Sinners of Magic (26 page)

‘
Are you
alright?’ she asked, unsure of what just happened. ‘Have you hurt
yourself?’

Forusian’s mind flashed with
the memory of her touch and he blushed before recovering his
composure.

‘
No, I’m
fine,’ he gasped. ‘I think I just got an electric shock from
you.’

‘
Oh, I’m
sorry, I didn’t feel anything.’

‘
Not to
worry, I’m fine now.’

Crystal moved to the stove and
put the small pot she used to heat water on to boil.

‘
Would you
like milk and sugar?’ she asked, pointing to the teacup.

He frowned.

‘
I don’t
really know,’ he said, pulling a face, ‘but I think I’ll just go
with the milk for now.’

The pot was soon ready and
Crystal gave it a stir. With nimble fingers she poured the dark
liquid into each cup before adding a little milk to both. She
offered him the drink and he bowed his head in gratitude. Crystal
noticed how he didn’t hold the cup with the handle, which would
have been expected with someone of his breeding. Instead, he held
the rim with his thumb and forefinger, drinking his tea at a
strange angle.

‘
So tell me,
Crystal, have you given any more thought to my proposal of
marriage?’ he asked, searching her eyes.

She felt her mouth go dry and,
averting her gaze, she picked up her own cup and gulped the hot
liquid, causing her to burn her tongue. The pain moved to her
belly, but it was a painful distraction, one which she readily
accepted. Her mind whirled with a rush of excuses, like, why
couldn’t he just leave her alone?

The burning sensation in her
throat died away, but the fire it created would not leave her. She
felt a hot surge reach her lower lip when her mind went into blind
panic. An awareness of an extrasensory perception smothered her and
then the room fell away.

She saw Matt in a cage.
Although her mind was cloudy, she understood more of her vision
this time. She knew not to call to him, already surmising that he
couldn’t hear her. She saw a flash of colour, a crest of a shield
and instantly recognised where he was being held.

Forusian stood up and pushed
his chair aside.

‘
What’s wrong
with your eyes?’ he demanded, his jaw clenched. He knew she was the
daughter of a powerful mage, but she was young and inexperienced,
therefore naturally deemed powerless without the amulet. He
unconsciously bit his lip, aware this should not be
happening.

‘
Stay away
from me!’ Crystal shouted, when the fever left her body and her
breathing returned to normal. ‘I know what you’ve done. I can see
you’re holding my friend captive.’

Forusian’s resolve slipped
away.

‘
I’m very
sorry you feel so upset and, yes, I do have your friend staying
with me. How clever of you to use your power to detect him. How did
you do it, did you read my mind? Nonetheless, it is all quite
simple. Agree to marry me and I will free him at once; however, if
you still wish to play these silly games and refuse to be my wife,
then I will have no alternative but to have him executed. It’s your
choice at the end of the day, take it or leave it.’

There, he had done it. He would
make her bend to his will; after all, he was the one holding the
trump card and she was the kind of person who put others before
herself. She would not want her friend to suffer, or worse,
die.

He touched a glass panel with
his fingers and waited for the door to open. He saw the glint of
hatred still wild in her eyes when the door closed behind him. His
two guards grunted when they saw him approach and, taking a step
back, they watched him fly by like a scolded cat. He mounted his
horse, pulling at the reins and causing her to whinny in
distress.

‘
Hurry, for I
have a wedding to arrange!’ he yelled, when his guards ran to his
side. He whipped the horse when she reared but she kicked out her
legs in retaliation. Her hooves hit the ground and Forusian put his
boot to her belly, forcing her to move on. Whilst his mind
spiralled out of control, he told himself he would feel better once
he had her temper firmly under wraps.

Chapter
1
5

After Forusian left her,
Crystal sat deep in her own thoughts for quite some time. She knew
she must escape and find Matt as soon as humanly possible, aware
she was responsible for their dire circumstances, and she
repeatedly cursed herself for bringing them to this terrifying
place.

