“Todmus.”
The commanding voice of Faedra’s Guardian
snapped Todmus from his musings. He snapped his attention back to
Faen and met his eyes. Eyes that were as agonized as Todmus
imagined his were when he was watching helpless while his family
was spell-tortured for some supposed secret they held against the
crown. It had been nonsense, of course. Everyone in Drofoz knew
that any allegations against them were purely made up so that the
sorcerer could have some ‘fun’ when he was feeling bored.
“Your secret is safe with me. I will not
breathe a word to anyone,” Faen’s eyes were pleading now. “I could
have had you exiled long before now, but I know you are a good man.
I know you do not use dark magic, and I am asking you to help one
of your friends.”
Todmus stared back at the fae friend he held
in the utmost regard and held his breath for a moment.
“
Please
, Todmus,” Faen pleaded.
Biting his bottom lip in uncertainty, Todmus
examined Faedra’s features. He could see she was in agony. The
kind-hearted man could hardly bear to think of the torture her
consciousness was being subjected to. He had seen this spell many
times before. Although the physical body was not being ‘abused’,
the consciousness could not differentiate between what it was being
fed and the actual reality of the person’s surroundings.
He had to bring her back from this and stop
it from happening again. Todmus nodded his submission to Faen’s
heartfelt request and gestured them to follow him through the
bushes towards his home on the other side of the trail.
“Quickly, quickly,” Todmus prompted Faen and
Jocelyn to hurry along behind him with a sweep of his arm in the
direction of his home. He scuttled ahead much quicker than should
have been possible for a being of such short stature.
“Can’t let Miss Faedra suffer a moment more
than she has to,” he mumbled to himself in front of them. “Poor,
poor, dear. Must rework protection spell. Oh, it’s been such a long
time. I hope I can still remember it. Oh, dear, oh, dear, this is
bad. This is very bad.” Todmus repeated, still mumbling to himself
all the way back to his little cottage that was nestled against the
tree line across the glade they had just entered after emerging
from the bushes. Faen glanced down at Jocelyn upon hearing Todmus’
last mumblings, his brow furrowed. His little sister put a
reassuring hand on his arm.
“She will be fine, Brother. Todmus will
remember the spell, he has to.”
The last time all three had been in this
glade, a trio of beautiful white horses had stood in a row waiting
to carry them to Azran City. Today it was empty, apart from the
array of colorful wildflowers that were in full bloom all around
them. Their incredible aroma was lost on the two siblings, who
would have usually coveted the fragrant attack on their nostrils
whenever visiting their homeland. There just wasn’t a smell quite
like it in the World of Men. Not unless it was manufactured and
sold in a bottle, and even then it smelled just a little too
synthetic for their liking.
“Inside, all of you, quickly now,” the little
man instructed the two fairies, upon reaching his cottage
and opening the door. He glanced around
before following in behind them and closing the door.
Todmus lived in a quaint little cottage at
the edge of the glade. It had a thatched roof and white washed
walls. There were window boxes full of an explosion of color from
flowers he had planted and tended meticulously throughout the year.
Faen and Jocelyn ducked to enable them to enter through the front
door. The ceiling inside was tall enough for them to stand up in,
but only just.
The room they had entered took up the entire
ground floor. There was a large fireplace at one end that also
doubled as a cooking range, with cooking implements hanging from a
rack above the hearth. The tiny kitchen was also located at that
end of the room, and a small dining table was placed in front of
the fire. There was a chair and a bed towards the other end of the
cottage. But what caught Faen’s attention the most, were the
shelves full of jars and candles, and all manner of other magical
instruments that filled the whole wall on one side of the
cottage.
Todmus looked around his home, his brow
pinching in a frown.
“It pains me to say this Mr. Faen, but you
will have to lay Miss Faedra on the floor as I have no furniture
big enough for your size of being.”
“That is perfectly alright, my friend. I am
sure Faedra will not mind if the end result frees her from her
torment,” Faen replied, as he repositioned a few pieces of
furniture with his foot until there was a space large enough on the
floor to lay his charge.
