Blood Prophecy: Kallen's Tale (7 page)

Chapter 5

My short nap does wonders to
relieve my exhaustion.  I am not sure where Xandra is when I wake up, but I
know she will be back soon.  In the meantime, I need to get dressed.  I magic a
pair of jeans and a black t-shirt.  My favorite ensemble.  When Xandra comes
into the room, she stops and lets her eyes rove over me.  Perhaps this is her
favorite ensemble, as well. 

After a moment of pure
sexual tension, she walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist.  I
hold her close, ignoring to the fact that her freshly showered, cold wet hair
is soaking my t-shirt.  A small price to pay to have her in my arms.

As much as I would like to
stay like this, okay, as much as I would like to lift her up and carry her back
to bed, I know that our precious alone time needs to come to an end.  I kiss
the top of her head and step back. 

“I guess we have to get back
out there, huh?”  The enthusiasm in her voice is very underwhelming. 

“It would be wise.”

She groans.  “Fine.  You
should kiss me first, though.  Then at least I’ll have something good to think
about.”

She is the perfect
girlfriend.  I pull her back into my arms and kiss her, as requested.  A kiss
that is slow, deep and thorough.  It is even harder this time to pull away. 
But, I must.  “I believe it is time we spoke with your grandmother about who we
are up against.  Knowing their strengths will help us determine their
weaknesses.”

She looks unsure again.  “I
hope so.” 

When we walk back into the
kitchen, we encounter emotions so thick, I am afraid of drowning in it.  I am
not sure if I want to align myself with any of them other than Xandra.  Her
mother is the definition of miserable, her grandmother is about to have a
nervous breakdown, and her father wants to kill, well, his wife’s entire family
would be my guess.  Which makes them all so close to the edge, it would be easy
to tumble over with them.  Xandra’s little bouts of insecurity are nothing
compared to what these people are feeling.

One thing Xandra is never
insecure about?  Ignoring people’s raw emotions and starting a new conversation. 
“What can you tell us about the Witan?”

Relief washes over the
Angel’s face.  “Quite a bit.”

“Great.”  Xandra sits down
at the table and her father vacates the chair he was pretending to sit in so
that I may sit down.  He moves to a corner of the room where he can plot the
Angel’s death in peace.

In the meantime, the Angel
begins to tell us of the Witan.  “I’ll start with his Derwydd.  She’s the
King’s advisor, and when the King is not available, she acts as judge and jury
to Witches who have become too visible to the Cowans or have broken any other
magical law.”

Xandra is offended yet again
by the use of the word Cowan.  It is simply a word; I do not understand the big
deal with it.  She rolls her eyes and says, “They’re humans, okay?  And until
last week, I thought I was one, too.  And my brother is half human.”

Oh, please tell me that I
misheard her.  It has been obvious that her parents have intentionally not
mentioned her little brother.  The proof is on the Angel’s face.  “Brother?”  She
turns to her daughter.  “You have a son?”

I shake my head as Xandra
tries to back pedal.  Unsuccessfully.  She really needs to learn how to keep
some of her thoughts in her head instead of letting them all jump out of her
mouth at will.  She gives up after a minute and simply asks her grandmother to
continue with her dissemination.  Which she does.

“Maeva is your grandfather’s
Derwydd.  She is…intoxicating.” 

Ah, I know what that means. 
“She is a seductress?”

The Angels lips are pressed
together.  “Yes.”  She may claim to be indifferent to her husband, but she is
not.  Jealousy flairs in her eyes as she says that one simple word.

“What’s a Seductress?” 
Xandra asks.

I cannot resist teasing
her.  “She has the ability to seduce.  She can persuade others to do her
bidding by making it seem seductive.”

Sarcasm drips from her
mouth.  “You’re just a walking dictionary, aren’t you?  Thanks for clearing
that up for me.”  I chuckle, which annoys her more.

Her mother jumps into the
conversation, ruining my fun.  “A Seductress is someone who can use her magic
to persuade others to do things against their will – no matter how desperately
they fight against her.  She taps into a person’s deepest desires.”

Xandra’s attention is drawn
back to the conversation at hand.  “That sounds wrong.  Why would Grandpa want someone
like that around?”  I try not to laugh at the color rushing to her face as she
realizes the obvious answer to that question.

The Angel ignores the blush
on Xandra’s face.  “A Seductress is a powerful ally.  Many challengers to your
Grandfather’s throne have been settled by Maeva without bloodshed.  And when
someone has broken one of our laws, a little time with Maeva will make them
confess to everything and more easily comply with their sentencing.”

“And let me guess, they’re
sentenced to death,” Xandra says.

The Angel is shocked.  “Good
heavens, no!  We’re not barbarians.  Their power is bound one to three times,
depending on how powerful they are, and then their sentence is to live magic
free and incarcerated anywhere from thirty days to life.”

Oh, she is playing right
into Xandra’s trap.  How amusing to watch.  Xandra asks her, “So the death
penalty never comes into play?”

With an emphatic head shake,
the Angel says, “No.”  It is obvious the minute she realizes her mistake. 

It is obvious to Xandra, as
well.  She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest.  “So,
let me get this straight, then.  Even though I have not committed any magical
crimes, I have not used my magic to intentionally inflict harm on another Witch
or human, and I saved this realm from the Fairies coming back to wreak revenge,
I am somehow evil enough to be put down like a dog.”  Turning to me, she says,
“It’s a good thing I didn’t hurt my leg up in the mountains, you would have had
to shoot me to put me out of my misery.”

I love it when she’s
facetious in situations such as this.  “I probably would have tried splinting
it first.”

She nods appreciatively.  “Very
considerate of you.  And you’re not even a blood relative.”  Thank god for
that.  My thoughts are way too impure towards her to be related to her. 

