EMILY SLID OFF HER GRANDFATHER’S LAP and wandered over to her bed tucked in the corner, picking up her doll. The doll was very special to her. It had been her sister’s doll. She smoothed back its curly brown hair and looked at its smiling face. Emily hugged it close to her chest as she sat down on her bed.
“I’d like to give this doll back to Shikara. She must miss it so.” Emily’s eyes rose to her grandfather’s. They were bright with tears, but she did not cry. “I want to help Shikara and the other girls. What can I do, Grandpa? Why are you telling me their stories? They must all be so scared!”
“This all happened many years ago, Emily, long before you were born. Time moves differently in the land where they went, and they will all be grown up now. It is the reason the Citadel wizards have come. It is the reason they are searching the provinces now. They know that the witches have returned. Your sister is among them, and a brother at the Citadel.” This was the first that Emily had heard of having a brother and her eyes widened. “Even though the wizards are older men now, they still feel their crystal hearts burn. They can feel when magic is near. Heart to heart, the call of magic is irresistible. You see, the hearts amplify their magic.”
“I have a brother? What is his name?” she gasped.
“Yes, you have a brother. His name is Jasper, but you must never approach him. He is a wizard, Citadel trained. He is dangerous beyond measure, corrupted by the emperor. He could be one of the ones outside, looking for you and all of the witches now.”
“But why are they looking for them? What have they done?”
“It is not what they have done, but what they will do. The emperor fears the magic that your sister holds, she and the other bearers of the crystal hearts. We do not fully understand why, but the emperor has lived longer than any human should. He wields magic and hoards it to himself, forbidding it to be practiced anywhere in the realm and punishing all who do, all who are not controlled by the Citadel. They hunt any who can wield magic.”
Emily’s hand went to the chain around her neck. She pulled out the dainty crystal heart that hung from the silver chain, watching it twist in the dull light of the single lantern. Rainbows danced across the muddy shadowed wall. She loved the way the heart cast tiny rainbows. “Do I have a dragon too, Grandpa?”
He nodded slowly. “I believe you do, little one. For some reason, your magic did not manifest itself at birth. It was delayed. I have puzzled over this as to why it would be so. The only reason I can come up with is that you did not need to call your dragon. Perhaps it is already here.”
Emily stared at him, trying to sort through his words. “I have a dragon already here? Where?” she said with a loud shout that echoed around the room. In the sudden silence as her voice faded, she glanced over at the blackout curtain. All had gone quiet outside.
“How long can we stay here, Grandpa? If I am to find my dragon, if my dragon is to find me, he must be able to sense my crystal. That means I cannot hide my magic, right?”
He nodded somberly.
“Is it okay to be a teensy bit scared, Grandpa?”
“You bet, pumpkin.” He scooped her up and settled her beneath the blankets, then kissed her forehead. “Time for sleep, Emily.”
As her eyes drooped and sleep stole over her, she snuggled into her doll and mumbled, “I bet my dragon is the most beautiful of all,” and drifted off to a dream-filled slumber in which dragons figured prominently.
Her grandfather smiled, and this time the sheen of tears filled his eyes. “There was never a doubt, little one.” He limped back over to his favorite chair, took up his log book, and recorded the events of the evening. He placed the quill back in its holder and stoppered the ink, sitting back with a sigh.
He got up and limped over to his overstuffed bed, wearily sinking onto its soft surface. He winced at the pain in his hip, a residual ache from an old injury. He massaged it with his right hand as he laid down, thinking about that battle so long ago.
I am not getting any younger. But I must have strength enough for this. Emily is everything. She must be protected from all who hunt her. Eventually he dozed off, his soft snores ruffling his longish grey mustache.
A cock crowed pulling him back from his deep slumber, just as Emily shifted in her sleep. Her grandfather opened his watery blue eyes and squinted at the sliver of light that shone around the sides of the blackout curtain.
Dawn of a new day and time to move on.
He pushed himself to a sitting position as Emily jumped out of bed and ran over.
“I will help you today, Grandpa!” She tugged him to his feet and dragged him over to his chair. “Sit down. I will get the bread and cheese.”
She ran over to the chest resting in the corner of the room and pulled it open with a squeak of hinges. Gathering both she hurried back and eased the items onto the table.
“I’m hungry!” she announced as she climbed up onto the high stool and pushed the packages at her grandfather. “Fat pieces of cheese, please!”
Chuckling, he sliced the cheese in fat strips, the serration of the knife leaving the imprint of waves on the surface. He sliced two slabs of bread and placed the cheese in the middle, then carved a smiling face on the surface of the sandwich. Emily’s eyes sparkled as he pushed the plate in front of her, and she scooped up the sandwich.
“I love you, Grandpa.” She took a huge bite.
“Today, we are going to have to get some more supplies. As soon as you are finished, we will go.”
She downed the sandwich quickly and the cup of water he supplied from the jug on the table, then slipped off the table to put on her best shoes. They were her favourite, pearly white with a rainbow of colours that shifted across the surface. She didn’t bother to change her dress, as it matched perfectly. She ran back over to her grandfather, who brushed her hair and tied it into a ponytail with a matching ribbon.
“Okay, my sweet, it’s time to go.”
“Piggyback?” Emily danced from one foot to the other, excited to get out of the small room.
“Piggyback it is. But you will need to carry this,” he said, holding out a small backpack, through which she slipped her arms to secure it. He bent down, and she jumped onto his back, flinging her arms tight around his neck.
He rose and picked up his walking staff and walked up the short flight of steps to the door that led back into the house. Fishing a key from his side pocket, he placed it in the hole and slid the lock aside, then opened the door that lead to the main floor kitchen of the house. He froze.
“Well, well, well…if it isn’t Wizard Ramos, returned from the dead!” Bolts of lightning crashed against the shield that still shimmered in place in front of the opened door. Emily screamed as five hooded men bearing wands rose from around the kitchen table and rushed at them casting spells at the shield. It flashed and flared angrily but held.
Wizard Ramos slammed the door shut and bolted it, backing down the stairs. His staff rose in the air, gripped in a trembling hand, and he muttered under his breath, casting a spell across the staircase that instantly turned the treads into soft lava. The heat grew in the room and the dried grass from their boots flashed into nothing, curls of smoke drifting to the ceiling.
“Come, Emily. We must leave by the escape route.”
He hurried over to Emily’s bed, flinging it aside to reveal a trap door. Kneeling down he pulled on ring to open it. Shouts could be heard above the increasing whine as the shield began to fail under the onslaught.
“Quickly now, Emily. Climb down the ladder.”
Emily slid from his back. As she passed her bed, she grabbed her doll. She would not leave it behind. As she went to climb down, single-handed, Wizard Ramos took the doll and slid it under the straps of the backpack.
“Two hands on the railings now go!” Wizard Ramos picked her up and placed her on the ladder. As soon as he was sure she had a firm grip, he let go. Emily scrambled down as fast as she could go, jumping off at the last three rungs from the bottom. Wizard Ramos dropped his staff down the hole then scrambled down until his head was level with the opening. He pulled the trap door back down and as it fell into place, Emily’s bed slid back over the opening and the door locked with a click. The stone rose up around the feet of the bed anchoring it to the floor. Wizard Ramos scrambled down the rest of the ladder. Reaching the tunnel below, he crouched down to allow Emily to climb up again. Picking up his staff once more, he cast a flicker of flame into a nearby oil lantern, which burst into light. He grabbed the curving handle of the lamp, and then hurried down the dark passage, fleeing the pursing Citadel wizards.