I made it back to my room where I found the wraith who had been there earlier. A shimmering blue dress was draped over his arm.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“My Lady wants you to attend tonight’s ball. She has requested you wear this.”
I eyed the dress. “Do I have to?”
“My Lady wishes it.”
Sighing, I took the dress from him. As I hefted the gown, I almost dropped it. The thing had to weigh more than a suit of armor. After entering my room, I locked the door behind me and then inspected the dress.
It was made of several layers of translucent fabric, and each layer was darker than the next. On the outermost layer, the entire bodice had been beaded with diamonds, and I had wild ideas of transporting back to Earth with the thing, selling it, and living the rest of my life as a millionaire cat lady.
Carefully, I placed the gown on the bed. Warm, slanting sunrays filtered through the window onto the floor and bed, making the jewels glow. I stepped to the window and looked outside. Evening was approaching. A whole day was nearly gone, and I didn’t feel any closer to opening the box. I pulled it out of my pocket and studied the symbols again.
The magic was a gentle hum filled with subtle power. After learning the meaning of the symbols—each representing a different race on Faythander—I realized that the odd gray color could have been caused because the magic was a blend of all five.
It made sense. I’d never seen it done before, but that didn’t make it impossible. The only way to know for sure was to test my theory, so I turned the box to face me with the symbol of elven magic—the C shape—on top.
I let elven magic flow from my hands into the symbol. Controlling the magic was tricky as all it seemed to do was bounce off the box, but I finally managed to focus the power directly into the symbol. As I did, the symbol glowed brighter. The magic surrounding the box changed color as it broke apart, creating a rainbow of colors—pink, green, and amber—on the walls and ceiling. The light dazzled my eyes. The swirling magic brushed my skin, an odd sensation with all the magics combined into one, until they finally faded, and all the blue elven magic disappeared.
The C symbol on the box disappeared.
Finally, I’m getting somewhere! I felt like jumping up and down on the bed.
My hands trembling with excitement, I turned to the symbol of the dragon magic, the Y. Although I didn’t naturally possess dragon magic, I had Faythander magic, and since all magic on Faythander branched from one common source, learning to control other magics was possible. I’d been taught many dragon spells, but would they work? Saying the word for magic in the dragon tongue would hopefully do the trick.
“Einoxulus,” I whispered and let the spell flow into the stone.
As before, it took a bit of artistry to get the magic to flow with precision into the shape, and it took a few tries, but finally, the magic united with the symbol. Green swirls of light surrounded the box, intermingling with the other colors until the green faded, and as before, the symbol disappeared.
Sitting on the bed, I felt my head spinning. They were simple spells, but they still needed power, which happened to come from my energy. Two spells down, three to go. I still felt like jumping up and down on the bed, but maybe with a little more restraint.
The Wult, pixie, and black magic spells remained. The only easy spell would be the pixie. Since the Wults didn’t possess magic, I wasn’t sure what to do about that one. Worse, I knew there was no way I could manipulate the spell controlling black magic. But I would worry about that one when I got to it. First, I had to take care of the pixie symbol.
My heart clenched as my thoughts turned to the pixies. Sometimes I forgot that my closest pixie friend, Uli, had died, only to remember that she’d given her life to save Faythander. It was a painful reminder of the world I lived in, and I wasn’t sure my fate would be any different from hers.
Breathing deeply, I pushed the thoughts of death aside and focused instead on the stone. As with the last two spells, I used an incantation I’d learned from the pixies and guided the magic into the stone. Energy drained from my body, making me glad I was sitting. Rose-colored magic sparkled above me and disappeared, leaving me with two symbols: Wult and black magic.
I rested on the bed, feeling as if the magic had taken every last ounce of my energy. There was nothing left. Sleeping would restore my magic, but did I have time? Glancing outside, I saw the sun had sunk low and turned a glowing orange that announced the end of the day. My eyes closed, and without another thought, I fell asleep.
#
I awoke to a dark room. My stomach churned and head pounded. Sitting up, I found the gown lying on the bed with me. I cursed as I snatched up the dress. What time was it? Had I missed the ball? Silvestra would strike me dead if I missed her stupid party.
I dressed quickly, brushed my hair, and then glanced in the mirror. Running my hands over the gown’s light blue, velvety fabric and sweeping skirt, I didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror. She was some ethereal creature with elven ears, bright green eyes, dark reddish hair, and a gown that was suited for a fairytale castle.
