“Witches have long been allies to the fae. They are our neighbours. Our friends. That is what it has to do with us. That is why you must break the curse.”
I shook my head, setting my bedraggled ponytail swaying. “I’m sorry, but you can’t expect me to die for your friends.”
“I expect no such thing. I expect you to live. Forever in fact.”
It took a long moment for Sage’s words to drudge into my brain. My brows knotted into a frown. “What?”
The witch smirked. “Why do you think your predecessors came willingly? There is a reward for breaking the curse, girl. You will become a queen. You will live forever.”
8As Pretty As A Picture
Nothing lived forever. I didn’t need my degree to know that much. It was nothing more than some elaborate lie designed to trick and tempt me into going along with their crazed plan. They had to think I was stupid.
I risked a surreptitious sideways glance at my companion.
Pansy walked half a step ahead of me. Though she maintained her silence, anticipation poured from her in waves. She was obviously dying to assault me with a barrage of questions, and if I spoke, it would open the flood gates.
I pressed my lips together. Too much scattered and tangled information weighed down my brain. I needed time to think, to process it myself before I could even consider answering somebody else's questions. Curses, magic, immortality…
Pansy claimed to be centuries old, yet she could have passed as fresh out of school. She’d said Granny was old, and the High Priestess certainly looked it. Forever clearly wasn’t in her future. Was it only the fae who could claim immortality? Or maybe their curse breaking stooges.
It was all a load of shit. It had to be a lie, or a hallucination, or something. But if it was real…
What would it be like to live forever? To not have time stalking every step, waiting for its chance to claim me? The things I could do. Would it be possible to learn all there was to know about everything? To master every art, every science? There was so much I half-fancied doing, but would never have the time for, so many things that didn’t make the cut when it came to planning my years. Places I would never go, information I would never learn, things I would never experience. What if I could do it all?
My heart rate sped up at the possibilities, but it was just a fantasy, and one with a dark side at that. What good was a head full of facts when it came hand in hand with a heart full of lost love? I might be able to win gold on the ice with my perfect triple axels while simultaneously becoming an elite violinist and winning a Nobel prize for my scientific studies, but I would outlive everyone I’d ever known. My life would fizzle into emptiness, and I’d be left alone in the bleak vastness of eternity.
I shivered. The corridors had grown gloomy and chilled while I’d been lectured in Granny’s chamber, and my legs pricked with goosebumps. The cold of the stone floors seeped into my bare feet, making me think longingly of all the fluffy socks in the bottom drawer in my bedroom, back in the real world. The few narrow windows we passed revealed glimpses of shadowy landscapes, too dark to make out any details. I’d have to wait until morning to compare my surroundings to my memory of the emerald map. Mum and Dad would have to spend another night fearing the worst. My guts curled in shame. They didn’t deserve the hell they were going through. If only I’d been smarter. If only I’d never gone on that stupid camping trip.
A flame flickered to life in a nearby sconce, completely by itself. My feet fell still, muscles tense, as one by one, more flames sputtered into existence, filling the corridor with dancing, orange light.
“It’s alright,” Pansy said, turning to see where I’d got to. “It’s just a spell.”
The magical version of streetlights, I supposed, coming to life at dusk. I rolled my shoulders, peeling my gaze from the nearest sconce. “I can’t make myself believe any of this is real.”
Pansy gave an understanding nod. “It can’t be easy. Is it true there’s no magic at all in your world?”
“Yeah.” I gulped. What had the witches said? That fae magic was weaker on my side? Weaker, but not non-existent. Were all the old wives tales and superstitions founded in a shred of truth? Had magical creatures once walked among us?
“Bizarre. I couldn’t live without magic.”
“Pansy?”
The witch turned her round, chocolate button eyes on me.
“What exactly is a fae?”
“You don’t know?” I’d been accused of a lot of ignorance since my arrival at Sage’s door, but Pansy’s words didn’t carry any judgement, only fizzing excitement. “Mother above, no wonder you’re quiet. Come with me.”
She seized my hand and tugged me down the now glowing corridor.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Down a flight of stairs and into another hall we went. The scent of something delicious cooking hung in the air, and witches milled around, talking amongst themselves. One did a double take as Pansy and I passed. Silence spread from her like a wave, blanketing the entire hall. My pace slowed as I glanced around. Every set of eyes was trained on me. My ears heated at the attention, at the mouths hung open in surprise, at the expressions of blatant awe.
“Ignore it,” Pansy hissed at my side tugging me along. “It’s been a long time since they’ve seen a human. Some of them never have.”
My face was burning by the time we emerged into another corridor. My chilled feet sank into a long plush rug carpeting the length of the passage, and the tension in my muscles eased in response.
“This is the gallery,” Pansy announced. “There are paintings of all our most exceptional witches, dating back thousands of years.”
What did this have to do with anything? I thought longingly of the cloud-like bed waiting in my suite, of the solitude that would allow me to form a plan. The witches had thoroughly rejected my arguments for going home, insisting that I had to wake the princes and marry the eldest brother. Become an immortal queen of the fae. Their reward was almost as off putting as the task they’d set me. I had no desire to marry a stranger, however rich and magical. I would have to form my own escape plan, and the sooner I began, the better.
Pansy dragged me along the corridor, pausing to admire the witches gazing haughtily down at us.
“There’s Granny,” Pansy said in a hushed whisper, as though the old bat was hanging from the rafters, listening to every word we said. “When she was young.”
I studied the painting, wondering how such a bright eyed, round cheeked beauty had withered into such an intolerable heap of crêpe.
“And there’s an empty space here. That’s for Sage.”
“Sage? Why?”
“Well, it’s not confirmed, but everyone says she’ll take over as High Priestess when Granny… dies.” Pansy swallowed audibly.
I could just picture Sage in Granny’s chair, passing judgement over all the world.
