Indigo Magic (22 page)

‘This human means something to you.’ Lily gave me an acrid smile.

I fluttered towards Sam, my wings beating raggedly.

‘
Chantmentum pellex
,’ I said softly to release him from any gag spell, and sent magic into the wand still in my pocket.

He squinted hard at me. ‘Those eyes,’ he said, his voice cracking. ‘You look like a lot like that girl I met named Zaria – only you have wings and …’

I wanted to touch him, comfort him, but I simply hovered, and didn’t answer.

‘I’m dreaming, aren’t I?’ he asked. ‘But I don’t remember falling asleep.’ He tried to lift his hand, but the genies on either side of him pinned his arms to his sides. ‘What the …?’ he said, and then stared round wildly, while I watched in helpless fear.

Lily floated close to us, her heavy scent strangling. ‘Aevia ray, Zaria, or say a last goodbye to this pitiful human.’

Sam nodded to himself. ‘Definitely dreaming.’

Pouring power into my hidden wand, I spoke aloud a spell using ordinary words: ‘The gun is useless.’

‘Wrong,’ Lily answered, pointing to the grey genie. ‘Calcite tested it.’

How
had he tested it? Had he hurt someone? If only I had destroyed the gun sooner.

‘I know your affection for this human.’ She touched Sam’s forehead with a graceful finger, and he flinched and shut his eyes.

How had she found him? There were so few times when I could have been seen in the scopes with Sam, each lasting only seconds.

What could I do for him now? Even if I struck a bargain for his freedom, Lily would remember where he lived and who he was.
Unless I can get past her protection spells
. Again, I felt the wild Feynere magic flaring.

Leona drifted forward with Andalonus, watchful and
waiting
.
Please, Leona. Please. Take this human boy away from here. Take him to safety
.

My fairy friend gave me a sad smile – and then vanished with Andalonus.

Lily sniffed triumphantly. ‘One by one, Zaria, your friends desert you.’

But the grey genie yelled as he smacked into his fellow captor.

Sam too was gone.

Leona had understood me! She had understood, and transported Sam and Andalonus beyond the reach of Lily Morganite.

Lily’s glossy white wings rippled, while the rest of her stiffened. ‘Leona Bloodstone, wasting radia on a human?’ For a moment she seemed unable to take it in. Had we, at last, done something she hadn’t foreseen?

Then she wrenched the gun from Calcite’s hand, aimed at Meteor and pulled the trigger. I heard a popping click. No deadly red beam, no harm to Meteor.

Lily flung the weapon on the ground. I expected her to rage at Calcite and toss an enchantment over him to show her fury. She didn’t. Instead, she drifted even closer to me. ‘Human weapons are unreliable,’ she said. ‘But fey enchantments are something to be counted on.’

We had to get away and deliver the aevia ray to the king and queen. I would use a Feynere spell to find them, and transport myself and Meteor to wherever they were.

‘Yes,’ Lily was saying. ‘Unlike human weapons, fey enchantments never change. The glacier spell, for example.’

I froze.

‘It cannot be undone except by the the one who casts it,’ Lily said, and then waved her wand. ‘
Revelum nos
.’

In the shadow of the great sapphire wall behind her, two pallets appeared, long and narrow slabs of granite resting in the sand. On one lay a genie, on the other a fairy.

My wings snapped open and I flew so fast I would have slammed into the granite if Meteor hadn’t grabbed me back at the last moment.

‘Don’t!’ he yelled, yanking on my wings. ‘Don’t let the glacier cloth touch you.’

I reeled, but Meteor didn’t let go – he forced me to the ground a wingspan from the pallets. I trembled in his grasp, staring at my father and mother.

Their faces and the tips of my mother’s golden-yellow wings were the only parts of their bodies not covered. Everything else was wrapped in something that looked as if it had been woven from threads of ice.

They lay much too still. I wanted to throw myself onto them, but two things stopped me. Their eyes. And Meteor.

My parents’ eyes revealed the depths of their enchantment. Open, but glazed and fixed as if caught in the flow of a glacier.

Meteor’s feet pinned my gown; his hands clamped my
wrists
. ‘The spell will spread if it touches any part of you,’ he said.

I gazed at my mother’s lavender skin, silky white hair, tipped-up nose. My father’s deep green colouring contrasted with his purple hair. His hair was mussed, and looking at him, I remembered it was always like that, never smooth.

