°I could have what? If you know how to undo the spell, please let me know so that I can¡­¡±


    ¡°Silence!¡± The king roared.


    The room fell very still.


    Hailey suddenly realized what she had done. A knot formed in her stomach. She came in here, tracking dried mud and had yelled at the queen of all Taivalon. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°That was wrong of me,¡± and curtsied, hoping that she didn¡¯t end up in prison or something. She should never have let her temper get away from her like that. What was wrong with her?A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The king coughed, holding a handkerchief to his mouth. ¡°Martin, would you be so kind as to inform us what has been done in finding someone to help our mage?¡±


    Martin was the assistant to the king. He worked closely with the steward, to ensure that the castle was running smoothly and probably knew more about what was going on in the kingdom than anyone else. He was always immaculately dressed, but his long orange jacket made him look that much shorter. Hailey was fond of the little man. He was always polite and always busy.


    He smoothed his mustaches and then he said, ¡°Yes, your majesty. We have heard back from several kingdoms, but not one of them have agreed to help us. They all make apologies for not having the time or the resources.¡± He shuffled through his papers. ¡°I am sorry. We may have to try something else.¡±


    ¡°You see,¡± said the king. ¡°We are trying. We know that you need further training, but so far we have been unsuccessful in finding you a new tutor. Until we find one, I fear you are on your own.¡± He mumbled something about bickering women under his breath, and then finally, he asked, ¡°I am sure you did not come here to argue about what you have not been able to accomplish so far. Why did you come?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°As you know, I have been trying to find candidates who may be able to become mages in our kingdom.¡± Hailey went on to explain what she saw on the edge of the kingdom, about the little girl, Juliana, and about the woman who showed up all in black. ¡°I think, and I could be wrong about this, but she may be Isabella.¡±


    ¡°That is highly disturbing,¡± said the queen. ¡°You saw her take the child?¡±


    ¡°Yes. She was gone when I woke.¡± Going back over the battle with the king and queen helped her think through everything that had happened. ¡°She came through the shimmer and there were fairies with her.¡±


    ¡°How would you describe this woman?¡± The king asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s tall and beautiful with pale skin and dark hair. She has a particular way of carrying herself, like she¡¯s always in control, even though she walked with a limp.¡±


    ¡°It could be her, or someone who looks like her. I don¡¯t remember the limp but everything else sounds like it could be.¡± the king said. He would have seen Isabella when she cast the curse on his daughter. He mumbled something that Hailey didn¡¯t quite catch. He rose, as if to say something very important. ¡°Something must¡­¡± then he devolved into a coughing fit. He staggered and almost fell off of the dais. Martin grabbed him around the waist and guards rushed to help the king. The guards each took an arm and helped the king out of the room.


    Hailey¡¯s hand went to her mouth. ¡°Is he ok?¡±


    The queen brows knitted as she watched him go, but when she turned back to them, she had smoothed her features. ¡°The king is fine. He did not sleep well last night. Matters of state can be quite taxing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they can be,¡± Hailey said, but it was clear that the king was not fine. He was sick and they hadn¡¯t told her. How was she supposed to protect the king if she didn¡¯t know about his sickness? If they didn¡¯t admit to her that he was sick, there was nothing she could do. She had already overstepped her boundaries today. She would not do it again.


    She glanced at Aaron. He looked just as worried as she felt.


    ¡°What the king was trying to tell you before,¡± she paused for a moment ¡°was that the other kingdoms don¡¯t really care if we succeed or not. Our survival does not matter to them. We have only ourselves to rely on. Two of the kingdoms have offered to have you come train under their mages, but to leave an entire kingdom without a mage could be most disastrous.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Hailey said. ¡°I had never even considered leaving.¡±


    ¡°The most important task you can perform for this kingdom is something that will secure your own future as well. You must free the princess as soon as possible. If some thing were to happen to the king, the power could not transfer to the heir as it should. The entire kingdom would fall and there would be nothing you could do to save the people. Every day you waste on something else is a day that you risk the lives of the entire kingdom.¡±

 Chapter 06

    King Theodric sat by his daughter¡¯s bedside. He wished they hadn¡¯t redecorated the room. The pink from before reminded him of his little girl. It had been her favorite color for as long as he could remember. She had run squealing with joy through the hallways of this castle, always in pink.


    Now it looked like a woman¡¯s room, all done in the royal blue of Taivalon. The long windows let in enough Aurora was dressed in a deep green that suited her. Sometimes, it seemed that at any moment she would open her eyes and smile up at him. It was a foolish hope, but one that he entertained. Most parents wished that their young child wouldn¡¯t grow up so fast, but his heart aches as he watched his daughter, stuck in time.


    More and more he felt like an old man lately. He was certainly too old to have such a young daughter. She should have been training, preparing to take on the kingdom. Maybe she would have married by now. There should have been years to prepare her for him leaving the entire kingdom behind. His heart ached for the years he had lost.


    It was times like these that he missed his old friend Barinon. He had left them so suddenly and the young mage who was trying to fill his shoes did not have anywhere the skill or experience that he had. He was more than that, though. Barinon had been his friend.


    He smiled at his little girl. ¡°Your father is turning into an old man. I need you to wake soon.¡±


    Aurora took a breath. She was a beautiful girl, who looked so much like her mother, that he was constantly reminded of how Endolynn had been all those years ago. Even a king¡¯s son had to work to get the girl he had his eye on to pay him any attention. He smiled at that. Endolynn had certainly not made things easy for him. Maybe that¡¯s what had attracted him to her in the first place. So many girls fawned over him when he was a young man that he had become accustomed to it. Endolynn didn¡¯t want anything to do with him at first. He had to argue with her just to get her to spend time with him. He shook his head.


    A bird flew past the window and he glanced out, looking over the forest where BB had vanished. He wondered where she had gone. There were so many things that he did not know about her. He had been such a fool. He should have made amends with her when he had the chance.


    <hr>


    Hailey walked to the princess¡¯s room with a book tucked under her arm. She had to find something that would work. The queen had made that very clear. She seemed angry that Hailey had left the castle to look for children who would be able to be trained, but if Hailey hadn¡¯t gone, would they know that Isabella was the one taking the young hedge witches? It seemed to Hailey that it was a good use of her time.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The king¡¯s guards stood at the doorway, and Hailey almost hurried past, but the king turned and beckoned her into the room. ¡°Would you be so kind? I would like to be able to touch my daughter¡¯s face.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Hailey said, placing her books beside her on the bench where he was sitting. She took his hand. It was bony and frail, but warm. His hair, which had gone silver, was thinning at the top. He seemed so much older now than he had been even a few months ago.


    He smiled and reached out a shaky hand to touch his daughter¡¯s face.


    ¡°She is so beautiful, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°I have always thought so,¡± Hailey said. ¡°When I was a little girl, I thought that surely she was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom.¡±


    The king¡¯s face creased into a smile. ¡°You two are of an age still, even with the spell messing up people¡¯s ages.¡±


    Hailey nodded. Years had passed, but she and Aurora and so many others hadn¡¯t changed. Everything and everyone else had. The city and even the castle were very different than they had been.


    ¡°You know, I had a sister. I bet you didn¡¯t know that.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know.¡±


    He smiled at her. ¡°She was so much trouble and parents argued about her.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Still, I have fond memories of chasing her through these halls. I was faster and stronger, but I think she was smarter than I was.¡±


    Hailey didn¡¯t say anything. The way he talked of his sister, it sounded like she had died and she didn¡¯t want to pry into painful memories.


    He sighed. ¡°Those days are gone and we have new problems to deal with.¡± He squeezed his daughter¡¯s hand. ¡°You are too young to understand what a parent feels for his child. I miss her more than I¡¯ve ever missed anyone.¡±


    They sat in silence for a time. The king took his daughter¡¯s hand and squeezed it. ¡°It¡¯s not just that she¡¯s my daughter, it¡¯s that she is the protection for the kingdom that I struggle to maintain. I¡¯m sure you know about the power of the heir. Mages have all the magic in the kingdom except for one thing. The power of the heir is what protects the kingdom. I can feel the borders at the edges of the kingdom. I feel it if they start to weaken. My life is what keeps those borders intact. We cannot let the fairies overrun Taivalon.¡±


    Hailey knew this. ¡°Barinon told me about the contract with the fairy king.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than a piece of paper, though. It¡¯s bound magically. It¡¯s the only bit of magic that I have but it¡¯s enough to keep my kingdom safe and she should be here so that I can tell her what she will feel, so that she will be prepared.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the border, though,¡± he told her. ¡°An heir will be able to sense if someone is lying. If you took my hand and pledged fealty to me and didn¡¯t mean it, I would know. It was an important part of the spell when it was created.¡±


    They sat in silence for a moment longer and then the king said, ¡°I fear I¡¯m rambling. I am sure that you will do what you can for my daughter and for the kingdom and I want to thank you for what you have done so far. You have worked hard and I trust that you will be able to solve this problem for us, whether you have help or not.¡±

 Chapter 07

    The king let go of Hailey¡¯s hand. He rose unsteadily to his feet. Hailey stood near him. He began to cough. He almost fell to the floor, but Hailey grabbed him. His entire body was shaking as he coughed. His feet dragged across the wooden floor as he leaned on her. He didn¡¯t weigh as much as he should have. She led him to a couch at the edge of the room, prepared to float him there if necessary.


    Hearing the coughing, the guards entered the room. ¡°Go get his doctor,¡± she told them, ¡°and the queen. Quickly!¡±


    They glanced at the king in fear, as if they needed his directions to do anything to save his life. Her heart thumped in her chest. He was gasping for breath between coughs. ¡°I¡¯m going to run a test on you now,¡± she told him. Don¡¯t you dare die on me, she thought at him. She tried to make her voice soothing. Everything would be fine. ¡°It¡¯s ok, your majesty. I¡¯m going to run a test on you to see what is wrong.¡±


    She was a little relieved that she had just practiced this on Aaron. She tried to slow her breathing, to remain calm and focused on the task at hand, but this was the heir of the kingdom collapsed before her. She took his hand and focused. There was something wrong with his lungs. He coughed again. He seemed to always be careful about covering his mouth when he coughed and now she could see why. A drop of blood made its way down his chin. He had coughed up blood.


    Then she tried a healing spell. Why hadn¡¯t they told her? But there was a resistance to the spell. She couldn¡¯t fight it, couldn¡¯t make his body heal. She tried harder. Sweat broke out on her forehead. They were all doomed if this man died. There would be precious few people she could get out of the kingdom.


    She couldn¡¯t do it, couldn¡¯t manage to heal him. She could tell was wrong, thought she knew how to fix it, but when she tried, nothing happened. She was breathing heavily when the queen entered. The king looked like he were taking a nap.


    ¡°Theodric,¡± she said, taking his hand.


    The king¡¯s eyes blinked open.


    ¡°Are you ok my love?¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I tried to heal him but I couldn¡¯t manage it.¡±


    ¡°Never mind that now,¡± the queen said. Then she turned to the guards. ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone let in here except for the doctor, do you understand?¡±


    The soldier¡¯s bowed and returned to standing on either side of the door.


    The doctor entered the room a moment later and closed the doors behind him. He felt at the king¡¯s forehead and felt at his wrist.


    The queen took a deep breath and turned back to Hailey. ¡°He is dying. Not even Barinon was able to do anything for my husband and believe me, he tried. We are trying to keep it from the public. Can you imagine the chaos it would bring if they knew that the heir was dying? This is something we have to keep hidden from almost everyone. You cannot tell anyone and there is nothing you can do for him. That¡¯s why we didn¡¯t tell you.¡± Then she turned back to her husband and the doctor.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    <hr>


    Delilah could hear people screaming. She shook her head and the sound went away. That was odd, she thought to herself. She ignored it. Mathias had told her that everything was going well in her kingdom for now, and so she had decided to spend much of her time outdoors.


    It was cold, but it would be colder and wandering her gardens wouldn¡¯t be an option when the snows came. All of her flowers and vines had gone dormant, looking dead but the green fir and spruce trees reminded her that things were still alive.


    An image of men fighting flashed through her mind. She could see them fighting and then caught on fire. Flames licked up their bodies. And then, as quickly as she had remembered it, the image was gone.


    She looked out over her city. Buildings were built near the castle, but there were several ruins of homes farther out. She couldn¡¯t remember why. What had happened to the homes? She looked again. There were no ruins there. They were little homes all perfectly built.


    She didn¡¯t thinks he really remembered anything correctly anymore. Her life seemed to swing from memories to reality and back again and sometimes she didn¡¯t think she could tell the difference between memories and reality. It made her wary about everything. If she couldn¡¯t trust herself, then who could she trust?


    Mathias probably. He had always been good to her, hadn¡¯t he? He had been her faithful assistant and had done his part to help her run the kingdom. She should make sure that she thanked him the next time she saw him.


    A cool wind blew across her face, stinging it with cold. She was sure her nose was red. She wanted to venture farther, away from her castle and out into the forest the way she had¡­when? She was certain that she used to roam the forest alone. She just couldn¡¯t remember when that had happened.


    She decided that she would go and take a walk, despite the cold. Her leg was healing up pretty well, and she could see the path that led out from her home and into the giant trees of the forest. She needed to clear her head and maybe a walk would help. The forest was a beautiful place, even when half of the trees had dropped their leaves to the ground.


    She hadn¡¯t gone far when she saw a baby deer. It flicked an ear at her. It still had spots of the very young deer. It¡¯s mother was close behind. She stayed motionless and waited for them to pass.


    As she walked, she remembered fire. She kept seeing flashes of it and people screaming and burning, but she was never the one being burned. It didn¡¯t make any sense. She continued down the path, watching the squirrels race up their trees, chittering to one another. Even they knew that it was a last opportunity to gather for the winter.


    Another memory surfaced as she paused under one of the leafless beech trees. Her leg was beginning to hurt. She should turn around now, but she paused, grasping at the memory. There was a child, a baby, only a couple of weeks old. She held her in her arms and she said something to it. The baby was silent and beautiful, but whose baby was it? She didn¡¯t remember the parents, only the child and the way the room seemed to freeze, everyone but her and the child were completely motionless.


    What did that even mean? She didn¡¯t even know a spell to cause things to freeze like that. Maybe it was from a dream. She felt angry. Something was done to her. Someone had betrayed her. That was real, she was almost certain of it. But who had betrayed her and had she already conquered that foe? Feelings of uncertainty began to creep in. Should she be running a kingdom if she had no idea who had betrayed her or why? But she was the queen. She had a responsibility to her people.

 Chapter 08

    Hailey looked at the queen and waited for her to tell her what she already knew. How was she going to do this job when the people she was supposed to work closest with didn¡¯t believe in her?


    The queen watched the doctor with her husband. Hailey waited.


    ¡°Are you going to tell me or not?¡± She felt frustrated.


    ¡°Fine. Yes, the king has been dying. It has gone on for a while now, but in the past few weeks, it has gotten worse. The doctors are doing everything they can for him, but I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to last much longer.¡±


    The queen looked at her husband. ¡°The reason we haven¡¯t told anyone is because we are trying to stop the public from panicking. Can you imagine what would happen if the city knew?¡±


    Hailey swallowed. She could imagine. It could be bad. They could storm the castle and demand to know what was going to happen to the kingdom or set out into the forest to try to make it to one of the other cities.


    The queen looked at her daughter with tears in her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen to the kingdom. I can¡¯t tell the public that the heir is dying and we just don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen next. Will the power of the heir pass to my daughter? Will she be able to protect the kingdom while she¡¯s still asleep?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Barinon didn¡¯t know either. He had worried about what would happen. He even ignored the dragon in an attempt to free the princess.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry we didn¡¯t tell you about the Theodric. He has been suffering with this for so long and there was nothing that Barinon could do for him. We just didn¡¯t think that you would be able to help.¡±


    Hailey nodded, still feeling like they didn¡¯t have any faith in her. Otherwise, they would have said something. It was just ¡®do this thing right now¡¯ with no real reasons why. Obviously, the princess needed to be freed, but she had had no idea that the king was suffering, that she had a very limited amount of time.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about being so short with you in the throne room, but maybe you understand now why I keep asking you to work faster. I shouldn¡¯t have lashed out the way I did.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how the power is transferred? Does the heir need to be touching the king when he dies?¡±


    Endolynn shook her head. ¡°Theodric might know, but Barinon was the expert on it. It might be something for you to research when you have a spare moment.¡±


    Queen Endolynn took Hailey by the shoulders. ¡°You have to figure this out before he dies.¡± She began to sob, dropping her hands to her side. Hailey had always thought of the queen as a graceful, somewhat cold person. It was shocking to see her cry like this. ¡°I don¡¯t want to loose my husband, but I none of us last forever. To lose the entire kingdom and then to know that my daughter will wake seventy years after the entire kingdom has fallen. It¡¯s my worst nightmare.¡± Then she broke down into sobs.


    Hailey felt awkward. Do you hug a queen? Clearly, the woman needed comforting but she was not that close to her. Finally, the queen dabbed at her eyes.


    ¡°I will do everything I can to ensure that the princess is sent free from the spell. I am sorry for being angry with you, too.¡±


    The queen hugged her then, and Hailey let the queen of all Taivalon cry on her shoulder.

 Chapter 09

    The view of her castle was breathtaking. She had always found this place to be intriguing. She liked the way the spires almost looked like the tops of the firs and spruces. She paused, looking at it. She had always wanted to see the castle refurnished, hadn¡¯t she? That seemed right. Memories of it being completely empty except for skeletons and cobwebs flooded her mind. No, that wasn¡¯t right. The castle had been full of people for as long as she could remember. She just couldn¡¯t remember any of them except for Mathias.


    She was certain that it was her fault. She should have gotten to know more of the staff. She had such a habit of wandering off alone, the way she did today. She made her way back. She had gone too far, and her leg was really hurting now. She picked up a branch of a fallen tree and used it to lean on.


    She almost stumbled when she remembered a cave. There were people coming to hurt her and she was on the ceiling of a cave. She was hunting. That had to be a dream, but it was like she was there for a moment. Maybe spending time alone in the forest was wrong. She needed to find someone and talk to them. Then she could use their expressions to judge whether or not she was really crazy.


    She climbed up the steps to the kitchen and put her hand on the door, but the inside of the kitchen was completely empty. It was spotless. A large pot sat on the stove. There was something in it that smelled amazing. No one was looking. She dropped the stick outside and made her way to the pot of food. Where did the cook keep bowls?


    She felt like she was sneaking around her own house. Someone behind her cleared his throat and she jumped.


    Mathias was standing behind her. She hadn¡¯t even heard him enter the kitchen. ¡°Your majesty, I am glad you are here. I have someone waiting to meet you in the dining room.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mathias. I appreciate how much you have helped me.¡±


    Mathias looked uncomfortable at the praise. Then he cleared his throat and led her to the dining room. A man stood from the table and bowed as she entered. ¡°This is our new captain of the guards, Captain Reginald Hathaway.¡±


    She held out a hand to him and he bowed, kissing her ring. ¡°It is an honor to serve your majesty.¡± He was an older man with a graying beard and a receding hairline. He kept his hair very short and his green uniform meat.


    She sat at the table and he followed suit. She felt uncertain about this meeting. She didn¡¯t know the man and she didn¡¯t want to make a bad impression. The captain of the guards could be a powerful ally or the heir¡¯s worst enemy.


    ¡°I know that you are very busy, and so I hesitated to bother you to tell you this, but I fear that we have monsters invading our borders. We must act now or our kingdom will be overrun.¡± His voice was gravely.


    Delilah hesitated. She had so many doubts about her sanity. ¡°Maybe I should come to the borders to see what is going on.¡± And maybe that would give her time to figure out what was wrong with her.


    ¡°As you wish, your majesty. When would you like to leave?¡±


    Mathias cut in. ¡°I am sure that this situation does not require you to risk your own life and the well-being of the kingdom. Surely you can send the soldiers out to battle without taking that chance.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I have yet to see the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°I could speak with Lillith,¡± the captain of the guards offered.


    Delilah a flash of anger. She did not like Lillith and she could not remember why. She didn¡¯t want her in her castle. ¡°No!¡± She said louder than she meant to. She calmed herself. ¡°We don¡¯t need to involve Lillith with every little thing. Will you be satisfied if I just send out the troops?¡±


    ¡°I think that is most wise,¡± said the captain. Her servant nodded as if that seemed perfectly natural. She wished she remembered what it was about the other woman that made her so angry.


    Delilah could send out the troops from the castle. She didn¡¯t need to risk herself. They were probably right, but she had just been wandering around the forest and no one seemed to mind that. She was sure a battlefield was different. She rose from her chair, tryin got keep weight off of her throbbing right leg.


    Mathias turned to go, but Delilah stops him. ¡°If anyone with magic comes around, you are to notify me at once.¡± Mathias bowed and left and Delilah and Captain Reginald went out to speak with the troops. This was her army and she would take charge of it.


    <hr>


    ¡°Aaron, I need you to come with me,¡± Hailey said.


    Aaron stepped away from the long table. The other men grinned at him and Donald even waved at Hailey. They were getting used to Hailey demanding his time and so was he. He loved to be by her side. She wore a pink shirt and gray skirt along with a pair of solid boots. He didn¡¯t like the way some of the other men were looking at her and so he led her out into the hallway. ¡°Where are we going?¡± He didn¡¯t mind that she asked for his help frequently, but he was going to get comments from the other men.


    ¡°I need to go consult with Sylphana and I want you to come with me. Look. I have waterskins for us and everything.¡±


    ¡°He stopped walking. But that¡¯s beyond the shimmer.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Hailey. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can port us back if there is anything dangerous in the forest.¡±


    He swallowed. His heart quickened at the mention of stepping into the shimmer. Some of the other soldiers had done it. Burton¡¯s brother had tried it and had gotten lost. Still, he knew Hailey had been there. He had even gone with her to fight the dragon. That seemed ages ago, and it was one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. Sure, it had finally earned him the respect of his fellow soldiers, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to be on the other side of the shimmer ever again.


    Hailey seemed preoccupied with things and overlooked his fear. He didn¡¯t want to seem like a coward, but any sane man knew that death awaited them on the other side of the shimmer. She created a portal just outside the castle. These were still new to him, but he stepped through. It was like walking out of a door, except that the weather could change on the other side of it. You could be in a building and then find yourself in the middle of a forest and a thunderstorm.


    He wondered how much she took what she could do for granted. Sure, no one else could make passageways to the middle of the forest, but she never talked about how amazing that was. On the other side of the portal, he found himself facing the shimmer. It was a wall that stretched up as far as he could see. It was either blue or green, depending on who you asked and it shimmered in the afternoon sun.


    She glanced at him, letting her portal close behind her. She carried with her a small bag and one of the waterskis was strapped across one shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she said. ¡°I can protect you.¡± She pulled a small book out of her bag and read over it. Then she moved her arms in a wide arc and touched his hand. ¡°Munitura,¡± she said.


    He didn¡¯t feel any different. ¡°Did it work?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The fairies won¡¯t bother you, but they might be annoyed that they can¡¯t do anything to you. They threw pinecones at me when I entered.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said, feeling like a complete fool. She took his hand and they entered the shimmer.

 Chapter 10

    Hailey could feel a tightness on her skin as she passed through. ¡°Do you remember pretending to do magic?¡±


    Aaron laughed. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought of that in the longest time. Whoever thought you would grow up and actually be able to do it.¡± He held onto her hand as they walked.


    ¡°You know, you are dating a much younger woman than yourself. Does your mother know that?¡±


    ¡°We only tell my mother what she needs to know. It saves everyone from listening to her yell at us. Besides, you are the old one in this relationship.¡±


    Hailey paused. ¡°No I am not. You¡¯re twenty. I¡¯m sixteen.¡±


    ¡°You would be seventeen if you were a normal person, but you¡¯re really thirty two and I have to admit, for a woman your age, you¡¯re still very spry.¡±


    Hailey couldn¡¯t help the way her heart sunk when he called her a not normal person. It was true, but still. This was Aaron. He usually said the right thing and made her feel better. ¡°I don¡¯t think those years really count.¡±


    ¡°Lots of older women say things like that,¡± he joked. ¡°Just because you didn¡¯t age, doesn¡¯t mean that you haven¡¯t lived that long. You are technically,¡± he paused for dramatic emphasis, ¡°twelve whole years older than I am.¡±


    She rolled her eyes, but didn¡¯t respond to his banter. He was just joking around, but that didn¡¯t make her feel any better. She had spent far too long by herself.


    He stopped walking, pulling on her arm. ¡°I was only joking, Hailey. I didn¡¯t mean to upset you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± They started walking again. ¡°It just reminds me of all the time I spent in the castle. At first, I felt bad that I had left Esmerelda behind, and I went to see if I could help her, and then everyone was looking at me weird and so I went into the castle to hide. I never meant to stay there as long as I did.¡±


    He looked at her, his beautiful dark eyes were serious. ¡°Why did you stay? I was always hoping that you would come out.¡±


    ¡°At first, it was moving everyone to shelter. I was the only one who could do that, and then I think I was just hiding from the world. I didn¡¯t want anyone to know what I could do because it made me so strange.¡±


    ¡°It made you amazing.¡±


    ¡°I just worry that all that time alone had made me a strange person.¡±


    ¡°It has, but not in a bad way, but everyone is strange in their own ways. Look at me. I was determined to be a soldier despite only having one functional arm. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little strange?¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe. But I took on a huge responsibility when I was so young. I just don¡¯t know if that was good for me. I doubt it.¡±


    ¡°So what was it like? You didn¡¯t talk about it much before. He seemed genuinely curious.


    ¡°It was lonely. I filled my hours with things so that I wouldn¡¯t have to think about it, but I think I was better at that then than I am now. I was trapped the same age, not just physically. My mind didn¡¯t develop like it should have. I didn¡¯t age at all. I saw the world from a young girl¡¯s eyes and it never occurred to me what might happen if all of those people I took care of woke up without the rest of the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good for any of us to be alone like that, but you¡¯ll grow out of it. You¡¯ve already changed so much in the past few months. It¡¯s like I want to revert back to being that young girl who was just going to take on all of the problems in front of her, not thinking about what the consequences of her actions might be.¡±


    He nodded, seeming thoughtful.


    ¡°You know how when older kids are around younger kids, they start acting like little kids again. That¡¯s what it¡¯s like. Sometimes I want to be that young girl because she had a lot fewer things to worry about.¡±


    Aaron sneezed her hand. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. It just might take you a little longer to feel normal again, is all.¡±


    She hoped he was right. He took her hand, but she was feeling so uncertain about herself at the moment. She didn¡¯t want her first kiss to be filled with memories of living so alone, and so she stepped forward, before he could take her in his arms and said, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    She stepped up to the well and called down into its inky depths. ¡°Sylphora?¡± She called into the darkness, hoping that the water sprite would return.


    <hr>


    Hailey paused at the edge of the well, the stones cold under her gloved hands. She heard nothing for the longest time and then there was a gurgling hum. Sylphora was humming to herself. Aaron stepped back. Hailey belatedly remembered that she hadn¡¯t prepared Aaron for Sylphora. She smiled at him reassuringly, but she didn¡¯t actually know what Sylphora would think about his presence.


    A watery head finally peeked out of the well. She pulled herself languidly out of the well and glanced at Hailey. ¡°I expected you to be here days ago,¡± she said to Hailey. ¡°But what I did not expect was for you to bring me such a handsome visitor.¡± She grinned at Aaron and then proceeded to wrap her long body around him. She was completely naked and appeared to be made of water. She was completely human in appearance except that what would have been her legs was one long tube of water, almost like she was part snake.


    Aaron looked frightened at first but when her face hovered close to his, he smiled at her. She smiled back, touching his face with her watery fingers.


    ¡°He is beautiful. Look at the color of his skin. It¡¯s not quite as dark as Barinon¡¯s but¡­¡±


    ¡°Sylphora, please don¡¯t. He came to protect me.¡±


    Sylphora glanced at Hailey and then back at Aaron. Then she disappointedly uncoiled herself from around him. ¡°You have already claimed him as your own.¡±


    Hailey blushed furiously. ¡°Not exactly. I brought him here to protect me while I am in the forest.¡±


    Sylphora chuckled and then her face became serious. She sat at the edge of the well, rippling her serpent like legs and waiting for Hailey to speak.


    ¡°I need to know what you can tell me about the powers of the heir. How are they transferred?¡±


    ¡°It is old magic,¡± said Sylphora. ¡°There was a time when all the land was covered in fairies and only the humans that had magic of their own survived. They were accustomed to losing children. It was just part of being human back then. But then a powerful king had trouble having an heir. Three of his children died. As soon as they could walk, they would hurt themselves or sneak out of the castle. He knew it was the fairies¡¯ doing because he saw his little daughter following one, trying to catch it. The fairy walked her straight into the fire in the hearth of the castle. The child screamed and burned, but did not move out of the fire.


    ¡°The king was heartbroken but by then, his wife was pregnant with his next child. Knowing that there was little chance that this child would grow to have magic of its own, he vowed to kill all of the fairies before the child was born. He and his soldiers battled the fairies, killing thousands of them until the King of all the fairies came to the human King. He threatened to kill all of the humans if they did not stop waging war against the fairies.¡±


    Sequana paused, glancing at Aaron again. ¡°What happened next?¡± Hailey asked. Barinon had told her some of this, and she had not expected such a story from Sequana.


    ¡°The human king bowed before the fairy king and pleaded for the lives of his people. He explained how so many of the human children were dying out. The fairy king took pity on them then. He gave the king power to hold his kingdom away from the fairies, dividing them from the fairies by the shimmer. All the fairies returned to the forest and all of the humans lived, as long as the power of the heir was passed down, the humans in that kingdom would be protected. The fairy king made the bargain with all of the kingdoms in the world and all of the humans have lived without the fairies ever since.


    The forest grew silent as Hailey thought over what she was told. ¡°But what happens if the power of the heir is not transferred to anyone?¡± She told Sequana about the princess and how she was trapped in the sleeping spell. ¡°What would happen if the king died before the princess woke?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the spell. It might not make a difference. There is a chance that the contract would hold.¡±


    ¡°And how is the magic transferred, does the heir have to be present at her father¡¯s death?¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t make a difference. When the last king of Yapuris died, his son was visiting another kingdom. That kingdom did not fall.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that you are right,¡± Hailey said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. ¡°But how do you know?¡±


    ¡°Because the old king died and returned to the concordance. He died suddenly and without warning. The prince was not prepared to take the throne, but he did.¡±


    ¡°So the power of the heir should transfer as long as the princess is awake.¡±


    Sequana nodded. ¡°Other kingdoms have fallen because there is no heir.¡±


    Hailey didn¡¯t know if that made her feel any better and she still had questions, but this was at least more than she had known before she came.


    ¡°Be warned,¡± said Sequana, her eyes getting a far off look, ¡°that there is a dark force in these lands. It as taken over and is looking to spread its darkness over more of the human lands.¡±


    The way she spoke made Hailey shiver, but she thought she knew what Sequana was talking about. Isabella was taking children with magical abilities and holding them hostage. She was sure of it, but she didn¡¯t understand why.


    Hailey nodded. ¡°Do you know what I can do to stop Taivalon from falling as others have before?¡±


    ¡°You must figure out the spell on your own or perhaps you can speak to the one who cast it originally.¡±


    ¡°But the one who cast it originally is dead. I¡¯m sorry to tell you this, Sylphora, But Barinon died.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Sylphora. ¡°I know all who come back to the concordance.

 Chapter 11

    Sylphora disappeared into her well, leaving them alone in the forest. Fairies danced among the trees, but seemed not to bother them. It had grown very quiet, but for the occasional chittering of a squirrel and the breeze passing through the branches.


    Hailey puzzled over everything Sylphora had told her about the fairy king and the kings of old. She hadn¡¯t imagined that people have lived like that, with no protection from the fairies. She wondered how old the tale was that Sequana had told her. The idea that people would constantly lose children was horrible. Hailey wished the she didn¡¯t walk away from Sylphora with more questions than she had come with.


    He took her hand. It was warm and comforting and she was glad that she had brought him, even if Sylphora wanted to claim him as her own. ¡°Are we going to walk all the way back?¡±


    Hailey sighed. ¡°As much as I would like to, we should return to the castle.¡± She loved the time she had with him, but they should get back. She had told the queen that she would work on freeing the princess and she was no closer than she had been this morning.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, then,¡± he said.


    She longed for another moment to spend with him, but he was right. They should go. She found her portal glyph nearby and cast the spell that opened up into her bedroom. ¡°Thank you for coming with me,¡± she said.


    He smiled at her. ¡°Anytime. Derrick is accustomed to me disappearing occasionally.¡± Sylphora had been right about him. He was beautiful.


    He squeezed her hand and turned to go. As soon as he opened the door, a young man said, ¡°There you are!¡± Someone found him just as he exited Hailey¡¯s bedroom. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she realized what it must have seemed like they were doing. She refused to let it fluster her, and pushed her way out of the door behind him.


    A man with dark skin and hair glanced at the two of them and cleared his throat. ¡°Captain Montaigne is sending several of us to the shimmer. There¡¯s been people coming in saying there is something going on in the forest.¡±


    Hailey frowned. ¡°Do you know what it is?¡±


    ¡°He said that it was probably visitors from one of the other kingdoms.¡± The young man shifted his weight from foot to foot.


    ¡°Should I go with you?¡± she asked Aaron. She had put off working on the princess¡¯s spell for long enough and felt uncertain of what she should do.