She had studied the room
meticulously over the last couple of days and knew every crack and
crevice, but had found no way out. The room was hidden underneath
the ground, making it impossible for her to escape, having no
windows to break out of or roof to climb onto and as far as she
could see the only way out was the same way she had come in –
through the door.

She had seen how it worked. On
several occasions she had watched Forusian press his thumb onto a
shiny panel cut inside the wood and magic always appeared to scan
the very tip. She had tried her own many times, watching the bright
light skim her fingers, but nothing ever happened and to her
dismay, the door always remained sealed. To make matters worse, she
never saw the servant who came with her daily supplies. Forusian
wasn’t stupid and had purposely built a narrow chute measuring
approximately twelve inches wide, just large enough to have someone
pass down her food on a rope each day. There was simply no way
out.

Feeling restless, she crossed
the floor with the two empty teacups in her hands. She glanced down
at Forusian’s cup and saw the shimmer of an imprint left on the
side of the rim. Her eyes lit up with sparks of hope and, crossing
the room, she moved towards the magic panel.

Holding the rim of the cup up
towards the glass, she rotated it from right to left. Forusian’s
thumbprint was distinctly on the edge of the cup and the natural
grease from his fingers had left an impression so clear that she
could see the friction ridges and furrows. There was a swish when
the thumbprint was accepted and the door flew open, revealing a
long, dark corridor.

‘
I don’t
believe it!’ Crystal cried out loud, dropping the cup and cringing
when she heard it smash on the ground. Without a second thought,
she entered the darkness. The door closed immediately behind her
and she felt a moment of panic before hurrying down the uneven
passageway to try and find her way out.

She came across a solitary
torch that was still alight when she reached a set of stairs and
she reached up and unhooked it from the wall. She carried on with
desperate haste until she stepped out into the forest and the torch
soared with a sudden fiery glow, and the euphoria she was feeling
immediately evaporated. The dark night enfolded her like long, dark
arms and the air was damp and bitterly cold. She realised what a
fool she had been not to bring her cloak and was therefore unable
to stop the chill from seeping through to her bones as she stumbled
blindly into the unknown, unsure which way to turn.

A disgruntled owl hooted an
unexpected warning and the whoosh of its wings flapped overhead
whilst it searched for food, startling her. The shadows cast by the
flames of the torch made the bird look gigantic and she flinched
when a wing appeared only inches from her face; she dragged the
torch closer until she heard the owl screech in triumph when it
took its evening meal back to its nest to be devoured.

She felt so alone and
vulnerable, believing a million tiny eyes were watching her from
the seclusion of the trees, causing her courage to weaken with
every step she took. Her fear was starting to make her breathing
sound staggered and her palms were moist with sweat. She fretted
over being recaptured, realising the torch could probably be seen
for miles, and so she dropped the sconce to the floor and stamped
it out with the heel of her shoe until the flame fizzled and died.
Tiny sparks flew in the air and drifted away on the breeze like a
mass of golden fireflies and she felt a moment of relief when all
she could see was darkness.

She realised her main priority
was to find somewhere to hide for the night, but the forest was
deep and unyielding. Her steps were clumsy and she walked like a
blind woman, her arms outstretched, afraid of the elongated twigs
and branches that repeatedly assaulted her flesh. With every
footstep she took her fear grew until she was totally convinced
someone was lurking in the bushes, waiting for the right moment to
make their attack. Her fear allowed her imagination to run riot and
elaborate thoughts of her assailants caused her throat to
constrict, the terror in her eyes eventually clouding her better
judgement.

Unable to endure the black
abyss any longer, she was at the edge of delirium when she suddenly
stumbled across a small hollow in the trunk of a tree. Finding
sanctuary saved her sanity and she climbed inside, thankful to be
protected from the danger she thought still loitered outside. She
curled into the foetal position, trying to keep the cold at bay,
and she prayed that when the sun rose she would still be alive.
Crystal had never felt so lost in her entire life. She was so
afraid of the darkness and what the daylight would bring and,
unable to hold back her terror any longer, she allowed a heavy
stream of tears to fall. With her mind full of anguish, she sobbed
uncontrollably for what seemed like hours and the sound of her
frantic tears was carried along by the four winds of the
forest.