How had I lived without them? I wanted to reach back in time, change the moment of their capture, persuade them not to leave. If only there were a spell to take me to the day before they disappeared! I would warn my brother too. Whatever his quest had been, I would ask him to delay.

But now I was looking at only two pallets. Where was the third?

‘Where’s Jett?’ I cried.

Lily glided up to hover near my mother’s head, but she didn’t answer me.

The Feynere magic lurking in my bones called out to me. I could undo this horrifying spell and then turn it on Lily Morganite. I could.

My wrists throbbed. ‘Meteor, let go.’

But he didn’t listen. ‘Don’t, Zaria,’ he whispered urgently in my ear.

He must know then what I wanted; must know that soon I would have no choice: my Feynere powers would rise and burn through all the magic I had left.

His hand found mine, squeezing with painful force until I gasped; he held me close, rocking me.

‘Your mother,’ I heard Lily saying. ‘For the aevia ray.’

‘My family,’ I cried. ‘There are three of them.’

‘You may have one.’ She lifted her wand. Staring, I saw each opal that crusted her slippers, every small fold in her gown, all the strands in her saffron hair.

‘No! You would do anything for aevia ray,’ I screamed.

‘Not so.’ She gestured at the open gateway. ‘I have all that I need.’ A lock of her hair was loose; she thrust it into place. ‘But you, Zaria –
you
– would do anything to have your mother back.’

How could she know? I missed my father, missed my brother, but … Dread crackled along the margins of my wings. How did Lily Morganite always seem to guess exactly how I felt and what I would do?

‘I want them all,’ I said. ‘All three.’

Infusion crept up the centre of her wand. ‘Must I teach you the value of one?’ She pointed her wand and spoke a spell I didn’t know. ‘
Kenor mortel
.’

A smoky dagger formed in the air above my father’s chest.

‘Stop!’ I cried. ‘Stop.’

‘Your mother for the aevia ray?’ The dagger’s edge sharpened.

‘Yes! Yes, I’ll give it to you, but don’t kill him.’

Meteor went still, so still he might have been frozen along with my parents. His hand opened, freeing my fingers. But Lily only smiled gloatingly, as if she had known all along how easily I would give in.

L
OVE IS THE GREATEST POWER EVER DISCOVERED, SURPASSING EVEN MAGIC
. T
HIS HOLDS TRUE NOT ONLY FOR THOSE WHO INHABIT
T
IRFEYNE, BUT ALSO FOR THE PEOPLE OF
E
ARTH
.

W
HEN GIVEN A CHOICE BETWEEN ACTING FOR THE WELFARE OF MANY NAMELESS STRANGERS OR SECURING THE SAFETY OF A SINGLE LOVED ONE, ALMOST EVERYONE – WHETHER HUMAN OR FEY – WILL CHOOSE THE LATTER
. T
HIS IS WELL KNOWN TO ANYONE WHO HAS STUDIED HISTORY
.

Orville Gold, genie historian of Feyland

MY WINGS PRICKLED
fiercely as I fully understood what I had agreed to do. In desperation, I had offered something that wasn’t mine to give. The aevia ray didn’t belong to me, any more than Lily’s stolen radia belonged to her.

I looked at the grains of sand stretching to the water, the field of waving flowers beyond the gate, the far-away spires of the palace. What was happening within its walls? What orders had Lily given her army? I could see nothing of them, hear nothing of what they might be doing. Had they breached the royal defences?

Were
there any defences aside from enchantments? And how much did Lily know about the spells encircling Anshield Island?

If only the king and queen would come out of their palace, soar past the flowers, fly through the gate.

Help me!

But the sand stayed flat, the gate silent, the flowers quiet. There was nothing and no one to save me.

I would have to save myself. I, Zaria Tourmaline, would have to save my family. But not like this. Not trading the aevia ray to Lily. I would rather hand over the crystal flask to a mercenary smuggler like Laz than give it to Lily Morganite. It was simply too precious, a treasure greater than any other in Feyland. Of all fairies, Lily must never get hold of it.

But without aevia ray, how could I persuade her to release the glacier spells?

I
would have to double-cross
Lily
.

Dropping my eyes, I clutched my hidden wand and infused it, whispering a spell: ‘In the left pocket of my gown, duplicate the appearance of the crystal flask of aevia ray and seal it.’

‘What?’ Meteor whispered back.