    ¡°No,¡± Aaron said. ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s what it is, or maybe just people getting worked up over nothing. You said you needed to see to the princess.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Hailey hoped he was right. Her room was next to the mage¡¯s library. She took the key that she¡¯d been wearing off her neck and opened the door to the mage¡¯s library. The wall had been repaired, but she had no idea how to make the spell that protected it from magic, or how to recreate the door that had melded seamlessly into the wall.


    She slipped inside and glanced up at the curved tower¡¯s bookshelves. The upper shelves remained untouched, but half of the lower ones had been destroyed along with so many of the books. She needed hours to recreate what was here before, hours she didn¡¯t have. Two of the walls, the dragon¡¯s entry and exit points, had been replaced with stone,  but the layer of plaster that would have gone over the top of it might not ever be replaced. The curved shelves that had painstakingly been put in had been smashed in. People had cleared away the rubble for the most part, but even now she didn¡¯t like the idea of other people coming into the library.


    This was her place, for now and she hoped that somewhere in here, she would still be able to find the answers to how to undo the spell.


    <hr>


    Hours later, Hailey sat with a massive pile of books on the table beside her. Others lined the floor. There was no longer enough shelves to hold them all. The mage lantern above her head provided plenty of light to read by.


    She flipped idly through A Practical Guide to a Mage¡¯s First Spells. She had decided that since she had made no progress with more of the advanced books, it might be time to try a different direction. ¡°Dismissing a spell,¡± That might have been the spell that Barinon had in mind. Could it be that simple? An easy dismissal of the spell that had held her trapped for so long?


    Hailey looked over the first few movements of the spell, then turned the page to find the word of power that would tie the spell in place. The page was missing. Frustrated, she left the library. She would have to search through the massive stack of pages that she had collected from the rubble.


    She stood and stretched her back and rubbed at her eyes. She opened the door and locked it behind her. ¡°Afternoon, miss.¡± a servant said, hurrying past her with a basket of laundry.


    Hailey nodded to her and decided to head outside to get some fresh air and let her eyes adjust. She was not accustomed to reading so much.


    The warmth of the afternoon sun greeted her but her breath came in small clouds. She shivered. She would need her warmer cloak soon. Taivalon stretched out before her, a busy city. The beech trees had changed color and leaves began to fall. It was a beautiful time of year. She stood on the upper courtyard, the entrance to the kitchen below her.


    Wagons came to and from the castle. Men chopped down trees, preparing for the winter. Past the kitchen, she could hear the thump of an axe. Someone must be splitting firewood, she thought.


    A woman had parked her cart next to the kitchen and disappeared inside. She returned and began unloading several crates of food. Hailey almost didn¡¯t recognize her for a moment, and then she saw who it was. Esmerelda had brought food to the castle and hopefully the two horses that Hailey had left behind.


    Esmerelda finally noticed her and glared. Hailey turned to go. She wished that the other woman would be friends with her again, but it was probably not worth Hailey¡¯s time to reconnect with this woman. Esmerelda had not even tried to reconnect with Hailey since she woke. She strode back to the castle.


    From behind her, there was a loud crash and a scream. Hailey spun.

 Chapter 12

    Delilah sat in the study, glancing over the map. Captain Hathaway was insistent that she study it and understand which part of her kingdom was being attacked. Part of her still wanted to travel to that location, to see for herself what was happening. To give aid to her people if she could, but then maybe her people would see that she was mad.


    She remembered getting stabbed, having flaming arrows launched at her. She had been in so much pain. She was screaming, trying to get away. There was a girl with white hair, holding a glowing blue sword, who kept striking her, stabbing into her over and over again. The girl looked familiar somehow, as if Delilah should know her, but she couldn¡¯t remember if the girl was real or just a figment of her imagination. It seemed that there was a great battle and she had lost something, but what had she lost?


    She knew that these images were coming to her more and more frequently of late. Sometimes it was just a flash of a memory and other times, the entire castle around her seemed to disappear as if she were standing just outside the thing she was remembering¡­or imagining.


    She remembered holding the baby again. There was a party and people, but the people were all very still. It was possible that they were statues, but who would bother to dress statues in such fanciful colors? One of the windows had been broken, but it didn¡¯t seem the sort of place to have a window broken like that. No one was moving except for her and the child. The baby didn¡¯t cry, not even a little, but blinked her big brown eyes up at Delilah and she had whispered something to the child. She could not remember what. The thought puzzled her. She wished she could remember who the baby was, who her parents were.


    The smells of freshly baked bread and beef stew beckoned to her and she realized that her mind had been drifting agin. It was becoming so difficult to concentrate on what it was that she was supposed to do. She rose and moved to the dining room, where Mathias had already laid dinner out for her on the long and empty table. When this war was over, she would have to invite the nobles of her kingdom to come feast with her. The dining hall would be large enough to host them all, she was sure.


    She sat at the center of the head table, hoping that her memories would not haunt her for a moment at least and she could enjoy her meal. Where was Mathias? He usually came to find her when her meals were prepared. She was certain that he was attending to one matter or another, and she put it out of her mind.


    Her fingers were almost burned when she picked up the loaf of bread. She cracked it and steam rose into the air. She slathered the piece of bread with butter, moving her fingers continually so that they would not burn.


    The crust was hard and the center was soft and she savored the flavor, washing it down with wine, which had already been poured for her as well.


    In the middle of her second bite, Captain Hathaway entered. She had taken a larger bite than she should have and fought to swallow her bread so that she could speak.


    The captain did not seem to notice, or if he did, he did not embarrass her by asking if she was well. He bowed. ¡°Your majesty, there were people sneaking through your borders.¡±


    ¡°Did you let them through as we discussed?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± He motioned and a prisoner, who was bound and gagged was brought forward. When he did not kneel before her, he was thrown to the ground. The man was old and it surprised her than any kingdom would send such an old and possibly sick man to spy on her and her people. Maybe a harmless old man would be overlooked by others. She was satisfied with the captain¡¯s work and she told him so.


    ¡°It is my honor to serve,¡± he said and bowed again.


    Delilah took a drink of wine, relishing the bitter flavor on her tongue. ¡°Have you sent our spy?¡±


    ¡°Yes, your majesty. She is in place.¡± He grinned then, an evil smile among his gray whiskers. ¡°They will not know who hit them until it is too late. She will contact the witch soon enough.¡±


    She glanced down at the old man. Now that he was here, listening to this, he could cause problems for them if they were not careful, but as she looked at him, she wondered if he could make it back to his homeland even if they were to untie him now. He seemed to be wheezing.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    She ignored him for the moment. ¡°And the border, how are things there?¡±


    ¡°Holding. The enemy is at bay and we are taking out any the attempt to sneak across our border.¡±


    She felt satisfaction. Everything was going to plan. ¡°Thank you, captain. Hold the line for now. Weaken them only when it is not a risk to us. Soon we will be ready to strike.¡±


    <hr>


    Hailey did not want to look back at Esmerelda. She had too many things to do to worry about her once friend. The other girl seemed not to want to make amends, but she turned to see why Esmerelda had screamed. Esmerelda¡¯s cart was sticking out too far into the road. She was behind a long line of wagons trying to get to the kitchen. The back part of her wagon was still in the road, but most of the other traffic was moving slower and had gone around.


    A carriage came from up the hill at a break neck speed. Esmerelda had screamed before it had even hit, but if the carriage did not veer out of the way.


    The carriage smashed into the cart, breaking the back corner of the cart and one of its wheels. The driver of the carriage screamed. ¡°Get your wagon out of my way!¡±


    But the carriage, which only had scratches along its side, hurried on, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Vegetables and wood had flown everywhere and Esmerelda stooped to pick up the food she had brought to the castle. At least Esmerelda had not gotten hurt. Hailey paused for a moment, deciding whether or not to help her. Esmerelda looked up with tears streaming down her face.


    Hailey groaned and moved forward to help. She would have been willing to help anyone else, why not her old friend?


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything,¡± Esmerelda said. ¡°I know I was too far into the road, but I didn¡¯t have anywhere else to put my cart.¡±


    ¡°That was pretty obvious. He should have seen you. It¡¯s not dark yet.¡±


    Esmerelda nodded, not meeting Hailey¡¯s eyes. There was a long pause, as Hailey picked up carrots, and a pumpkin that had cracked.


    ¡°I am sorry I didn¡¯t help your friend before,¡± Esmerelda said. She finally looked up at Hailey. She wore the simple woven dress of a woman who worked the fields. Her long apron was still full of vegetables and her pretty face was covered in dust.


    Hailey was caught off guard. Esmerelda had never apologized for anything as long as Hailey could remember. ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± she said, Her voice sounding timid, even to her own ears.


    Esmerelda paused a moment and then her words came out in a rush. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to leave him just lying there, but I don¡¯t know anything about hurt people. I was moved out to that farm with people I don¡¯t know and the lord of the house was out there watching everything. He can be cruel to those who overstep their bounds. Well, not cruel exactly, but he¡¯s yelled at people before for telling him what they think about things, as if he is the only one¡­¡± she stopped.


    ¡°What?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know all the things that are going on with me. You¡¯re a lady now, and you boss your own people around, more than like. I didn¡¯t mean that.¡± She stopped again.


    ¡°Esmerelda, you are one of my only friends, or you were once. Just because I have a different job now doesn¡¯t make me any better than anyone else. It might not hurt you to know someone in the castle, your friend. It¡¯s not exactly like I¡¯m a grand duchess or anything. The servants don¡¯t accept me as one of their own and the nobility doesn¡¯t even know me yet. I¡¯m too busy to stop and get to know anyone. So the precious few friends I have, I would like to hold on to, you know?¡± Her voice caught at her last statement, and there was a long pause before Esmerelda threw her arms around Hailey.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know.¡± She let go almost as quickly as she had hugged her. ¡°Is your friend ok? Did her survive, I mean?¡±


    ¡°He is fine. He¡¯s running around with the other guards. What are you going to do about your wagon? It will take time to fix and maybe we could have dinner together.¡±


    ¡°I have to get back soon, only I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll make it now that it¡¯s broken. That¡¯s going to come out of my wages. I shouldn¡¯t have left it in the road like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can do something about that. She found one of the guards. Edward, she thought his name was. He had curly hair and a short, trimmed beard. ¡°Find the carpenter and ask him if he can have this wagon fixed by morning. Also, if you could get it out of the road, I would appreciate it.¡±


    He saluted as if he was accustomed to taking orders from her.


    Esmerelda looked at Hailey in astonishment. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask the kitchen to make honey cakes for us.¡±


    A smile lit up Esmerelda¡¯s face as she remembered one of their childhood adventures. Hailey smiled and let Esmerelda unload the rest of her cart. Maybe it was too soon to sit down and talk everything over, but this was a start. She hoped Esmerelda would find friends at her new place and thought she could look in on her every once in a while. She did have a glyph tied to that farm.

 Chapter 13

    The following morning, Esmerelda was gone. Hailey was sitting at a table in the dining room, glancing through the pages of a large tome. A small gray and black striped cat sat next to her, eyeing her breakfast. The cat was thin and small, half way between cat and kitten. Hailey was certain that if she walked away, her plate of eggs would be licked clean.


    ¡°What do you think of this spell?¡± she asked the cat. ¡°Do you think it would work?¡± She flipped through the pages of her book until she found the one she was going to attempt today.


    The cat blinked green eyes at her and waited on the wooden bench, hoping for food.


    ¡°You don¡¯t care, do you? Hailey dropped a small amount of her eggs on the bench next to her and the cat ate it greedily. Then it looked up, waiting for more. She gave it more food, knowing that the cook would scold her for doing such a thing. She could hear Lavina¡¯s voice in her head from all those years ago. ¡®Cats that get fed under the table stop catching mice.¡¯


    ¡°I am not supposed to be feeding you, you know, but I suppose it doesn¡¯t bother you if I¡¯m breaking rules.¡±


    The cat waited, watching her every movement.


    ¡°I really should come up with a name for you.¡±


    Noises drifted up from the courtyard. It sounded like a small crowd was gathered out there. She wondered what was going on. Sighing, she put the plate of food on the bench so that the cat could enjoy herself without being scolded for being on the table. She reached down to pet the cat and it shied away from her fingertips, and then continued eating. She was ridiculously soft.


    ¡°Behave yourself,¡± she told the cat, then gathered up her book and walked to the courtyard.


    The courtyard was indeed packed with people. They were all eying one man in the center. ¡°Good people of Taivalon,¡± he said, smiling at the crowd and flipping back his short, red cape. ¡°I have come to your fair city in hopes of rescuing the princess.¡± He was tall and not exactly handsome, but he did seem to be able to grab everyone¡¯s attention. His deep set blue eyes scanned the crowd as if making sure they were all paying attention. ¡°I have traveled far from Yapuris.¡±


    With that, a murmur ran through the crowd. Taivalon had not seen visitors from its neighboring kingdoms in years. Yapuris was one of the closest kingdoms. Had the king¡¯s message to neighboring kingdoms finally gotten through to one of them? Was one of their neighbors finally going to help? Looking at the young prince, she doubted it. If he were really here to help them, then he would have brought mages with him. There were two servants with them, one that carried a longsword and one that did not.


    ¡°Your highness,¡± Martin made his way through the crowd, shoving as he went. He was not a large man, but he was the assistant to the king and once people realized who he was, they let him through. He bowed before the prince. ¡°I apologize for not being here to greet you when you first came,¡± he panted as if he had run an marathon. ¡°The queen has sent me in her stead and hopes that you will be most welcome in our castle.¡±


    The prince nodded as if he expected nothing else. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. Perhaps he was annoyed by the way the king¡¯s assistant had interrupted his grand speech. Hailey looked at the crowd. Most of the women seemed quite taken with this young man and is fine dress and flashy speech. Many of the men looked annoyed.


    She finally spotted Aaron in the crowd. He seemed to be grinding his teeth. This prince had the potential to interrupt her plans. Exactly what did he think he could do for the princess? She would not let him interrupt her work. Feeling irritated, she realized that he already had. She turned to go and found a small kitten by her side.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    <hr>


    The spell that Hailey had tried had not been successful. The only thing that had worked so far was to try to push at the spell, but that moved it only a fraction of an inch and it was still very much attached to the princess. She didn¡¯t think that it would become unattached unless she figured out how to do that. All of this was more difficult that she had originally thought it would be.


    She had grown accustomed to sitting in the dining room with the cat that had adopted her. Sitting in the mage¡¯s library reminded her of Barinon, of what she should be able to do and with how disappointed he might be if he saw how little progress she had made.


    She turned the page of the massive book and her eyes began to close. She was so tired. She started when Widget walked across her lap. She hadn¡¯t realized she had fallen asleep. There was so much to learn, so many spells that she didn¡¯t understand. She petted the cat¡¯s head idly and felt it¡¯s tiny claws sink into her thigh.


    ¡°Ow!¡± She said and detached Widget from her dress, placing the cat beside her. She couldn¡¯t remember if she had really looked at the page she was on, so she glanced at it again.


    ¡°Invisibility,¡± it read. She almost longed for the days when she had been invisible to the world, a ghost haunting the halls of the castle. She propped her head against her palm.


    People were coming in and out of the dining room now, bringing plates of food with them. It didn¡¯t smell particularly good, but she should probably get up and grab some food. It would help her stay awake. Without intending to, she began to doze.


    ¡°Hailey,¡± his voice wasn¡¯t particularly loud, but at the sound of her name, she jolted awake, wiping at her face.


    Aaron strode into the dining room, looking as handsome as ever. All of that soldiering had muscled him out. But instead of smiling at her a look of concern crossed his features. He was holding a plate of food. Maids were mopping the floor nearby. Had she missed dinner? She must have looked like a fool sitting here with a stack of pages, taking a nap in the middle of dinner.


    He paused before the table where she was sitting. ¡°I brought you food. You will eat it, won¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    He sat across from her, sliding a plate of chicken and mushy potatoes to her.


    It did not look particularly appetizing, but she would try. She smiled weakly at him and picked at the chicken. It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t like poultry, it was that she didn¡¯t like eating it cold, and part of her always wondered if she was eating Henny.


    ¡°So what are you working on?¡± He dragged the mage light closer, and knocked over her careful stack of torn and blackened pages, pages the dragon had nearly destroyed as it crashed through the bookshelves. The pile shifted sideways and one of the pages fell to the wet ground.


    She gasped and grabbed at the page before it hit the wet floor, but his fingers were quicker. He snatched it out of the air with his good hand and placed it back on top of the stack.


    ¡°Those pages are irreplaceable,¡± she told him, feeling anger rise within her. ¡°You almost destroyed what could have been the key to getting the princess free.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I caught it before it fell. I don¡¯t see what the big deal is.¡± He was right but that didn¡¯t matter. It felt like he had almost destroyed the world. She knew she was being irrational. The dragon could have destroyed the page that would set the princess free, too. It was an uncomfortable thought that she didn¡¯t like to entertain.


    ¡°No,¡± she finally said. ¡°You¡¯re right. I shouldn¡¯t be so upset. It¡¯s just been a rough day and I really want to figure this out before I go to bed, you know?¡±


    ¡°It might be easier to find it if you got some more sleep. You are going to bed soon, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will get some sleep and thank you for the dinner. I am hungry.¡±


    He took her hand for a moment and she looked at him, unsure of what to say. Finally, he said, ¡°I should go. I¡¯ve got some things I need to see to before bed, myself.¡± He rose, and let go of her hand, and walked away.


    She felt like a complete idiot. He had been nothing but kind to her and she had almost lost it over the pages.

 Chapter 14

    ¡°You¡¯re late,¡± Tassot grumbled.


    Mikolus pulled the reigns of his horse. ¡°I apologize, Tassot and I appreciate you being up so early to meet me.¡±


    Tassot shrugged one shoulder. ¡°I would be up soon anyway. What kept you?¡±


    ¡°The horse was nervous this morning. Not sure what has gotten into her.¡± That was true, but he did not mention that he had slept a bit too long. Tassot did not need to know that. As he climbed off the bench that sat above his wagon, he glanced at the animal. She still seemed to be uncomfortable. Whites shone all the way around her eyes, as if she was ready to run. He patted her neck with a gloved hand. It was still dark out, though most of the night had passed, and Mitsy was accustomed to pulling the wagon in the wee hours of the morning.


    ¡°It¡¯s a full moon,¡± Tassot said with all the certainty of a superstitions fool. ¡°Full moons are always uncertain.¡±


    Mikolus followed his cousin¡¯s gaze. The moon was high, but he couldn¡¯t keep his eye on it. Three houses away, the faint glow of the shimmer reflected off of the lake. He shivered in the night¡¯s chill despite the heavy jacket he wore. At least the moon cast light over everything. It would make the trip to the city that much easier. It was The Shimmer that unnerved him, not the moon.


    Tassot helped him stack the barrels of salted fish onto his wagon. He clasped arms with the other man. ¡°Thank you, cousin. You save me much time, and you make more at the market than even Marta could manage.¡±


    The men clasped each other¡¯s arms. They were of a height. Many people mistook them for brothers, which was close enough to the truth. They had the same dark hair and eyes, but Tassot¡¯s face was wider and his nose a little smaller. ¡°I am the one who should be thanking you.¡±


    His cousin sighed. ¡°When you can buy a ship again, I will understand if you no longer want to sell my fish.¡±


    Mikolus smiled, seating himself back on the bench above the barrels of fish. He was glad to be leaving this place, if even for a day. If he ever made enough money, he would move his family to the city, away from the creepy glow. Unfortunately, the road passed very close to the shimmer before straightening out and heading away. Mitsy shook her head, her breath visible. She did not like to be near the shimmer either.


    The road was painted in blue moonlight, and he squinted to make out anything. He thought he saw a shape ahead him, standing in the road. Was that a woman? He blinked and the image was gone. He breathed heavily. He was letting his imagination get ahead of him. He forced himself to calm. Mitsy would feed off of his fear. He did not want to think about what would happen to his wares if a spooked horse ran off with them.


    Then he heard the crunch of someone walking through the underbrush. The trees had dropped most of their leaves and walking silently had become impossible.


    ¡°Hello?¡± He called out, but no one responded. He glanced behind him. The light of Tassot¡¯s home was lost in the distance. He considered turning around, but what would he tell him? That he was frightened of noises in the forest?


    He rolled his shoulders to loosen the knot that had formed between them. He thought he heard breathing behind him. He turned, but nothing was in his path. His cousin¡¯s superstitions rang in his mind. Full moons are always uncertain. It was something he had heard his aunt say too many times for it not to ring in his mind now. She had always said that they would either bring someone great fortune or calamity. It was never anything in the middle.


    Just to ease his mind, for he doubted very much that there was anything in this forest, he pulled the knife that he always kept on his belt and held it clutched in one fist. Behind him something yelped, and he knew for certain that he was not alone. Something was behind him. He turned and stood on the small platform above his horse.


    ¡°You!¡± He said, his heart racing and his small knife clutched before him. His hands trembled, and he knew the knife would do no good.


    <hr>


    ¡°Poor Bastard,¡± Christian said, climbing off of his horse.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Aaron glanced down, sickened at the scene before him. A man lay in the middle of the road, his stomach sliced open. It was a foul job, but many of the people who had passed along the road to Taivalon had come to the castle with news of an attack. Some of them even wanted to know what the castle was going to do about the situation, as if they could hunt down a beast that could rip a man¡¯s stomach open without much trouble.


    ¡°What do you think happened?¡±


    Aaron looked around the body, hoping to see the paw prints of a wolf or anything that might make this man¡¯s death make any sense. ¡°It had to be an animal. The slash marks would not be like that if it was a sword.¡± He climbed off of his horse, glancing around to see if there was anything nearby that might attack them too.


    ¡°I agree, but how big was it? Where did it go?¡± He knew the Christian was trying to help train him. He may have been promoted, but Christian had many more years of experience than Aaron did and he appreciated his expertise.


    Aaron glanced up. ¡°We have a carriage coming in from the castle.¡± Then he looked again for footprints, for anything that would tell him what had attacked the man. All he could see was hoof prints and the long straight line of a wagon wheel mark.


    ¡°I doubt it was done by a horse, but see those prints leading off into the forest? Maybe someone killed him and tried to make it look like a wild animal had killed him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll follow the hoof prints for a while. You deal with the nobles,¡± Christian said, climbing back onto his horse and giving Aaron the job he didn¡¯t want to do.


    He grinned and waved, hurrying up to the carriage when he saw who it was that he would be dealing with. Hailey stepped out of the carriage, looking exhausted. His smile fell. Her blonde hair hung as if it had not been brushed in days and dark circles had formed underneath her usually bright blue eyes. He had not seen her in days and it looked as though she had not slept at all. The light blue dress she was wearing seemed rumpled as if she had slept in it. Over her shoulder, she had a satchel.


    So she has taken to dragging the books around with her wherever she goes now, he thought. It shouldn¡¯t bother him, but he worried that she was doing nothing else. He reached out a hand to steady her as she climbed out of the carriage. ¡°Are you well?¡± He asked her.


    She looked at him blankly for a moment as if trying to understand what he had asked her. Then she waved a hand lazily. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°You look as if you haven¡¯t slept since the last time I saw you.¡± He could not help the concern in his voice. If she killed herself trying to wake the princess, it would do the country no good at all.


    She squinted up at him, and when she spoke, her voice was airy, as if it was too much effort to try to speak louder. ¡°I sleep, just not as much as I would like to. Don¡¯t worry, though. I think I am finally starting to make progress.¡± She didn¡¯t sound convinced that that was true and shivered visibly against the wind that whipped at her hair and skirts.


    He wanted to tell her that she had said the same thing before, and that she should get sleep, but he didn¡¯t know if she would listen. He wants things to go back to the way they were before. He missed her, even when she was right there.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go see what happened,¡± she said and strode over to the man who was laying in the road.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure these are claw marks across his chest and stomach. I don¡¯t think a human did this.¡±


    Hailey sighed. ¡°There is nothing I can do for him now.¡± She didn¡¯t sound the least bit disgusted or concerned.


    He had almost lost his breakfast looking at a man with his insides slashed open like that and he was worried about what kind of a creature had done this.


    Christian came out of the trees leading a cart, his own horse tied to the back of a wagon with a few barrels still on it. ¡°I think this belonged to him. He must have been on his way to the market.¡±


    ¡°I need to go,¡± Hailey said. ¡°Here.¡± She opened her bag and sure enough, there was a heavy tome in there, along with a few of the burnt pages. She reached into the bottom and pulled out several pouches.


    ¡°What are these?¡±


    Christian looked annoyed that he had been completely ignored, but Aaron had precious few moments with Hailey and he was still trying to think of a way to convince her to sleep.


    ¡°If you mix these with water, you can create a bit of a healing drought. They should help for anyone who gets hurt.¡±


    He took the pouches, wondering how effective they were. ¡°What if someone is really hurt?¡±


    Hailey looked off into the distance, ¡°I don¡¯t know. There is only me and I have the princess to worry about. I have to fix what is wrong with her first and if I still have magic left, I can heal whoever needs it. I¡¯m sorry Aaron, I really do have to go.¡±


    She squeezed his arm and gave instructions to the driver, then she climbed back into the carriage and returned to the castle.


    Aaron hadn¡¯t even noticed Christian coming up behind him. ¡°If you¡¯re done staring off into the distance, I think I know where the cart came from. We can at least return the body of this man to the people who cared about him.¡±


    He nodded and turned to help Christian place the body on the cart.

 Chapter 15

    ¡°Hey, One Arm, catch!¡±


    Aaron glanced up to see Edward throwing a ceramic mug at him as hard as he could manage. His hand automatically reached up to retrieve it from the air before it smashed into his face.


    Edward looked annoyed that it hadn¡¯t shattered across his nose. Some of the other men smirked but many of them accepted Aaron into their ranks, but Edward would have been a lieutenant instead of Aaron and having the new guy promoted ahead of him did not make them friends.


    ¡°One arm, Derrick wants to see you in his office,¡± Edward grumbled. So that was his game. He wanted Aaron to come in with cuts all over his face to speak with the captain, a captain who would expect more from Aaron than he did from the other men.


    Aaron was done eating anyway. He stacked his dishes together and stood. He almost expected something else to be thrown at him, but he walked out of the great hall with people sniggering behind him. He didn¡¯t mind the taunting as much as he used to. He had shown that he had a clear head in the face of a dragon and that had given him Derrick¡¯s respect. It was enough.


    He had not been to Derrick¡¯s office often, but he found it unnerving to be sent there. A knot of worry began to grow in his stomach. Derrick usually brought men into his office to promote them or to discuss behavior that he would like to change. Had he done something wrong? Had Christian told him that they had gone all the way to that little village to take the man¡¯s body home? He had himself so worked up that his hand trembled on the handle of Derrick¡¯s door.


    He opened the door to find that Derrick was not there. A table sat in the middle of the small room, which was pushed up against the only window that Aaron could see. Papers and a few scrolls covered the desk, along with two tubes that were used to convey messages via pigeon. There were a few chairs around the room, and one behind the desk.


    Aaron closed the door. He didn¡¯t want to be in there alone. It felt like an invasion of privacy.  He closed the door and leaned against the wall, waiting. He couldn¡¯t help thinking about Hailey. His mind seemed to drift towards her whenever he had a spare moment. She had been so uncaring of anything or anyone else except for the princess. It was like they had started a relationship. He had finally started courting her, and then nothing. It was as if it had never happened, as if he had never taken her in her arms and felt her finally start to have feelings for him.


    He sighed and leaned against the wall. Why would Derrick send him here if he wasn¡¯t here himself?


    ¡°You waiting for Derrick?¡±


    Aaron turned to see a gorgeous woman striding towards him. She had bright red hair pulled back into a short braid. She was tall for a woman, almost as tall as he was and her green eyes danced with mischief. He straightened and bowed. He had never seen a woman in a military uniform before, and he had to admit, it looked good on her. She moved with a lithe grace of someone who has spent years swinging a sword.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bow to me. We¡¯re the same rank. You must be the new guy, right?¡± She walked past him, pushing the door open and then dragged a chair close to Derrick¡¯s table and lounged, leaning back in her chair. ¡°You going to stand there all day or you going to come in? He¡¯ll be here soon.¡± She grinned conspiratorially. ¡°The captain is usually late to all of his own meetings.¡±


    He found himself wondering who this woman was and why no one had mentioned that the woman who was in the king¡¯s army was gorgeous. They had only mentioned that she existed. He came into the room, feeling uncomfortable.


    ¡°I heard what you did with the dragon,¡± she said, glancing at him as he dragged the chair awkwardly forward with one arm. ¡°Very impressive. I wish I could have been there for that battle. I was stuck at the manor biting my nails and hoping that all of my friends wouldn¡¯t be dead by the end of the day.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I don¡¯t think I was that brave, really. My friend was in danger and no one was doing anything to help her.¡± He sat stiffly. How did she make a hard wooden chair look so comfortable?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re friends with the new royal mage. Too bad about the other guy. People say that the princess would be up and walking around if he were still here.¡±


    He suddenly felt defensive. ¡°She is trying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she is, but it¡¯s experience that makes the difference sometimes. She shifted in her seat. ¡°It¡¯s like soldiers who have never seen a battle. Once they have been in a battle and we know they won¡¯t freeze up and forget how to use a sword, they¡¯re that much more useful.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You might be right. She really did miss having the other mage here and she didn¡¯t get all the training she should have.¡± He almost felt guilty agreeing with her, but Hailey wasn¡¯t perfect and Gillian was paying way more attention to him than Hailey had in the past few weeks. ¡°So, why haven¡¯t I met you before this?¡±


    Gillian stretched her neck. ¡°I¡¯m usually in the throne room. I have been following the king around forever.¡± She shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s really not doing well, you know?¡±


    Derrick finally entered his office, looking flustered. ¡°Aaron, Gillian, I have an assignment for you two,¡± he said.


    So that¡¯s her name, he thought.


    <hr>


    The dragon smashed into the castle, destroying more spell books, in it¡¯s flight. Hailey couldn¡¯t get any of her magic to work. She couldn¡¯t get her shield in place. The dragon was about to breathe fire and¡­


    ¡°Hailey, are you well, child?¡±


    Hailey gasped awake, blinking and looking around. She had fallen asleep on the rug in front of the princess¡¯s bed. Her heart raced. She did not want to be caught sleeping like this. She needed to be awake. She had things to do. A puddle of drool had been absorbed by the rug. She moved her skirt to cover it and tried to make herself look like she hadn¡¯t just been sleeping as the king made his way to his daughter¡¯s side.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thank you, jour majesty,¡± she said, rising to her feet and curtsying.


    ¡°You look almost as bad as me,¡± said the king, chuckling. His laugh turned quickly into a cough. He was so pale. His wispy hair had thinned and there was a gray pallor to his skin. ¡°I am kidding, you know. A young thing like you cannot possibly look as bad as I do. He finally made his way to the chair before the princess¡¯s bed and sat down.


    ¡°Have you been sleeping well?¡±


    ¡°Of course, your majesty. My rooms and my bed are more than sufficient.¡±


    ¡°That is not what I asked.¡±


    ¡°I am young, she said. I can get by.¡±


    He looked at her for a long moment, as if he were trying to decide whether of not to argue with her about that, and so she changed the subject before he could go on about sleep. Why was everyone asking her that.


    ¡°I found the part to the book that I was looking for, but one of the words is missing. I don¡¯t know if I will be able to use this or not, but if I can get the spell itself to begin to work, then I will know whether or not that word will be something I need to figure out or not.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I take a look?¡± The king held out a hand, but Hailey hesitated. ¡°I¡¯m old, child, not a fool. I won¡¯t damage anything.¡± He took the page in trembling fingers and looked at it. ¡°Where does this fit in with the spell?¡±


    Hailey stood and walked to the princess¡¯s dressing gown which was covered in Hailey¡¯s books and papers. She tripped on the leg of the bed as she came back and almost stumbled into the king. She caught her balance at the last minute and sat down.


    She opened the book and laid it across her lap. The charred page that she had been looking for for days worked as a bookmark, reminding her where in the book the spell was. Carefully, she drew it out and handed it to the king. ¡°I think the components of the spell will work but I don¡¯t have the raw power that I need in order to perform the spell.¡±


    He looked over the spell as if he had seen these books before and maybe he had.


    ¡°I think I just need one more mage and I could make this spell work.¡±


    ¡°It sounds very much like you are on the right track, not that I ever performed any magic myself, other than the power of the heir, and that magic is different.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Hailey still didn¡¯t know enough about the power of the heir and what she was trying to restore to the kingdom.


    ¡°It just works. Even when I¡¯m sleeping the borders are there. I don¡¯t have to concentrate or wave my hands around or gather strange ingredients from all over the kingdom.¡±


    That was true enough. ¡°And you can feel the border all the way around the kingdom?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Something in his voice mad her think that he didn¡¯t want to talk about it anymore. There might have been something he wasn¡¯t telling her. She wanted to know if he knew about the creature who had killed that man, if he could sense magical creatures coming through, if he knew all of that because he was so connected to the kingdom, but she also didn¡¯t want to pepper him with questions. He was the king and he covered all of her expenses.


