“Why?”
“I can feel it, Aliza. The magic. It’s… different. Not quite right. Maelgwyn has pushed the boundaries of magic far beyond any other, beyond what is natural. He should have stopped long ago.” She placed her hand on the wall of rock. “It feels wrong. I know you feel it too.”
I certainly felt something, but wrong wasn’t the word I would use. I skimmed my fingers over the rock. The sensation that travelled up my arm was a summer breeze, or the first lick of ice cream, or slipping into pyjamas after a long day.
“What do I do?” I breathed, my eyes closed, the comforting sensation spreading up to my shoulder, so faint it was barely there at all.
“Trust yourself.”
At Sage’s simple words, I snapped my eyes open. She asked too much of me. This was all too new. This wasn’t some test I’d studied for, it wasn’t a practical examination I’d practised until I could do it blindfolded, this was the fate of the world, and I was just Aliza. How could I trust myself? Unlike Sage, I hadn’t had hundreds of years to work with magic. It was unfamiliar. Alien. Everything in this world was. I didn’t have a stream of volunteers willing to sacrifice themselves for their chance at a crown. I was the sacrifice, and I was far from willing. For once in my life, I was clueless.
Sage watched me expectantly with quiet hope in her eyes. Hope that finally, after all these centuries of searching and failing, her people would be safe, her world free. I heaved a sigh and let my eyes slip closed as I pressed my palm harder against the stone.
My mind wandered back to the Fairy Glen, and the cave that had ruined my life. I hadn’t wanted to go in at all, and even when I succumbed to Isobel’s nagging, I’d never intended to go beyond the puddle of grey light marking the threshold. I had done though. I’d gone deep enough that I’d wound up here. I’d taken step after step, even after my torch had flickered out and darkness had swamped me. At the time, I hadn’t noticed, but with hindsight… had something called to me? Had I been drawn in by the pull of a magic I hadn’t had the experience to recognise? Magic that spoke to me and only me?
Was I meant to be here?
My feet moved, wandering at a gentle pace. I kept my eyes closed and let my hand trail over the stone, maintaining that comforting connection. With the sun baking down on my skin, I could well believe I was back home in my own garden, enjoying a summer’s day. A breeze stirred, lifting the loose strands of hair around my face.
The ground beneath my feet gave a satisfying crunch with every step. It became a rhythm, one foot and then the other, a gentle beat in my mind. A beat that was answered by the pulse of magic beneath my fingers.
My eyes snapped open at the realisation, and I swayed, blinking in the bright sunshine. Dazed, I turned to find not just Sage, but all the witches hovering at my back. When had that happened? How hadn’t I noticed them? Behind them, the spot they’d rested in had vanished. How far had I walked?
“Anything?” Sage’s question came out on a breath, little more than an expectant whisper.
“I don’t know.” I gave the rock a doubtful look. Was I really sensing magic, knowingly following its call when a few days ago I hadn’t believed in it?
For all the walking I’d done, the cliff didn’t look any different, but I closed my eyes again. The beat was still there, thudding through me like a second heartbeat, but my feet stayed still. There was no urge to move left or right. I opened my eyes to find the cliff face an inch from my nose. Had I leaned toward it? I took a hasty step back, severing my connection to the magic.
“Could they be here?” I regretted my question immediately. I was bound to be wrong. If all this came to nothing, the witches would think me the biggest fool to ever cross the rift.
Sage appeared at my side, running her hands over the stone as though my words weren’t batshit crazy. She hummed in consideration. “The magic is strong here.”
Okay, well, maybe I hadn’t lost the plot completely. I retreated, making space for the witches as they rushed to examine the patch of wall I’d inexplicably chosen. Goosebumps pricked over my arms, and I shuddered, hugging myself. I couldn’t be right, but if I was, we were one step closer. To what? Success, or my death?
The witches muttered amongst themselves, leaving me to stew over my mistakes. Camping had been the first. If I survived this quest, if I made it home, I would never sleep in a tent ever again. It would be hotels only from here on out. Holidays would be spent in the sunshine, and would certainly not involve hiking or expeditions into caves.
“Aliza?”
Great. What now? I half hoped the witches were about to tell me I was wrong, that we should give up this ridiculous mission and return to Nairsgarth, never to try again, but the excitement simmering in Pansy’s eyes told me otherwise. I approached on reluctant feet.
“We think this is it,” Pansy muttered through teeth bared in a smile, “but we can’t open it.”
“Open what?”
“I suspect this is a hidden gate,” Sage explained in an oddly strained voice. “I also suspect it can only be opened by a human.”
“Oh. Well… that would make sense, I guess. What do I have to do?” I stared up at the cliff face, towering above us. I saw nothing to mark it as a gate, but then, if I was an evil wizard intent on hiding my cursed nephews, I wouldn’t signpost it either.
“Give me your hand.”
I did as Sage said, allowing her to turn my hand palm up. She stared down at it intently, as though reading my future. What did she see? Did my lifeline come to an abrupt end, marked with today’s date?
Sage whipped a dagger across my palm.
Blood bloomed a moment before pain erupted. I tried to snatch my hand away, but she caught my wrist in a surprisingly strong grip considering her short fingers, twisting my palm toward the rock.
“What the fuck? A little warning next time!”
My blood smeared the stone, and I winced as my hand stung as though it had been dipped in acid.
With a ground quaking rumble, a crack split the wall. I staggered back, dragging Sage with me as the dark slice stretched taller even than me, before expanding into a pitch-black chasm. It stretched wide enough to admit one person, then fell still and silent.
Sage’s incredulous, high-pitched laugh was so unlike her that it distracted me temporarily from the cave mouth that hadn’t existed a moment ago. Was it some sick joke that my journey had started with a cave and now looked likely to end the same way?
“We found it,” Sage muttered, dropping my wrist and advancing on the wall. “We actually found it.”
By we I presumed she meant I had found it. The witch whipped around in a whirl of blonde hair, fixing her wild eyes on me. I retreated a step. “You’re really her,” she whispered. “It’s you.”
Well, this was weird. I couldn’t decide if the jet-black cave was scarier than Sage’s display of genuine emotion. Nor was her evident surprise at my small success reassuring.
“Your hand.” She jolted into action, tossing her pack to the ground. Her hands trembled as she unbuckled the strap and began rooting through its contents.
“Aliza, you did it.” Pansy laid a reverent hand on my arm, her mouth hung open in shock. Behind her, the witches all stared at me with identical expressions of awe.
So much for their belief in me being the mysterious Human Queen. They were as stunned as I was. I almost laughed, until a sharp throb reminded me of my injured hand. I clutched it to my chest as sticky warmth ran down my wrist. Was Jacques lurking? Would the metallic tang of my blood be enough to tempt him out into the sunlight?
“Here, Aliza.” Sage staggered to her feet, reaching for my hand. I shied away, and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, come now, don’t be ridiculous.”