‘Nothing,’ I murmured as Lily looked at me suspiciously. My fingers brushed the contours of a second flask – this one on my left side. The true aevia ray nestled on my right. Feeling the false flask, I was suddenly panting, and though I tried to breathe more evenly, I couldn’t.

‘What is it?’ Lily asked.

I planned to give her the false flask for my mother and then offer to open it in trade for my father.

‘Please,’ I said. ‘My mother.’

‘Show me the aevia ray,’ Lily said.

I brought out the newly created flask, so clear and beautifully cut, it could have been a diamond.

‘Give it to me.’ Her hand was out.

‘No.’ I put it back. ‘First, my mother.’

Nothing showed on her face as she turned to my parents. Blowing on her wand, she pointed it. ‘
Chantmentum glaci res nos
.’

The ghastly fabric wrapping my mother began to unwind, slithering into the sand, forming a pale twist at the foot of her pallet. I streaked to her side, flopping to my knees in time to see the film over her eyes melt away.

‘Zaria?’ Her first word in five years: my name, spoken faintly.

‘Yes. It’s me.’ I took her hand. How dry it was, like kindling.

‘My Zaria?’ Fear in her eyes. ‘What has happened to you?’

Before I could answer, Lily was there beside us, her scent suffocating.

My mother began to whimper, trying to sit up. As I helped her, she clung to me, pulling me forward. ‘Zaria,’ she whispered, ‘that fairy … she …’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘I know who she is, Mother. I know what she’s done.’

Her wings drooped, limp and lustreless. ‘Glacier cloth,’ she said. ‘How long?’

‘Five years.’

My mother took in the high blue wall, the glinting sand. In a moment she would turn her head enough to see my father. ‘What is this place? This is not where we were …’ Her voice trembled. ‘Where is Jett? Your father? Are they—’

‘Enough.’ Lily’s voice sliced the air. ‘Our bargain, Zaria.’

Clutching me, my mother shook her head. She began to shiver as I pulled away from her and rose. Her wings stirred faintly. Clearly, she didn’t have the strength to rise, but she called to me. ‘Fly from her, Zaria!’

I took the false flask from my pocket again. Lily was watching me, watching closely as she swooped in to snatch it. Holding it up to the light, she looked at the transparent granules glowing inside. They seemed identical to the real aevia ray. She tugged on the stopper; when it wouldn’t open, she nodded her satisfaction.

Just then, a flashing blur leaped at her. Something bumped my hand. The next instant, I was holding the flask again.

I heard an exuberant whistle. Tumble! The little gremlin thought he was helping me.

‘Run!’ I cried, but he was already gone. I glimpsed him
racing
through the gate and then he was lost among the flowers.

‘After him!’ Lily ordered the spotted genie.

As her minion zoomed through the gate after Tumble, I touched my wand. ‘He will not find the gremlin,’ I murmured, and released more magic.

In that moment of distraction, the other genie, Calcite, pounced on me from the side, grabbing the flask that Tumble had given me. Maybe he expected me to be holding it more tightly, or maybe he simply misjudged his leap. Either way, Calcite used too much force. Instead of giving the flask to Lily Morganite, he crashed past her into the sapphire wall.

When the crystal hit, it shattered, exploding into a shower of sparkling shards, spraying the wall with a fine powder. Calcite fell backwards onto the sand.

When I had sealed the flask, I had not made it unbreakable.

While Meteor and I wobbled forward, Lily lurched into the wall. She licked the powder, then turned back to us and flipped open her crystal watch. Her beautiful face hardened as she infused her wand.

She whirled and pointed at my father. ‘
Chantmentum glaci res nos
.’

In joyful shock, I watched as the glacier cloth fell from him, watched as his vision cleared. He saw me. His eyes, violet like mine, widened. His lips formed my name.

I was so dazed with happiness, I didn’t move. Didn’t act. Didn’t speak.

‘
Kenor mortel deysu
.’ Lily’s voice rang like steel, and I turned to her in confusion. Her wand was extended, its tip aimed at my father.

The smoky dagger appeared above him. This time, it didn’t hang in the air. It dived into his chest.

He was just beginning to sit up, still looking at me. The dagger thrust him down and pinned him. His arms thrashed once and then he lay flat. The light in his eyes went out.

No breath. No movement. No life.

A long wail, two voices hitting the same note of rending grief.

Two voices. My mother. Me.

‘Why?’ Meteor’s question was a rumbling roaring yell. It startled me because he had never yelled that way, never, not in all the years I had known him.