The Hex

Chapter Two

     "Mary, give it back!"

Elizabeth jumped up from her seat and chased her lanky sister around the garden, trying to catch up to the book she dangled in her fingertips. Mary loved to tease Elizabeth, sometimes in cruel ways. This was one of her more docile attempts.

"Just use your witchy powers to bring it back to you," she taunted, sticking her hip out and dangling the book out in front of her. Elizabeth knew better than to give into Mary's teasing, however. One slip, and she'd meet the same fate as her mother.

"Mary, please. I've almost reached the end."

"Oh, do you not like it when people take things from you?" Elizabeth stopped in her tracks. She knew exactly where this was going. "Does it hurt? Do you feel cheated?"

"Mary, stop it."

"No! You took everything from me the moment you were born." Elizabeth shook her head. Mary was a grown woman; she should learn to solve problems like that. Even as a child just fresh into ten years old, she understood that.

"Mary, please, just give it back." Her sister sighed, gently closing the book and holding it out.

"Fine. You always get what you want in the end. Catherine makes sure of that."

Elizabeth chose to ignore the snide comment this time and just went to reach for the book. It just barely touched her fingertips, when Mary suddenly flicked her hand out, tossing the book into the pond nearby. Delicate bindings and pages of white began to fall apart and disintegrate before it sunk down into the murky depths. Hot tears bubbled in Elizabeth's eyes as she watched it fall into nothingness.

"Go ahead and get it." Her sister turned on her heel and stormed away, back into the castle. Elizabeth remained in a saddened shock for a moment before anger began to rise. Her sister tormented her any chance she got, for no other reason that Ela's existence. She had the misfortune of being born at the wrong place in the wrong time.

Fuming, Elizabeth made her way back toward her room, wanting not only to be alone, but to release her control for a while. Her head started to feel heavy as a result of trying to hide her wings for so long. She slammed the wooden door behind her, hoping no one would get suspicious and want to come in. The moment she knew she was alone, she allowed the large, black masses on her back to appear again, extending out slightly.

"Good afternoon, child." Elizabeth glanced at Dmitri in the mirror. "Did something happen?"

Ela attempted to keep herself collected as she spoke.

"Mary took my book from me and threw it into the water. Now I cannot get it back."

"That is ridiculous, Elizabeth. You can always get it back." She shook her head and scoffed.

"It is too much of a risk, Dmitri. Someone will catch me."

"And who gave you that silly idea?"

"My lady-in-waiting."

Her eyes focused back on her own reflection, staring at the red gem glowing around her neck. It would get warm whenever she did something to make an object appear or disappear, sometimes to the point where it felt like a small fire on her dress. She'd never been told what it was, because even Catherine didn't know. But there never came a moment when she didn't wonder what exactly it was.

With steady hands, she reached up and wrapped her hand around it. The moment she'd completely clasped it, however, her hand felt as though it were being enveloped in flames, the dim, red shine now increasing to a supernova-like glow. Quickly, she yanked her hand away, settling everything back to normal. She panted and winced as she looked down at her hand, finding a prominent burn mark left in the place the stone had rested. She couldn't stop staring at it, fascinated with the idea that something so innocent looking could have nearly melted her flesh away. Just how it did that, she wouldn't yet understand.