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King Cedric's booming "good morning" startles me out of sleep. I wonder briefly if it's actually the morning and how he knows, but my thoughts soon turn to Alec, who's still sleeping beside me. For a horrible moment I think I dreamed that he woke up, but then he stirs and I'm able to breathe again.
Cedric whistles. "He lives!"
I smile widely and place a hand on Alec's back to help him sit up. I notice that he looks a little green.
Cedric steps forward and places a pot of water in Alec's hands. He gulps all of it down in seconds. "I've heard so much about you, Alec," the king tells him. Alec sets the pot to the side, looking a bit better already. "Edlyn never shut up about you." My cheeks burn and I look down at my hands, pretending to examine my nail.
"Your majesty," Alec says formally, standing with difficulty and bowing to him. The king towers over him, a huge mass of muscle. Even Alec has to crane his neck back a bit to look Cedric in the face, although not as much as I do. "It's an honor to meet you. The people of the leaves speak positively of you."
Cedric smiles at this. "I'm glad," he says. They fall into an uncomfortable silence.
"Your majesty, Alec is probably starving," I say, hoping to break the awkward silence. Cedric claps his hands together.
"Yes, of course. Well, Alec, we may have run into a bit of a problem there." He scratches the back of his neck. "I know that, as a person of the leaf, that you don't consume meat. But that's all we have to offer you." Alec's jaw tightens, but he seems to be expecting this.
"We only need to speak to your Seer and then we'll be on our way," Alec says. I frown at him, but he ignores me. He can barely walk. If we leave now, he won't make it.
"We're not leaving until you're healed," I say firmly, but both men brush me off.
Cedric folds his arms over his chest. "Our Seer is currently visiting the Sky Islands. What do you need him for?"
Alec groans, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger. His shoulders are tense with stress.
"Sky Islands?" I ask, but again, no reply.
"I wanted to know more about the legend of the White Witch," Alec explains. He rakes a hand through his hair. "Details, how to beat Anabella. Edlyn can't even control her powers, much less defeat her." He subconsciously touches the spot on his arm where I burnt him. It seems like so long ago—the wound is healed now, but a faint scar is visible.
"There's a stone tablet in the heart of the volcano. It's the origin of the legend, but it's hard to understand." Cedric strokes the side of his face, deep in thought. "I can take you there, if you'd like."
"Are you kidding? He can barely stand!" I protest, but Cedric leaves the room as if I hadn't said anything. Alec meets my eyes and shakes his head at me before leaving also. I groan and follow them, although I'm not sure I want to know what the tablet says at all.
Our little corner of the volcano turns out to be nowhere near the heart. We walk for what seems like ages through weirdly-shaped tunnels that Cedric says were formed by underground rivers of lava a long, long time ago. He tells me that while most of the caves and tunnels were formed naturally, many were widened by human miners who used to come here. Long ago, when humans openly believed in magical beings, Mount Inferno was a prosperous mine. But when the fire fairies began inhabiting the caves, the humans were too afraid to come anymore, so the mine was abandoned.
We walk slowly for Alec's sake, but the elevation descends rapidly and the heat becomes more and more intense. It doesn't bother me, but Alec is sweating profusely and having trouble breathing the heavy air. I bite my lip and hope that the tablet isn't much farther.
My hopes are fulfilled. Soon the tunnel opens up to a massive chasm filled with a pool of lava with a small, rocky island in the center. The ceiling is so high that it disappears into the darkness. Or maybe there is no ceiling at all, and the darkness I'm seeing is the night sky.
"Wait here," Cedric tells us. Springing easily into the air, he flaps his powerful wings and soars over the flaming lava to the island. I cringe at the thought of what would happen if his wings failed. But he returns with a flat piece of stone the size of a piece of paper without plunging to a fiery death.
My stomach churns at the sight of the tablet that supposedly started the mess that has become my life. Because of it, an evil witch is after me, ogres killed my neighbors, dark fairies slaughtered anyone who showed me kindness... the list goes on.