Turning away from the mirror, I grabbed the stone box before stumbling out of the room. When I approached the ballroom, music drifted into the hallway. My shoes echoed off the marble tiles until I stopped at the large double doors, pulled them open, and entered the ballroom.
Wraiths crowded the room in their customary attire of masks and elaborate clothing. The tide of bodies pressed in around me as I wandered across the enchanted floor. The lilting, calming surge of music broke up my worries. I found myself drifting over the floor, floating.
Instead of the stars and planets represented on the tiles, I floated on a silver sky. My feet touched the tops of clouds, and I felt their mist and magic fill my lungs.
A strong hand grabbed mine, and I spun around. Kull stood behind me, although I almost didn’t recognize him. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his skin was ashen. He looked more like a wraith than I cared to admit.
“Kull,” I gasped.
He smiled. I found pain in his eyes, but he pulled me close and the pain seemed to disappear.
“I was worried you weren’t coming,” he said.
“I fell asleep. But I’m shocked to see you here. You weren’t even conscious this morning. Are you okay?”
“Well enough. Whatever magic that witch uses is some wicked stuff.” He touched the collar around his neck. “I don’t feel like myself.”
“You don’t look like yourself, either.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve made some progress with the box today. You’ll be free before tomorrow evening. I promise.”
I didn’t admit that I had no clue how to remove the two remaining spells, but I didn’t want to worry him. He looked like he didn’t need any of that right now.
He leaned close to my ear. “Dance with me,” he said.
His nearness made my skin tingle. I felt as if I were floating as he guided me to the center of the floor.
Dark clouds gathered beneath us as we danced. The floor seemed to melt away, leaving us to dance on thunderheads as lightning sparked through the towering clouds. He held my hand close to his heart as we danced.
He wore a black tunic with dark red garnets studding the collar. His blond hair was loose around his shoulders, and his blue eyes had the intensity of the enchanted lightning sparking beneath our feet. As he held me, I wondered if perhaps we were wrong. Did Wults possess magic?
“What are you thinking about?” he asked me.
“Nothing much.”
“Nothing? You looked deep in thought. You must have been thinking of something.”
“Well, I guess I was pondering whether or not Wults have magic.”
He creased his brow. “Why would we have magic?”
I shook my head. So much didn’t make sense. “I don’t know.”
Resting my head on his chest, I felt his warmth on my cheek. The music played a cadence that matched our footsteps, slow and rhythmic. The low tones of the cello and piano combined to conjure feelings of sadness and loneliness—two emotions the witch must have intimately understood, and so did I.
I looked and found Silvestra sitting on her throne. Her eyes tracked our movements.
I’d finally found the one person who completed me, and she was going to take him away. The thought was almost too much to bear. I closed my eyes as Kull and I danced through the clouds together.
When the song ended, he guided me off the floor and under an alcove.
“Is something the matter?” he asked.
“No. I’m okay.” I exhaled. “At least we’re together for now, right?”
He kissed my knuckles. “Yes. We’re together now. And because I swore I would never lose you again, we shall stay that way. You’ll have the box opened soon, and then we’ll be free of this place.”
I smiled but couldn’t answer. How would I ever open the box without black magic?
“Come with me,” he said, “I’d like to show you something.”
He took my hand and led me up the stairs. When we reached the top level, he guided me toward a balcony overlooking the dance floor, except the floor wasn’t visible. Instead, the spell made it appear as if we stood above the tops of the clouds.
“It’s breathtaking,” I said, “even in a place like this.”
“It gets better,” he said, then squeezed my hand and led me off the balcony and onto the cloud tops.
Gasping, I found the clouds soft beneath my shoes, as if I walked on a thick carpet.
“Amazing,” I whispered, breathless.
Hues of pink and blue spiraled through the clouds. I felt their power brush against my cheeks, warm and fluid. Reaching out, I touched the clouds as they billowed up around our shoulders.
The music drifted up to us, and we danced with the soft magic of the clouds against our skin. Steady, pulsing rhythms and low, flowing notes stirred excitement—the sound of a storm soon to be unleashed.