He bent over and carefully laid Faedra on the
floor, then positioned himself beside her, lifting her head to lay
it on his lap when he had settled. He leaned his back against an
empty space on the wall and looked down at Faedra’s anguished
features, stroking a lock of hair from her face. He watched in
silent pain as another tear escaped from between her tightly closed
eyelids and rolled down her cheek.
“It will not be long now, Faedra. Todmus will
bring you back to me,” the Guardian whispered, as he wiped away the
tear with his thumb. “I do not know if you can hear me, but hang on
for just a few more minutes. I will get you back, I promise.”
He looked over to where Todmus was
industriously garnering various jars from different shelves,
procuring the help of Jocelyn for the task.
“Pestle and mortar, Miss Jocelyn, if you
please,” Todmus instructed his impromptu assistant. “Let me see,
what else?” He rested his chin between thumb and forefinger, deep
in thought for just a moment, examining the jars he was lining up
along his workspace. “Something else, what am I missing?” He
paused, looking along his shelves for inspiration. “Of course, the
blue candle. Can you reach that for me?” He pointed to a stout blue
candle on one of the upper shelves.
Jocelyn plucked it from its spot and handed
it to Todmus. He nodded a thank you as he carried on with his
task.
“Now, let me see, do I have everything? Bay,
avens, mugwort, yarrow, rosemary…” His verbal revision slid into a
mumble as he recounted the rest of the ingredients he had lined up
in a neat row on his workbench.
Jocelyn and Faen watched, intrigued, as
Todmus took a pinch of this and a drop of that and placed each
ingredient with care into the pestle. After only a moment had
passed, he grabbed the mortar and started mashing the ingredients,
all the while mumbling under his breath. When the mixture was
ready, he took a piece of charcoal, placed it on a heatproof
container and lit it. Then he took some oil from another bottle and
anointed the candle. This time he was mumbling a little louder as
he smoothed the oil over the candle. Jocelyn decided that must have
been part of the spell. She was so engrossed in what he was
chanting that he made her jump when he thrust the pestle full of
freshly mixed ingredients at her. She took it and followed him over
to where Faedra was laying, and to where Faen was sitting on the
floor in Todmus’ cottage.
He stood the candle next to his
other
world
friend and lit it. Then he took some of the ingredients
from the pestle and sprinkled them on top of the glowing block of
charcoal. The ingredients hissed and spat a little when they hit
the heat of the charcoal. As soon as they did, a soft glow emanated
from the candle and enveloped the four of them as if they were now
all encased in a bubble.
Jocelyn and Faen looked at the aura
surrounding them in muted awe. Todmus clapped his hands together
once and muttered a ‘yes’ for success. They waited with bated
breath. A couple of moments passed and nothing happened. Todmus’
excited expression fell from his face, and his shoulders started to
slump.
“Faedra, come back to me.” Faen whispered,
stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. “Follow my voice, you
can
do this.”
The trio looked at each other expectantly.
All their attention was diverted in the next moment by a muffled
groan and their eyes latched onto Faedra’s face.
“Faedra, you have to fight it. Be strong,
follow my voice.”
The Custodian’s eyelids flickered.
“That’s right. You are nearly there. Come on
Faedra, we are right here.” Faen encouraged.
In the next heartbeat, Faedra’s eyes snapped
open and she looked around, startled. She made to get up, anguish
still present in her eyes. But Faen held her down. He could not
risk her leaving the safety of the aura. Her eyes darted to Todmus
and Jocelyn, then turned to Faen, confusion warring with
coherence.
“There you are,” he whispered, as she made
eye contact with him. “You are safe now, we are in Todmus’ home. He
brought you back.”
Recognition seeped back into Faedra’s addled
brain. The voice like velvet, the liquid blue eyes full of
concern.
“Oh, thank God,” she whispered as she pulled
herself up and wrapped her arms tightly around Faen’s neck, tucking
her knees to her chest.
Faen held her close as her body started to
quiver, which according to Todmus was a normal reaction to this
kind of mind torture.