Cedric hands Alec the tablet. Alec glances down at it, then at me. He must sense how I'm feeling because he passes it to me without reading it. I nod thankfully and swallow a painful lump in my throat before beginning to read.
I have no idea what I'm about to learn about myself, or my fate, and it scares me.
A story as old as time
Tells of a girl who will save your world and mine
With bright white hair and a heart of gold,
This is what the Seers foretold
The bravest of all and love so pure,
Horrific pain will she endure
Loyalty is a flaw, she has been told—
A girl full of fire, betrayed by the cold
A man whose heart is bitter and broken
Against all others, he will be chosen
But in the end, they cannot be together,
For she is a lion, and he is a feather
With a final battle to end the war,
Dark and light will fight no more
Loyalty is a flaw, so loyalties she will switch,
This is the legend of the White Witch
I wish immediately that I hadn't read it.
"I-I don't understand," I say quietly. I reread it quickly, but that only confuses me more. I wanted this to have the answers—is my grandpa alive, how is Peter? Am I going to survive the fight with Anabella? But all I get it is a mindless poem that raises questions and answers none.
"I told you it was difficult," Cedric says, shrugging. Alec takes the tablet from me to read for himself. He narrows his eyes at the words as he reads. Once he finishes, he reads it again, just as I did.
"This makes no sense," he sighs. He returns the tablet to Cedric.
"Agreed," I mumble. I wrap my arms tightly around myself. "Let's just go back." For once they listen and after Cedric returns the tablet, we begin the trek back. We go slowly again for Alec, but the sharp incline proves to be too much for him. His face is pale and his skin covered in a cold sweat, even in the heat of the volcano. I drop my voice so Cedric can't hear. "We should stop."
"I'm fine," he lies. His heavy breaths echo in my ears. I watch him struggle for a few more seconds before I decide I can't anymore. I move to put an arm around him and support his weight like I did just before we arrived at Mount Inferno, but this time he pushes me away. He refuses to look at me.
When we're nearly back, Cedric slows his pace to walk beside us. "Now that you're both awake, I must take you to speak with the council."
Alec stares silently at the ground, so it's up to me to respond. "What about?"
"There were several dark fairies prowling the mountains when you arrived. My warriors fought them off, but we fear an attack of the same magnitude that your people suffered." He looks at Alec, who doesn't seem to be listening. "It is my position that you cannot stay here, but the council doesn't agree with me."
Cedric quickens his pace again, ending our exchange before I can argue that we need to stay. I watch Alec from the corner of my eye and swallow a hard lump in my throat. We can't leave, I decide. Not yet.
Soon we're making our way through the same tunnels I wandered when I woke. The same men and women that were with Cedric when I first met him are sitting around the stone table speaking in low voices to one another. The room falls into hushed silence when the king enters, all eyes on him.
"My friends, it's time for us to decide what to do with our guests," Cedric tells them, sounding exhausted already. He takes his place in the empty seat at the head of the table, leaving Alec and I exposed in front of a group of strangers.
"My stance is the same. She must be protected," a grey-haired man near the front says. He folds his arms over his chest and sits back in his seat. All eyes flick from him to Cedric.
"Do you realize that we could all be killed? Anabella knows she's here!" the king exclaims. He leans forward, resting his elbows on the stone table. "I can't make my people a target for her."
"Everyone is her target," the man with the grey hair argues. "Every fairy, every human, every goblin, leprechaun, centaur, ogre, unicorn—she will destroy us all if this girl," he points to me, "does not destroy her first. If the White Witch does not succeed, we will all suffer the consequences."
My chest tightens. No pressure.
"Cedric." Kalima's soft but powerful voice fills the room. She appears beside me and wraps a comforting arm around my waist. "Can't you see that this girl is terrified?" Now all eyes are on me. I stop breathing altogether. "Her companion is in poor health. Neither of them will survive if we toss them out now."
"Mother," Cedric says, and sighs. He puts his face in his hands and is silent for a moment. "I've told you before that you can't interrupt a council meeting."
"Bah," she says, waving her free hand dismissively. A giant grin spreads across her face that reminds me of mischievous little boys. "I say let the flame warriors decide."