    ¡°I unfortunately have other matters to see to,¡± he said, ¡°But I do hope that you get some sleep soon.¡±


    ¡°When I was a young man, my father died. He should have left me with more time to be a young man and enjoy myself. At least that¡¯s the way I looked at it, but when I became the king, I took the job very seriously. I stayed up nights worried over all the details of the kingdom. As soon as I took care of one thing, another thing would pop up. I wore myself ragged, trying to take care of everything and eventually I became ill and couldn¡¯t do any of it. My advisors had to step in and handle everything while I recovered, but they couldn¡¯t handle everything. I was the king and I had no time for me to be sick. It took me weeks to recover because there were so many things for me to attend to that I could not remain in bed.¡±


    She looked up at him, understanding what he was doing.


    ¡°My point is, that yes, you are young and you might not think anything of skipping a few hours of sleep here and there, but it does eventually catch up with you.¡±

 Chapter 16

    There was something about Gillian that just put Aaron at ease. ¡°You know, You are not the typical soldier,¡± he told her. They were walking along the shimmer. One of the cities to the south had heard voices coming from it and they were there to investigate, and they were almost there.


    ¡°Like you¡¯re one to talk. I had never even heard of a man trying to soldier with one gimp hand. No offense.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°None taken.¡±


    She grinned at him. ¡°You do have to admit, we are a pair. A female soldier and a man with only one good hand have come to save the village from the invading monsters.¡±


    He laughed. Something about the way that she made fun of him made him feel accepted. He did wonder about the monsters, though. Derrick hadn¡¯t said exactly what was wrong with this little city on the southern edge of the border, only that there was something wrong, and so they rode out to see if there was anything they could do. The captain didn¡¯t seem to think that there was anything wrong, that the people of the city were just jumping at shadows.


    But Aaron had seen the body of the man who had been attacked. Clearly something was going on. Inside the city, a woman came running up to them.


    ¡°The king should have been smarter than to just send two soldiers. One of them isn¡¯t even a man,¡± a man called out. Gillian ignored him, focusing on the woman.


    ¡°Thank you for coming,¡± she said. ¡°I heard voices the other night. Woke me from my bed. When the sun came up, I was standing in front of the shimmer, pushing at the wall and trying to get through it as if I could walk through stone. In all my years, I have never done than before. You can ask my husband.¡±


    It turned out that they didn¡¯t need to ask him, because he shouted at them from the porch of a small house. ¡°It¡¯s true. She never walked in her sleep before this. The Conrows saw things coming out of the shimmer.¡±


    ¡°And where are the Conrows?¡± Asked Gillian.


    The woman ran to the next house over and pounded on the door. Her wiry hair flying out in every direction. She seemed really worked up about this, and he shuddered to think what that must have been like to find yourself trying to walk into the shimmer.


    Aaron and Gillian dismounted and held onto the reigns of their horses. A tired looking woman stepped out, a small boy clinging to her skirts. ¡°Milly, I was sleeping. I was up all night with Claude talking about the faces he saw in the shimmer last night. He said the fairies were trying to break free of the shimmer.¡±


    ¡°Where is he now?¡±


    ¡°Asleep. He took care of the milking and then collapsed on his bed. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s feeling right.¡±


    ¡°Did he say anything else?¡± Aaron asked. ¡°Anything else we might need to know.¡± If the man was really seeing fairies in the shimmer, they were going to have massive problems on their hands soon. The shimmer was what held the fairies and all the other magical creatures back. If it was weakening¡­¡± he tried not to show any signs of fear.


    ¡°I saw them,¡± a little girl said. ¡°I saw the fairies. They were glowing and they looked like tiny naked people with wings. They were pushing and flying on the shimmer, trying to get all the way through.¡±


    The girl stood boldly in the circle of people, demanding attention.


    ¡°Did any of them get through?¡± Gillian asked.


    She shook her head, making her braids sway on her back. ¡°No, I shouted at them and they went back into the forest where they belong.¡±


    He blinked. ¡°You shouted at them?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± The girl seemed satisfied that her tale was getting the attention it deserved. ¡°I told them to go back in the forest and leave us alone.¡±


    ¡°That was very brave of you,¡± Gillian said. ¡°Just make sure you don¡¯t get too close to the shimmer yourself, ok?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot,¡± the girl said.


    ¡°I can see that,¡± Gillian confirmed. ¡°I just want you to be careful.¡± Then she climbed back on her horse and talked to the group of people who had come to look at them. ¡°We are going to take a look around at the shimmer, but thank you for your help. We will be letting the captain know about everything that you have told us and about anything that we might see.¡±


    The crowd disbursed, no longer interested in the strangers. Aaron doubted that they had talked to everyone who had seen something in the shimmer, but it made him uneasy. Maybe there was something that Hailey hadn¡¯t told them. They took their horses through the small opening in the wall that ringed the shimmer. Aaron did not want to be here anymore. There was clearly something going on and he didn¡¯t have the spell on him that kept him safe from the fairies. Then again, if something was happening with the shimmer, would any of them be safe for much longer? He didn¡¯t know.


    Gillian stared into the shimmer. She didn¡¯t look anywhere as nervous as he felt. She climbed off of her horse and tied it to a pole in the fence, and so he did the same. They wandered along it and Aaron almost found himself hoping that they didn¡¯t find anything, that it was just a bunch of worried people who were getting all worked up over nothing.


    ¡°Do you see that?¡± Gillian pointed into. The forest. ¡°I think there is something in there. Is that a girl?¡±


    She stepped into the shimmer.


    ¡°Gillian, come back!¡± he yelled at her, but she wasn¡¯t listening.


    ¡°Come back, little girl!¡± Gillian yelled, racing on through the shimmer and into the forest.


    He followed, into the shimmer himself. He could see her racing on, but when she came to the little girl, something huge was coming through the other side. Finally catching her, he grabbed her arm.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Gillian!¡± He yanked at her arm, pulling her back, just as the face of something huge snapped at her. He couldn¡¯t see clearly what it was, but she would be dead if he hadn¡¯t grabbed her.


    <hr>


    Hailey stepped out of the mage¡¯s library a basket of herbs in one arm and her massive tome in the other. Her eyes burned but her hands were full. She blinked. She knew it was just the lack of sleep. The walk between the mage¡¯s library and the princess¡¯s room was becoming tedious. She decided that rather than taking the large staircase, she would walk a little farther and take the servant¡¯s route.


    It wasn¡¯t a big change, but hopefully a little more walking would help her prepare for the spell. She began walking in the familiar ruts up the staircase. It made her remember that not too long ago, this was part of her life. So much had changed. She had never thought that she would miss scrubbing pots, but she did. It was so much more direct than what she was trying to accomplish. It was obvious if you did a good job or not.


    ¡°G ¡ª Good morning miss,¡± said a woman balancing a large basket of dirty linens. She tried to curtsy while walking with her load and missed her step. She screamed, dropping the basket. Clothing went everywhere and the young woman almost tumbled down after her basket.


    Hailey dropped the basket of herbs and held out a hand to help the woman. ¡°Extollo,¡± Hailey said, floating her above the staircase. She put the woman back on her feet. ¡°I am sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have been here.¡±


    ¡°No miss. Thank you. I¡¯m sorry.¡± The girl¡¯s chest was heaving and she looked at Hailey with wide eyes, and almost panicked expression. ¡°You won¡¯t tell no one, will you?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Why would I?¡±


    Then she curtsied and began gathering Hailey¡¯s herbs. ¡°I am so sorry. I¡¯m new to the castle and...¡± She cut off, looking even more distraught. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know about me.¡±


    ¡°I was a kitchen maid a year ago,¡± Hailey said flatly. I don¡¯t think you have anything to worry about. I know I shouldn¡¯t take this staircase, but I used to all the time. I¡¯m sorry for upsetting you. I will try to stay off these stairs, but if you see me on them again, don¡¯t try to curtsy.¡±


    The girl nodded and then curtsied again. ¡°Thank you. I might have broken my back.¡± Then tears filled her eyes. ¡°I could have died just now.¡±


    Hailey could see that she was making the girl uncomfortable and so she gathered up the herbs that hadn¡¯t fallen too far and let the girl gather up the laundry. She might get in trouble for being late and Hailey didn¡¯t want to cause any more trouble for the girl.


    At the top of the staircase, Hailey the sounds of someone who is not particularly good at the lute playing away, and was that singing? Who was singing? As she got closer, she realized that the voice was coming from the princess¡¯s chambers.


    She clenched her fists. Whoever was in there, bothering the princess was going to get a tongue lashing from her. She didn¡¯t need another distraction right now. She entered the princess¡¯s room and paused.


    The man she had heard, was holding a lute, pausing every few notes and trying to sing. He was wearing puffy pants and hose, a fashion that had never quite taken on in Taivalon. His sleeves were equally puffy and he wore a velvet hat that matched the burgandy ensemble. The feather danced as he looked down at his strings and back up at the women who had clustered around to hear him play. From the looks on their faces, one would think it was the most beautiful thing than anyone had ever played.


    ¡°He is magnificent, isn¡¯t he?¡± A woman with a cascade of strawberry blonde hair said to her companion.


    Hailey dropped all of her books on the floor. It hit with a loud thwack. She had work to do and she didn¡¯t have time to deal with ridiculous people with lutes. All heads turned towards her. ¡°Who are you and what are you doing in the princess¡¯s room?¡±


    When he didn¡¯t respond, she decided to float him out of the room so that she could get to work. ¡°Extollo,¡± she said but nothing happened. Had she done the spell incorrectly? She eyed the people in the room. One of them was glaring at her.


    The man who had been standing behind him and came forward. ¡°We have not had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Frederick.¡±


    ¡°And what are you doing here?¡± She demanded, though in truth, he hadn¡¯t answered the first question. Frederick who?


    ¡°I have come to entertain the beautiful princess while she is trapped in the spell. I had hoped that my fine music might be enough to lift the spell and set her free.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so romantic,¡± one of the girls said.


    Hailey ground her teeth. It wasn¡¯t romantic. It was idiotic. ¡°Whoever heard of someone singing a spell away. It¡¯s not how they work.¡±


    ¡°Have you tried it?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°So how do you know that it won¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s like saying that juggling or acrobatics might wake her up.¡±


    ¡°An excellent idea, my lady.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Hailey said. Why was he being so annoying? ¡°None of these ideas are excellent. That was my point. It¡¯s ridiculous to think that any of those things might work.¡±


    ¡°Rumors say that all kinds of things have been tried. There is a mage who keeps leaving twigs and leaves around. She thinks that that might work, so why not singing. If anything, it will make her feel better about being stuck in a spell so sad and all alone.¡±


    Hailey¡¯s voice rose. ¡°Those are herbs meant to boost the spell. It¡¯s not at all the same thing as singing. Magic made this problem and magic is going to be the thing that fixes it.¡±


    ¡°So you are the mage who battled the dragon and set the castle free. I have heard tell of you.¡± He bowed to her. ¡°It is an honor to meet you, my lady. I have heard tell of your great deeds. This kingdom is fortunate to have you.¡±


    Hailey ground her teeth. She knew he was trying to be polite, knew that every barbed word she had thrown at him, he had taken with grace, but to bring up the dragon and what the kingdom lost that day. She walked back out of the princess¡¯s room, eyes following her. She stood in front of the two guards.


    ¡°Could you please escort that man out of the princess¡¯s room?¡±


    The guards were both more than a head taller than she was and she felt like a child throwing a tantrum, which made her even more angry. They eyed each other with nervous glances.


    ¡°Go! What are you waiting for? I need to try to undo the spell and I can¡¯t with people singing.¡±


    ¡°My lady, he is the Prince of Yapuris. He wasn¡¯t doing anything to harm the princess. We watched him to make sure.¡±


    So the guards were not going to be of any use. She would have to handle this herself. She squared her shoulders and marched back into the room, just as the prince opened his mouth to begin singing again.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± She asked him, trying to keep her frustration under control.


    ¡°I had heard that there was a sleeping princess in Taivalon and I came to see if there was anything I could do to help.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t kidding. A prince from a foreign land had come. If he wanted to be of any assistance, he should have brought mages with him. She wanted to tell him so, but decided against it.


    ¡°Prince Frederick, I am sure you mean well.¡± Her anger was boiling just under the surface, but she fought to keep her voice steady. ¡°However, I have work to do. This spell will be undone, but it won¡¯t be undone by singing or juggling or anything like that. Magic created this problem and magic will fix it. I have work to do and you cannot be in here while I¡¯m working.¡±


    He strode up to her, getting uncomfortably close, then he picked up her hand and kissed it. ¡°My lady, I will be happy to be of any assistance.¡±


    Then he and his entire entourage walked out of the room.

 Chapter 17

    Gillian wrenched her arm free of Aaron¡¯s grasp and ran deeper into the shimmer. It was hard to see in here, with the wavy lines of magic. He tried to follow, but her form had disappeared almost instantly.


    ¡°Gillian, where are you?¡± He called. He spun in a circle, eyes blinking against the blue and green mist that made up this place. ¡°Gillian!¡± Had he lost her already? Would he have to go back to Derrick and let him know that Gillian was gone?


    ¡°Over here!¡± Relief flooded through him and then panic as he realized it could be a trick. Would the fairies just let him walk back out of here? He followed the sound of her voice anyway.


    Then he could make out her image, kneeling on the ground. There was something on the ground next to her. He blinked but it did nothing to clear his vision. As he got closer he could make out the shape of a body, lying on the ground next to Gillian. Then he realized it was a child. He looked at the mauled body, the pale skin and unseeing eyes. The stomach was torn open, the innards strewn across the ground. He wretched, emptying his stomach onto a nearby bush.


    Gillian glanced up. ¡°Are you ok now?¡±


    His stomach was still unsteady, but he nodded. He didn¡¯t think he would throw up again. ¡°This is the worst that we¡¯ve seen. Something in the forest is attacking people and we have no idea what it is or why it can suddenly cross the shimmer.¡±


    Gillian stood. ¡°Do we take the body back to the city?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°We don¡¯t know who her parents were and I can¡¯t imagine that seeing their child like this¡­¡± he trailed off. He could only imagine the grief that a parent might have over losing a child, but seeing your own flesh and blood mauled like this. It was an image that might haunt him forever and. This wasn¡¯t his child.


    Gillian stood and they made their way out of the shimmer. ¡°I wish we could bury her or something, though.¡±


    ¡°No. Every minute that we are in the shimmer is another minute that we are risking our lives. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.¡±


    She smiled at him and he was struck again with just how beautiful she was, but mischief danced in her green eyes. ¡°Are you afraid to be in here?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s only a matter of time before the fairies come after us and then you¡¯ll think you¡¯ll be walking out of the forest, but you¡¯ll be walking off of a cliff.¡±


    ¡°Where are they then?¡±


    She had a point. He had seen the fairies before, when he and Hailey had walked into the forest. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I still don¡¯t want to wait for them to find us. I just don¡¯t know what we are going to tell the people.¡±


    ¡°We tell them the truth, that we will make the captain of the guard aware, but tell everyone to stay away from the shimmer as much as possible. It¡¯s a good thing they constructed a wall.¡± She stopped walking and glanced back at him. ¡°Do you think your magic girlfriend would be able to help them?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not my girlfriend.¡± They walked out of the shimmer, and he was relieved to be on the other side of it. Clouds had gathered and it threatened to rain.


    ¡°You just keep telling yourself that if it makes you happy.¡±


    He looked at her quizzically.


    ¡°What? I¡¯ve seen the way you two look at each other. There is something there, even if neither one of you is currently admitting it.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he said. She¡¯s been so busy lately.¡±


    She smirked at that and he was relieved that she didn¡¯t taunt him about Hailey anymore. He wished that Hailey would spend any amount of time with him, or sleep. He knew she wasn¡¯t taking care of herself and it worried him. He glanced back at the shimmer as he climbed onto his horse. Whatever had attacked that child was bad.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°We better go have the conversation with the mayor.¡±


    <hr>


    A bowl of cold stew congealed next to Hailey. She took a bite. It was not as good as it would have been a couple of hours ago. She was grateful to have anything, though. She had come to the kitchen so late, the cook was almost angry that she had to ladle out stew.


    Someone walked into the kitchen on soft feet. She glanced up to see Esmerelda sneaking out of the door. ¡°Esmerelda?¡±


    The other girl spun on her, clutching at her chest. ¡°I thought you were sleeping.¡±


    Hailey laughed. ¡°I caught you sneaking through the kitchen.¡±


    Esmerelda laughed too. ¡°It has been too long since we did anything like that.¡± Still chuckling, she came to sit down at the table across from Hailey. ¡°I probably should have woken you up and sent you to bed. Why are you eating so late?¡±


    Hailey took a deep breath. She should have eaten earlier, but she didn¡¯t seem to have much of an appetite lately. She pushed her bowl across the table. ¡°Would you like some cold stew?


    Esmerelda smiled. ¡°I am going to have to pass.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m eating late because I am trying to figure out how to get the spell off of the princess. I feel like I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing. It¡¯s all guesswork and I¡¯m just hoping I don¡¯t mess things up worse than they already are.¡± Admitting the problem didn¡¯t make Hailey feel any better. All of that was true.


    ¡°What do you mean? I thought you had the skills to wake the princess. Everyone says that the king thinks very highly of you.¡±


    Hailey frowned. ¡°I might have the magical ability, but I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing. Barinon was an amazing mage and I¡¯m just pretending. Yes, I have magic, but some things, I just don¡¯t know how to do. I haven¡¯t been able to learn anything since Barinon died. He was the real mage. I just don¡¯t understand spells the way he did. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll ever make a good mage.¡±


    Esmerelda took her hand and squeezed it. ¡°I think everyone feels that way sometimes. I certainly was not good at working on the farm. I constantly messed things up. By the time I left, I think they were relieved to let me go. But I think I would have figured things out eventually, and I could have been good at that job if I kept working at it. I think you¡¯ll do just fine as long as you keep trying.¡±


    Hailey sighed. ¡°I will. I haven¡¯t given up yet.¡±


    ¡°You look tired, though. Maybe after a good night¡¯s sleep you¡¯ll be able to figure it out better.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Hailey said. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up on sleep after I get this figured out.¡±


    Esmerelda raised an eyebrow but she didn¡¯t comment further on Hailey¡¯s sleeping, which Hailey appreciated. Her friend took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°There is something I have been meaning to say to you. I am sorry for the way I treated you. I was always jealous of the way they fawned over you.¡±


    Hailey leaned back with her palms flat on the bench. ¡°Really? You got to go places, though, got to leave the castle and you had better jobs than I did.¡± It surprised her that Esmerelda felt that way. ¡°I never got to leave the castle when you did. Sometimes I felt like a prisoner. Especially when you and Margaret were gone.¡±


    ¡°I never really thought about that. I just noticed that Lavina always seemed to pay more attention to you and sometimes the queen would even look in on you.¡±


    Hailey shrugged. ¡°I was always uncomfortable about that. I thought Lavina should have done a better job treating us the same.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember where you came from, though? I think some of my anger towards everyone in the castle was that I remembered my mom and I just wanted to go home. It made me angry that she gave me up.¡±


    Hailey took Esmerelda¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I think I was too young to remember anything. All I remember is this castle. That must have been hard on you. Why didn¡¯t you ever talk about it?¡±


    Esmerelda looked down. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I figured you and Margaret might be jealous that I had any idea where I came from, even if it was only an idea.¡±


    Hailey nodded. She did wish that she had any idea where she had come from, but it wasn¡¯t Esmerelda¡¯s fault that she didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°I better go. I¡¯ve got a few things to finish up on before I go to bed. I¡¯m still not a fan of mornings and they¡¯re worse when you have too much to do right off.¡±


    Hailey smiled at that. Her friend never had liked mornings. She had taken care of everything she could so that she wouldn¡¯t have to do it in the morning. She turned to go. ¡°Thank you, Hailey. It¡¯s good to talk to you again and thanks for finding me a new place here. It really helps to be back home.¡±


    Hailey smiled at that. She thought of the castle the same way. She watched her friend walk away feeling somehow lighter. Maybe she could handle this after all, but she had a thought about Esmerelda. A mischievous grin crossed her face. I know what I can do.

 Chapter 18

    Hailey sat at the king¡¯s bedside. The closed curtains left the room feeling gloomy, but maybe it made the king more comfortable. He lay in the largest, most elaborate bed that Hailey had ever seen. It was carved to look like the throne, the same dark wood, the same elaborate shapes carved in the wood. Even the blankets were the royal blue of Taivalon. She wondered if he even liked the color. Maybe having to wear it all the time and having everything around you the color of your country would make you tire of it.


    The king looked even thinner than he had the last time she had seen him. He leaned back into his pillows. It looked like they might swallow him whole. His doctors were not currently hovering over him, the way they had been recently. ¡°Do me a favor and open those curtains,¡± he pointed with a crooked finger at the window.¡±


    Hailey rose and opened the velvet blue curtains, letting in the morning light. Taivalon was beautiful, even with bare branches poking through the spruce and firs. She loved this view and she had snuck up here on more than one occasion when she was the only person who could roam these halls, just to see the view from the king¡¯s window.


    ¡°The fool doctors think that the light might make my condition worse.¡± He coughed, a wet, choking thing.


    She hurried to his side. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t do anything to make you feel better.¡±


    ¡°I am sure there is only one thing that will make me feel better and I am not yet ready to take that cold embrace.¡±


    Her heart ached at the thought of losing this man. He was a good king and for the most part, his people loved and trusted him. Even if the princess were awake, she doubted that the kingdom would not suffer when he died. The queen was capable, but running an entire country would be taxing on a widow. And she would be angry at Hailey if the king died and her daughter was not awake. As much as possible, Hailey avoided the woman.


    ¡°How is my daughter?¡±


    Hailey sat back down in the chair next to the king¡¯s bed. ¡°Every time I think I have something figured out, a way to undo the spell, nothing happens or I realize I¡¯m not looking at it correctly. There has to be a way. It drives me crazy that Barinon knew what it was, knew how to free the princess, but he didn¡¯t say anything, nothing to give me a clue on how to do this. It seems like I spend all my time running around and healing people, tending to the wounded, talking with the soldiers and putting spells along the shimmer. I worry that I won¡¯t be enough for any of it, that I¡¯m starting to¡­¡± Suddenly she remembered who she was talking to. He may be a kind old man, but he was still the king and he didn¡¯t need her worried on top of her own. He had just been talking about facing death. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to add to your concerns. I am just a little tired. Everything is fine.¡±


    He gave her a knowing smile and took her hand. ¡°I know that your lying,¡± he said. ¡°Take it from an old man who spent much of his days worried about things he was not able to take care of. You must take care of yourself. I can see the redness in your eyes. You¡¯re getting frazzled and I worry that you will go over the edge. People cannot live without sleep. Eventually, it will make you crazy.¡±


    He coughed again and she waited until he was finished before she spoke. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I know what I¡¯m doing. Don¡¯t worry about me, your majesty. I¡¯m sure I will figure it out soon.¡±


    He squeezed her hand again. ¡°You¡¯re still not listening. Do I need to command¡­¡± he cut off.


    There was the sound of lots of people in the hallway. They were making a ruckus and the king needed his rest. ¡°Excuse me, your majesty. I¡¯m going to go see what all that is about.¡±


    Hailey hurried to the princess¡¯s room. A crowd of people stood outside the doorway, waiting as others made their way inside. She clenched her hands into fists and then made her hands relax. What were they up to? It was mostly women, which led Hailey to believe that Prince Frederick was inside. Maybe he¡¯s trying juggling this time, she thought ruefully. She wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that¡¯s what he was doing but he seemed to have drawn a bigger crowd. Maybe it was just that he had been here longer and that word had reached the edges of the kingdom or maybe he was up to something else.


    She shoved her way into the room, frustrated to see the princess¡¯s large room crowded with people. She would not make a scene in front of all of the people if she could help it. Women clustered around the room, watching the prince in curiosity or looking at the princess with pity in their eyes. She was shorter than the women who were blocking her view. There were a few men as well. The woman she had squeezed past to get inside blocked her path, turning her back on Hailey and not letting her through. She was a handspan taller than Hailey and everyone else was taller. She could not see the bed, the prince or anything.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    She tried a different side of the room, and again was blocked by tall women. Whatever the prince thought he was doing, he was causing a very old man to worry. It was unkind and she would send him back downstairs or into the throne room, anywhere but here.


    Finally, in frustration, she picked up the woman in front of her. She gasped and Hailey put the woman back on her feet a pace behind her. The other women who had formed a rough circle around the princess¡¯s bed glanced back and moved out of Hailey¡¯s way.


    Finally, reaching the front of the crowd she saw the prince. He was dressed much like the men of the court, but more elaborately, with a long orange jacket and brown trousers that came all the way to his shoes this time. Lace was at his wrists and the floppy hat from the time she had seen him before was gone.


    He noticed her in the crowd and smiled to see her there. She rolled her eyes, but wanted to know what he had up his sleeve this time. He held a book in one hand and gestured with the other hand. ¡°I had a dream that told me exactly how to wake the princess. I think I could actually do it.¡±


    A murmur ran through the crowd. Hailey looked around for the woman who had glared at her the last time she was in this room with Frederick. Sure enough, behind the prince was a woman with dark hair and features. She glanced at Hailey and Hailey looked away. She didn¡¯t have to apologize to someone¡¯s servant. The man who had been beside her was there again, a sword on his hip and a hand resting on the pommel. She hadn¡¯t noticed the sword before. Maybe that one was his bodyguard and the woman was his servant?


    ¡°My mages helped me figure out what the dream meant.¡± The prince held up the book, so that Hailey could read its title. It was a children¡¯s fairy tale called Sleeping Beauty.


    Well, thought Hailey, at least he isn¡¯t doing anything reckless.


    ¡°This has been done in the past. In these pages, a spell or rather curse is described to keep a beautiful princess sleeping. The woman you see here is beautiful and she is a princess. She has to be the one the book was talking about. She can be awoken with a kiss, just like the princess in the book.¡±


    Then the prince knelt before the princess. Hailey was stunned. He wasn¡¯t really going to do this was he? He bent and kissed the princess. As soon as their lips touched, he fell, dropping to the floor with a thud. One arm stretched out, remaining inside the spell and keeping the prince asleep.


    The crowd gasped as a whole and fans were brought out. One woman even fainted. Hailey rolled her eyes and pushed her way forward, just as the prince¡¯s servant, the one who had glared at her, did the same.


    She looked terrified.


    ¡°I can wake him,¡± Hailey said, ¡°but he¡¯s going to scream. It won¡¯t harm him, it¡¯s just the way this particular spell works.¡±


    The girl looked at Hailey appraisingly for a moment, then nodded.


    Hailey took the prince¡¯s hand and he screamed, sitting up panting and out of breath. ¡°Step away from the spell,¡± Hailey told him.


    ¡°What happened?¡± He said, looking bewildered and then his face contorted. ¡°What did you to do me?¡±


    <hr>


    Hailey could not control her anger. ¡°What did I do to you? I stopped you from being trapped in the same spell as the princess for eighty years.¡±


    ¡°So, you knew that this would happen, knew I would tumble to the ground unconscious if I kissed the princess.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Would you have listened to me if I told you this was a bad idea?¡±


    He shrugged one shoulder. ¡°I still think that it was worth trying. Handsome princess are always breaking spells in the fairy tales.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just it. You think you¡¯re living in a fairy tale, and maybe you are. You have your parties and nothing to worry about. But there are those of us who are living in reality. Spells don¡¯t just disappear because someone really wants them to.¡± She feel a twitch under her eye.


    The prince seemed surprised at her outburst. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s fair. Aren¡¯t you grasping at straws, trying to figure out how to undo this spell? Well I¡¯m doing the same.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not. If I hadn¡¯t been here, you¡¯d still be sleeping, stuck in that spell and anyone who touched you would also collapse. I don¡¯t need a whole room of people who can¡¯t manage to stay out of trouble.¡±


    The prince rose to his feet, refusing to be flustered by her accusations. ¡°Thank you, my lady for helping me out of the spell. My lady, don¡¯t you think¡­¡±


    She cut him off. She was so tired of running into parties, of the halls being clogged with all of the women who constantly swarmed around him. ¡°I do think, yes, but clearly you don¡¯t.¡±


    Hailey looked around the room. All eyes were on her now, waiting for what she would say next. ¡°That goes for the rest of you. I have enough to worry about dealing with the borders, the princess and everything else. Any one of you who touches the princess may just get the opportunity to stay asleep as long as she is.¡±


    The crowd gasped. ¡°Go somewhere else and have your party, do whatever thing you people do. I will continue to work myself to the bone so that you don¡¯t have anything to worry about other than your dresses and your hair.¡± Hailey was panting now and so angry that she could see red, but suddenly she realized what she had been doing. She was shouting at the prince of Yapuris again, a man who had never shown her anything other than curtesy.


    The room began to feel very small, and every eye was watching her. Some of the women were talking to each other in low voices behind their fans. She had made a scene in front of half the nobles in Tailvalon.


    ¡°Are you well?¡± The prince asked her, but she could not look at him. What had gotten into her? She shoved her way back through the crowd, the ladies parting as if she had a disease. Tears streamed down her face as she made her way back to her rooms. She was so tired, so frustrated and she had taken it all out on people who didn¡¯t deserve it. Worse, she had taken it out on people who probably couldn¡¯t understand what she had been raving about.

 Chapter 19

    Aaron walked along the shimmer. Something was clearly wrong here, but no one had said anything to the public, other than to stay away from the shimmer. Soldiers had ridden to all the little towns and villages to tell the people to stay away from the shimmer. A lot of good that would do.


    In a square of fence posts that had been roped off, Hailey¡¯s portal appeared. He was glad to see her until he caught sight of her face. She looked even more ragged than the last time he had seen her. He jogged up to her. He was starting to feel a fool for being her loyal friend, but he would be there for her. She had gotten him out of the spell fifteen years before he would have been freed. He didn¡¯t wake to see a dragon smashing into the castle, but got to grow up with his brother. He had a normal life because of her, at least until she got him this current job.


    And so he smiled at her, trying not to cringe at the dark circles under her eyes. She¡¯s got to be so tired that she¡¯s seeing things, he thought to himself. He wished he could wrap his arms around her and make her go to sleep and then eat something. She was looking too thin. Her dress was starting to hang on her, as if it was tailored for a much larger woman.


    She glanced at him and smiled a weary smile. At least she didn¡¯t seem to be snapping at him  today.


    ¡°How are you, Hailey?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She didn¡¯t hug him, nothing but that tired smile. He had been in love with her for so long. It just seemed that she wasn¡¯t interested in him or anything other than her magic.


    ¡°How are things here?¡± He shouldn¡¯t care that she didn¡¯t ask him how he was doing, how he was holding up with his fellow soldiers dying. She just wanted to know how much work she had ahead of her and he was afraid that he didn¡¯t have good news.


    ¡°Not good. Everyday there are more people wandering into the shimmer. Derrick says he thinks that the people are being lured in by fairies and attacked by something else.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°That would make sense. Anyone have any idea what exactly is attacking them, though?¡±


    ¡°George thinks it might be wargs.¡± George was one of the oldest and most experienced soldiers. Derrick seemed to put a lot of stock into whatever he said, and so the men agreed.


    She nodded as if people had ever seen wargs. They lived in the forest and were one more reason not to enter. ¡°But no one has been attacked outside the shimmer, other than that one merchant?¡±


    ¡°Right. People say the shimmer might be shrinking, though.¡±


    She eyed him with bloodshot eyes. ¡°Are people walking into it to check?¡±


    He rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. There¡¯s a lot of rumors.¡±


    ¡°I will have to check that, if I have time. It might be something to keep an eye on.¡±


    He wanted to ask her what she knew, why there were so many things going wrong in the kingdom recently, how it was that people were being attacked, but just then Gillian called to him.


    She jogged up to them. ¡°Aaron, I¡¯m glad you brought your mage friend today. We have some people who need healing.¡± Then she held out a hand to Hailey. Hailey frowned at her for a moment, then looked at him before taking it.


    ¡°I¡¯m Hailey,¡± she said simply.


    ¡°Yes, I know. Anyway, if you could see to some of the men, they¡¯ve been hurt, and there¡¯s some people not to far from here who have been slashed at as well.¡±


    Hailey knelt before Edward, who was moaning. His leg had been wrapped tightly. Hailey didn¡¯t say anything to the soldier that lay there in massive amounts of pain, she just grabbed his leg, just below the wound. His pant leg had been torn and blood was seeping through. She closed her eyes and said something he didn¡¯t understand. She was getting better at this. The wound closed before his eyes. Sometimes, he forgot how amazing she was, and sometimes he thought that she idd the same.


    Edward gasped and then fell asleep. Hailey frowned. ¡°I forgot to tell him that the healing would make him sleep. ¡°Has the healing drought I made up for you done any good?¡±


    She didn¡¯t seem to be directing her questions to anyone in particular.