The echo of her cries stretched
for miles and was heard by a forest dweller out late collecting a
few pieces of firewood. On hearing the sobbing, the dweller guessed
it was a young one who had lost their way and, dropping the
kindling to the forest floor, she followed the winding path that
wormed through the forest to find them. In her hand she held a
common oil lamp and a tatty shawl was drooped around her chiselled
shoulders whilst her skirt, which was old and faded, dragged along
the floor.

The forest dweller knew the
path like the back of her hand. She had trodden on this rich soil
many times and was acquainted with every twist and turn. She was
not troubled by the darkness or what it could hold, but she sensed
whoever was crying was very afraid.

It took her only a few minutes
to find the hollow where Crystal was hiding herself away. The lamp
shone brightly, breaking the shroud of obscurity, and Crystal
shielded her eyes when the light dazzled her, petrified the
soldiers had somehow found her.

‘
Come with
me,’ said a voice from within the darkness. ‘No point sitting in
there unless you want to die of cold.’

Crystal was shocked to hear a
woman’s voice. But when the light started to fade, she clambered
out of the hole and staggered towards the glow.

‘
Wait for
me!’ she called, when the light grew small, ‘I’m right behind you.’
Her feet were not so sure-footed like the stranger’s and she
stumbled more than once in her attempt to keep up.

The woman didn’t slow her pace
on hearing her cry and with the lamp still swinging in her hand she
turned from the path and in seconds was almost out of sight.
Crystal scrambled after her. Her feet were aching and her knees
hurt from the constant whipping of the thickening undergrowth but
she refused point blank to be left behind. She finally caught up
with the dweller, breaking into a small clearing and the woman
approached a tumbledown shelter.

‘
You’d best
stay the night,’ said the woman, beckoning for her to
enter.

‘
It’s so kind
of you to take me in like this,’ said Crystal, following her
inside. ‘I’m really very grateful.’

‘
Tell me,
child, what were you doing out there?’ asked the stranger, placing
the lamp on a wooden table. Crystal’s blue eyes filled with
uncertainty. Where should she begin? What was she going to say? She
felt she owed this stranger some kind of an explanation, but felt
immensely intimidated by her. They stared at one another, sizing
each other up, until the woman grew self-conscious and moved away.
She reached out and picked up a beaker, filling it full of water
from a pitcher standing close by. She offered it to Crystal and
watched her lift it to her lips, drinking thirstily.

‘
What’s your
name?’ the woman asked, when she saw the girl was
trembling.

Crystal’s mind thought only of
protecting herself, aware of keeping her real identity secret for
the time being. She had already had the sense to realise her host
could well be an ally of Forusian’s or, worse, simply prepared to
betray her for a few gold coins. She thought quickly on her
feet.

‘
My name is
Nienna,’ she said, dropping her gaze towards the floor.

The woman’s eyebrow arched.

‘
Mmm, I see
you’re not from these parts?’ she said, in a rather matter-of-fact
tone.

‘
Er, no,’
agreed Crystal, shaking her head, ‘you’re right, I’m not from
anywhere near here.’

The woman did not press her,
but instead pointed to a sack which had been filled with horse hair
and was used as a chair.

‘
Do you mind,
if I ask what I should call you?’ asked Crystal, placing the empty
cup on the table.

The woman seemed to ponder over
this question for a moment before giving her an answer.

‘
I go under
many names,’ she said at last, her voice sounding distant, ‘but the
one I have used for most of my life is Amella.’

Crystal smiled. ‘That’s a
really nice name,’ she said, with genuine warmth. ‘And it’s very
pretty,’ she added, still shaking from cold.