I knew Silvestra was down there somewhere, and I wondered why she wanted so badly for me to open the box. What would happen? What did she think I was capable of? I pondered her words and felt uneasy at their implications. Assuming I discovered how to open the Wult symbol, after that, the only way to open the box was by using black magic. It was a thought that nagged at me. I knew for a fact I didn’t possess black magic. Even though my mother was a practitioner, my father had admitted he’d studied me as a child and was confident I didn’t possess the art. Not only that, but I’d never in my life sensed black powers within my own.
Kull put his finger under my chin, bringing my gaze to his. “Did I lose you?”
“No. I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
About whether I’m a witch. But could I tell him?
“Would you believe me if I told you my mom was a witch?”
“A witch? How do you know?”
“My dad told me. He found out a long time ago, when my mom first crossed into Faythander before I was born. I guess he was worried that I would have the same powers as my mom.”
“But you don’t.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Is this what you’ve been worried about?”
“Maybe a little.”
“But you’ve never manipulated dark powers. You have nothing to worry about.”
“You’re right. I guess I’m worried about my mom, also. If she ever returns to the elven capitol where my dad calls home, she’ll be executed. The elves have a standing order to execute any witch who enters their lands.”
“Where is she now?”
“I’m not exactly sure. The last I checked, she’d sold her house and taken off to tour the world. She and my dad were somewhere in Africa helping with relief aid.”
“Relief aid? That doesn’t sound typical for her sort of lifestyle.”
“No. She’s not the same person I knew as a teenager, that’s for sure. Sometimes I feel like I never knew her.”
The music stopped, leaving only silence as we drifted on silvery clouds, and then it started again. Glancing up at Kull, I found him deep in thought.
“Do your worries have something to do with that box?” he asked.
I cringed. I hadn’t wanted to admit how very far away I was from opening it. But I supposed I would have to be more forthcoming with him. He’d see through my lies anyway. He always had.
“Yes,” I answered. “I managed to open the three sides displaying symbols that represented the magical races of Faythander, but the last two symbols have me stumped. They’re the symbols for Wults and black magic, but as far as I know, Wults don’t possess magic. And worse, I have no idea how to open the symbol representing black magic.”
He remained silent as he pondered my words. “You’re sure about this?”
“Pretty sure. I feel like I’ve been set up to fail, although the witch seems confident that I’ll figure it out.”
“I agree, which makes me believe there must be another way.”
“Another way to open the box?”
“No. Another way out of this castle—another way to get this collar off my neck.”
I shook my head. “I can’t think of any other way.”
“That’s because she wants you to play by her rules. Maybe you shouldn’t.”
“I wish that were possible. As it is, she hasn’t given me any options. If I don’t open that box, we both belong to her.”
He stroked my hair. “I have faith in you. If anyone can solve this, it’s you. You understand magic like no one else.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Of course,” he said with a grin. Despite the pallor of his skin, he still managed to look like his old self. “I am always right.”
“Ha! It seems no matter what the witch does to you, you manage to still be your usual cocky self. I doubt even transforming you into a wraith will mask your personality.”
“Cocky? Who says I’m cocky?”
I cupped his cheek, feeling the roughness of his skin. “I do. It’s what I love about you.”
His eyes lit up. Swirling colors surrounded him as he leaned in to kiss me. Below us, the music stopped, announcing the end of the ball. He looked up, and his eyes darkened.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“The witch,” he said. “She only allowed me a few hours to attend the ball, and then she demanded I go back to the dungeon so the wraiths can continue…”
“Continue what?”
He shook his head.
“Kull, continue what? Are they still hurting you? She promised not to hurt you anymore.”
He closed his eyes, and I saw the old Kull no longer. His brow creased with worry, and pain etched the wrinkles around his eyes. “They’re not hurting me—not physically, at least.”
“Then what are they doing to you?”
When he opened his eyes, the pain was gone. “Nothing. I am well enough. But I must go soon.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
He pushed a strand of hair away from my eyes. “I know. But I don’t have much of a choice.” Leaning closer, he whispered into my ear. “There is a tunnel in the dungeon where she keeps me. It leads to the waterfall. Use it to escape this place if you must.”
Confused, I stared up at him. “I won’t leave you here.”
“You may not have a choice.”
He turned away, but I grabbed his hand. I hated that he wouldn’t tell me what was happening to him. It made me worry even more.
“Kull, what are they doing to you?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, then he cupped my face. The look he gave me was so full of love I couldn’t doubt how he felt for me, but that didn’t make me feel any better about what the witch was doing to him. Then, with a small smile, Kull turned and walked away, leaving me alone.