    ¡°Yes, but anything as bad as what Edward had, it wouldn¡¯t have made a difference.¡±


    She nodded, and pulled some stale bread out of her satchel. Then she began eating until they got to the next person. It was a man, a farmer, probably from the way he was dressed. His arm had been sliced to the bone and there was a cut across his chest, as if it was one long swipe. She stuffed her bread back into her satchel.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Tell me what happened,¡± Hailey said. Despite her weariness, she seemed focused on this man.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I got here. I was out with the goats, seeing if there was anything left for them to munch on. Mostly the freeze killed all the grasses. Anyhow, I thought I saw my daughter running off into the shimmer and I went to catch her, only when I got there, she wasn¡¯t there. There was this big thing, all claws and teeth, and it swiped at me I turned and ran back out. The soldiers found me and said I was lucky to survive.¡±


    ¡°I am going to heal you and I¡¯m sorry for asking you questions before I do. It will make you want to sleep, so I can¡¯t heal you first. Did it look like a wolf?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t rightly know, miss. It all happened so fast and the soldiers said I might have been seeing things. The fairies play tricks¡­¡± He gasped in pain.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. You¡¯ll feel better in just a minute. She placed a hand on his arm and one near his neck, where the slash began and said that word again. It was fascinating watching her work. There were several more people that she healed and by the time she was done, she looked even more tired than she had. She swayed and he caught her. For a moment she seemed to melt into him, to find relief from being in his arms. Over the top of her head, Gillian raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m sorry. I probably should get back to the castle.¡±


    ¡°Hailey, please take care of yourself. Get an extra hour of sleep for me, ok?¡±


    ¡°I will try. I just don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to keep up with everything. I¡¯m it, the only one and those men would have died if I hadn¡¯t come. Well, some of them would have. I just have to find a way to take care of everything. She pushed away from him, walked back to her portal spot and was gone.


    <hr>


    Delilah was getting tired of bad news. She seemed hungry all the time and so she sat and ate a succulent lamb chop in the study while Mathias filled her in on everything that was going wrong.


    He was an attractive young man, too young for her, but she could see why Lillith had eyed him the way she had. His red brown hair curled around his face. He had broad shoulders and a nice smile. She realized she hadn¡¯t been paying attention.


    ¡°The enemy is relentless. We take out some of their soldiers and they send more. It¡¯s as if they have an unlimited supply of men to throw at the situation. I fear our lines are beginning to falter.¡±


    She bit into her lamb chop. It was warm and juicy and tender. She would have to remember to tell the cook to make that particular dish again.


    She glanced up at Mathias. ¡°What does the captain propose that we do? We are already committed to this battle. I don¡¯t see what else we can do to bolster the lines.¡±


    She didn¡¯t hear Mathias¡¯s answer. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, as if someone was watching her. She glanced around, expecting to see someone in the shadows. All around her, the lights began to fade. Color drained from the walls. One of her favorite paintings disappeared entirely.


    She stood on wobbly legs. What was happening to her? Or her castle? She couldn¡¯t tell which. Cobwebs grew in the corners. Dust covered the table and the food that she had been eating wasn¡¯t food at all. Instead of a lamb chop, a rat lay on her plate, bleeding and obviously dead. Her stomach tightened and threatened to spill itself. She ran out of the room, not wanting to look at what she had been eating.


    The walls were faded. Piles of leaves were in the corners. A rat scurried out from underneath a pile of leaves. She screamed and jumped back. What was wrong with her? She didn¡¯t live in the dusty ruins of a castle. She hurried to her bedroom, all the while telling herself not to go, not to see where she had been sleeping. Her threadbare gown brushing against her legs.


    Even her dress was a lie? Maybe this was a dream. That had to be it. Wake up, she told herself, wake up, wake up, wake up! It didn¡¯t seem to work and it felt to real to be a dream. She pinched her arm and she felt it. This wasn¡¯t a dream then, the other castle, the beautiful one had been the dream, right? Her heart raced as she opened the door, afraid of what she would find.


    Her bed was covered in dust. One side of it seemed to have the dust brushed away, but the other side was caked in it. A spider had built a web in one corner and was busy lengthening the strands of its web. She wanted to scream, wanted to vomit. This wasn¡¯t her life. It couldn¡¯t be. She would have to talk to the servants, but no. This much dust would have taken months to accumulate. Did she even have servants and if she did, what were they doing?


    She hurried to the mirror, wanting to see the extent of the damage done to her dress, to herself. The mirror had been tilted at an angle, and so the dust wasn¡¯t as thick, as it was on the dresser nearby. She tore off a strip of her dress that seemed about ready to break free of the garment and used the cloth to wipe the mirror clean.


    But she did not see what she expected to. She glanced in the mirror, seeing an overly thin woman looking back at her. ¡°Isabella,¡± she said.


    No, that wasn¡¯t right. She was Delilah, and she was a queen.


    Behind her, the room began to change, her gown began to change. Everything was as it should be, clean and bright. Her bed wasn¡¯t dusty. There was no spiders living in her room. That had all been her imagination. She collapsed on the floor a puddle of silver skirts surrounding her. What had just happened? A scrap of black fabric was in her hand. She let it fall. Where had that come from? She didn¡¯t remember having a black handkerchief.


    Then she remembered what Mathias had said to her. Her kingdom needed her, and she needed to do something. She would have to find him and make sure that whatever her people needed was taken care of. Maybe they would not all notice that she was mad.

 Chapter 20

    Someone shook Aaron¡¯s shoulder. He gasped and sat up.


    ¡°Your turn,¡± Christian told him. Only the whites of his eyes were very visible.


    Aaron scrubbed at his face. Many of the men had set up camp in locations near the shimmer. It was easier than riding to and from the castle, and he had done the same. He climbed out of his bedroll, noting that the fire had gone out and the four men around it all seemed to be snoring.


    Christian had already wandered off to find his own place to sleep, and Aaron didn¡¯t blame him. He was so tired of being near the shimmer, of worrying that at any moment, he might be lured into it and attacked, but it was his shift and he wouldn¡¯t ask anyone else to take it. He picked up his sword belt out of the dirt and strapped it on, something he had become quite proficient at doing one handed.


    He walked along the shimmer, staying on the inside of the walls. He did not want to get lured in, like so many others had. Every night, soldiers pulled people away from the shimmer, waking them from a sort of trance, or followed them in and pulled them back out. Sometimes, people were wounded and sometimes they were dead.


    Gillian had told him that this normally would have been the mage¡¯s job, since they were the ones who could walk into the shimmer without risk, but that was back before Gillian had even begun soldiering, when Taivalon had more than one mage. These men were all the country had to offer to protect their own, but they would do their best and hopefully Hailey would figure out what was happening and fix it.


    A child wandered through the darkness, he could see her trying to catch a fairy in her chubby little fingers. She couldn¡¯t be more than five years old. A man chased her yelling, ¡°Natalie, Natalie come back. It¡¯s a bad fairy.¡±


    But the child hurried on, not listening to her father¡¯s calls. Aaron hurried to intercept the child. He caught her up in his good arm and the child struggled against him, pushing at his chest and neck. ¡°I want to get the fairy,¡± she said.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s a bad fairy,¡± Aaron said, trying to mimic the child¡¯s father¡¯s tone of voice. At least he thought the man had to be her father. He glanced around. Where had the man gone?


    He turned to see the man disappear into the shimmer. He cursed and then apologized to the little girl, who didn¡¯t seem to understand what he was talking about. He chased the father into the shimmer, shifting the little girl to his other hip. She was a beautiful child with big brown eyes, which became wider as they stepped into the shimmer.


    She struggled against him. ¡°Mama said not to go in the shimmer.¡±


    ¡°I know. We¡¯re just going to get your papa out and then we¡¯ll come right out. He had thought about putting the child down and telling her to go home, but this had to be safer. He found the man, and put down his daughter. This would be so much easier if he had two hands. He knew that shouting wouldn¡¯t work. Tugging on them didn¡¯t seem to work once they were inside the shimmer, either.


    He slapped the man across the face. The little girl began hitting Aaron and kicking him. The punches didn¡¯t hurt, but her kicks to the shins did.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you hurt my papa,¡± she said.


    Fortunately, the man woke. ¡°Where are we?¡± He asked Aaron.


    ¡°In the shimmer. I need you to go home. It¡¯s that way,¡± Aaron pointed and was relieved when the man picked up his little girl and headed out. Aaron was relieved to be on the other side and received to see the man and his daughter walking back the way they had come.


    The long night continued. He glanced at his pocket watch constantly, longing for his shift to be over of the sun to rise. The darkness with the glow of the moon on one side and the glow of the shimmer on the other was wearing at him. He saw a figure in the distance and groaned. He would need to stop another person from walking into the shimmer.


    But the person didn¡¯t seem to be walking that way. She was heading straight for him. As he got closer, he realized it was Hailey.


    ¡°Aaron, I¡¯m so glad I found you!¡± She ran towards him, slamming into his chest. He hoped she was ok. He grabbed her shoulders and held her at arm¡¯s length.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking better.¡± Even in the moonlight, he see that her eyes were bright. She had brushed her hair, and she wasn¡¯t as unsteady on her feet.


    ¡°I know, I finally got some sleep.¡±


    It¡¯s not possible for her to look this good after looking so ragged, he thought. Even if she slept from the time he saw her last until now, he didn¡¯t think it would make that much of a difference. It would help, but Hailey needed days of sleep, not just one night. Maybe she had figured out a spell though, something that could keep her running on no sleep. That seemed the more likely option and he didn¡¯t push her on it. If she was getting sleep, he wasn¡¯t going to complain. He looked at her again. She was waiting for him to respond. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re feeling better.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    A strange expression crossed her face.


    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked, taking her hand.


    Then she was blinking back tears. The change in her moods was a bit fast. Maybe she hadn¡¯t gotten enough sleep.


    ¡°Oh, Aaron. It¡¯s just that there is something I need to show you, but it¡¯s a big secret. You won¡¯t be able to tell anyone else and I don¡¯t want to put that kind of burden on you. You already have so much to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Look, I promise I won¡¯t tell. You have a lot on your shoulders lately, more than me. Whatever I can do to help¡­¡±


    She hugged him tightly. He had started to forget how much he felt for her, how much she needed him. It felt good to have the normal Hailey back. She took his hand, and said, ¡°come, let me show you. Then she led him into the shimmer.


    <hr>


    Hailey made the mistake of looking at herself in the mirror. It was still dark out, but she had work to do. She looked terrible, even in the faint glow of the moonlight. The circles under her eyes were getting worse. She pulled off her nightgown and her favorite plaid green dress. It hung on her. ¡°You need to eat more,¡± she reminded herself. Her voice sounded weak in her ears. She pulled on her stockings and her boots, then she took a brush to her tangled hair.


    The little gray kitten blinked sleeping green eyes at her, stretched until her whole body shivered and then curled back into a ball and went back to sleep. It had adopted her in a way and lately, it was the kind of companionship that she needed. All the cat wanted from her was food and maybe a corner of her bed. It didn¡¯t interrupt her research usually and roamed the castle during the day. The meals that Hailey had remembered to eat were partly from the cat rubbing against her ankles and mewing up at her.


    She petted the sleeping cat and left her room, leaving the door a crack open so that the cat would be able to get out later. She was about to go rummage through the kitchen to see if there was anything she could find to eat, when something felt wrong. Goosebumps popped out on her skin.


    Hailey grabbed her satchel and created a portal. Her cat blinked up at her, clearly annoyed that such a bright thing had suddenly appeared nearby. She had to go to the soldiers. Something was wrong.


    The smell of blood ad decay hit her as soon as she stepped through the portal. More people had clearly died and she felt a pang of guilt, looking at the line of bodies that he soldiers had laid for families with missing members to come and claim. Her heart twisted, but she still couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something here was wrong. She looked at the men sleeping, but couldn¡¯t find Aaron. Where had he gone? She stepped into the small hope where they had housed the wounded and found more men in need of healing. There were always more.


    A little boy gasped when he saw her. ¡°Don¡¯t hurt me!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to help.¡± She put a mage light on the floor, waking some of the men. She was here, she might as well do something useful.


    She was running low on magic. The rest she had gotten had done little to help her regain that, and maybe she would have to sleep longer, but that meant letting people die. It was bad enough that she had given up entirely on trying to find a young mage to train. Surely more of them were being taken from their homes, and there was nothing that Hailey or anyone else could do about it, but looking into the eyes of the boy, who still seemed afraid of her she was glad she was here.


    ¡°Are your legs the only thing that¡¯s hurt?¡± She asked, looking at him.


    ¡°No, I hurt my arm too.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Hailey asked him.


    ¡°The soldiers said I jumped off of the wall. I didn¡¯t go around it, I climbed it and jumped off before they could get to me. They said that a girl would come and heal me, but you don¡¯t look like they described. They didn¡¯t say that you were sick.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± she said as she ran a test on him to see what she could do. His legs had been broken. One of the healers had been here, because they were set and splinted. The arm that he said was hurting had only been scraped. She pulled her spell book out of her satchel. She had been writing down the spells that she used most often. She had memorized the one to close and begin to heal a gash, but bone knitting was one she had not used as often, and though she was pretty sure she had it memorized, she didn¡¯t want to risk getting it wrong.


    She glanced over the spell, then rubbed her hands together and placed them on either side of one of the boy¡¯s legs. ¡°This will make your legs feel better, but it will also make you sleep. I don¡¯t want you to be afraid. She spoke the word of power that would start to mend his leg. His muscles went slack and a look of relief crossed the boy¡¯s face, but he did not sleep until after she had healed his other leg. Then he slumped down into his pillow. The gasping breaths that he had been taking became steady.


    When she had finished with the boy, she moved to the men and one woman who had injured themselves. Again she got that feeling of wrongness. She couldn¡¯t seem to shake it. ¡°I will be back to heal you,¡± she told them.


    She hurried along the section of the shimmer that Aaron and his men were supposed to patrol. Trees blocked her view. Then she saw the gap in the wall, and there he was, heading straight into the gap. ¡°Aaron!¡± She screamed at him, but he was already being swallowed by the shimmer. He didn¡¯t even glance back.


    She hurried after him, stepping into the shimmer, which was much more difficult to see through. He was laughing.


    ¡°Aaron!¡± She called again, but he was walking away, and she could make out someone in front of him now, someone familiar. At first she thought it might be Gillian, but as she got closer, she could see the white hair in the moonlight. That wasn¡¯t Gillian, it was her. Someone had cast a spell on themselves to look like Hailey. She cast a spell, clearing the glamor. She could see a fairy holding Aaron¡¯s attention, trying to keep him away from her. The tiny naked woman grinned a nasty grin at her and flew away.


    Aaron followed, ¡°Hailey, I¡¯m coming! Wait!¡± He stumbled through the other side of the shimmer.


    She ran to catch up. Maybe if he saw her, he would stop following the other Hailey. She tripped, falling flat. Her knee, and elbow were bleeding and she had cut her forehead on a rock.


    She pulled herself back to her feet. She was so tired, but she couldn¡¯t let Aaron be killed in the forest. The blood ran down her face and she wiped at it, trying to see. She swayed taking deep breaths. Pain lanced through the back of her head. Someone or something had hit her. She blinked, but her vision would not clear. Everything had gone black.

 Chapter 21

    Delilah picked back up the scrap of black cloth. It wasn¡¯t a handkerchief as she had originally assumed. She clutched it in her hand. It was frayed and threadbare and it had been torn off of something. Her dress. She had torn it off and wiped off the mirror. She tucked it into the pocket of her slivery gown. It would remind her and she needed to remember.


    Something had happened. The castle had changed and memories were coursing through her, just barely out of reach. She could sense them, but try as she might, she couldn¡¯t grasp at them, couldn¡¯t remember what it was that she was reaching for.


    She pulled the square of dusty fabric back out of her pocket and wound it around one of her fingers, focusing on what she was doing, not the memories that would not come to her. She remembered then. She was a child and she had a brother. What was his name? He was older than she was and he bossed her around. He had a reason for that, too. It wasn¡¯t a good one but he thought it was and so he told her what to do and she didn¡¯t do anything that he said.


    He called her something and she could remember days of laughing and climbing trees and people were following them, telling not to do that and not to hurt themselves. There was a swing, and someone had pushed her in it and she was laughing. ¡°Bb, it¡¯s my turn. I¡¯ve pushed you for long enough.¡± He had called her Bb. It was a name that she knew. He had been little when she was born and her parents thought it was a good nickname for her. He was too young to say her full name and so he called her Bb, and then everyone else did the same.


    Tears streamed down her face. She had parents. She had forgotten them, forgotten so much. She wondered where her brother was. Maybe he had died and that¡¯s why she was the queen, but that didn¡¯t seem right.


    The memory had been overwhelming and that was only one of the ones that had she had been reaching, trying to remember. Bb, she thought. Only a child would name someone that. She hadn¡¯t stayed with her parents. She had¡­


    Another memory surfaced. This one was full of pain and fire. People were stabbing at her and she was fighting them, breathing fire. She blinked, trying to see the memory instead of her bright bedroom. How had she been breathing fire? It didn¡¯t seem possible. There were mages, two of them with the bright blue swords of magic that had cut at her. She had killed one of them, breathing fire on him until he died.


    Why had she done that? It all seemed so confusing and then she remembered seeing herself, her own reflection as she had been on her way to tear apart the castle. She was a dragon and someone had taken something from her and she was angry. She knew she couldn¡¯t get it back, but she wanted to punish them. She saw the little mage with the white hair standing alone against her, against a dragon with nothing but her magic to protect her. But the mage had taken something from her. That¡¯s why she had attacked in the first place. She had taken one of her scales.


    Delilah gasped. She wondered if she had killed the young girl, but she didn¡¯t think so. It seemed a battle that would have killed one of them, though. Now that she thought about it, she hadn¡¯t been the dragon of her own free will. She had been trapped and had done the bidding of someone. She couldn¡¯t remember who, but someone had come to her and told her what she needed to do, who she needed to attack. Why was she following anyone else¡¯s orders. She was the queen, wasn¡¯t she? There had been so much burning and fire and blood. It made her shiver to think of it and it made her stomach clench. She pushed the memories of being a dragon away. She wouldn¡¯t focus on that now.


    She stood and hurried out onto the courtyard near her bedroom. She did not want to talk to Mathias. She was certain that of everything in the castle, he was real and she didn¡¯t have answers to give him about why she had stood and run away from him. She had nothing to say.


    The plants outside were all dead, but that was normal. Everything died in the fall, but the plants had not had time to wither completely. They would be covered in snow any day now. Something about the cold brought forth another memory. She held a child close to her chest, nothing more than an infant. She had never seen anything so beautiful and the emotion that flooded through her chest every time she looked at the child was so strong, it almost hurt. She had a daughter and somewhere in the wide world and she knew that her daughter still lived. She could feel it in her bones.


    <hr>


    Hailey woke. She was back in her own bed. At least that¡¯s where she thought she was. Memories of what had happened before flooded through her. She had fallen. Someone had hit her and she had crashed to the earth. Her memories faded as she noticed a loud noise next to her head. She turned to see the cat purring loudly. How could such a small thing with such a tiny voice make so much noise?


    ¡°Hailey?¡± Esmerelda looked down at her, concern in her brown eyes.


    ¡°Hi,¡± she said. Everything hurt. She felt like she was waking from death.


    ¡°Here, let me help you up so we can get some water into you.¡± When had Esmerelda become gentle?If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Hailey sat up and Esmerelda fixed the pillows behind her. Then she handed Hailey a glass of water. Hailey felt weak and the glasswork felt heavy in her hands. Too heavy, as if she wouldn¡¯t be able to lift it.


    ¡°You are a lucky woman. Your friend here has not left your side. The cat is not so loyal.¡±


    Hailey looked to the corner of the room where she saw a woman. She knew her from somewhere and then it came to her. She was one of Frederick¡¯s servants. What was the prince¡¯s servant doing here in her own bedroom? It didn¡¯t matter. Hailey sipped at the water and then glanced back to Esmerelda. Moving her head had become difficult. She felt so weak. ¡°Thank you,¡± Esmerelda.


    Esmerelda took her hand and squeezed it and then returned the glass of water to the table beside Hailey¡¯s bed.


    She felt so dizzy, but her magic thrummed within her. She must have slept¡­ Her thoughts broke off. ¡°How long have I been asleep? Where is Aaron?¡± Panic flooded through her as she remembered where she had been.


    Esmerelda opened her mouth to respond, but the other woman spoke first. ¡°He is fine. You are both lucky we found you when we did, but he didn¡¯t need time to recover. You, on the other hand, have been running yourself ragged. A bump on the head was all it took for you to sleep for two days.¡±


    ¡°I will get you some food,¡± Esmerelda told her. ¡°Natalia has said that she will keep an eye on you until I get back.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to inform the king. He wanted to know the moment that Hailey was awake,¡± Natalia said.


    ¡°I will remember,¡± Esmerelda said. Then she curtsied to the other woman before leaving the room, which made Hailey suspect that this woman, the servant of the Prince of Yapuris was more than she appeared.


    ¡°She has watched over you constantly, forgoing sleep herself. It must be something you Taivalon people do. She even tried to get you to drink, dripping water into your mouth, but you choked. I wasn¡¯t here the whole time, but I was here long enough to know that you have a very good friend.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Hailey said. She didn¡¯t know what else to say. She still didn¡¯t know this woman and it made her more than a little uncomfortable to think that she was just popping into her room while she was asleep.


    As if reading her thoughts, she smiled at Hailey. ¡°I am Natalia,¡± she said. ¡°I traveled here with Prince Frederick. As you may have realized by now, I am a mage. That is why there is not a scratch on you. You had cut your head and scraped your arm and leg, but really the main problem was that you were not getting near enough sleep.¡±


    Again, all Hailey could say was, ¡°thank you.¡±


    Natalia began striding around the room, her boots thumping on Hailey¡¯s floor. ¡°I would have introduced myself sooner, but I did not know the situation here. I was supposed to keep my magic a secret, but you vanishing into the shimmer made me reveal who I was. However not everyone knows, and I would appreciate it if you helped keep my secret.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Thank you for healing me and finding me and Aaron.¡±


    Natalia nodded and sat in the chair across from Hailey, crossing one ankle over her knee. ¡°You have been working too hard. I can understand how difficult it must be for one mage to handle an entire kingdom, but your magic is a valuable resource, one that will not be regenerated until you get adequate rest. If you kill yourself trying to fix all of the problems in the kingdom, then Taivalon will not even have one mage. You must consider the consequences to the kingdom if you are no longer here.¡±


    Hailey swallowed. This was a lot to take in for a person who had just woken, but she had known that there was something about this woman from the first time she had looked at her. If only she had listened she might have had some more guidance, something she realized she had been needing terribly.


    ¡°Sometimes, you can spend just a few minutes getting someone else to help you.¡±


    Hailey opened her mouth to speak, but Natalia spoke over her.


    ¡°I know you are the only mage here and that your predecessor had not finished training you, but there are things that you do that you could have someone else take care of for you.¡±


    Hailey thought about the boy she had healed what seemed the night before. Having his legs already splinted and straightened had helped her healing go much faster than it would have. Maybe she could get the healers to take part of the load. She nodded. That did make more sense than trying to be everywhere at once.


    ¡°I can help you, but I¡¯m not willing to help someone who won¡¯t take care of themselves.¡±


    Hailey¡¯s stomach tightened. Another mage was everything that she had been hoping for for months. Hailey obviously couldn¡¯t take care of everything herself, but she worried what the other woman was asking of her. Could she really get a full night¡¯s sleep and still be able to accomplish everything she was trying to do. Finally, knowing that the offer was too good of one to pass up, Hailey agreed.


    ¡°You will have to go to bed at midnight and get at least four hours of sleep.¡±


    Again, Hailey cringed, but she would do what this other mage suggested. She desperately needed the help and with the time that had been lost to her, any help would make a huge difference. ¡°I agree.¡±


    ¡°Good. I am going to cast a spell under your bed that will make four hours of sleep feel like eight. I know you are still struggling with many things to do, but I will help as long as you eat and sleep.¡±


    Esmerelda burst back into the door, a tray in her hand. ¡°The king is so relieved that you are awake. He said to make sure you didn¡¯t leave your bed until you ate. Are you comfortable? She seemed completely unaware of the conversation she had interrupted. She fussed over everything, opening the curtains a little but not too much, making Hailey sit up better. ¡°Make sure you eat every bite. The king said that I could tie you to the bed if you don¡¯t listen.¡±


    Natalia winked at Hailey and walked to the doorway. At the last minute, she turned. ¡°Thank you, Esmerelda. I¡¯m sure that with your help, Hailey will be fine.¡±

 Chapter 22

    One more day had been completely wasted. Esmerelda spent every spare moment, making sure that Hailey was warm enough, had eaten enough and had rested enough. The following day, Hailey sat in front of the mirror, looking at reflection. Behind her, Esmerelda brushed her hair, a process that usually took less time if Hailey did it, but she had it admit that it felt good. ¡°The queen said that you need a lady¡¯s maid and that I would be the perfect girl for the job, since we¡¯re already friends and you aren¡¯t used to having people look after you.¡±


    That was strange. The queen had much bigger things to worry about than whether Hailey had a maid or not. All of that was the job of the steward, but she supposed that if she didn¡¯t want a lady¡¯s maid, she shouldn¡¯t have run herself so ragged. She sighed, accepting Esmerelda¡¯s help for now. She just hoped that it didn¡¯t ruin the tenuous friendship that they had had.


    ¡°There,¡± Esmerelda said putting down the brush. ¡°You look a hundred times better than you did yesterday.¡± Hailey had to admit that Esmerelda was good at this job and it was nice to wake up and have a tray of breakfast ready for you, but she couldn¡¯t help feeling guilty about leaving a mess behind for Esmerelda to clean up.


    She hurried to the king¡¯s bedroom, where Natalia had agreed to meet her and teach her some of the things that Hailey didn¡¯t know. The king himself must have been feeling better because he was no longer in his bed. Had Natalia healed him? Why were they meeting here if the king was nowhere in sight?


    All of the curtains were open, letting in much more light than had been allowed the time she was here before. The massive bed sat between two windows and Natalia was actually sitting on the king¡¯s bed. Her dark skin and hair seemed an opposite of Hailey¡¯s light, easily burned skin and white blonde hair. She was also more poised, carrying herself like a queen, demanding and expecting everyone to follow her orders. Hailey should have seen through her disguise. She still wore the dress of a servant, but she had never acted like one. Hailey had been too tired to see it.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking much better,¡± Natalia said, sounding satisfied.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling better,¡± Hailey said truthfully.


    Natalia began to pace. ¡°I have thought about your problem, and one of the things that you clearly have not learned is about runes.¡±


    ¡°I think I have read about these. They are like foci, right?¡±


    Her dark eyes narrowed in thought. ¡°No foci are something completely different. Foci allows a mage to focus their energy on a specific spell or a specific target. It can also help multiple mages focus on a single target. Those can be useful too. It can help you in healing. If you are healing a soldier who has a deep cut, like what an arrow would cause, it can help to focus all of your energy into that one spot on the body, but we are going to help the king, and for that, we need a rune. Your king is very sick. He is probably dying and there is not much that anyone can do about it.¡±


    That was supposed to be a secret. Hailey worried that she had said something in her sleep. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Natalia raised an eyebrow. ¡°I was healing people before I even became a mage. It was my specialty and so I can sense pain in people without even touching them. Just being in the room with the king, I could sense that every cell in his body is crying out in agony.¡±


    Natalia¡¯s innate power seemed a lot more useful than Hailey¡¯s ability to turn invisible, but it was something that no one got to choose.


    ¡°The best thing that a mage can do for someone who cannot be healed is to ease their pain and that is what we will do for the king. It will make him feel much better and it will aid in his mobility and allow him to rule properly for his final days.¡±


    Hailey nodded, feeling nervous about what Natalia was about to do. If she wanted to, she could easily kill the king and possibly destroy all of Taivalon. Her stomach tightened, but she had no choice but to trust this woman. She was the only one in all the nine kingdoms who had come forward to help Taivalon¡¯s dire situation.


    Natalia knelt on the floor and pulled back the rug that was on the king¡¯s side of the bed. With a piece of chalk, she drew the rune that would aid the king. Hailey watched and traced the rune into her notebook. This must be what was helping the king already, why he was out of his bed.


    ¡°Incipisso,¡± Natalia said. Briefly the rune light with a green light. It faded to the chalk outline drawn on the floor.  ¡°You must make sure to draw these precisely. If you don¡¯t, the magic may not know what you are trying to accomplish, and it will either not work or possibly do the wrong thing.


    ¡°Runes fade faster than other magic, and you will have to come back tomorrow and redraw and ignite the rune, but it will help him significantly. I will come with you to see it done. Now we can go to your room and refresh the one that will allow you to sleep for a shorter amount of time. Be warned that this little trick may help in the interim, but eventually you will need all of your sleep, a full eight hours. If you miss even one hour of the four that are required for the rune to work, you will be much more tired the next day than you would have been if you only slept for three hours.¡±


    ¡°As a side note, I have found that setting up a bed for the maids during their monocycle can really help them.¡±


    <hr>


    Hailey created a portal to the shimmer. She was beginning to hate this place. Sure, it was where Aaron was most of the time, but there was always work to do and it was so disheartening to see people getting hurt all the time without being able to do anything but heal the damage that had been done.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    They entered the tent where the injured lay. Stepping inside, Hailey smiled. The boy that Hailey had healed before was gone. There were new people here now, a woman with a baby, soldiers and children. It seemed that no one was completely immune to the fairy¡¯s magic. No one but the mages.


    Hailey constantly worried about what was happening on the border and worried that it might be tied to the king¡¯s health. If the princess were awake and free from the spell, then maybe this wouldn¡¯t be happening.


    Natalia ignored the injured people. She pulled back the oilcloth in a corner of the tent and traced a rune in the sand. ¡°These are not as powerful as the spell we used in the king¡¯s bedroom.¡± She paused and concentrated. ¡°Incipisso.¡±


    Hailey copied the rune into her notebook and wrote down next to it what this one would do. If this really did help, that could make a big difference. Hailey made the rune the way that Natalia had shown her. Learning something new was always one of her favorite things about magic. She was relieved to see Natalia standing right over her, watching her finger trace the rune in the dirt. She nodded to Hailey. Hailey breathed the word of power, ¡°incipisso.¡± The spell lit green for a moment and she stood, looking at the glowing symbol that would help these people heal.


    ¡°It works in a radius, like any spell. It creates an area of effect. Just the two runes we created should help anyone who is in this room and several of the people on the outside.¡±


    Natalia pushed open the tent flap and they stepped outside. ¡°You will have to refresh this every week, but you also will not have to come here everyday. They can bring the most injured people to you. You can¡¯t plan for being here when someone gets hurt, though. All you can take care of is things you can plan for.¡±


    Hailey nodded. What Natalia was demanding was that everyone, including Hailey, realize how precious Hailey¡¯s time was. Everything was changing again, and she could feel some of the tension relax from her shoulders. People would die. There were people wandering the forest right now, and she couldn¡¯t save them all. It made her feel better and feel guilty about the people who would die because she wasn¡¯t here everyday to check on things.


    She glanced along the shimmer, wondering for the millionth time what had gone wrong and how the fairies had suddenly become such a big problem. Not too far away was Aaron and that woman he had been spending a lot of time with lately, Gillian. Aaron¡¯s back was to her, and as usual, he was talking and joking with the other woman, standing a little too close to her for Hailey¡¯s taste.


    He turned towards her and his smile faded. Had his feelings for her changed? Was he falling in love with the gorgeous red head that was always out here, always by his side. She felt small and stupid. She had not treated him well in the last few weeks. She had been tired and too busy to give him the time of day.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± Aaron raced the distance to meet up with her.


    ¡°I am much better than I have been in weeks. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I will go see to the injured,¡± Natalia said, leaving them there alone.


    An awkward silence stretched between them. She didn¡¯t know how things were between them and that made everything different. Then she remembered what she had wanted to tell him as she worried that they both might be led to their deaths in the forest. ¡°I am sorry about everything, if I made you worry.¡± There was so much more she wanted to say, but just then, Gillian walked up.


    ¡°How did you make it out of the forest? I saw you walking into it before I fell.¡±


    Aaron looked at Gillian who grinned up at him. ¡°Gillian found me, but I pulled her out of the shimmer a couple of weeks ago. I think now we¡¯re even.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so don¡¯t go following any more fairies around. If the guys hear that you had to be saved by a woman, twice, you¡¯ll never hear the end of it.¡±


    Aaron chuckled. He did seem to be happy with Gillian, and Hailey had been so mean to him lately. She bit her lip, unsure of what to say to Aaron or the beautiful woman by his side.


    ¡°Hailey, I have an idea. We should go.¡±


    She turned, relieved to be able to walk away from that conversation without making Aaron think that she didn¡¯t care about him. She looked at Aaron, unsure of whether to hug him goodbye or just walk away. ¡°Thank you, Aaron,¡± was all she could manage before she turned and walked away. What were you thanking him for? A tiny voice in her head asked. A million better responses came to mind. It¡¯was good to see you, I¡¯m glad you made it out of the forest ok, see you soon, but it was too late.


    Hailey returned to her glyph and created the portal to get her home. Natalia was grinning about something. Clearly whatever she was going to show Hailey was going to be something good, but Hailey couldn¡¯t help but think of Aaron and Gillian. She had been such a fool. She had not taken the time to thank him for everything he had done for her. It was no surprise that he was moving on, but now that someone else was with him, she missed him more than she ever had, and what kind of person did that make her?


    ¡°Are you ok?¡±


    Hailey shook her head to clear it. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. Just distracted.¡± She forced Aaron out of her thoughts. It would do no good to dwell on that now when she could do nothing about it.


    Instead of using the portal to her bedroom, she used the one that sent them back to the throne room. A line of people waited to see the king and many of them turned when Natalia and Hailey appeared. Portals were a rare thing in Taivalon.