“She will be her normal self in a few
moments, but it takes a little while for the mind to separate
reality from the invasion it just suffered.” Todmus continued.
They were still all enclosed in the glowing
aura that surrounded them. Faen looked at it again. “What kind of
spell did you weave my friend?” Faen asked Todmus, while smoothing
down Faedra’s hair to comfort her. He noticed that the shiver from
her body was ebbing and he could only feel her quiver
intermittently, but she still continued to bury her face in his
neck.
“It is a protection spell. We cannot move out
of the glow until the candle has burned out. Otherwise the spell
will not be complete and Miss Faedra could be taken again.” At
those words, Faen felt Faedra’s body tense in his embrace.
“
You
are not going anywhere my little
kenget
. We will stay right here until the candle burns out.
Do not fear Faedra.”
“Once the spell is complete, you will all be
protected from whomever feels the need to use such despicable dark
magic,” Todmus explained.
Faedra could swear she heard an angry shriek
deep in her mind. Then the faintest whisper stroked at her
consciousness.
You have not seen the last of me
samtero
kruwos
. Of that you have my promise.
The shaken Custodian shuddered. She felt
physically exhausted from her ordeal. Every muscle in her body
ached, even though she had not, in reality, used them. But in her
mind she had fought with every fiber of her being to get away from
the situation; to try and move from the spot she had been rooted
to. All to no avail, until she saw a halo of light that had
appeared in her peripheral vision. As the halo had grown in size,
the vision of her mother and the redcaps diminished, until she
could follow the velvet voice she would recognize anywhere. She had
turned towards the halo, her muscles suddenly able to move,
although, they had still felt gummy and sluggish. The next thing
she knew, she was lying on the floor with her head on Faen’s lap,
looking up at her friends and Todmus. Relieved beyond belief to be
away from the gravel path behind the church and all the
connotations it held.
When Faedra had fully regained the use of her
brain, Todmus explained to the trio that the candle would take
about an hour to burn down and that they all had to stay within the
protective halo his spell had created. Faedra, for one, was not
going to move an inch if it meant she never had to suffer that
torment again.
Todmus and Jocelyn joined the other two on
the floor and settled themselves down. Faedra was sitting upright
now with her legs crossed, resting her head on Faen’s shoulder, she
was so weary.
Up until this point, Faedra had not spoken,
other than the ‘thank God’ she whispered when she first realized
she’d been released and was being held by her Guardian in relative
safety. The young redhead had nodded several times when Faen kept
asking her if she was all right. She just hadn’t yet been able to
find her voice.
Faedra listened to the others making
conversation, passing the time by catching up on recent events.
Todmus was happy to relay recent Azranian gossip, and that had kept
Jocelyn enthralled. She missed out on a lot of the goings on in her
home, and being a young fairy, she lapped up the gossip like a cat
given a saucer of cream.
“She called me that strange name again,”
Faedra blurted, interrupting the idle chatter.
Todmus and Jocelyn fell silent and looked at
her in surprise; she had been so quiet until this point.
“
Samtero kruwos
, she called me that
again. Will someone please tell me what the heck it means?” Faedra
continued, impatience leaking into her voice.
Todmus’ eyes grew wide when he heard the
words, and the younger sibling avoided Faedra’s piercing gaze by
looking down at the floor. Faen held his gaze steady with Faedra’s
when she turned her searching look towards him, although, she saw
his brow furrow for a split second before his features returned to
their usual calm expression.
“It’s obvious you all know what it means.
Tell me!”
No one spoke. Todmus and Jocelyn were still
averting their gazes, as the atmosphere grew awkward.
Faedra’s eyes pleaded with Faen’s. “Why won’t
you tell me? Why does Vivianna keep calling me that, and she does
so with such hatred.”
“Vivianna did this to you?” Todmus asked,
surprised. “Princess Vivianna?”
“Yes, you didn’t know?”
“No, Miss. But where would Princess Vivianna
have learned such powerful dark magic and for what purpose?”