The Angel tries to
backpedal.  “Of course it is wrong what your grandfather and his Witan want to
do.  That is why I’m here.”

As much as I am enjoying
this back and forth, I understand when Xandra’s father suggests we move the conversation
along.  Getting back to the topic at hand, Xandra continues to ask her
grandmother about the Witan.  “Fine.  So, how do you fight against a
Seductress?” 

I can answer that one.  “You
have to see her for what she really is.  A Seductress’s power is in her ability
to make you see what your heart wants to see.  If you favor thin blonds, then
that’s what she looks like to you.  If you like rugged men, then that’s what
she looks like to you.  She becomes one’s physical dream.  Once she has caught
your interest, she wheedles her way into your mind and convinces you that you
are living in a fantasy world with your dream lover and she can get you to do
almost anything.”

Xandra’s brows come
together.  “Okay, but what if you’re already with your dream lover?”  She just
made my entire year with that one little comment.  There is no stopping the
smug smile that jumps onto my lips.  With a heavy blush, Xandra ignores me and
keeps talking about the Witan.

For the next several
minutes, we discuss the power of a Seductress.  Xandra is confused that she
cannot just mimic the type of magic a Seductress uses.  Her mother then
explains that, like Fairies, Witches each have a type of magic they do
exceptionally well.  Yet another lesson she could have learned years ago
instead of taking valuable time explaining this to her now.  I can think of
much better ways Xandra and I could be spending our time.  If I continue this
train of thought, everyone will know what I am thinking about. 

“If she’s that good, then
how do you fight against her?” Xandra asks.

The Angel’s lips press into
a firm line.  “Most can’t.  That is why she’s so powerful.  It takes a strong
talisman to shield you from Seductress magic.”

“Okay, then how do I make a
talisman like that?”  Another spell?  Apparently, she did not learn her lesson
earlier.  This should be interesting.

The Angel’s answer draws my
eyes away from Xandra.  “There is an ancient way, a way that requires a lot of
power.”  Ancient magic.  Performed by a powerful novice.  This may end up being
the end of the world for everyone.  She avoids my eyes as she says, “It is
similar to the Fairy trap your mother has set up outside.”

“You know about that?”
Xandra asks.

“A Witch can most often feel
the magic of another.  I felt it as I passed through it.  I didn’t know
specifically what it was meant to trap, but I reasoned that out.”  I wonder
what the tally is now for her lies.  Angels and Fairies can taste the magic of
others.  Not Witches.

“Okay, how do I do this?”

“You use tree magic.”

Xandra is obviously
confused.  “What do you mean tree magic?”

I have to try hard to keep
my face blank.  When she said ancient magic, she did not mean ancient magic of
Witches.  Or Fairies.  She meant the magic of Fallen Angels – those who chose
to fall to help Cowans survive.  This magic has been lost for millennia because,
other than the one sitting here, Angels do not choose to fall anymore.  They
felt their guidance was no longer needed, nor wanted.  So, they stopped coming. 
“Interesting,” I say and the Angel’s eyes lock with mine, daring me to tell her
secret.  I am much too curious to see this magic performed than to out her. 

“What’s so interesting?” Xandra
asks as her mother says, “I’ve never heard of this before.”  I believe I will
keep my mouth shut and let the Angel answer these questions.  After all, it is
her secret.

“Tree magic is for the most
part a lost art with Witches.”   The Witches did not lose it, they never had
it.  And the Angel is having a hard time keeping the guilt of her lies off her
face.

Xandra manages to pull me in
to the conversation, after all.  “Can Fairies do tree magic?”

That is an easy enough
question.  “No.”

She scowls at me and I have
no idea why.  I gave her an honest answer to the question she asked.  “Do you
know what tree magic is?”

Okay, another easy
question.  “Yes.”

“Do you think you could use
multiple syllables?”

Ah, she wants me to
elaborate.  But, that would bring me into lie territory and I have already
decided to let the Angel field those questions.  So, I go with, “No.”  I try
hard not to laugh when Xandra throws me a dirty look for teasing her.

Choosing to not engage me
any farther, she asks her grandmother, “How does it work?”

“In a forest such as this,
the roots of the trees interlace themselves.”  She laces her fingers together
as an example.  “Where these roots touch each other, the trees share their
energy with each other, working together to maintain equilibrium within the
forest.  It is possible to use this woven network to communicate a spell
amongst the trees.”

“So, it spreads like a
virus?”  I chuckle.  Xandra is always so literal. 

“That would be an apt
description, yes.”

“How do you define which
trees you want the spell to travel to?”  Good question.  I would like to know
that myself.  This is going to be extremely educational for me, as well as
Xandra. 

“That can be tricky.  Each
tree must be precisely marked.  If the circuit is not kept intact, the magic
will escape its boundaries.  That mustn’t happen.”

“What happens then?”  The
magic of the Angels will explode into the world and cause mass destruction.  At
least, that is what I have heard.  Angels like to live on the edge.

“There are guardians of tree
magic and we do not want to anger them.  Nor harm their trees with magic.” 

Xandra asks the question
that has been on my tongue since her grandmother brought this subject up.  “So,
because our situation isn’t dire enough, you want to teach the person who sets
air on fire, a magic that involves trees.”  Excellent point.

“You have it within you to
perform this magic.  I am confident.”  That was the closest to the truth I have
heard the Angel come.

Xandra does not look at all
convinced, but she agrees.  Not only agrees, but she is ready to start.  Um, we
have a bit more to learn here.  “Perhaps we should learn of the other Witan
members before we begin to prepare,” I say. 

“There are six other members
of the Witan.  Three of them are the binders – Annika, Louhi and Midar.”

“Do any of you have normal
names?  How am I supposed to remember all this?” Xandra asks in exasperation. 
Seriuously?