    In the king¡¯s chambers, Natalia said, ¡°Just like you are required to get your rest, the king needs his rest if he is going to continue to rule. I think that if we tie the rune to the mage light, then it will let you know if he¡¯s not getting enough rest.¡±


    That was clever. Hailey created a mage light. ¡°I will have to get the lantern for it in the mage¡¯s study or I think I might have one in my bedroom.¡±


    Natalia waved her hand. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Natalia bound the mage light to the spell and Hailey could see the connection, a series of green lines connecting the rune to the light. The lines connecting the two spells faded almost instantly.


    Natalia took a deep breath. ¡°I know that you¡¯re busy, and now that you¡¯re training with me, you might be even busier, but you really should take the time to thank your friends. Someone who you can trust, someone who will stay with you through thick and thin, those relationships are worth every bit of effort you put into them.¡±


    She knew that Natalia was talking about Esmerelda, and so she said, ¡°I think I know exactly what I can do to thank her.¡± Natalia smiled, but Hailey¡¯s thoughts drifted back to Aaron. Had she already let a relationship die that she should have been nurturing?

 Chapter 23

    ¡°Come on, Esmerelda. It will be worth it, I promise,¡± Hailey said.


    Esmerelda did not look happy. She looked miserable. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re up to, Hailey but I¡¯d rather be back in the castle. I have work to do, you know?¡±


    Hailey grinned at her friend. She would survive this trip. The trudged along a dirt road, the ruts from too many carriages left in the dirt. Dead grass clumped on either side of the ruts and in the center, where the girls walked. At least there weren¡¯t too many burrs in the middle of the road.


    As they walked, a light snow began to fall.


    ¡°See,¡± Esmerelda complained. ¡°It¡¯s snowing.¡± She rubbed at her red nose and tugged her bright green cloak more tightly around her.


    This was exactly why Hailey was comfortable with Esmerelda being her lady¡¯s maid. She would complain to her and not call her ¡®my lady¡¯ all the time. She also never curtsied to her. Hailey didn¡¯t really need someone looking after her. It was nice, but what she really needed was a friend.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Hailey. ¡°First snow of the year and we are out experiencing it.¡±


    Esmerelda was still not smiling.


    ¡°It could be worse, you know. It could be rain.


    Esmerelda groaned. ¡°How much further?¡±


    Hailey looked at the small piece of paper she had brought so hopefully they wouldn¡¯t get lost. She was relieved to be traveling to a village that was not right next to the shimmer. It seemed that everyone close to the shimmer was sending their injured to Hailey to be healed. Natalia was a godsend, but she couldn¡¯t let everyone know that she was a mage. Her prince had asked her to keep that a secret.


    ¡°Well, if you are going to drag me all the way out here for no good reason, you are going to have to keep me entertained. How are things with you and that soldier you keep making eyes at?¡±


    When had Esmerelda figured that one out? There was the downside of someone knowing you too well. She looked at her friend uncertainly.


    ¡°Oh come on, I¡¯ve seen you two together more than once and you made such a big fuss over him at the farm. It¡¯s obvious that there is something going on between you two.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was so tired and kind of mean to him and now there¡¯s another girl that he keeps joking around with.¡± It made Hailey¡¯s heart hurt just to think about Aaron now.


    ¡°Did you tell her to stay away from your man?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± It hadn¡¯t occurred to Hailey.


    The snow continued to fall, starting to cover up the dead grass and sticking here and there to the branches of the trees. Hailey pulled her scarf up farther on her neck. She wished she¡¯d worn an extra pair of socks.


    ¡°Oh, come on,¡± Esmerelda said. ¡°That girl will not be able to hold her own against you. You can do magic. She can¡¯t. If you tell her to stay away from him, she¡¯ll have to listen.¡±


    Hailey could see Esmerelda doing that very thing, but Hailey didn¡¯t want to force Aaron to be with her. If he decided that he liked Gillian better, as much as it hurt, she would have to let him go.


    ¡°Clearly, you¡¯re just going to mope if we talk about your man. Did you see the prince?¡±


    Hailey smiled and shook her head. There was someone else she needed to apologize to. ¡°I saw him.¡±


    ¡°Well, the maids just think he is the most romantic man they have ever seen. Johanne¡¯s lady¡¯s maid says that she thinks that Johanne has a real chance with the prince if the princess doesn¡¯t wake up. He does seem to favor her, but his heart seems set on the princess.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Of course. All of the ladies of the court want a chance with him. He¡¯s not bad looking and he is the prince of a neighboring kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I have talked to him and he was really courteous, but I can¡¯t imagine that he would end up with any of those women. He must have girls following him around at home.¡±


    Esmerleda rolled her eyes. ¡°Obviously that¡¯s true, but you have to admit it would be exciting for one of the nobles ladies from our kingdom to end up with him. We instantly be allied with Yapuris.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Hailey found the whole thing annoying. Of course the women of the court were after him, but it would be better for the kingdom if the princess were to wake. She glanced up to see the village. ¡°Look, we¡¯re here. See that wasn¡¯t too bad of a walk, and getting home will be much faster.¡±


    They walked in to the town. The streets were mostly empty, but plumes of smoke rose in the sky. She found the house that she had been looking for and raised a hand to knock. Then she paused and turned to her friend.


    ¡°Actually, I think you better do it.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me why we¡¯re here,¡± Esmerelda complained, stepping up to the doorway.


    ¡°You¡¯re just going to have to knock and find out.¡±


    Esmerelda glared at Hailey, clearly unhappy with this game, but she stepped up to the porch and knocked on the wooden door. Esmerelda motioned for Hailey to come stand with her, and Hailey stepped up onto the porch.


    Muffled noises came from inside the little house and then the door cracked open just a bit.  A face peered out, wrinkled and aged with time. ¡°Who are you?¡± The woman said, ignoring Hailey.


    ¡°I¡¯m Esmerelda Rolfe. My friend brought me here to meet you¡­¡±


    The woman clutched at her chest. ¡°Not Esmerelda.¡± She staggered forward and hugged Esmerelda tightly. ¡°I never thought I would see you again. But why do you look so young?¡± Tears were streaming down the old woman¡¯s face. They were of a height and Hailey could see the similarities in their faces.


    Esmerelda let go, holding her mother back at arms length. ¡°Mom? Is that really you?¡± Now Esmerelda was crying and Hailey couldn¡¯t keep the tears from her own eyes.


    ¡°No sense standing out here in the cold. Come in.¡±


    Esmerelda grabbed Hailey¡¯s hand before she even had time to wonder whether or not to leave and give them privacy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry it¡¯s so dark in here,¡±  It was dark inside, but the woman set about lighting candles. ¡°What I¡¯d like to know is how you found me. I certainly couldn¡¯t find you.¡±


    <hr>


    Hailey smiled. ¡°Esmerelda and I grew up together in the castle. I asked the queen if she might be able to find you.¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You asked the queen of all Taivalon to do you a favor?¡±


    Esmerelda smiled. ¡°Hailey is the royal mage.¡±


    ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t think you were a noble woman, and the royal mage no less.¡± The woman looked absolutely horrified.


    Esmerelda cut in. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Hailey isn¡¯t one of those kind of people who get offended if you don¡¯t curtsey every time they hiccup.¡±


    Her mother smiled at her daughter and shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s really you. I didn¡¯t even give you my name. I am Elena Fisher. They must have changed your last name, but I named you Esmerelda.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that my little girl knows the royal mage. And how is it that you¡¯re so young?¡±


    Hailey was relieved that she was looking at her daughter, not wondering why an older, more experienced mage was not in charge.


    ¡°I was trapped in the spell for fifteen years with a bunch of other people.¡±


    ¡°I heard about that. Nasty business. People said it was the dragon that broke the spell and that some of the people died who were sleeping all that time.¡±


    Hailey wanted to correct her, but Esmerelda started in with her questions. ¡±Can you tell me what happened to me when I was little?¡± Esmerelda asked. She must have been a toddler when she was dropped off at the orphanage, barely able to walk.


    ¡°Oh darling, I am so sorry about all of that. Your grandparents were sick at the time. I didn¡¯t think I could take care of them and you and I knew that someone might want a beautiful little girl.¡± She blinked back tears and paused, looking down for a long moment before she said, ¡°I knew there were people who might want a healthy little girl. I half way expected that I would die, too. They called it the wasting sickness. Maybe it was better that you weren¡¯t here for that. We made so little money then and without pa to catch the fish, I didn¡¯t know what we would eat. I mend nets for the sailors. Been doing that ever since I was a small child, but I¡¯ve never had enough to get a boat, so that¡¯s what I do. It was a terrible thing to do to a child.¡±


    Esmerelda was looking at her hands, clearly uncomfortable with the story, but Hailey knew it was something that she had wondered about for her whole life. What happened to her mom?


    ¡°I went back, you know, looking for you but they wouldn¡¯t tell me where you had gone. I had missed you so bad, I just couldn¡¯t take it anymore. I figured I¡¯d bring my little girl home and if I didn¡¯t have enough to feed my ailing parents, well they were probably dying anyway. They did die, about a month after I..¡± Her voice hitched and she took a moment to clear it. ¡°I lost my whole family in just a few months. I thought I would die then, too. Most of the people I knew that were taking care of the sick did, but I survived. Not much has changed since then. I got older.¡± She chuckled at that, tears spilling over.


    Esmerelda wrapped her arms around her mother¡¯s shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s ok. I¡¯ve had a good life and now I have you back.¡±


    Hailey felt like an intruder. She watched Esmerelda and her mother from across the room and finally rose to excuse herself. ¡°I should go. I¡¯m sure you have plenty of catching up to do.¡±


    Elena rose and hugged Hailey, too. ¡°Than you so much for bringing my little girl to me, even if she can¡¯t stay.¡±


    Esmerelda led Hailey out.


    ¡°Maybe I should have warned you. I hope it wasn¡¯t too much of a shock.  I¡¯ll make a glyph outside. Do you want me to come back for you tonight, Esmerelda?¡±


    Esmerelda shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯ll stay for a while as long as you can manage.¡±


    ¡°I think I can get myself dressed in the morning and I do know where the kitchen is.¡±


    Esmerelda smirked at that. ¡°I can make my way back. Try to get enough rest while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Hailey and she walked away, feeling better about things than she had in a while.

 Chapter 24

    Delilah slept. She still dreamed about the dragon. It was a dream that haunted her. She was in a cave, creeping up on people and killing them while they were unaware. She saw her own vicious claws come out and swipe at a man, tearing open his side. He screamed and fell to the earth, writhing in pain. Then she hunted the next one. She was massive and they were tiny. Their swords could not pierce her hide and they had come into her lair to die.


    She gasped, sitting up in bed. Moonlight filtered through the trees, casting long dark shadows over her bed. She was home. All was well. She rose and closed the shutters. Cold stone met her feet. She pulled the blankets over her again, trying to retain her body heat. The dragon was just a dream. Just a dream, she told herself over and over again as she fell back asleep.


    She held a child, a beautiful little girl who blinked up at her with unseeing eyes. All the people in the room were still as if they could not move. She looked at the child and why was she sad? She felt her magic surge through her and she whispered a spell, opening her palm. A dark aura surrounded the child as she lay her back¡­


    No, that wasn¡¯t right. She hadn¡¯t cast a spell on a baby. Why would she do that? She held the child, who blinked up at her. She wondered if her baby would have green eyes like her or blue ones like her father. Was it her child? It was such a confusing dream.


    She held the child and someone whispered in her ear. ¡°Do not get too attached, my love. You know you cannot keep her for her own good.¡± She turned to see a man who was almost as tall as she was. His hair was beginning to turn silver and he had sorrowful blue eyes.


    ¡°I am sorry for causing such pain, but you know what we must do.¡± She held the baby against her chest and began to cry. She would not let go of the child, could not. She was her daughter, wasn¡¯t she?


    She lingered in the dream, not wanting to let go of the feeling of the baby¡¯s fuzzy hair against her cheek. Suddenly, the dream was shattered, and she gasped, pulling herself upright. ¡°Isabella,¡± she screamed.


    <hr>


    Hailey returned to the king¡¯s chambers everyday to refresh the glyph. He looked better than he had in days, propped up with too many pillows, but some of the color had returned to his face. He smiled when he saw her and she curtsied.


    ¡°We¡¯re both feeling a bit better,¡± he said.


    ¡°Much better, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Come, sit with me for a while. Old men like to talk and you have volunteered.¡± He cleared his throat and she came and sat in the chair beside his bed.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°You do look much better,¡± she told him.


    ¡°I wish Barinon had set something like this up for me years ago. All my aches and pains are lessened as long as I stay in this bed, he pointed at his silk blanket and grinned at her. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. I had help. I had no idea how to set this up.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know about the prince¡¯s mage. I am glad that the two of you have been able to work together for some time.¡±


    ¡°She has been a great help to me already, but she¡¯s forcing me to get sleep or she won¡¯t help.¡±


    ¡°Good for her,¡± the king said. ¡°I want you to know that Endolynn and I have done everything we can to help you. To get things set up so that you¡­¡± He paused, face becoming very serious. He looked like he was trying to figure out how to  say the next part. There are things in motion throughout the nine kingdoms that will probably become a problem here sooner rather than later.¡±


    ¡°What kinds of things?¡±


    Just then the queen swept into the room. He smiled at his wife.


    ¡°I just came to check on you and to grab my book.¡± She kissed her husband, a quick peck that still made Hailey feel uncomfortable. ¡°You¡¯re looking much better today, my love.¡±


    ¡°It comes and goes,¡± he told her. ¡°You left your book on top of your dressing table.¡±


    ¡°Right. Thank you. Get some rest. I will make sure that everything runs as smoothly as I can make it.¡±


    Hailey watched their interactions, wondering what it was that the king had been trying to tell her before the interruption. Finally, the queen swept out of the room. The king¡¯s gaze lingered on his wife for a moment. ¡°Some of us age better than others,¡± he said. Then he glanced back at Hailey. ¡°What I was trying to tell you is that you will need to be strong for what is coming.¡±


    ¡°But what is it?¡±


    He waved a hand at her and refused to answer. ¡°You have enough on your plate for right now. Learn as much as you can from that other mage.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± Hailey worried about what it might be that he was keeping from her, and how did he know?¡± It bothered her when she knew that they were keeping secrets from her. Then again, he had stopped talking the moment his wife had entered the room. Maybe this was something that only he knew through the heir¡¯s magic.


    ¡°The only way we were able to get a mage here was under the guise of having someone court our princess.¡± He looked longingly at the wall that separated their bedchambers and she waited. She wished she had been able to wake the princess while he was in better health. If she somehow managed it with the help of Natalia, the princess might only have days to spend with her father.


    He cleared his throat and went on. ¡°We are doing the best we can, but sometimes, your best is just not good enough. Maybe we need to sacrifice more or maybe time is up for our little kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that,¡± Hailey chided him. ¡°We still have time to set things right and maybe with the help of Natalia, I can free the princess and everything will be fine.¡±


    He patted her hand. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right, but sometimes I can¡¯t help feeling that we¡¯re betting against something bigger, something with a larger plan.¡±


    She nodded, but half of this conversation did not make sense to her. She knew he was trying to tell her something but he was so reluctant to come out and say it.

 Chapter 25

    King Theodric Astor was so tired. He was a dying king and he knew it, but it was more than that that weighed on his mind. His people, the people his power should be able to protect were dying and so far, he had done nothing to help them.


    He stood from his bed, feeling old and useless, but he had saved some of his energy and he thought that he might be able to make it. He kissed his wife¡¯s cheek. She mumbled something in her sleep about her daughter. Then he gathered the clothes that the maid had laid out for him and snuck into the antechamber to dress without waking Endolynn. She would argue with him and he just didn¡¯t have the energy. When she woke, she would know where he had gone. She would find the letter and she would understand. He was sure of it.


    Dressing was difficult. His old fingers fumbled at the buttons of his uniform, but he made them do his bidding, made them work. His feeble old arms complained at having to pull on stockings and boots, but he mastered it, panting by the time he was done.


    He opened his door and snuck out into the hallway. The captain of the guards met him, Derrick, a good, solid man who had struggled with his men dying on the border. ¡°Thank you for meeting me,¡± he whispered to him.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to go through with this?¡± Derrick said handing him his cane.


    ¡°Oh, pretty sure,¡± he said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no going back. I don¡¯t know how long you¡¯re going to make it.¡±


    He gave the man a flat stare. ¡°When you die, would you rather go down swinging or rot in a bed for months on end.¡±


    ¡°Just making sure, your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment with my daughter.¡±


    Derrick bowed and took up a position next to the door. Day and night there were guards standing on either side of the door, but he had made sure that there would be none tonight. His daughter lay, beautiful as ever, sleeping like an angel. Pale moonlight streamed in through the windows, giving her a ghostly appearance. ¡°Aurora, my sweet little daughter, I don¡¯t know if I will make it back, but if I don¡¯t, I want you to know that I love you and that I go now with you and the entire kingdom¡¯s safety in mind. Your mother would ask me why not send someone else, but if my theory is correct, then I¡¯m the only one to do this. Be a good ruler. Listen to your people and stand by your judgments, especially when it¡¯s hard. They will be looking to you as ruler soon. I hope that in my passing you will wake, but if not¡­¡± he couldn¡¯t continue, couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen if she didn¡¯t wake, if eighty years passed and the rest of the kingdom died or was forced to flee. He sighed. Best not to borrow tomorrow¡¯s troubles. There were plenty today. ¡°I love you. Be safe.¡± He wiped at his face, knowing that this would be the last time he saw his daughter. There was so much he wanted to tell her, so much time with her that had been stolen away. She would be a good queen and if necessary, Endolynn would reign. She had been running so many things due to his illness anyway.


    Stepping out of his daughter¡¯s room, he nodded to Derrick, not quite sure his voice would work. He swallowed back the sobs that threatened to choke him. Derrick placed a cloak around his shoulders and pulled the hood far over his face. ¡°We can¡¯t have everyone but the queen know what you¡¯re up to.¡±


    He smiled at that. Endolynn could be a little scary when she was angry enough.


    The two men made their way to the stables, where a coach was waiting. Derrick climbed in and helped him up, and they set off. ¡°It has has been an honor serving under you.¡± Derrick said.


    ¡°You were always the right man for the job. I hope that you will continue.¡±


    ¡°Of course, but it won¡¯t be the same.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Nothing ever is.¡±


    They rode in silence for a time, nothing but the sound of the horses¡¯s hooves and the grinding of the wheels on the frozen street. He glanced out the window. The snow had fallen, only an inch of it remained, but he would be glad of the cloak if he made it very far.


    The coach stopped and Derrick climbed out, helping him out. He shook Derrick¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you, Derrick.¡± Then he strode straight into the shimmer, shoulders squared and chin held high.


    <hr>


    Delilah pulled off her gown. It was the color of an eggplant, deep purple and almost black. She didn¡¯t usually wear colors that were so dark. It made her pale face look almost ghostly. She pulled on her nightdress, trying not to think about the terrors that would be interrupting her sleep. She knew she needed sleep, she just didn¡¯t want the dreams. A shudder ran down her spine as she remembered the last one.


    A knock came at the door. ¡°Just a moment,¡± she said, pulling on a robe.


    She opened the door. Captain Hathaway stood there, looking frustrated. She tried not to sigh, but the battle had gone on for so long. His presence always meant bad news.


    ¡°Captain?¡±


    He bowed. ¡°You asked me to inform you of an intruder. There is yet another one. This one looks to be a high ranking officer.¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment. She closed the door and changed back into her gown. It would not do for the queen to show up in a ratty old robe, even if it was more comfortable. She pulled her boots on because the dungeon was filthy place.


    ¡°I will interrogate him. Lead the way.¡±


    If a high ranking military officer was here, did that mean that they were finally making some headway? Maybe the opposition was getting desperate, or maybe they were just foolish. An officer would be able to tell what they were planning. ¡°He was stumbling through the forest when you found him?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He must have some magic of his own. The fairies did not try to interfere with his progress through the forest.¡±


    ¡°Interesting.¡±


    The smell was musty in the old dungeon. She hadn¡¯t used it for years, hadn¡¯t needed to. He was in a small cell, his arms stretched out wide. As she got closer, she realized he was an old man. He was wearing a blue uniform that was neatly tailored but clearly made for a larger man. It hung on him, making him look even more frail than he was.


    Why had they sent an old man, probably their captain of the guards into enemy territory?


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She asked him.


    ¡°Please, my lady let my arms down.¡± He coughed and spat blood on the floor. So he was sick and going to die anyway. Did he think he could get close to her and destroy her?


    The captain strode forward, slapping the old man across the face. ¡°You are speaking to the queen of the Panaen Kingdom. You will address her as ¡®your majesty¡¯ or you will be missing teeth. Delilah held up a hand to stop any further torture.


    ¡°Captain, I can see to this, I¡¯m sure you have work to do.¡±


    He bowed and tromped angrily up the steps, but she wanted to unravel this mystery herself. ¡°Captain,¡±


    He paused on his way up the stairs. ¡°Clearly, they are trying to infiltrate our lines and take out the leaders of this army. We attack at midnight. Prepare the troops and I will meet you then.¡±


    He smiled, as if this was exactly the opportunity he was waiting for, bowed to her once more and left Delilah alone with the prisoner.  ¡°You will get no mercy from me. Your country has been attacking mine. You were the ones who started this war, if you don¡¯t like its outcome then maybe you shouldn¡¯t have started it, now tell me who you are.¡±


    She did not believe in shouting. All her life, a cold glare or a dangerously low voice had served her well.


    ¡°I am¡­ your brother.¡±


    The words were gasped between coughs. Maybe she should let him down. This man was clearly not going to be able to survive very long this way. Blood from his coughing fit still covered his silvery beard.


    He was trying to trick her. He was not her brother. Her brother was far away. He was young with parents who doted on him constantly. Yes, that seemed right, but she wouldn¡¯t argue with him. She would leave him hanging there until he told her what she wanted to know. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I came to beg for peace.¡± He coughed again, spitting more blood on the ground. She almost felt sorry for the old man, almost. He looked at her, with pity in his eyes. ¡°BB. I¡¯m so sorry.


    Who was BB? A memory flashed through her mind. Her brother pushing her on the swing, whining that it was his turn. Her tight little fists held on to the ropes though, not letting go. He pulled on her, trying to unseat her, but she would not leg go. She started laughing and then he was laughing too. She didn¡¯t even remember why. Was this man really her brother?

 Chapter 26

    He watched her with pitying eyes, but Delilah didn¡¯t look at him anymore. ¡°BB,¡± She remembered that name. She remembered a time in a different castle when people cared about her. He called her that, her brother, but her real name was Isabella. She paced, aware of his eyes on her, but she didn¡¯t care. She had to unravel this thread, had to know what had happened to her.


    She had been that little girl, unwilling to let go of her time on the swing. She couldn¡¯t make her legs do what her brothers did, but then someone lured her into the forest, and by the time she made her way out, no one believed her.


    As if reading her thoughts, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t believe you for the longest time. You couldn¡¯t be my lost sister. So many¡­¡± he gasped for breath. ¡°So many other girls had come, pretending to be you. I wasn¡¯t willing to give one more a try by the time you came back. You had changed, but when you came to the castle and held my daughter, the baby. Do you remember?¡±


    She did remember. She had cursed a child, her own niece to die when she turned sixteen. It was a horrible thought. She remembered using a device to freeze everyone in the room, everyone but herself and the child.


    ¡°Bb, I recognized you then, but I couldn¡¯t move, couldn¡¯t talk, couldn¡¯t do anything. You look exactly like mother did. Do you remember her?¡±


    Isabella did remember her mother, remembered meeting her in the market. She had been the only one who still believed in her after she had left the castle, after everything. She had met her in the market and given her money and food, but she could not go against her husband who was the heir.


    She sat down on the floor of the dungeon, her brother hanging over her. She was the one who had cursed her neice, she was the dragon. She had terrorized villages, had destroyed the white castle that she grew up in. She killed an old man with dark skin and white hair. She had been trapped as a dragon, until that little mage had freed her. How had she done that?This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    She remembered fear coursing through her body when she realized that the mages could hurt her and the way she had killed men who tried to kill her, men that probably didn¡¯t deserve to die.


    She glanced up. ¡°What is your name?¡±


    He smiled at her. ¡°I am Theodric Aster, king of Taivalon and your brother.¡±


    She remembered her child missing. She had gone to the only person who might know where she was. She remembered the door opening to her when she knocked on a house that only appeared to those that the mage wanted to see it. The door opened and¡­ she gasped. It was Lillith who cast the spell on her, Lillith who brought her to this castle, this castle that was crumbling and abandoned. She had convinced Isabella that her name was Delilah and she had never told her where her daughter was.


    She stood. She didn¡¯t know who to trust, but clearly this man had not come to hurt her. He was dying and it took a moment for her to realize that he was the heir, the king of Taivalon. The kingdom would die without him, and besides, he was family. She should be able to trust her own brother, who had risked his life to come here and beg for peace.


    ¡°Do you know where the keys are?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°I think your captain might have them with him.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She put an arm under him and said the word of power to release him from the manacles.


    He leaned into her. Then, she created a new glyph to the castle in Taivalon. She didn¡¯t want to risk the captain or Mathias finding them. Her portal opened before her, and they stepped through.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± she told him, knowing that her apology would not be enough. ¡°I will get you to your room, where you can rest.¡±


    They made their way into the castle. Servants and guards gave the odd looks as they passed, but it didn¡¯t matter if the whole kingdom knew, as far as she was concerned. ¡°Why did you put your room so high up?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t build this castle,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s always bothered me too.¡±


    ¡°Would it be better if I carried you? Or one of the guards? You know what? Nevermind.¡± She floated the king ahead of her. It wasn¡¯t the most glamorous manner of travel but it would get him there without him exerting any more strength than he already had, then she followed him up the stairs and into the king¡¯s chambers. Her heart ached at the memories this place brought back, but she didn¡¯t have time to sort them now. She had to do what she could to save her brother¡¯s life.

 Chapter 27

    It was late afternoon when it finally occurred to Hailey what she had been missing all of this time. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it didn¡¯t even occur to me,¡± she said. ¡°Barinon would have been ashamed. The piece that has been missing all this time and I know exactly where it is.¡± The cat blinked up at her, annoyed that Hailey had woken her up. She stretched out a paw, yawned and fell back asleep on the priceless tome that Hailey had been pouring through. Hailey picked up the book, sliding the cat off of its pages and closed it.


    ¡°Sorry, Widget. We can¡¯t have you clawing up any pages.¡±


    The cat looked angry. She jumped down and walked to the door, waiting for Hailey to open it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Widget.¡± But Widget had already hurried away.


    She sighed and gathered up her books. She had things to attend to, and now that she thought she figured out what she had been doing wrong this whole time, she needed to hurry. The king had been well enough the last time she saw him, but his health seemed to fluctuate.


    Remembering him, she took the mage lantern with her. She did not like to have it out of her sight. She hurried up the steps to the princess¡¯s room, though she probably looked odd carrying around a latern in the middle of the day.


    ¡°Good morning, miss,¡± one of the guards greeted her. He was one of the biggest guards she had ever seen, probably a head taller than Aaron was.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± she said, not wanting to pause. The princess lay still and sleeping as ever. The spell that covered the princess was unusual. Almost every spell that Hailey had ever seen was either a sphere or a rune, but this one seemed to be embedded in the princess¡¯s skin. She put the mage lantern down on the princess¡¯s dressing table. The mirror reflected back the light. ¡°The curse was was originally tied to a focus, and the focus, and the spell that kept her safe was tied to that one, which meant that this one is affected by the same thing!¡± She was so excited that she hadn¡¯t realized that she was talking to herself.


    ¡°My lady, is everything ok?¡± The guard who had spoken before poked his head in.


    ¡°Yes, everything is great.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow and continued standing next to the other guard. ¡°Too much time by herself,¡± one of them said to the other.


    ¡°Shh!¡±


    ¡°Sorry my lady,¡± she heard and then in a quieter voice, ¡°do you think she heard what I said?¡±


    She ignored them. She had gone over this before, but she needed to do it again, from the beginning. ¡°The princess pricked her finger when she turned sixteen. And what did she prick it on? All of the spinning wheels in the entire kingdom were destroyed. How could a spinning wheel even be there for her to prick her finger on?¡±


    The guard poked his head back in. ¡°Did you want me to answer that, miss?¡±


    She waved a hand at him. ¡°You don¡¯t know the answer.¡± She paced in front of the princess¡¯s bed. ¡°The spell that Isabella cast on Aurora was a death spell. The curse took hold because the spindle was the foci for the spell. Isabella must have brought it to the castle and that¡¯s why it was here in the first place!¡±


    ¡°Interesting idea.¡± said the guard.


    She grinned at him. ¡°I almost certain that that was how it happened.¡±


    ¡°Good?¡± He didn¡¯t seem to understand why that was important.


    She looked down at the princess. ¡°I know what we have to do to get you out of here.¡± If she set up a powerful rune and Natalia helped her, they might be able to finally set the princess free, but to do that, she would need the foci of the original spell, and she remembered where she had stuffed it when she was the only one roaming the halls of the castle.


    She hurried out of the room, excited that she might have finally figured out what she needed to do.


    The basement of the castle was a dirty place. The staircase was shared with the dungeon. Smells of sweat and human waste drifted up to her as she descended. At the bottom a guard nodded to her but she turned the other way, away from that awful smell, and into the dark corridor that would lead her to the storage room where the spinning wheel should be. Down a long passageway with dust and dirt coating the floor, she traveled with the mage lantern that helped her keep an eye on the king¡¯s health held high. She glanced back once and saw her footprints as the only ones clear ones in the dust.


    She had thought that no one would ever want to see it again, but at the time, she had thought that maybe spinning a spinning wheel might be something that she would teach herself how to do someday. She had had years of being alone ahead of her, but Barinon had changed all of that. In a way, he had set her free and given her more responsibilities than she ever thought she would have.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    She sneezed, opening the door to one of the rooms. Other items had been placed in here. She concentrated. ¡°Fulguro,¡± she said, creating another mage light, which hovered over the palm of her hand, casting long shadows in the room. She glanced around, rubbing at her nose which wanted to sneeze again. Finally, she saw it in a back corner behind some other furniture.


    This was going to take a while. Hailey moved things around until she was standing on top of a table, reaching for the spindle. She brushed it with one hand. Just then the table shifted, and she almost fell, but she pushed her weight back on the table, which groaned under her weight. She held her breath for a moment and then, doing what she should have done in the first place, she said, ¡°extollo,¡± lifting the spinning wheel off of the top of the pile.


    She picked up the mage lantern and the magelight that she had created and concentrated on floating the spinning wheel in front of her. She doubted she could carry it up the stairs without magic. At the stairs, she handed the guard the magelight. ¡°I needed an extra. This one will take about a week before it fades.¡±


    ¡°Thank you miss,¡± but he hesitated to touch it. ¡°Never seen one of those before.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t burn you. If you don¡¯t want it, I¡¯m sure¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh no, miss. I could use it. It¡¯s very dark down here, and I still got one of those lantern things. He hurried to the corner and came up with a dusty old one that was covered in cobwebs. ¡°Here it is.¡± He grinned triumphantly. He held it out, waiting for her to place the light inside. She did so, and smiled as he heard him thanking her again.


    She was wasting magic and she needed it today. At the top of the stairs, she put down the spinning wheel. She was relieved to see a guard at the top of the stairs as well. ¡°Would you mind taking this to the princess¡¯s room?¡± She asked him.


    He complied, hefting the thing.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She didn¡¯t follow. She had some other things to gather from the kitchen. As she rounded a corner, she almost ran straight into Esmerelda.


    <hr>


    Isabella¡¯s older brother was so much more frail than she remembered him being. Of course, it had been almost two decades since she saw him. Even as a child, he had been stronger than she was. Gently, she laid him in his bed. The clear magic sphere that held him aloft dissipated. He hadn¡¯t said anything about flying and she worried about that. She was certain that if he were feeling well enough, he would have joked about it.


    Over and over in her mind, she saw him strung up and in chains in the dungeon of the black castle. How long had he hung there before she saw him? That alone could have killed him. She wondered how long he had suffered with his illness. She found a cloth near the washbasin and used it to clean the blood away from his face. The water turned pink, but he seemed to sleep through her ministrations.


    She bent and did something she never thought she would do again. She kissed her brother¡¯s forehead. ¡°I am so sorry,¡± she told him. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have suffered like that if I had known who you were.¡± She sat on the edge of his bed, taking his limp hand in her own. Tears coursed down her cheeks. She had done so much to hurt him, to destroy the kingdom he tried to maintain.


    His face was so pale. Just having him in the old and dusty black castle could have been enough to kill him, not to mention traipsing through the forest. He had said that he came, begging for peace. She scrubbed the tears away, thinking over what had been happening. She had sent troops out, had sent troops to attack Taivalon, but they were waiting for her to tell them to battle, which meant that they weren¡¯t troops at all. They were her fairies, the ones who had played with her when she was a little girl. They had been kind enough to her, but she had seen the destruction that they caused, the harm that they could do to a person who didn¡¯t have magic.


    She had been attacking the borders and that¡¯s why he had come. Her fairies were pelting themselves against the Shimmer and she was responsible for their actions. They would not have acted that way, damaging themselves against the shimmer without her orders and¡­she gasped. She had sent an army to attack his kingdom. They would be here by midnight.


    She had not only killed her brother, she had relentlessly attacked his kingdom as well. She would do what she could to stop it, though. She rose, preparing a healing spell.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re doing, BB,¡± he told her, coughing again. ¡°Healing me won¡¯t do any good. I just want you to know that I¡¯m sorry for everything I have done to hurt you.¡±


    She blinked away the tears. There was work to do and she didn¡¯t have time for crying like a child. ¡°Don¡¯t apologize to me. I¡¯m the one who has done everything I could to destroy your kingdom, to destroy you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that. I don¡¯t believe that you would do that. You love Taivalon. This is your real home and you know that as well as I do. I might need for you to help defend it. There have been problems on the borders.¡±


    He coughed again, but he seemed to be gaining some of his strength back. ¡°Stay with me, brother. Your kingdom needs you.¡±


    He smiled a sad smile. ¡°My kingdom will be safe because of what I did, I hope. You can do more for them now than I can. And now I think I can finally stop worrying over it. I think you could make a good ruler. Endolynn would help you.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°The people won¡¯t have me. They only know the atrocities I¡¯ve caused. No, Theodric. You¡¯re just going to have to survive until we can free your daughter.¡±


    He smiled weakly. ¡°Everyone keeps saying that. They need a little more time. I just want you to know that I love you. BB, I missed you and I could use your help.¡±


    She shook her head. After all this, everything that she had done to him, and everything he had done to her, she had finally found her family again.

 Chapter 28

    ¡°What did you do to your dress?¡± Esmerelda looked horrified.


    ¡°I needed to get something from the storage room.¡±


    ¡°And so you went yourself in one of your nicest dresses?¡±


    Hailey shrugged one shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s what I wearing at the time.¡±


    Esmerelda rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that I¡¯m back. Maybe I can keep you looking like a proper mage.¡±


    ¡°Your own clothes are covered in mud, and what is that smell? You have nothing to complain about.¡±


    Esmerelda smiled ruefully. ¡°I was helping with the goats.¡±


    Hailey shook out her skirts and a puff of dust floated into the air. She refused to acknowledge it, though. ¡°I need to head to the kitchen to get some herbs. Do you want to come with me?¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to ask,¡± Esmerelda said, turning to head the same direction as Hailey. ¡°I¡¯m your lady¡¯s maid, remember?¡±


    A lady¡¯s maid that was chastising me a minute ago about getting my dress dirty, Hailey thought.


    ¡°How was your visit?¡±


    ¡°Refreshing. Mother wants to teach me to care for animals, which might be fun, even though it is very smelly work. It doesn¡¯t matter, though. Spending time with her was wonderful, even if we were walking through sheep dung.¡± She stopped walking for a minute and turned to Hailey, giving her a tight hug. ¡°It¡¯s one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Thank you.¡± She let go, and Hailey noticed how content Esmerelda seemed. It was a rare emotion for her friend. Esmerelda had always been scheming, always trying to get a better job, earn more money. That¡¯s probably why she jumped at the chance to be Hailey¡¯s lady¡¯s maid.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you two had a lot to catch up on.¡± Hailey felt a stab of jealousy for the first time. She had never known her own mother, never known what it might be like to have a family. She was happy for her friend, though.


    They reached the kitchens and Hailey asked for bay leaves and thyme. The busy cook frowned at her. ¡°You¡¯re going to run me right out of bay leaves.¡±


    ¡°I might be able to bring it back.¡±


    The cook looked horrified. ¡°No. I don¡¯t want magic in the soup, thank you.¡± She thrust the herbs at Hailey, looking frustrated and then curtsied, maybe to make up for the glare.


    ¡°Beware the angry cook,¡± Esmerelda said.


    Hailey chuckled. ¡°I know. I feel bad taking all her herbs, but if I can wake the princess, it¡¯s worth wasting every herb she has in her larder.¡±


    Esmerelda grinned. ¡°So you figured it out?¡±


    ¡°I think so. I think I was missing a piece.¡± She began to explain to Esmerelda about the foci and the runes.


    Before she even explained the herbs, Esmerelda held up a hand. ¡°I am glad I¡¯m not a mage. I didn¡¯t realize that it was so boring.¡±


    Hailey stopped walking. ¡°It¡¯s not boring, it¡¯s incredible and complicated.¡±


    ¡°Says the girl who has spent the last six months with her nose in a book. I can help you set it up if you want, as long as you don¡¯t explain to me how all of it works.¡±


    ¡°You know, I could use help setting up the candles.¡±


    Esmerelda grinned. ¡°Do you remember the time that we stole candles from Miss Forester? She was so angry. I¡¯m sure she knew we did it.¡±


    Hailey laughed. ¡°She was so angry and she knew who had done it, too. She kept checking our room, until Lavina told her that it wasn¡¯t us.¡±


    Esmerelda chuckled. ¡°Poor Lavina.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Lavina had watched over them when they were little and had trained them to work in the kitchen when they got a little older. She did not let them bend the rules, but the girls tried to get away with whatever they could. They had used the candles to stay up later than they should have. Lavina had never let them have candles in their room because they might burn the whole castle to the ground. Also, they were supposed to be sleeping, but they had stayed up anyway, telling each other stories about princesses and far away kingdoms.


    ¡°Sometimes, I¡¯m surprised that they let us stay here,¡± said Esmerelda. ¡°We were always sneaking around the castle, getting into mischief.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we weren¡¯t always caught.¡± Hailey grinned.


    Esmerelda laughed. ¡°I think Lavina knew it and punished us twice as hard when she caught us doing anything we shouldn¡¯t because she knew we were getting away with things we shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Hailey laughed. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re right. It was hard not to feel a little guilty about some of their antics, but they had had so much fun and Esmerelda and Margaret and even Lavina were the closest things that she had had to family.


    <hr>


    King Theodric looked worse by the minute. Isabella had thought that maybe giving him sufficient rest would help. She could sense a healing power nearby, but it wasn¡¯t going to be enough. All the talking and everything he had done, along with what she had done to him would kill him in the end.


    ¡°I should let you rest,¡± she told her brother. We can catch up some more when you¡¯re feeling better.


    ¡°BB, don¡¯t go.¡± Every time he said that name, flashes of memory lit up in her mind; their entire family traveling in the winter, she and Theodric playing games and causing trouble when they were supposed to be paying attention to the tutor.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to heal you? I might be able to do something that the other mages haven¡¯t been able to do. My magic is a little different.¡±


    He coughed, bringing up blood, and wiped it away with a feeble hand. She cleaned his bearded chin for him again. ¡°The old mage that used to be my friend, Barinon, said that you were a little different, that your magic wasn¡¯t tied to the well in the same way that his was.¡±


    She nodded, not wanting to think about what she had done to the mage. If he was one of Theodric¡¯s confidant¡¯s than it made her feel that much worse.


    He sighed. ¡°You can try, but I think the borders will be better protected if the power of the heir goes to you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think it will wake your daughter, then?¡±


    He shook his head, ever so slightly. ¡°I doubt anything will be that easy. Barinon didn¡¯t seem to think that it would, since the spell that is protecting her protects her from magic as well. It would mean that the power of the heir would shift from me to you. I am weak and dying, sister. You would be able to do more for the kingdom than I.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that I would make a good ruler, though. It¡¯s better if you stay. I can help the mage free your daughter. Since I cast the original curse, it ought to be much easier for me to take care of things.¡±


    She looked at him and saw the stubbornness in his eyes. He wanted to die, wanted to stop suffering and she couldn¡¯t say that she blamed him, each cough and wheeze sounded painful and he no longer wanted to fight. He thought she could save the kingdom, thought she could make everything right, but he had no idea how easily Lillith had gotten into her mind. She still didn¡¯t remember everything. She knew she didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Part of me knew, that it was you who came to the castle, that day,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to admit it, didn¡¯t want to go through thinking that this girl was my sister all over again, only to find out that you were a fake, like the others who had been sent away.¡± He gasped for breath, and she squeezed his hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± she told him. Damn him, he was making her cry all over again. She did not want to lose him and the kingdom would certainly feel his absence, but she would not force a healing on him if he did not want it. ¡°I survived, and you became a good king for your people, a good father.¡±


    ¡°I wish you would have had to more time with mother. She never really got over losing you, you know?¡±


    Isabella smiled. ¡°She met me at the market every week. She brought me money and shopped with me for things I needed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where she went. I am glad to hear it. Father never could reconcile your disappearance. He figured you had just died and that was the end of it. He was so frustrated.¡± He coughed again, and she waited for him to continue. ¡°So frustrated that she would even believe that her daughter was still alive. They couldn¡¯t talk about you without getting into an argument, and so they never did.¡±


    Isabella patted his hand. She knew that her father had loved her. He had had to move on with his life. He had looked for Isabella, had scoured the countryside himself, but was never able to find her. She had grown too much in the time that she had been lost in the forest. She had become thinner and dirtier and no longer fit in the gown she had disappeared in, and so she hadn¡¯t worn it back to the castle. It was just too much for her father to take when she reappeared.


    Theodric gasped for breath, bringing her back to the present. ¡°I¡¯m glad you are here with me in the end. I forgive you.¡±


    She kissed his brow. ¡°I¡¯m glad I am here too. I have missed you, you know.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± he said. He took one final breath and was still.


    Isabella¡¯s heart hurt, watching him die. Then, a rush of power filled her, bringing with it emotion and memories. Everything she had done came flooding back to her. She gasped, bunching the blanket in her hands blanket.

 Chapter 29

    Hailey drew a rune at each corner of the princess¡¯s bed, and set them to working. They each glowed white in turn. ¡°I hope this works,¡± she told the Esmerelda.


    ¡°One of these attempts ought to,¡± Esmerelda said.


    What her friend didn¡¯t know was that she had no idea what she would try next. The thought terrified her. She had to get this right. Every bit of preparation had been done. The king had sounded so full of despair the last time she had talked to him. It was like he was certain he was going to die soon.


    ¡°Natalia was supposed to meet me here,¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°I can go get her.¡± Esmerelda rose from placing the last candle according to the diagram in Hailey¡¯s book.


    ¡°No,¡± a knot of guilt twisted in Hailey¡¯s stomach. ¡°If the prince is there then I need to talk to him.¡±


    Esmerelda raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that. I just need to apologize for the way I treated him. He is the Prince of Yapuris, after all. I wouldn¡¯t want him to hold a grudge.¡±


    Esmerelda was glancing at the book again. ¡°You go ahead and tell yourself that. Before I left, some of the maids said that he had taken an interest in you.¡±


    Hailey rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. The prince had been nothing but a gentleman to her and to everyone else around him. He was a bit of a flirt, but he seemed to flirt with all the women around him, not just Hailey. Shoving thoughts of the prince out of her head, she hurried to the guest chambers. She needed Natalia¡¯s help. At least, she thought she did. Cringing, she knocked on the prince¡¯s door. The swordsman opened it.


    He was not a big man, but he was also not the type of person that Hailey wanted to meet. His dark eyes bored into hers, making her uncomfortable.


    She shifted nervously from one foot to the other. ¡°I am sorry to bother you. Have you seen Natalia?¡±


    Frederick was sitting on the couch in the antechamber. He rose and strode to the door. ¡°Richard, I think I will handle this.¡± The swordsman bowed and took a step back, still keeping an eye on Hailey as if she were a threat to the prince¡¯s life.


    ¡°I do not know where she is,¡± Frederick said. ¡°You can¡¯t expect mages to be at your beck and call.¡± He gave her a knowing smile. ¡°I bet there are times when your king can¡¯t find you.¡±


    She cleared her throat. She did not come here to talk to him about this. ¡°I had wanted to talk to you, actually. I ¡ª I wanted to apologize for the way I had been treating you. It was unkind of me.¡±


    ¡°My lady,¡± He took her hand and kissed it. ¡°What you are trying to achieve is clearly a difficult task. You are under a lot of pressure. I am just glad that Natalia has been of use to you.¡±


    She took her hand away from him. ¡°She has. Thank you.¡± Hailey could see now why the women of the court were so taken with him. He was charming and considerate and he was flirting with her. He had even been polite to her when she had been screaming at him. ¡°I should go,¡± she said. ¡°Thanks again.¡± She curtsied to her and hurried back to the princess¡¯s room. She could feel his eyes on her back, but she couldn¡¯t think about him right now.


    Men were distractions that she didn¡¯t need at the moment. Thoughts of Aaron and Gillian pushed into her mind. She would have to find some time to speak to him without the other woman around. If he was happier with Gillian, she would have to let him go. It was like a knife in her heart to think about that. She had feelings for Aaron, had always thought that they would end up together.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°You¡¯re being foolish,¡± she told herself.


    Esmerelda sat at the chair beside the princess¡¯s bed. ¡°It¡¯s so tragic what happened to her. I had hoped that the prince¡¯s kiss would wake her.¡±


    Hailey gasped. The mage lantern was blinking.


    ¡°How long has that been blinking?¡±


    ¡°It started a few minutes after you left, why?¡±


    Hailey didn¡¯t have time to explain. ¡°I will have to try the spell later.¡± There was something going on in the King¡¯s room. Hailey turned and ran, praying that she was not too late.


    <hr>


    Isabella understood so much, so quickly. She had been the dragon, and she had tried to destroy the castle. She had killed people, but now she knew why. She could almost hear Lillith¡¯s voice inside her head, telling her what to do. She thought back over all the memories that had been haunting her. She had cursed her niece, but she had done it at Lillith¡¯s bidding. She had come to Lillith, hoping to find her child, and Lillith had trapped her and held her hostage in the dark castle. She had used her to control the fairies.


    There was more to it than that. The power of the heir flowed through her and she understood why her brother didn¡¯t believe that she was the one trying to hurt Taivalon. He had been able to sense the truth, as she could now. As memories came back to her, she could see the way she had been duped. Lillith had held a secret that Isabella would do almost anything to unravel. Lillith had manipulated and deceived Isabella and Isabella had fallen for her tricks time and time again. The fairies trusted Isabella, and she had broken that trust, sending them out to destroy themselves against the shimmer.


    The shimmer. She could sense it now, sense it weakening, but still defending the kingdom, still protecting the people inside, protecting her people. This was her kingdom now. Theodric had foolishly given it to her, believing in her despite everything that she had done.


    She turned to look at her brother. He looked so peaceful now, like he was sleeping. She was the heir, but she didn¡¯t know anyone else in this castle, didn¡¯t know who she could trust. Endolynn knew who she was, certainly, but everyone who knew who she was knew what she had done, and most of them would have wanted her dead.


    She paced through the massive room, her boots thumping on the wood floor. Memories of her parents and happy times spent here flooding her thoughts. She shoved them aside. She would have time to reminisce later.


    For now, she would fix some of the things she had done wrong. She could defend the borders, but she could not be the ruler of this kingdom. She would have to wake the princess and let her rule or anybody else. She knew better than to leave herself in charge. Lillith would take control over her and over the kingdom as well. Maybe if she woke the princess and then killed herself, or maybe waking the princess woods be enough to set the power of the heir back through the correct line. That won¡¯t work, she told herself. You might actually have to die.


    But then, if she died wouldn¡¯t her daughter, wherever she was become the heir? What if Lillith had her too. The thought put a knot of worry in her stomach. Lillith would stop at nothing to make sure everything went according to her plan.


    She turned back to her brother. ¡°You created quite a mess for the rest of us to clean up,¡± she told him. She hadn¡¯t thought this all the way through, had respected his wishes despite a tiny voice in her head insisting that she heal him despite what he wanted. She kissed him one last time on the forehead. He had become so dear to her in the last few hours of his life, and then he had let go.


    She still struggled to remind herself that he was really gone, not just sleeping. He looked like he could wake up any moment and joke with her about the way she had floated him up the stairs or about the way she had stolen things from him when they were young. She didn¡¯t know why he had trusted her so much, except now she did. When she had taken his hand, he would have been able to sense the truth in any statement she made. She had forgotten how powerful the magic of the heir was, and now that weight along with all of her crimes rested on her shoulders.


    ¡°I will make sure that your kingdom is safe. I will do the best I can, at least, but I will protect the power of the heir, and I can stop the army that is about to descend.¡±


    Then she squared her shoulders, preparing to keep her promises to him. She would find Endoylnn and make her listen. She glanced at the clock. This was going to take too long. She would have to hurry. As she turned to go, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was too thin and ragged. She had been wearing the same tattered black dress for who knows how long. Black, she thought. Mourning the daughter I never found.


    Her thoughts were interrupted.  In the doorway, someone screamed.

 Chapter 30

    Hailey hurried to the king¡¯s chambers, panicking that she might be too late. There were no guards here. Why? Had the king sent them away? She opened the door and screamed. Standing over the king and planting a kiss on the forehead of the king was the woman who had caused almost every problem that the kingdom now faced. Isabella, the woman who had cursed the princess, had stolen the other mages from the country and had clearly done something to the king. He wasn¡¯t even moving, didn¡¯t raise a brow when she kissed him.


    Anger burned within Hailey. She had never felt a hatred so deep. This woman deserved to die.


    Hailey summoned the magic within her and pushed against the woman, ¡°impello!¡± she screamed, not caring if anyone heard her. Guards should be here, protecting the king. Her spell threw Isabella, the most hated woman in the kingdom, back. Isabella flattened agains the back wall, but Hailey didn¡¯t wait for a reaction. She created a light spell, and saw a smirk on the woman¡¯s face when she threw it. ¡°Fulgario,¡± she said, changing it into lightning at the last moment.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Said Isabella, the lightning spell crackling over Isabella¡¯s shield.


    But Hailey had already summoned her mage¡¯s blade. She ran forward, prepared to slam it into the shield. She didn¡¯t make it very far, though. She was suddenly launched into the air and thrown back. Hailey¡¯s blade vanished and she smashed into the wall, her back pressing painfully against the ornate frame of a painting.


    She refused to stop. She slid down the wall and summoned her light spell again and prepared to launch it, but Isabella was ready for her attack. The gleaming bubble like surface of a shield surrounded Hailey. Hailey dropped the light spell and summoned a blade.


    She swung and her mage sword bounced off the inside of the shield.


    ¡°You have to stop. We need to talk.¡±


    Hailey swung and again, her words punctuated by her swings. ¡°I¡­am not¡­going to¡­talk¡­to you!¡± The shield finally began to fade.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Listen to me. It won¡¯t hurt you to listen.¡±


    ¡°Why? So you can tell me that you didn¡¯t do anything?¡±


    How had she made the shield this powerful?


    Hailey swung again, but still the shield held. She did not want to talk. She wanted to fight. She wanted to kill this woman and free the princess and keep the kingdom safe. She opened her mouth to scream for the guards, but her nemesis seemed to understand what she was about to do.


    Isabella gave her a pitying look. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡±


    Hailey broke free. ¡°Good. Just stand there, then.¡±


    Isabella summoned a mage blade of her own.


    Hailey slashed, but at every turn, Isabella¡¯s blade was there, ready to catch her own. She ground her teeth. Hailey swung for Isabella¡¯s head. Isabella¡¯s blade was there to catch hers. She stabbed and swung, high and low, trying for an opening, but she found none. Sparks danced off of the clashing blades. Hailey wanted to look at the king, to make sure he was ok, but she knew that one glance would mean her death. She had survived against the dragon, but she had never fought anyone with a sword before. She wished she knew more attack spells, but she would not give up. She would defeat this woman or die trying.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you listen?¡±


    ¡°Because you are trying to destroy this kingdom. I don¡¯t need you to try to convince me to help you with whatever evil plan you¡¯re working on.¡±


    Isabella seemed only to be using her blade to block Hailey¡¯s thrusts.


    Hailey really should have taken Aaron¡¯s advice and learned to use a regular sword. Hailey was panting now, but she couldn¡¯t let her guard down.


    Isabella struck out at her then, and pain seared through Hailey¡¯s upper arm. A small line of blood appeared. Then, before she knew what was happening the shield was around her again. ¡°I warned you,¡± Isabella said, sounding impatient. We need to talk.¡±


    Then, she did something Hailey had never seen before. She used the word of power to suck the air out of the shield that Hailey was trapped in. ¡°Exstinguo,¡± said Isabella.


    Hailey gasped. She couldn¡¯t breathe. How had this woman, this murderer been able to defeat her so easily?


    Isabella didn¡¯t seem to be even winded. She crouched next to Hailey in her tattered dress. ¡°The king is dead.¡±


    Hailey fell to her knees, gasping for air.

 Chapter 31

    Isabella released the shield and Hailey panted, breathing in deep lungfuls of precious air. ¡°Why should I believe you?¡± Hailey coughed. ¡°You killed the king.¡±


    ¡°You know better than anyone that he was ill. Why would I bother to come all the way here just to kill a man who was already dying?¡± There was a hitch in the woman¡¯s voice, as if she were trying to hold back emotions.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Hailey knew that the other mage was more powerful than her, but she couldn¡¯t help hating the woman. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I want to help you free the princess. I want to make sure that this kingdom is safe.¡±


    Hailey was having a hard time buying that. Of course she would tell her that¡¯s what she wanted. Hailey sat on the floor, looking up at the woman. ¡°Why should I believe you?¡± She still coughed.


    ¡°Because I can help you free the princess.¡±


    Hailey looked at Isabella. The woman was thinner than the last time she had seen her, making her cheekbones more prominent. The dress she was wearing was faded and torn at the bottom. Worn boots peeked out from under the hem of her skirts. You would think that a woman who stole people from their parents, who could break into the castle whenever she wanted would have been able to afford something nicer. Besides, why had she been kissing the king.


    Hailey glanced back at the king. She rose and went to him. His hand was cool, but not cold. The pulse that she could usually feel at his wrist was gone. Her heart ached for this man. He had been a good king and a friend to her. He had even taken her into the castle, and given her a life that was much better than she would have found in the orphanage. She blinked back tears. She wished she had time to mourn him properly.


    ¡°What about the power of the heir? If the king is dead, isn¡¯t the shimmer already dissolved?¡±


    ¡°No. The power of the heir is safe. You would hear people screaming and crashing into things if the fairies were really loose.¡±


    Looking back at Isabella, she saw something in her green eyes that made Hailey want to believe her, and that¡¯s exactly why Hailey hadn¡¯t wanted to listen to her in the first place. She didn¡¯t know if she had much choice. Besides, Isabella had cast the curse on Aurora, and the spell that kept Aurora sleeping was tied to that spell. Who would have an easier time of dismissing a spell than the person who cast it? Hailey stood willing, for the moment at least, to listen to what the other mage had to say. ¡°I will listen, but you will leave if I think you are in any way a threat to this kingdom.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Isabella looked relieved. ¡°The kingdom will be in complete chaos if they find out that the king has died and the princess is not awake. That is the first thing we need to take care of. Take me to the princess.¡±


    Hailey paused. If this woman really did want to destroy the entire kingdom, then taking her to the princess would doom them all. Still, it wasn¡¯t as if Isabella couldn¡¯t find her on her own. The princess was across the hall.


    ¡°Will it help if I promise not to hurt her?¡±


    ¡°No, but I think I¡¯m going to have to trust you, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Isabella took in a deep breath and breathed it out. Then, as if she had come to a conclusion, she said, ¡°There is something else you need to know. An army of magical creatures preparing to attack the kingdom at midnight, mostly fairies. They will come through the shimmer from the northern border.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    That¡¯s where they have been invading for the most part, Hailey thought. She could not help the suspicion in her voice. ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    ¡°I saw them preparing to go. I live in the forest, remember? The most important thing we can do is to persevere the bloodline. The shimmer must remain. It will protect the people and any fairies who come through the shimmer will be severely weakened.¡±


    Hailey thought about it for a moment. Isabella was asking her to stand side by side with her and undo the curse, then fight the fairies.


    ¡°Will you listen or will you continue to waste my time?¡±


    Hailey never thought she would ever agree to anything this woman had to say, but she found herself nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I will help you undo the spell on the princess.¡±


    <hr>


    Isabella followed Hailey to the princess¡¯s room. Candles were placed in the mage lanterns that were hung at intervals down the hall. No one was here. Again, Hailey wondered where the guards had gone.


    ¡°What were you doing with the king?¡±


    ¡°I was saying goodbye.¡± There was a hitch in Isabella¡¯s voice as if she was truly sad that the king had gone. ¡°We were friends once, a long time ago.¡±


    That didn¡¯t add up, Hailey thought, and thoughts of the king invariably led to the kingdom¡¯s safety. I should be taking everyone I care about and stuffing them through a portal. She felt panic rise within her again. Were they already too late for everything? The king, the heir that protected them all was dead.


    Isabella did not seem concerned at all, but then, she wouldn¡¯t be. She had worked against the kingdom as long as Hailey could remember. ¡°The magic of the heir is safe. It¡¯s ancient magic that was bound to the Concordance eons ago. It cannot be changed.¡±


    ¡°But the people in the black castle all died.¡±


    ¡°True, but they no longer had an heir. Taivalon still has one, and as long as royal blood still pumps through the veins of one of the heirs, the kingdom will stand, if we don¡¯t let the fairies swarm the kingdom.¡±


    Some of this didn¡¯t make sense. Why had Barinon worried so much about the princess not being awake when her father died if the power was just going to transfer to her anyway. Had his fears been misplaced? Was the sleeping princess able to protect her people and keep the shimmer in place? How could she rule if she was asleep? There were too many questions for Hailey to ask.


    Finally, despite all of her misgivings, Hailey opened the door to the princess¡¯s room. Everything was prepared for the spell that Hailey had been about to do. The princess lay in a blue gown, sleeping as beautifully as ever. Silk blankets covered her, which matched the curtains. It was dark out, and Hailey could see her own reflection in the window. It made her shiver. Her blonde hair and blue eyes looked back at her. Isabella stood behind her, at least a head taller and a much more powerful mage. Isabella had the same pale skin but dark hair and a black dress made her face look almost ghostly. If they only had until midnight, then they should set to work, but there was one more question nagging at Hailey¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Why did you have this sudden change of heart? Why did you come back all these years later to set the princess free of a curse that you cast on her thirty ago?¡±


    Isabella looked at her for a long time, as if she were sorting through her thoughts, and not really seeing Hailey at all. Her green eyed stare made Hailey uncomfortable, but when she finally responded, all she said, was, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Hailey wasn¡¯t buying that response, but if Isabella really was going to help Hailey free Aurora from the spell, then she would accept her help. She could keep her secrets.


    ¡°I see you set up runes and herbs to boost the spell. That should help.¡±


    Hailey allowed herself a small smile. She had spent a lot of time trying to set up this spell, making sure that it was all set up.


    Isabella¡¯s eyes grew wide when she saw the spinning wheel. ¡°That was the very one. How was it not destroyed?¡±


    ¡°I put it in the storage room.¡±


    ¡°You did, but when the spell was cast, you must have only been¡­¡± Isabella trailed off. ¡°You must have been trapped with them.¡±


    Hailey felt sick. She wondered how long Isabella had been taking young mages from the kingdom. Maybe there was a reason Barinon had not been able to find more than just her, and the reason she hadn¡¯t been dragged off in the forest with Isabella was because she was inside a spell that even Isabella couldn¡¯t penetrate. Maybe this was a bad idea.


    Outside the doorway, something crashed to the floor. Hailey spun to see a white faced Esmerelda turn and run down the hall, screaming for the guards.

 Chapter 32

    The crash was a tray of food that Esmerelda had dropped on entering the princess¡¯s room. A small roasted chicken leg, and potatoes lay atop a broken plate. It smelled amazing, and Hailey¡¯s stomach grumbled, reminding her how long it had been since she had eaten. ¡°Guards,¡± Esmerelda shrieked.


    Isabella frowned. ¡°Stop her, or I will.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my friend,¡± Hailey said, feeling relief wash over her. If Esmerelda was still running around then the fairies hadn¡¯t gotten past the shimmer. She hurried out into the hallway. She could see Esmerelda running, about to turn down the main staircase. ¡°Extollo,¡± Hailey said, lifting her friend and pulling her back to the princess¡¯s room. She wanted to keep an eye on Isabella, and she couldn¡¯t do it if she was chasing Esmerelda all over the castle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let her get me, Hailey.¡± Esmerelda¡¯s eyes were wide with fear.


    Isabella stood in the doorway. ¡°You could shield her and tie it to the floor.¡± Isabella sounded impatient. ¡°We don¡¯t have time to be distracted now.¡±


    Hailey did so, almost certain that Esmerelda would run again if she got the chance. Hailey didn¡¯t blame her, but she did need to concentrate right now. She needed to do what she could for Taivalon. ¡°But the army. How do you know that they are coming? It doesn¡¯t make sense for you to know just because you live in the forest.¡±


    Isabella looked exasperated. ¡°You said that you would trust me to undo this spell.¡±


    ¡°And I want to make sure that my trust was not misplaced.¡±


    Isabella sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that if I wanted her dead, I could have managed it by now?¡±


    ¡°Not without my help, otherwise, you¡¯d fall unconscious trying to kill her, and then it would be easy for me to kill you.¡±


    Isabella looked so weary, so tired. There were lines around her eyes and mouth. ¡°You have to understand, I have done a lot of things in the past few decades that were beyond my control.¡±


    ¡°You mean someone else was making you do what you did?¡± Hailey asked. That didn¡¯t seem likely. Everyone knew that Isabella was a powerful mage. Barinon has said that even the mages   in his time had feared her.


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°How do I know that they won¡¯t seize control and make you kill the princess once she¡¯s free?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t. My enemy has been pulling strings in this kingdom for a long time now, and I¡¯m only one of those strings. For the first time in decades, I am away from her, able to see clearly and I see all the manipulation, all the subterfuge, all the lies, but I also see the effects of the things that I have done and for that I am deeply sorrowful.¡± She paused. Her brows were furrowed and the corners of her mouth turned down.


    If she isn¡¯t upset about what had happened to the kingdom, then she¡¯s one hell of an actress, Hailey thought.


    ¡°I know that saying I¡¯m sorry doesn¡¯t fix anything, so I will do whatever it takes to help right the wrongs that I have done. Right now, I need you to trust me. She looked into Hailey¡¯s eyes and Hailey couldn¡¯t help it. For no reason other than the sorrowful look on Isabella¡¯s face, Hailey decided that she would trust her.


    ¡°Esmerelda, I need you to trust me, too.¡± Hailey let the shield go. ¡°I need to to tell Aaron about the invading army of fairies. He should be back in the castle right now. If he¡¯s not there, tell Captain Derrick. We are about to be overrun with fairies, and they need to be prepared.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Esmerelda¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Hailey knew she was asking a lot of Esmerelda. She hadn¡¯t signed up to deal with soldiers and fairies. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to ask you to do this, but I need someone to start the army preparing. I am going to be busy for a time with this spell. Can you do this for me.¡±


    Esmerelda nodded.


    ¡°Good. They will be here at midnight. We need everyone who can hold a sword, and we need the men who are patrolling the shimmer to know and be prepared as well. Esmerelda had always been the fastest of the three girls.¡±


    ¡°I will go, but Hailey, be safe.¡± And with that, Esmerelda turned and ran.


    <hr>


    Isabella paced the princess¡¯s room, thinking over how exactly she was going to undo the spell that was tied to the princess. The one the mage¡¯s had used was one she was not familiar with, but since it had been tied to the original curse that she had placed on the child, she should be able to undo it.


    The young mage watched her with a little wariness still in her eyes. She was so young to be the only mage for an entire kingdom, and she was surprisingly strong for one who had not finished her training.


    At least she had decided to trust her, but still, what she was asking of Hailey would require a little more trust than she seemed willing to give at the moment, and so while the back of her mind worked to figure out the spell, she told Hailey about her life up to this point.


    ¡°I think I was actually pretty easy for my enemy to trap. I went in search of my daughter, who was taken from me at a very young age.¡± She did not tell her that she had agreed to the crazy idea of letting go of her own flesh and blood child, that she had regretted that ever since she looked at her daughter¡¯s tiny, round face. How could a mother let go of something so precious.


    ¡°Sylphana told the that a woman named Lillith might know where my daughter was, and so I made the long journey to Lillith¡¯s home. I did not have a portal there at the time, but rather than telling me where my daughter was, she demanded that I do things for her and then she would tell me. When those things became to awful for me to comply, she took hold of my mind and bent me to her will. I have spent months wandering the black castle, thinking that it was richly furnished and that I had servants to do my bidding, but I¡¯m pretty sure that every person I saw was one of Lillith¡¯s henchmen.¡± She left out the part about the dragon. It would be better if Hailey didn¡¯t know that was her. The girl was barely trusting her now as it was.


    ¡°That is awful,¡± Hailey said. ¡°How did you get free?¡±


    ¡°I ran. Memories of my past life woke me up. I kept having dreams and memories and eventually I decided that I had to go, had to get away from her influence. The problem was that I was trapped for a very long time. The armies were amassing from my castle, so I knew they were coming but I thought that it was Taivalon that was invading us.¡±


    Hailey looked horrified. Isabella shook her head. You have no idea, she thought. As she thought it might, the answer to undoing the spell came to her when she wasn¡¯t thinking about it. ¡°This is actually a rather easy spell to reverse.¡±


    The young mage pulled something out of her pocket. She was a pretty little thing, now that she wasn¡¯t trying to kill Isabella.


    ¡°I have been dumping magic into this, if it helps.¡± She held out an amulet. A large, clear crystal on a chain.


    Isabella was surprised. ¡°Where did you learn to do that?¡±


    ¡°It was in one of the books.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s not human magic.¡±


    Hailey looked up in surprise.


    ¡°Batteries of this nature were specifically avoided for a reason.¡± That is so typical. Mages write things in their books, but what they don¡¯t write is how much it takes from the person casting the spell. You must have been exhausted. She handed it back to Hailey. ¡°You might need this later. Hold onto it for now.


    Just then, she heard steps thumping down the hallway. ¡°What is going on here?¡±


    Isabella didn¡¯t hesitate. She put her shield in place, but made it bigger. It was large enough to cover the princess, and both mages.


    It was Endolynn, queen of all Taivalon and the current ruler. ¡°We are waking your daughter,¡± she told the queen, and then, taking Hailey¡¯s hand, she concentrated.


    Everything the young mage had set up made it that much easier for her to find the foci of the spell and detach it. She didn¡¯t need the power of the young mage, but she had obviously worked so hard to be able to undo the spell that she wanted her to be part of its undoing.


    She concentrated, feeling the power of the other mage and her own power mingle together, and then she reversed the spell. ¡°Amitto,¡± she said, opening her eyes and watching the spell vanish from off of the princess.


    Aurora, her niece blinked her eyes and sat up, looking around the room, but her eyes lingered longest on Hailey. ¡°I know you,¡± she said.

 Chapter 33

    Isabella let the shield around them fall, and relief washed over Hailey as the princess stood. She had tried for so long, had struggled against this spell and finally, the Aurora was awake. Aurora was even more stunning when she was awake.


    ¡°It was you who looked after me while I was asleep, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Aurora asked.


    Hailey smiled. ¡°It was.¡± Most of the people in the castle had recognized her, but a lot of them were uncomfortable with her now. Some had hugged her in thanks, but having the princess acknowledge her swelled her chest with pride.


    She embraced Hailey. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Endolynn stood patiently, waiting for her daughter to acknowledge her, but Aurora looked to Isabella next. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I am your aunt.¡±


    Aurora didn¡¯t seem certain of what to make of that. ¡°I don¡¯t remember you,¡± she said.


    ¡°She helped set you free,¡± Hailey said.


    ¡°Thank you, then,¡± Aurora said a little uncertainly.


    ¡°I was away from the kingdom for a very long time,¡± Isabella said.


    Hailey understood now. If Lillith had been holding Isabella against her will all this time, then the first thing she would do when she was free would be to contact her brother and free her niece. It all made sense. King Theodric had told her that he had a sister, but Hailey had thought that his sister had died.


    Aurora turned to the other woman in the room. ¡°Mother? I didn¡¯t recognize you. I thought you were grandma for a moment. What happened to your hair?¡±


    Her dark eyes filled with tears as she ran to her mother. Endolynn held her daughter close. She wiped tears from her eyes. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d see you awake again. To answer your question, time has happened to my hair. I suppose I do look a little like your grandmother did.¡±


    ¡°But how long have I been asleep then?¡±


    ¡°Sixteen long years,¡± Endolynn said. ¡°How I have missed you.¡± Tears spilled over the queen¡¯s wrinkled cheeks. ¡°I wish your father had survived a little bit longer. He would have loved to see you awake one last time.¡±


    ¡°Father is dead? What happened?¡±


    It all seemed a lot to take in for the girl, but the last thing she would have remembered was her birthday party and then touching the spindle of the spinning wheel. Now she was awake and confronted with her father¡¯s death.


    ¡°He has been struggling with an illness for the past few years,¡± said Endolynn. She wiped tears from her eyes again. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the illness took him just before you awoke. We haven¡¯t even had time to prepare a funeral.¡±


    Isabella was all cool control. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this right now. There is an army amassing along our northern border. Your father would not have wanted us to worry about funeral arrangements while there is a threat to the nation.¡±


    Aurora sank to the ground, her blue dress pudding around her. ¡°But that means that I am the heir, doesn¡¯t it?¡± She looked up at Hailey and Isabella with fear and concern plainly evident in her eyes. ¡°I just woke up and now this?¡±


    ¡°Stand up, love. You will be the queen of Taivalon, and you must act like one.¡±


    ¡°Yes. You must command the army,¡± Isabella said.


    ¡°We have a spy who has said that the army will be amassing at midnight,¡± Hailey said. Isabella shot her a grateful look. It was easier than explaining what Isabella had been through.


    ¡°Yes, we need to go, and you need to address the kingdom,¡± Endolynn said.


    The worry and bewilderment in the princess¡¯s eyes made Hailey feel sorry for the girl. She took her hand. ¡°You can do this. You prepared for this for your whole life.¡± Aurora gave her a small smile and they all left the princess¡¯s chambers.


    In the hallway, Prince Frederick waited. ¡°Princess Aurora, you are awake.¡± He bowed deeply to her. Queen Endolynn did not look pleased to see the prince, but as rambled on about how beautiful she was and how he had heard tell of her beauty and come to see if there was anything he could do, Hailey could clearly see the interest on the young princess¡¯s face.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°We really must go,¡± Endolynn said, informing the prince of the incoming army.


    Well then, we must prepare for battle he said, bowing and turning away. As he passed Hailey, he winked at her.


    Isabella sighed. ¡°We have spells that we must prepare. They will have to manage rounding up the soldiers without you.¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Aaron!¡± Esmerelda grabbed his sleeve and he turned to look at her. He vaguely remembered seeing her walking around the castle with Hailey. She told him about an invading army.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one to tell. We need to talk to Derrick.¡± Esmerelda nodded and followed. Aaron felt panic rise in his chest. He strode into the hallway. ¡°Come with me. Did Hailey say what kind of an army?¡±


    ¡°She said it would be mostly fairies.¡± He spun on her and she jumped back. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Some other magical creatures maybe. I remember she said something about the north.¡± She looked genuinely terrified. She should be. The fairies had not stopped doing damage to the northern edges of the kingdom. Here, people were safe. He had only been back to the castle for the last few days. The officer in charge would send men back when they were too tired to stand up properly. He had been so exhausted, that he hadn¡¯t been able to remember the last few days properly. Just one long string of pulling people out of the shimmer, but none of the fairies had crossed yet. It made him wonder what had changed.


    He hurried to the captain¡¯s office and knocked on the door.


    Derrick sat at his desk, a large map of Taivalon spread before him. The city of Arvendon right at its center, arguably the safest place in the entire kingdom. ¡°Why are you bothering me at his hour, sergeant?¡±


    ¡°Sir, the kingdom will be under attack at midnight. An army of fairies will be amassing on the northern border.¡±


    Derrick stood. He was a bit shorter than Aaron, but he had a presence that demanded obedience. ¡°Where did you get this information?¡±


    Aaron turned to Esmerelda. ¡°She is¡­¡±


    He trailed off. What was she to Hailey? A friend?


    ¡°I am Mistress Hailey¡¯s ladies¡¯ maid.¡± The girl went on to tell the captain everything that she had learned, finishing with one last thought that trumped all the others.


    ¡°Thank you, young miss. Aaron get your men together and start gathering iron weapons. Anything iron that you can find. It¡¯s the only thing I know of that will do any good against fairies.¡±


    Aaron saluted and turned to leave. As he went, he heard the captain say, ¡°girl, do you know how to ride?¡± He felt a bit sorry for her, but they were all in over their heads if the fairies were going to attack.


    Aaron had been placed in charge of fifteen men. He found them lounging in the great hall. They had a tendency to stay together once they had been informed that they were part of a squad. They trained together, and took shifts together, so it made sense. They were all in various stages of training, from seasoned soldier to the newest young man in the army.


    ¡°Men,¡± he addressed them. ¡°Prepare for battle. I want you all in a full suit of armor, and if any of you has anything iron, bring it.¡±


    They clambered to their feet and saluted, hurrying off to do as they were told. He smiled. They had listened. It wasn¡¯t until they were prepared for battle and scouring the castle for any iron weapons left that they began to grumble.


    ¡°What kind of an army announces that they are going to attack at midnight?¡± Walter asked.


    ¡°We had a spy,¡± Aaron said. ¡°You mean there¡¯s another mage in the kingdom now?¡± Fendrel cut in.


    ¡°If there is another mage, what does the sergeant¡¯s girlfriend think about it?¡± John asked, smirking at Aaron. He had not minded the men he had been placed with as much as he seemed to mind Aaron¡¯s leadership.


    ¡°I bet this is one of those practices they keep making us do.¡±


    The entire army was searching the castle with them. Then needed enough iron for all of the soldiers to be able to hold their own against the fairies. Even then, Aaron wondered how effective they would be. He hoped that Hailey had some ideas up her sleeve on how this was going to be accomplished.


    The men continued to grumble, but did as they were told until they were all lined up outside the castle in the freezing cold. The ground was covered in a few inches of snow now, making everything look more peaceful than it had a right to.


    ¡°Men,¡± Derrick bellowed above all of them. ¡°You should know that we will be fighting against a dangerous foe. Many of you have already spent time dealing with the fairies on the borders, but now they may actually be able to get through. It will be our job to destroy them before they can wreak any more havoc on the kingdom.


    ¡°We have direct orders from the princess to prepare for battle and to stop the fairies invasion at all costs.¡±


    With that statement a gasp rang through the crowd. The princess is awake? Aaron thought. He grinned. Hailey had finally managed it. Maybe now she would stop working herself to death, and maybe she would have time for him again. It was a foolish thing to think when facing fairies actually coming through the shimmer.


    ¡°We must be prepared to face anything that comes our way,¡± he said.


    Then Hailey strode forward. He had not seen her behind the huge number of men that stood in ranks. She took up a place beside the captain and opened a portal to let the soldiers pass through. It was only large enough for them to pass through two at a time. A woman stood beside her in black and completely silent. She looked over the crowd of men with cold eyes. It took him a moment to realize who she was. His heart hammered in his chest. Hailey was working with Isabella?

 Chapter 34

    With the entire army finally spread out along the northern border, Hailey and Isabella prepared for the incoming onslaught. Hailey chewed on a cold wedge of cheese that was slowly freezing in her gloved hands. They should have brought a cook with them. She had once again missed dinner, and she would be paying for it by the end of the night. She had stuffed her satchel full of as much food as she could find before leaving. Isabella did not complain about the food that she was handed. She ate ravenously. It made Hailey wonder how long the woman had gone without a proper meal.


    When the two mages had their fill, they stood. Cold bit at her nose and her feet were already starting to go numb. She worried that she had not prepared well enough for this battle.


    Isabella dusted off the hunter green cloak that the queen had given her. It made Isabella almost disappear into the night.


    ¡°You will be in charge of maintaining the spell that will allow the soldiers to see in the darkness. If you fail, they will not be able to see at all. Even though the fairies glow, there will be other creatures who have come to battle against the humans, against us.¡±


    Hailey watched the other woman form a spell to give her night vision, trying to mimic the movements as she watched.


    Isabella closed her eyes for a moment and then one hand shot out towards Hailey.


    Hailey gasped. Around her, it was as if it had gone from night to day, but if she looked into the sky, it was still black.


    ¡°It creates a false vision,¡± Isabella told her. ¡°You cannot see very far, but what is close around you will be very clear.¡±


    Hailey nodded and performed the spell on Isabella.


    ¡°Good,¡± said Isabella.


    ¡°What will you be doing?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°I will be fighting the fairies. There are several spells in my arsenal that will work against them.¡±


    The two women stood in a large gap. The soldiers had given them a wide berth, which should make it easier for Isabella to cast her spells without hurting anyone.


    ¡°Will you need me to help?¡± Hailey asked.


    ¡°No. You are a fledgling mage. You will not be able to maintain the vision for the soldiers and battle at the same time. It is more important that you focus on one task.¡±


    Hailey nodded, but she did not feel like a fledgling mage anymore. She had faced down a dragon and had helped wake the princess. Surely that should give her some merit, but she would not argue with Isabella. She seemed to know what she was about and now that Hailey trusted her, she was glad to have her by her side.


    Hailey looked around. Aaron and a group of men stood to her left. She was relieved to see him and worried about what might happen to him. Every one of these men were at risk. Hailey and Isabella were the only ones who might not get hurt in this battle. She watched the shimmer, but it made her dizzy to stare for too long. She needed a distraction, something to keep the panic at bay.


    ¡°What do you know about the fairies?¡±


    Isabella turned from watching the men. ¡°The fairies are old magic. I am sure that you know that they are pure magic. They are also limited by the amount of land that they can cover. The magic in the land will allow them to have children, but not until one of them dies or until they have taken over a new area.¡±


    ¡°So, when they take over a human land, there will be more of them?¡±


    Isabella nodded. ¡°It was not a problem for them until the agreement with the fairy king was made.¡±


    Hailey had not heard of that before. No wonders they did not like humans though. If humans limited the number of fairies that could be, then the fairies would want to destroy the humans to take on all of the nine kingdoms.


    ¡°They come from a land much older than yours, a land of ancient magic that you cannot possibly understand.¡±


    Hailey thought about that for a moment. Maybe Isabella was talking about the land of the elves. It was on one of the old maps in the mage¡¯s library. ¡°Can you tell me anything about that land?¡±


    Isabella sighed and looked back at the shimmer. ¡°It¡¯s a land of pain, regret and mistakes. It¡¯s a land of loss.¡±


    <hr>


    Aaron had not been in many battles, but he was already learning that he hated the part before the battle, when all there was to do was wait. His heart was in his throat. Unlike many of the men, he was certain that what Hailey had told them was true. There would be fairies flying through that shimmer at any moment now. He tried to slow his breathing, to remain calm, but fairies were every child¡¯s nightmare for a reason.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Derrick practically glared at his officers. The torch he held was only one of the lights that had been allowed, and it would be put out soon.


    The mages had promised them that they would be able to see, and Aaron hoped so. An army swinging swords around in the dark, unable to see was a terrifying thought.


    ¡°I know that you are accustomed to being in the battle, being in the thick of it, but that will not be your job tonight,¡± Derrick said.


    Aaron expected to hear grumbling about that, but these were the officers. They were better at holding their tongues and following orders. He felt lucky to be among them.


    ¡°You will stay behind your men, and you will keep them safe. Anyone who wanders into the shimmer will be your responsibility to retrieve. Allow your men to do the work, but you keep watch. This is more than likely going to be a nasty battle. Feel free to swing at any fairies right in front of you, but keep your eyes on your men. There will be no retreat from this battle, and I will be doing what I can to help any squad that is being overrun. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°What if we¡¯re shorter than our men?¡± Christian called out from the back. He was almost completely invisible on this moonlit night.


    ¡°Find something to stand on, or stand to the side. Anyone else?¡±


    ¡°What if we loose to many men?¡± That voice came from the front and it was hushed.


    ¡°Then you will have to fight. You¡¯re the best we have. I expect you to be smart about this, and to step in if your men are too tired or all gone.¡±


    There was silence as everyone took in this information. It was a good plan, as long as it was only fairies that they were met with. Aaron tried not to think about that. If they were met with more than fairies, they were doomed.


    ¡°Join your men and prepare for battle!¡± Derrick said, loud enough for the men who were not in this meeting of officers to hear.


    The men turned and walked in various directions back to their squads. Someone walked up behind him. ¡°You ready for this?¡±


    Aaron jumped and Gillian laughed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a ¡®no.¡¯¡±


    He smiled ruefully. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried to fight fairies before.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that any of us have. You might actually have more experience with them than the rest of us.¡±


    He had almost forgotten that he told her about that. ¡°Come on, one trip into the forest is not that big of a deal. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like they were fighting me or anything.¡±


    She gave him a level look. ¡°A tiny bit more experience, then.¡± She almost whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t think any of use are really ready for this.¡±


    ¡°I agree, but we¡¯re all the kingdom has.¡±


    She held out a hand to him and he clasped it. Her hand was warm, but calloused. ¡°Don¡¯t get yourself dead,¡± she told him. ¡°You make a good soldier.¡±


    He grinned at that. He never thought that he would make a good soldier. He had always seen it as a dream, out of reach, even after he had joined the king¡¯s army. ¡°Be safe,¡± he told her, and then she was gone, disappearing into the night with the rest.


    He returned to his men, who looked even more nervous than he felt. There was a wide open space where the mages stood and his squad had been the lucky ones to stand next to them. ¡°Steady, men. My responsibility will be to keep an eye on you and make sure that none of you gets dragged into the shimmer.¡±


    This comment was met with silence. He wished he had something to say to them to calm their nerves, but none of them really understood what they were up against. Some of the men kept looking at the mages.


    He glanced at Hailey and Isabella. A mage light was on the ground in front of them, and so their faces were lit oddly, giving them a ghostly appearance.


    He could not believe that Hailey was trusting Isabella. After everything the woman had put this kingdom through, how could Hailey take her side. But then, he didn¡¯t know all of the details. She had apparently helped wake the princess and so that was something, but she had also crippled the nation, not giving them any opportunity to flee if things got too rough. All the mages they should have had were stolen away. Every opportunity for portals to another realm if the fairies won this battle were gone. Hailey alone could not evacuate even a tenth of the kingdom before the fairies would take over. If they didn¡¯t win here¡­he could not allow himself to think about it.


    Hailey knew what she was doing, he hoped at least. She finally noticed him looking at him and smiled. She was so beautiful, especially when she got sleep. He smiled back. If he died here, at least he would do it by her side. There was only one other battle that he had been in and she had kept him safe against the dragon. He had to trust her.


    She cleared her throat and looked back at the shimmer. ¡°I will be providing light for you tonight,¡± she told them. Her voice was clear and it rang out along the long line of men who were lit only by the pale glow of the shimmer. There were enough of them that he could barely see the last man standing far to the right.


    ¡°You will be able to see the fairies because they glow, but you will also be able to each other better, once the spell is cast. Do not shrink from the fight. Your country needs your protection. We can win this battle and I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. When this night is over, Taivalon will still stand. Those who oppose us will die by your swords as long as you are willing to stand with the men and women beside you. Do not let them frighten you. You are the brave soldiers of Taivalon!¡±


    A cheer rang out among the men, but one of them, Tybalt, he thought it was. ¡°What about the enemy right next to you?¡±


    Hailey opened her mouth to respond but Isabella spoke first. ¡°You may not trust me because of some of the things that I have done. Things I am very sorry for, but I am not your enemy tonight. The enemy is out there,¡± she pointed one long finger at the shimmer. I will fight with you this night. I will fight for Taivalon!¡±


    Silence met Isabella¡¯s speech. The men were still uncertain of her, but one more mage could be their victory, or it could be their doom.


    There was a screeching sound coming from the shimmer, as if thousands of fairies were screaming. He could see their tiny lights now, still fuzzy and trapped inside the shimmer, but just then, the shimmer began to blink.

 Chapter 35

    Hailey could see  them coming, a terrifying number of fairies right behind the shimmer. She summoned her magic and cast night vision on the soldiers, allowing them to see in the darkness. The soldiers gasped as their eyes adjusted. Hailey began to chat the word of power. Keeping the spell in place or this many soldiers required her to constantly be drawing on her power. ¡°euphrone conspectus Taivalon buccellatum,¡± she said over and over.


    Isabella was chanting her own words, but Hailey had not time to focus on them or on what she was saying. The fairies in front of her flew back and were pushed into the shimmer. They would have to fight and struggle back through. Hailey glanced down the line of men, hoping that they were holding their own. Fleeing would not do them any good. Aaron¡¯s men swiped at the fairies with their iron swords. One of them even held a pan. A fairy clanged off of it and puffed into mist.


    Clever, she thought. It would be easier to hit them with the large pan that with a sword. Another held a bucket. One held a shovel and they were all swinging as fast as they could manage. ¡°euphrone conspectus Taivalon buccellatum,¡± Hailey chanted.


    Aaron stood behind his men, keeping an eye on them. A fairy flew past one of his men and Aaron swung at it with his sword. She wondered why he had taken that position until one of his men began to follow one of the fairies. He dropped his sword, grabbed the man and slapped him across the face and shoved him back into line. She could not hear what he said to him, but Aaron did not look angry, just determined.


    The man shook his head and swung at the next fairy that came at him with renewed vigor.


    ¡°The men on the edges are starting to lose their vision,¡± Isabella chided her.


    Hailey continued to chant, concentrating only on the task at hand.


    ¡°You¡¯re trying too hard, Isabella told her. ¡°Don¡¯t try to force the magic, let it flow through you. Like the river, you are not forcing it to go the way you want it to, you are directing its flow.


    Hailey thought about that, panic rising in her chest as she thought of the men on the end who were fighting side by side with men that they could barely see. She shoved that thought out of her head and thought only of the magic, only of letting it flow through her. Something inside her, something that had been holding on tight, let go and power flooded into her.


    Hailey gasped. No wonders Isabella was so much stronger than she was. It was exhilarating and terrifying. She felt that at any moment, she might be swept along with the magic, unable to control it or herself ever again.


    Isabella only smiled. ¡°Better,¡± she said.


    Hailey could feel it now, the connection to the river, the way the cold power flowed through her, and how she could direct it, not force it the way she wanted it to go.


    Men around her were still screaming and dying. Isabella turned and ran, and Hailey watched her, wondering what she was doing.


    A fairy led a man into the shimmer nearby and he was instantly attacked. Blood spattered the front line, and some of them flinched back. Then a severed arm was thrown back onto the ground in front of them. A white faced man turned and ran but no one followed him. The men just stepped closer to one another.


    She glanced back to where Isabella had run, still holding the spell, still giving the men the ability to see.


    A monstrous shape pressed against the shimmer, and Isabella stood her ground before it. The men behind her stepped back, giving the mage plenty of room to work.


    Euphrone conspectus Taivalon buccellatum,¡± said Hailey, feeling her heart thunder in her chest. They would not survive this battle without Isabella. She could see that now.


    A massive mouth lunged out of the shadow towards Isabella, mouth open and ready to strike. It had to be a word.


    Hailey¡¯s stomach clenched. If fairies were weakening the shimmer enough to let worms through, the kingdom might not be able to stand. She had forgotten about all of the other creatures that lived in the forest.


    The warg lunched at Isabella, snapping and clawing at her. Then she did something that Hailey didn¡¯t expect. She stepped into the shimmer. Hailey¡¯s breath caught in her throat, but as the jaws of the beast opened wide, Isabella threw a fireball into the gaping maw. A howl of agony hurt Hailey¡¯s ears and she could see the men cringing back, but when Isabella returned to Hailey¡¯s side, they fought that much harder, swinging and crushing fairies in their path.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The men stood panting. The fairies stopped coming. Hailey glanced along the line, but there were none in sight. What had just happened? Weak cheers went out among the men in a few places. No one knew if the battle was one or if the fairies were regrouping behind the lines.


    Aaron felt useless. He had dragged Gavin back to the line. He was a young man, too young to be facing down fairies and who knows what else. He stood his ground and kept a close eye on his men. And then there were no fairies, nothing for him to worry about.


    ¡°She killed it!¡± Someone called out. ¡°She killed the warg!¡± The cry went down the ranks of men and then a tired looking Isabella stepped back out of the shimmer. Aaron felt a knot at the back of his shoulders loosen. If Isabella really was on their side, they might be able to win this battle, even with the wargs. His stomach tightened at the thought, though. Wargs were not something that they had planned for. Aaron hoped that Derrick had a plan to deal with those. You could not expect one mage to take out every threat to the army.


    If there were wargs, was there anything else. The cheers that went up here and there among the men were only half hearted. No one knew if the battle was finished or only started.


    He saw them then, fairies lining up again on the other side of the shimmer. Their glow made them easy to spot when you know what to look for.


    ¡°Prepare yourself, men! The fairies are preparing another attack!¡± he yelled as loud as he could manage. His message was relayed down the line of men, as if his voice had an echo. He pointed to the mages next to them. ¡°They are the magic, we are the steel!¡±


    He stood behind his men, so he could not see their expressions, but from the stances that they took, they were ready for the next wave. He smiled a grim smile. They were not done here.


    <hr>


    But the fairies didn¡¯t come. Hailey could see them, just past the shimmer. Maybe they all had to push together to get through. It would make sense, but she had never seen fairies fight like this before. She had never known that they could battle like this, as an army. She wondered how many of them there were left and how many of them had died. They disappeared when they came into contact with iron, so it was impossible to tell how many of them had died. Part of her felt a little sad about that. The forest without the fairies didn¡¯t seem right, but she would do what she could to kill them anyway. They were trying to destroy her country and she could not let that stand.


    Aaron was shouting then, and she turned to look at him. His jaw was set in grim determination.


    When he had finished what he had said to his men, another voice rang out among the men. This one was female though, and had to be Gillian. ¡°Hey, one arm, it¡¯s good to know that you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    He grinned, ¡°It¡¯s surprising that your dainty self made it out of that alive!¡± He shouted back. ¡°Did the men around you protect you?¡±


    Gillian laughed. ¡°It sounds like we need another bout on the practice ground! You¡¯re the dainty one!¡±


    Aaron laughed, too. ¡°After I take down more fairies than you, I¡¯ll be happy to duel you.¡±


    Hailey finally understood their relationship. She spotted Gillian in the crowd, grinning at him. She gave him a nod of respect.


    Hailey had had nothing to worry about this whole time. Aaron had never been in love with Gillian. She treated him like she treated the other men, with respect and laughter.


    ¡°Focus, men!¡± Derrick cried and the men all turned to face the shimmer.


    Hailey began to chant, as she had before, flooding the field with a green glow that would allow them to see.


    The shimmer began to blink again and a wave of fairies washed over them. The men swung their weapons against the creatures, battling them into non existence. Hailey focused her energy again, reminding herself to let go, to surrender to the power and let it flow through her.


    Again, she felt the iciness of the river flow through her veins. It was a sensation she didn¡¯t think she would ever get used to. She opened her eyes. Men screamed. Some of the were led into the shimmer, where the wargs waited to snap them up. It was not a fate she would wish for anyone, but for now, she was relieved that the wargs so far were not able to pass the line. She could see one of them pacing its eyes glowing yellow.


    Something behind the shimmer was humming, building to a crescendo. Isabella stood her ground, rather than running for the warg, and Hailey was relieved to have her by her side. Still, panic rose within her as she realized she had no idea what was going to come through the shimmer next. The noise was louder and louder until a single person stepped through. Then, as quickly as the fight had begun, the fairies retreated to just inside the shimmer.


    ¡°Don¡¯t chase them, men! Hold the line!¡± Derrick shouted.


    The woman who had stepped through the shimmer came closer, but the fairies stayed where they were.


    Hailey glanced at Aaron. He was looking between the woman who had just stepped out of the shimmer, then back to Isabella. His head swiveled as he looked back and forth.


    Hailey did the same. The did look similar, not exact. The dresses were definitely not the same, but the other one looked familiar, looked exactly like Isabella had on the day that she had taken the young mage out of the kingdom. She looked healthier than Isabella did, not so thin or so ragged and she carried herself with an air of superiority. This was the enemy that Isabella had been talking about, the one who had been pulling strings in the kingdom for years.


    She glanced at her ally and saw a mixture of fear and determination on Isabellas¡¯ face. Hailey wondered about everything she had heard about Isabella then. Was she the one to curse the child? Had she stolen away even one mage from this kingdom? Hailey didn¡¯t know and part of her wondered if Isabella knew as well. She had said that her memories were confusing, that she had been trapped and unaware of even her own surroundings. Maybe she hadn¡¯t done anything to hurt Taivalon.


    The one who wasn¡¯t Isabella smiled, or maybe it was barring of teeth. Then, with a single word, the fairies were on them. ¡°Attack!¡±

 Chapter 36

    The fairies were on them again and the figure stood, watching their progress, not bothering to take part in the battle. Men screamed as the fairies launched tiny arrows at them. The last wave of fairies had just tried to lure them away, but these were out to battle. Hailey concentrated, wondering if she shouldn¡¯t use her magic to do something else, but she couldn¡¯t think of what.


    She glanced at Isabella. The fear in her eyes made Hailey cringe, but there was also determination. ¡°Stay the course. There is nothing better that you can do for these men than to grant them sight.¡±


    At the moment, Hailey was wondering if bonfires would have been abetter idea, a better use of her time.


    Natalia walked behind the soldiers, taking out fairies one at a time. Hailey couldn¡¯t help wondering if there was a better spell she could throw at the shimmer to destroy them as they came out, but both of the mages she was fighting against were more experienced than she was.


    The arrows were no more than a distraction. Man after man was pelted with tiny arrows. Some of them collapsed to the ground writhing in pain, trying to pull them out. Others ignored the pain, slashing and fighting against the fairies, but as a whole, the men seemed more tired, less able to focus on destroying the fairies.


    In minutes, not one of the men that Hailey could see was not covered in arrows. Like they had done in the forest, the fairies ignored the mages all together.


    ¡°Ignore the toothpicks they are firing at you, men! It can¡¯t kill you!¡± Derrick¡¯s voice travelled back and forth behind Hailey. ¡°Kill the damned fairies. Think of your home.¡±


    It was like a wave of determination that rode along with Derrick as he screamed at his men to continue battling.


    Aaron was screaming, too. ¡°Don¡¯t go down without a fight! He ran forward to grab one of the men that the fairies was luring towards the shimmer, and came dangerously close to the mage.


    She grinned at him and he shied back. Hailey¡¯s heart was in her throat. ¡°Stay away from her!¡± She was screaming at him, but he didn¡¯t turn, didn¡¯t listen. He grabbed his soldier by the collar and dragged him back to the line, pulling the arrows out of his face. Blood dripped down the man¡¯s face, but he returned to his position.


    Aaron wasn¡¯t done, then. Man after man, he dragged back to position. One of his men made it to the shimmer and was torn to bits by a warg before Aaron could get to him. ¡°Focus, men!¡± He screamed dodging behind his men. Others were falling. The line of men had a ragged holes in it. A pile of bodies lay just inside the shimmer. Legs and torsos, arms and heads all lined the shimmer. The men screamed and fought, battling hard against an opponent with their swords as much as their minds.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let them trick you!¡± Derrick screamed, his voice becoming harsher. ¡°Don¡¯t let them drag you away! Stand by your brothers and fight!¡±


    Hailey couldn¡¯t help glancing at the woman who looked so much like Isabella. Why was she just standing there? As if her thoughts directed the woman, she moved forward, picking up soldiers and throwing them at the mages. Her attack seemed to be focused on Isabella. Hailey dodged out of the way as the severed arm of one of the men came flying straight for her.


    ¡°You¡¯re on the wrong side of this battlefield,¡± she shouted at Isabella. ¡°Do you really think that you and a half train mage can stand against me and all the fairies of the forest?¡±


    Even the fairies were beginning to tire though. Hailey continued to chant, hoping that dawn would come soon, so she could let go of this spell and do something to help the men. Her heart wrenched for them. How many of the men who had fallen were fathers or husbands? Some of them were too young to be facing this horror.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Suddenly, the fairies stopped moving. An explosion nearly knocked her over. She straightened her spine and was caught, unable to move. Her mouth could not continue the chant. All she could move was her eyes. Not Isabella was moving now, walking closer. What was she doing to her? She glanced around. No one else was moving either. She couldn¡¯t see Aaron without turning her head, and she couldn¡¯t turn her head at all. Only the woman who had frozen the entire battlefield seemed immune to the spell.


    <hr>


    Isabella recognized the spell and gasped. She remembered freezing an entire room of people, or had that been Lillith? The woman who was striding towards her now, grinning as if the lives of the men before her, the lives of everyone around her were just part of a game she was playing. Lillith was enjoying this, and Isbella then the rage and the hatred for her flow through her veins.


    She tried to move. Everyone else seemed frozen, but Isabella could move ever so slowly. It didn¡¯t seem to matter, though. Lillith seemed more than happy to take her time. She walked slowly between the soldirs, carressing the jaw of one. She took the sword out of the man¡¯s hands and stabbed the soldier right next to him. He couldn¡¯t move, couldn¡¯t scream, couldn¡¯t fall to the earth.


    Isabella had to do something. She couldn¡¯t just just let them all die. She began moving forward, unsure of what to do. Spells flashed through her mind, some of which she had not thought of in ages. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. What would she be able to cast fast enough to make it through the freezing spell before Lillith killed them all.


    She continued, the rusty sword that she had taken from the soldier in one hand. She grabbed a man around the neck and leaned up to him as if she was going to kiss him, then she slammed the sword home.


    Isabella watched in horror as she came close to the prince, but she only caressed his face, moving on to the men next to him, and slicing through his throat.


    Finally, Lillith stopped before Isabella, a wide grin on her face. She cocked her head to one side. ¡°Did you really think that I would let you go that easily? That all you had to do was run away?¡±


    ¡°Look around you. You don¡¯t belong here. They have never allow to be part of them. You belong with me.¡±


    Isabella could not deny that she didn¡¯t really belong with other people. She knew that her mind was not as clear, even now as it once had been, but that didn¡¯t matter. She certainly didn¡¯t belong with Isabella. Killing people, even killing the fairies, the magical creatures that had once befriended her when no one else would, made her sick. But she was not going to sit by and let Lillith destroy the kingdom. This may not be her home now, but it once was, and the people in it were worth fighting for. She clenched her jaw. Lillith would not understand any of that. She wouldn¡¯t care.


    ¡°They never accepted you, Isabella, they threw you away. Are you really going to let the fairies, the ones who trust you, who don¡¯t look at you with hate in their eyes die because of your foolishness?¡±


    Isabella refused to rise to the bait. ¡°It was you all along. You made me into the monster that they think I am.¡±


    Lillith placed a cold hand on Isabella¡¯s cheek. ¡°Oh darling, you were always a monster. I just helped you reach your full potential. Now, come away with me and we can end this foolishness.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Isabella shouted. I refuse to do anything you want me to do.¡±


    ¡°Hmmh,¡± Lillith almost chucked. ¡°Well then, we will have to revert to the old way of doing things.¡±


    Isabella¡¯s stomach tightened. She couldn¡¯t remember what Lillith used to do to her. She trapped her mind in a web of lies. Was that what she meant by the old way? Could she turn Isabella and make her fight the people she had come to protect?


    Then Lillith snapped her fingers, grinning and stepping back. Isabella feel to the ground and began to scream. Her whole body ached and began to grow. Memories flooded her mind. No! She thought. Fight it!


    Lillith was turning her back into the dragon. She had to resist, but her body wouldn¡¯t listen. It grew and morphed until she was standing in front of her nemesis as a massive, scaly dragon.


    Her breaths were ragged, and she gasped to fill her aching lungs. She had sworn never to take this shape again. After the last time, when she had fought the mage¡­she had fought Hailey. She turned her massive head to look at the mage who had killed her, hadn¡¯t she? She had destroyed the dragon and left Isabella stumbling way from the castle.


    Hailey looked at her with terror in her eyes, but she could no more move than Hailey could fight Lillith.


    Lillith waved a lazy hand and the men she had killed slumped to the ground. The fairies attacked anew, and Isabella was trapped in this body, unable to cast even a single spell.

 Chapter 37

    Hailey gasped. Isabella was the dragon? She hadn¡¯t told Hailey that, but then she might not have remembered. Hailey looked at the silvery spells and she knew. She had killed this dragon. It had died. Her heart thundered in her chest, but she had to concentrate. She only hoped that the dragon would not turn on them.


    Hailey took over the spell that Isabella had been casting, pushing magic into the shimmer, not letting it fall. If the wargs got through, they would rip through the army so quickly that none of them would stand a chance. The shimmer held, but it was a more difficult spell to hold and it drained more magic faster. She groaned against the effort, not knowing how long she could hold on.


    Where was Natalia when she needed her? She glanced around and saw her running back into the shimmer. At least someone was able to battle the wargs. She looked exhausted, but she was still fighting.


    Isabella glanced at her, sorrow in her huge dragon eyes. Hailey¡¯s stomach threatened to empty itself. If the dragon turned on them, there was no hope. She didn¡¯t even know if Aaron had his dragon sword, but the last battle with the dragon had only ended because of the death spell, a spell that Hailey hadn¡¯t learned, a curse that she didn¡¯t think she would have to know.


    Lillith was still standing there, looking at Isabella as if he had a new pet to command. She pointed directly to Hailey. ¡°Kill her!¡± Lillith shouted.


    Isabella¡¯s head swung towards Hailey and she thought for a moment that this was it, the end of her life. She panted, trying to focus on the spell, trying to keep the wargs at bay.


    ¡°Kill her, now!¡± Lillith shouted again.


    Then, inside Hailey¡¯s mind, she heard a shout, more of a shriek. ¡°No!¡±


    The dragon swiped at Lillith, but Lillith only hovered over her, moving around as if she were one of the fairies.


    ¡°What did you make me do?¡±


    Lillith laughed at this. ¡°Whatever I wanted. Don¡¯t forget, I have goals, things I¡¯m trying to accomplish. You just helped me achieve them.¡±


    The dragon swiped at Lillith again. ¡°You made me curse the princess! It was you! You made me curse the child!¡± Isabella¡¯s voice in her head was filled with agony and regret.


    Lilith dodged the swipe easily and looked at her nails. ¡°Well, she was sort of in my way and it was a good distraction for the heir to spend all of his time worrying over his daughter instead of focusing on his kingdom.¡± She grinned. ¡°I thought that was brilliant, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Isabella snapped at her in response, trying to catch her in her teeth, but Lillith was always too quick.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the damage you did to the castle. You killed people there. You even killed a mage.¡± Lillith¡¯s voice was musical, exuberant.


    Hailey¡¯s heart was in her throat. She had trusted the woman who had killed Barinon, destroyed the mage library and almost left Taivalon completely. How much of that was Lillith and how much was Isabella? Isabella had known not to tell Hailey that she was the dragon. She would have had a harder time trusting her, but Hailey refused to blame Isabella. Lillith had been pulling the strings, twisting her mind and making her fight against her own countrymen.


    She looked at the beautiful dragon, and realized that despite everything that Isabella had done, she still trusted her, at least she could as long as she was fighting against Lillith, the one who had enslaved her and tried to destroy the kingdom.


    Hailey fought to keep control of the spell. A new wave of something was pressing against it. She could feel the resistance to her magic.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    The dragon lunged at Lillith and caught her up on a clawed hand. The Hailey had to jump back to stay clear of the massive wings. The dragon lifted into the sky, beating its massive wings and knocking soldiers to the ground.


    ¡°Let me go,¡± Lillith ordered, but the dragon didn¡¯t listen. She rose higher and higher into the sky.


    ¡°You can do this,¡± the dragon¡¯s voice echoed in her mind. Hold the shimmer while I deal with the witch.¡±


    And Hailey did just that, focusing on the spell, pushing magic into the spell and hoping to see Natalia again. She needed help and the soldiers needed to be able to see. She could not maintain both spells without help.


    <hr>


    Hailey glanced up to see the dragon, but as dawn finally began creeping over the horizon, she could make out nothing in the clear winter sky. She wondered if Isabella would just fly away. A dragon would be a huge help against the wargs.


    But then, as Hailey began to give up hope on receiving help from anyone, the dragon swooped in, breathing fire on the fairies that were pushing agains the shimmer. The body of a warg was thrown into the line of men. Its neck had a massive bite mark on its neck. Hailey gasped. She had only seen them from behind the shimmer. She had had no idea how big they were. No wonders only parts of the soldiers remained. The mouth was large enough to almost take an entire man in its jaws.


    But the dragon was stronger. Isabella breathed fire behind the shimmer and the screams of tiny fairies met her ears. Hailey felt relief as the pressure against the shimmer began to lessen, and the morning sun began to rise.


    Natalia staggered out from behind the shimmer and collapsed. She had been burned and cut, but she seemed to still be alive. Hailey squared her shoulders. If she was the only mage left in the battle, then she would do her best.


    Something massive screamed and dropped out of the sky. Hailey glanced up to see a green dragon flying straight for the line of men.


    ¡°Look out!¡± Hailey screamed, pointing to the sky. The men scrambled back, trying to stay clear of the monstrous beast. Isabella turned, looking angrily at the other dragon.


    Isabella ran, crashing into the other dragon. The green swiped massive claws, cutting into the silver dragon¡¯s side. They were matched in size and Hailey almost dropped the spell as she turned to watch.


    Men ran in every direction, trying to get away from the fighting dragons. Gillian was knocked aside by a massive tail and Hailey had no idea where Aaron was.


    Derrick was screaming orders to the men but no one seemed to be listening. Pressure built against the shimmer. Hailey was almost to of magic. She tapped into the reserve magic that she had stored. What had Isabella called it? Either way, she was glad to have it, relieved that she had spent days wearying herself to the point of complete exhaustion.


    She watched the dragon¡¯s fight, still trying to focus on the shimmer. The scales that had been impossible for swords to penetrate were sliced with claws and teeth. One of Isabella¡¯s legs was dripping blood and she held it off the ground. Lillith snarled at her, lashing out with a claw but the silver dragon sidestepped and slammed into her with her massive head.


    Her attention was dragged away from the dragons as her magic began to fade. Her reserves were almost used up. Men were still swinging at fairies with their iron swords, but they all looked wearied, beaten and exhausted. Many of them were covered in tiny arrows, and still swinging their swords.


    Hailey did not know what she would do when she ran out of magic. How could she continue to hold? The soldiers would not be able to fight against another wave of fairies.


    Her attention was drawn to the dragons again as they became closer. Hailey tried to run, tried to dodge out of the way, but a massive tail sent her flying. She flew through the air, letting go of the spell that held the shimmer in place and shielding herself. She bounced and landed on her feet.


    Then she turned and ran. The green dragon was trying to get to her, trying to kill her. Hailey turned to see the silver dragon slam into the green dragon, knocking it on its side.


    Her heart pounded in her ears, and her arms trembled as she poured her last bit of energy into the shimmer. It would have to be enough to hold. She could do no more.


    The green dragon swiped at her and Hailey tried to shield herself but there was no magic there, nothing for her to draw on. She flew through the air again, but this time she landed on stone with no shield to protect her. Hailey heard a crack and pain lanced through Hailey¡¯s spine. She cried out in agony. She had broken something. She had heard the crack of her bones breaking. She tried to move. The dragons were coming her way. Lillith would try to finish her off and she couldn¡¯t even pull herself off of the rock that was digging into her back.

 Chapter 38

    Hailey¡¯s breaths were coming in ragged bursts and she focused on that, trying to shove the pain out of her mind. She needed to move, needed to do anything. She couldn¡¯t heal. There was no magic left. Tears of pain and frustration slid down her face and behind her ears as she watched the sky lighten. She could not even manage to pull herself upright.


    The men were staying clear of this area, doing their best to fight the fairies while also staying way from the massive beasts that threatened to destroy anything left on the battlefield.


    Lillith lunged for her, and Hailey screamed, knowing that at any moment, she would die, but Isabella slammed herself between Hailey and the other dragon. The claws that would have ended Hailey¡¯s life ripped into Isabella¡¯s front leg.


    ¡°Take a scale and heal yourself!¡± Isabella shouted in her mind.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Scales are pure magic, even conjured ones like the ones I wear.¡± She gripped a scale in her massive and flung it in Hailey¡¯s direction. The silvery scale gleamed despite its being covered in blood.


    Hailey couldn¡¯t move her legs. In agony, rolled herself over. Then, she dragged her body across the ground, using her elbows to move her forward, reaching for the scale as she went. A man ran past, screaming, a fairy floating in his vision. Hailey tried to scream, but he stomped on her outreached hand. Her entire body screamed at her to stop, screamed at her to lie down and die, but she couldn¡¯t give in. The scale was just within reach. Her injured fingers trembled as she grabbed the scale.


    ¡°Cosano ossiculum,¡± Hailey chanted, feeling the bones that had crushed mend back together. She cried out in pain. Chest heaving. Magic flooded through her again. She had had nothing yet. Her fingers gripped the scale even tighter. ¡° Cosano nervus, cosano cuticula,¡± she chanted. Feeling shot through her legs, a stabbing pain, and finally the cuts and scrapes all over her body began to heal.


    Isabella screamed in pain. The other dragon was on top of her, shredding her belly.


    Hailey scrambled forward. She could not let Isabella die, could not let Lillith destroy the mage who had helped Taivalon survive the battle. She clutched the scale and ran straight for the dragons. Aware that she was doing something reckless, she grabbed the tip of Isabella¡¯s tail and chanted, drawing power from the scale on Isabella¡¯s own hide.


    Isabella roared and Hailey jumped back as Lillith was thrown aside. The green dragon glared at Hailey, and charged towards her but Isabella held her off. Hailey threw a fireball at Lillith¡¯s face. Lillith growled, but Hailey hit her again and again. Once side of the dragon was a smoking ruin.


    Isabella crushed Lillith¡¯s head. Lillith kicked at her, scraping her feet down Isabella¡¯s stomach and leaving a long red gash on the silvery scales. Isabella was thrown back and Hailey dodged Lillith¡¯s green claws.


    Isabella was gasping in pain, but Lillith was coming straight for her, a wicked glare on her dragon face.


    You can heal yourself, Hailey thought at Isabella. She didn¡¯t know if Lillith would learn this, too but couldn¡¯t get close enough to heal her ally.


    I am a dragon. I cannot speak the words of the spell, Isabella said in Hailey.


    You did it before. I don¡¯t know how.


    Hailey launched a lighting spell at Lillith, scrambling back to stay away from those claws. Lillith froze, lightning crackling over her scales. Then she swiped at Hailey, but Hailey¡¯s shield was in place.


    Isabella slammed into the other dragon, knocking her back. Lillith launched herself to her feet, wings beating the earth. A cloud of dust and dirt filled the air, making Hailey cough and cringe.


    I¡¯m not going to win this, Isabella said in Hailey¡¯s mind.


    Hailey gritted her teeth. Was her ally giving up so soon? She didn¡¯t think she could hold her own against the green dragon. They were so difficult to kill. She wracked her mind for anything she could use against her foe, but the only spells that came to mind were the ones she had used on Isabella when Barinon was by her side. You have to keep trying. You have to kill her for what she has done.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Listen. Lillith has someone else in the castle, another spy. Trust no one. They will try to kill the final heir.


    Hailey did not have time to think over Isabella¡¯s words. She focused on her enemy. If she could stop Lillith from being able to move around, from being able to hurt Isabella, maybe they could win this.


    Isabella knocked Lillith to the ground. The green dragon sprawled on its side. Hailey bound Lillith to the ground, the same basic binding that Barinon had taught her all those months ago.  Lillith screamed, unable to move.


    Isabella did not hesitate. She slashed and bit at the dragon while Lillith could do nothing but move her legs around in an attempt to hold the other dragon back. Isabella grabbed the other dragon¡¯s long neck in her teeth and shook it and for a moment, Hailey thought that this was it, they might be victorious after all,


    But then the green dragon disappeared, a ragged and tired Lillith standing in its place. She grinned, and the ground shook again as it had before.


    <hr>


    Again, Hailey couldn¡¯t move, couldn¡¯t see what was going on. Where were any of the soldiers? Had they all fallen? She had been so focused on the dragons that she had not even thought about what else might be happening on the battle field. All she could see was men who had fallen, the shimmer, still holding and the shapes of fairies pushing against it. Her muscles ached to move. She needed to know what was going on. Was Lillith coming for her again? She had seemed so determined to kill her.


    And then she could move again. She looked around. Isabella was gone. The dragon scale was still clutched in one hand. She scanned the battlefield for Lillith, but she didn¡¯t see her. The fairies were fighting again. Men were screaming and dying again. Hailey regained the place where she and Isabella had stood, and pushed magic into the shimmer. The fairies that had been pouring through moments before stopped.


    They might not be able to take down Isabella, but they could destroy the fairies before they did any more destruction to the shimmer, to the land.


    In the distance, she could see Aaron screaming for his soldiers to take a stand. The scattered and ragged bunch of men began to regroup. ¡°This is it, men! Give them everything you¡¯ve got. Do not let them into the kingdom!¡±


    Where was Derrick or Gillian. Then she remembered, Gillian had fallen. There were so few of them that Hailey¡¯s heart ached just seeing them stand. But Aaron had taken the lead, had gathered the men they had left and the fairies were flying straight for them, the nearest humans that they could get to.


    Hailey watched in horror as she saw how many of them were pouring through the weakened shimmer. Even though she was dumping everything she could into it, too much time had passed while she hadn¡¯t even worried about maintaining the spell.


    People were coming from behind them now, men and women and children, all with fairies leading them towards the shimmer. She could see the warg pacing one the other side. Natalia had not killed them all. She felt sick, but she had to hold the shimmer and swatting the fairies away from the faces of the people might be too risky. She groaned, unsure of what to do.


    Then, she remembered, she had a defense agains this, she picked up a gleaming green scale and pocketed the slivery one that Isabella had given her. Then, she cast true sight on all of the people coming her way. ¡°Perspicacitas,¡± she said, focusing on the group of people. It required a massive amount of energy to get them all, and she didn¡¯t know how long it would last, but instantly, the town¡¯s people¡¯s eyes were cleared.


    ¡°Help the soldiers! Kill the fairies before they kill you!¡± Hailey screamed at them, handing a man a sword that lay by a fallen soldier. He looked at it dumbly for a moment and then he swung at the fairy in front of them. Many of the people, even some the children followed suit, picking up the weapons of the fallen and forming a line with the soldiers. Still, fairies were flowing through the weakened shimmer.


    She squared her shoulders and marched down the hill. She would not let the fairies win.


    She stood close to the shimmer, close enough that she could almost touch it, and then she pulled the magic from the scale and formed her mage¡¯s sword. Power flooded through her. She chanted as she swung, killing dozens of fairies in a single stroke.


    She used her anger and frustration to move her forward, along the line, swinging and crying out her chant, determined not to let the wargs through, determined to keep people safe from these viscous little creatures.


    A dozen of them appeared before her with bows at the ready. She swiped, but she could not kill them all. One of them launched a tiny arrow, spearing her in the shoulder. She ignored the pain and continued to chant, pouring more and more energy into the shimmer, hoping that she would have enough to last the battle. She swung again and her blade began to fade, her power almost gone. Then the fairies that were left retreated, fading back into the shimmer. Finally, there was nothing left to fight.


    Hailey dropped to her knees, feeling exhausted and victorious. This day had required everything she had to give.

 Chapter 39

    Hailey looked up to see a little girl walking towards the shimmer, but there wasn¡¯t a fairy in front of her. She began to panic. Was there something else up Lillith¡¯s sleeve? Was this another attack, but the red haired little girl turned and came straight for Hailey.


    She was a beautiful child, but she wore a determined look. ¡°I saw fall down,¡± the little girl said. ¡°Will this make you feel better?¡±


    She held out a glittering sliver scale. Hailey smiled and took the scale, feeling power and energy flow into her again. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°That makes me feel a lot better.¡±


    The little girl grinned and turned to go. ¡°Wait,¡± said Hailey. She handed the little girl the silver scale that was still in her pocket. ¡°You can keep this one. I don¡¯t think it will help me anymore.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said the little girl. ¡°I can see if I can find more.¡±


    ¡°Grace!¡± A woman shouted. ¡°Grace, where are you?¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± the little girl said. ¡°I better go find my mama.¡± Then she turned and ran back to her mother¡¯s side.


    Hailey knew she should rise, should see to the wounded, but she was so tired, she just wanted to sit there. The little girl was right, though. She should pull herself to her feet.


    ¡°You ok?¡± A shadow crossed her vision.


    She looked up to see Aaron standing over her. Relief washed over her. The entire battle, she had worried that he might be killed. ¡°Just tired.¡±


    He held out his good hand and helped her to her feet. He had a gash on his shoulder and hundreds of little fairy arrows covered his body. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re still going to need you,¡± he said. Many of the men are still injured and Derrick.¡± He paused. ¡°Derrick might not make it. Gillian can¡¯t seem to move her legs and there are so many others. I don¡¯t want to see you work yourself ragged like you did before, but¡­¡±


    She smiled at him. ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± She held onto his hand longer than necessary. She held out the scale. ¡°I think I¡¯ll have enough energy left to take care of the soldiers. I¡¯ll see to Derrick first and then, after you pull all of those arrows out of your skin, I¡¯ll need you to come see me. I need someone to organize people so I know who I need to heal and who the healers can take care of.¡±


    He nodded and led the way to Derrick, pulling fairy¡¯s arrows out of his skin. Derrick was close to the shimmer. ¡°He charged one of the wargs when it got too close. The other mage killed the warg, but Derrick¡­¡±


    She looked down. A large cut crossed Derrick¡¯s stomach and chest. He was bleeding heavily and unconscious. She placed her hand on either side of the wound and sent a trickle of magic into his body so that she could see what was wrong with him. It was only the gash, no broken bones.


    ¡°I think he¡¯ll be ok, she said.


    Aaron squeezed her shoulder. ¡°Thank you, Hailey. I¡¯m sorry that you are the only one.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± She was getting used to that.


    Then he turned and started giving soldier¡¯s orders. One of them climbed on top of Derrick¡¯s horse and rode to the castle to get wagons. She was impressed with the way that Aaron handled things. He seemed to always know just what to do.


    She focused on Derrick, closing her eyes and sending a healing through him. She knew now that she could heal a person completely, but that would take too much magic and she didn¡¯t know how many people she would need to heal.


    As she watched, his wound closed, but he still lay motionless.


    Aaron found her again and led her to person after person. Wagons were brought and the injured were taken back to the castle. He paused in front of Gillian, wanting to know if she would be ok.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Hailey grimaced. ¡°This is going to take time, but she¡¯ll be fine¡± she said. ¡°She must be in massive amounts of pain. Gillian had broken almost as many bones as Hailey had, and without  Hailey¡¯s help, she definitely would die. A stone had cut open her leg. Her face was pale. She had lost too much blood. Hailey felt a stab of guilt for just sitting there after the battle. There was still a lot of work to do.


    Hailey knelt beside the woman who she had been so jealous of and set to work.


    <hr>


    Hailey rose from the last man, her dragon scale almost completely emptied. They had all suffered at least some scrapes and cuts. Some of the soldiers had accidentally hit their comrades when Hailey dropped the night vision spell. Many of the men hadn¡¯t survived.


    ¡°You coming?¡± Aaron helped her to her feet. He looked as exhausted and haggard as she felt.


    ¡°I will be there later,¡± said Hailey. She had some things to think over, and she didn¡¯t want to sleep until she figured out what was bothering her about this whole battle.


    He hugged her to him. ¡°You were amazing today.¡±


    ¡°So were you. You took charge when Derrick got hit. I don¡¯t think the men would have stood as well as they did without someone shouting orders at them.¡±


    He gave her a half smile that made his cheek dimple.


    ¡°Aaron! We¡¯re leaving!¡± Christian shouted from aboard the last cart.


    ¡°Just promise me that you will get some sleep,¡± Aaron said.


    ¡°I will. I just have a few things to think over and then I might sleep for two days.¡± She said.


    He grinned. ¡°I might hold you to that.¡± And then he turned and walked away. She watched him go. She was so lucky to have him in her life. She knew that she was a little awkward around people, but he had always believed in her and there was so much she wanted to share with him.


    The wagon lurched forward and he waved.


    Hailey sat where she and Isabella had battled. The battlefield had been cleared for the most part, but Hailey lingered, sitting on a stone and looking out over the shimmer. The sun was up, but it still did not provide much warmth.


    It was so strange that she and the woman that had cursed Aurora had been able to undo the spell. When it came down to it, it was a simple dismissal and it didn¡¯t require any more magic than what Hailey had even without the battery, which meant that Isabella hadn¡¯t really needed Hailey¡¯s help.


    She tossed a stone into the shimmer. Someone had been controlling the fairies, she was sure of it. Fairies didn¡¯t behave the way they did, and she had never seen one with a bow and arrow until last night. They had come to the border and died. Usually, they tried to kill people who came into the forest, but Hailey had started to think of that as the fairies defending their territory. If what Isabella said was true, that they couldn¡¯t breed on human lands, then it made sense for them to defend their own land.


    She could not even see them behind the shimmer now. Not the fairies nor the wargs. They had all gone, even the ones who had flown deeper into the kingdom. As she had set about healing the soldiers, the fairies had flown back, not even trying to bring people with them, and then they had disappeared into the shimmer.


    She was glad of their victory, but thoughts of things that Isabella had told her still battled for attention in her brain. Hailey knew she would have to return soon. She would have to return and sleep. Then she would have to keep watch on the princess.


    She thought about the king, the first death of the night, and the way that Isabella had kissed him. She was his sister. Now that she thought about it, she could see the resemblance.


    Hailey looked up at the shimmer and gasped. The princess was not the heir, Isabella was and now the heir, the person controlling the border of Taivalon was in the hands of Lillith. Barinon had been right. After everything. Hailey hadn¡¯t woken the princess in time and so the power of the heir had gone to Isabella instead of Aurora.


    She began to cry. After all of that, after everything she had fought for, finally freeing the princess and setting things to rights along the shimmer, she had not done enough. Lillith had taken Isabella and even if Aurora ruled, Isabella was the heir, the one with the power to control the border. To keep the fairies out or let them flood back in, and she was in the hands of the enemy. This war wasn¡¯t over, it was only beginning.


    She scrubbed at her face. Why hadn¡¯t she seen it before? What Isabella had said about the heir being safe had been true at the time. It all made sense to her now. Isabella had been safe at the time, but now she wasn¡¯t. She didn¡¯t know why Lillith was trying to destroy the kingdom, but as long as she was out there, as long as she lived, Taivalon would fall. Isabella had tried to warn her, about what Lillith had been doing.


    Lillith would continue to capture mages and keep them hostage, or maybe she was killing them. Hailey didn¡¯t know, but she suddenly understood why it was so important to protect Aurora. If Lillith had a spy and she killed Isabella, then Aurora¡¯s life would be at risk. She rose and created her portal and then, at long last, Hailey went home.

 Chapter 40

    Someone shook Hailey¡¯s shoulder. Hailey groaned. She wanted to continue to sleep, but she couldn¡¯t rest with someone pushing at her like that. She cracked an eye open. ¡°Esmerelda?¡± She sat up.


    Esmerelda raced to the wardrobe.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Had Lillith returned? Had something happened to the princess.


    Esmerelda pulled an ornate gown from the wardrobe. ¡°The queen is going to be presented to the royal court. As royal mage, you are required to attend.¡±


    Hailey scrubbed at her face. ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Her friend gasped. ¡°It is can honor. You have to go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go. I just want to sleep instead. That¡¯s all. Do I have to wear that one, though. It¡¯s itchy.¡±


    Esmerelda was firm. ¡°You will look like the royal mage that you are.


    Hailey opened her mouth, but Esmerelda didn¡¯t let her speak.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about bringing up the awful robes that they used to wear.¡±


    And so Hailey allowed Esmerelda to put up her hair with surprisingly gentle hands, and dress her in the gown that Esmerelda wanted. When she was done, Hailey had to admit that Esmerelda knew what she was doing.


    Her friend looked at her in the mirror. ¡°If that soldier doesn¡¯t leave that other woman for you now, then there is no hope for him.¡±


    Hailey smiled. She did look better, and she was glad to heave a friend here who had more sense about these things. Esmerelda would have made the perfect lady.


    ¡°Have a good time,¡± Esmerelda said, picking up the breakfast tray. ¡°And hurry. You are almost late.¡±


    Hailey made her way to the Singer¡¯s Hall, one long room at the very top of the castle. Most of the seats were already taken, and she looked nervously for anyone she recognized. She wished she had not eaten so much breakfast. Just being around this many people unsettled her.


    Aaron waved to her and she took a seat. He took her hand, sending a thrill through her. He was cleaned up and dressed in a new military uniform. She smiled at him. ¡°Thanks for saving me a spot.¡±


    Queen Endolynn stood before the large group of people on a small dais. She cleared her throat. ¡°As many of you know, my husband, King Theodric Aster has been suffering with an illness. It is with great sorrow that I stand before you now to tell you that illness overtook him and he passed away last night.¡±


    A gasp ran through the crowd. The woman to Hailey¡¯s right began to cry almost unconsolably. Hailey¡¯s heart ached. She would miss the old king, even though she hadn¡¯t known him for very long.


    The queen wiped at her eyes, keeping more composure than most people in the audience. ¡°But it isn¡¯t all bad news. My daughter, Aurora is awake and free from the spell that bound her. Aurora entered the room behind the crowd and they all gasped when they saw her. She was strikingly beautiful in her royal blue gown. When she reached the dais, she turned.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°People of Taivalon, it is my honor to stand before you. In three day¡¯s time, after my father¡¯s funeral and a period of mourning, I will be crowned queen.¡± She glanced over the faces of the crowd with a look of earnestness.


    ¡°This kingdom still stands because of the brave soldiers who have gone to war to protect us from the onslaught of fairies, and while many of them have died in battle, others are still wounded and recovering. Soldiers of Taivalon, please rise.¡±


    Hailey grinned at Aaron as he rose. ¡°I wish I had something to give you to honor your bravery and the dedication you have shown to your kingdom, but for now, you have our gratitude. You have defended Taivalon against one of the greatest enemies our kingdom has yet faced.¡±


    The crowd cheered and clapped for the soldiers.


    ¡°But none of this would have been possible without the tireless effort of our Royal Mage. Hailey, if you would please join me.¡±


    Hailey rose on trembling legs. She did not want to stand in front of a giant group of people.


    ¡°Not only has she saved me from the spell that kept me sleeping for so many years, but she has also worked tirelessly to save the kingdom from the fairies¡¯ invasion, and when all of that was done, did she stop working? No. She healed the soldiers. Taivalon is safe because of the efforts of one woman.¡±


    Hailey cringed, but tried to make it look like a smile. Taivalon was not safe. The heir was missing, but she couldn¡¯t tell the people that.


    Aurora continued. ¡°To the mage of Taivalon!¡±


    As the crowd cheered, Hailey tried to make her smile look genuine. They had survived a difficult battle, but the war wasn¡¯t over.


    <hr>


    There was feasting in celebration after the queen¡¯s proclamation, but Hailey couldn¡¯t bring herself to stay in the room with all the people laughing and drinking. There was too much on her mind, too much to worry about.


    She lifted the skirts of her red dress and made her way into the corridor.


    ¡°I thought you might be trying to make an escape,¡± someone said behind her.


    She spun to find Aaron standing in the shadows. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We can go back in if you want.¡±


    He held out an arm and she took it. ¡°I think I¡¯d rather know what is on your mind.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the courtyard,¡± Hailey said. ¡°And then I will tell you, but how did you know?¡± She loved the way his cheeks dimpled into a grin.


    ¡°Maybe it was the grimace that you gave the crowd while the new queen was shouting your praises.¡±


    She felt heat rise to her cheeks. ¡°Was it that obvious?¡±


    ¡°To me it was.¡±


    They stepped out into the courtyard and into the cold night air. He took her in his arms and a thrill ran through her. He was so warm, and he had a way of making her feel safe, despite everything. He placed his chin on top of her head and said. ¡°Tell me what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    And so she told him about Isabella, about Lillith. All of her fears and worries came tumbling out along with tears. She cried into his chest, feeling foolish for being so upset when the rest of the kingdom was celebrating.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she told him. ¡°You could be in there celebrating and instead you¡¯re out her freezing and I¡¯m making your jacket wet with tears.¡±


    He looked down at her. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.¡±


    He kissed her then, tender and sweet.


    Her heart thumped in her chest. Her lips felt hot against his and she let herself be taken by the passion that was flooding through her body. She shivered against him, and he broke the kiss.


    ¡°You¡¯re freezing,¡± he said, rubbing her arms. ¡°Whatever it is, whatever is out there still trying to destroy our kingdom, we will figure it out. We won¡¯t let Taivalon fall, but for now, I think we should celebrate our victory with everyone else.¡± He took her hand and lead her inside.


    As they walked, Hailey felt lighter. He was right. They had battled and they had won. They may have things to face in the future, but for now, they should celebrate. She grinned. He had finally kissed her and it felt so good just to have her hand in his.

 Epilogue

    The change from dragon to human was also a painful one, but Lillith forced her body to change. Isabella cried out, but Lillith gave her no time to recover. She only yanked her upright and shoved her through an open portal.


    Isabella gasped. Before her was a house made of gingerbread of all things. Little gumdrops were stacked along the ridge of the roof. Candy canes dotted the snow covered ground.


    ¡°It¡¯ s not real, you idiot. You have come here before,¡± Lillith said.


    But Isabella did not remember that. Lillith waved her hand and the image of a gingerbread house vanished, to be replaced with a small cottage. Even the fairies stayed away from this place, or maybe it was just that there were so many of them that died. Her heart ached for what had been done to the fairies, no what she had done. She was the one who had called the attack and then she had battled to destroy them.


    As she followed Lillith into her home, Isabella did recognize the place. She had come here looking for someone, hadn¡¯t she?


    Lillith opened the door to a large metal cage and stuffed Isabella inside. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Isabella asked.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you figured it out? You are the heir, just like I wanted. You are going to continue to do whatever I say.¡±


    Isabella¡¯s stomach tightened. Of course Lillith would want the person she controlled to be the ruler of a nation. Lillith could become queen without having to conquer a kingdom.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°My job is to make sure that Taivalon does not stand. It can either join with me and submit to my rule, or it can perish, just like the Hasterian Kingdom.¡±


    Isabella gasped. She knew that kingdom. More than that, she knew the castle. She had spent a good part of her life hiding out in that castle and then Lillith had bound her to it. Lillith was a vengeful, evil woman, but she hadn¡¯t known that she was the one to destroy that kingdom. All she had to do was to kill the heir, and then the power that kept the kingdom safe would be dissolved. She couldn¡¯t help worrying that the power that was flooding through her now, the power of the heir was in Lillith¡¯s grip.


    She sat in a chair next to Isabella, offering her a bowl of stew. ¡°I can see that it¡¯s finally starting to set in.¡± She grinned.


    ¡°You will help me control Taivalon or all of the people in the entire kingdom will die.¡± She pouted as if the thought actually bothered her.


    ¡°And if I don¡¯t cooperate.¡±


    Lillith grinned at that. ¡°Look at you, you¡¯re in a cage. You¡¯re not exactly in a place to bargain, but I will grant you something if you will work with me. ¡°I will reveal what I know about your daughter, if¡­¡± Lillith paused.


    Isabella couldn¡¯t help the hope that flooded through her at the mention of her daughter. She had done so many things to try to find her. She knew she wasn¡¯t a baby anymore. She would be much older, but it didn¡¯t matter. What Isabella wanted most in the world was to find her daughter, and put her arms around her. ¡°¡­if what?¡±


    ¡°I have one more favor to ask of you, Isabella, and then I will help you find your daughter.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Isabella had been tricked, tortured and messed with enough by this woman. She would not just accept whatever Lillith offered. She would have to think it through.


    Lillith¡¯s grin only widened and then she began to explain.