"I second that," the man with the grey hair agrees. He slams his hand down on the table. The rest of the council, excluding Cedric of course, do the same. Cedric's mouth tightens into a thin line.
"Fine." He stands, his eyebrows pulling together. "Gather everyone in the throne room." With that, he turns and exits the room into the dark tunnels. He doesn't bother to light his path with fire. The rest of the council leaves afterward and the man with the grey hair nods to me before he goes.
"Come on, dear," Kalima says gently, guiding me toward the same tunnel the man with the grey hair left through. She releases me to light our way, turning to Alec and I a couple of times to make sure we haven't gotten lost. Her encouraging smile never falters, but not even that could make me feel better at this point.
Several minutes later we emerge from the tunnels into the throne room. It's similar to the throne room at the tree, but with much less charm and greenery. Two massive stone thrones draped in red cloth sit on a raised platform at the head of the room. The ceiling is tall enough to allow for children to chase each other around the air much like they did at Trävore. A few of the walls actually have torches, but the room is bright enough from the wings and the playful spurts of fire of the countless fairies pouring in from tunnels in every direction.
My heart beats crazily—there are so many more fire fairies than forest fairies here. Hundreds more, and they're still coming. But the room easily fits them all. Excited questions and words reach my ears along with the laughs of children and the indignant yell of someone who had been hit with a harmless ball of fire. A young man and woman fight playfully over some fire berries, reminding me of young couples I used to see in my village, but this couple is using brute force and scorching fire against each other. I keep thinking one of them is going to be hurt or worse, but after every punch or kick, they laugh and continue to fight.
Cedric is slouching in one of the thrones with the grey-haired man at his side. The man motions for me to come stand beside him, and as I do, a hush falls over the room. About half the room rises into the air and hovers at varying heights to be able to see what's going on.
"Mighty flame warriors," Cedric says as he stands, effortlessly projecting his voice throughout the whole room. The people hang onto every word he says. They really love him. "The legend is true. The White Witch has finally come." Hopeful, joyous grins spread through the crowd like wildfire and whoops ring out, echoing off the walls. Fairies hug each other and a few even do flips in the air. Cedric waits for their celebration to die down to allow himself to be heard before continuing. "However, the dark fairies know that she's here. Her presence puts all of us in danger. Anabella already attacked the people of the leaves—"
"The people of the leaves are weak! Bring on the dark fairies!" cheer a few sourceless voices.
"We can take 'em!" say others. The king frowns at his people and shakes his head while they pump their fists in the air and unleash wicked battle cries.
"Quiet!" the grey-haired man barks. The room falls back into silence, but it's different now. The calm, quiet silence of before is long gone, replaced by tense blood thirst and a silence that's louder than anything I've ever heard. "Per tradition, the party in question must introduce themselves and present their side of the argument. Then, we vote." He turns his head and nods to me. My stomach churns wildly as I take a tiny step forward. All eyes are on me.
When I open my mouth, I'm prepared to beg them to let us stay, at least until Alec is well. But as my eyes sweep over the crowd, I compare the look in their eyes to what I saw in the eyes of the dark fairies. These people aren't eager to kill. They're eager to defend what they love.
Against an enemy that only wishes to spill blood, they will lose.
"My name is Edlyn. I'm the White Witch." Hearing those words spoken for the first time in my voice makes my heart spasm, but I can't deny it anymore. I am the White Witch. The longer I deny it, the more people die. I take a shaky breath to calm myself. I can't decide what to say—am I making the right decision? I look to Alec, my eyes wide with panic, but he isn't looking at me. His eyes are fixed on a point somewhere in the crowd. They are shining with tears and reflect the pain and death suffered at Trävore. He's wondering if it will happen the same way here. I make my decision. "As the White Witch, it's my job to protect you. Which means that I can't stay here." Even if it means that Alec will die. I step back to my spot beside the grey-haired man. I carefully avoid his angry gaze and try not to cry.
The crowd murmurs their disapproval. The man quiets them with a wave of his hand and motions for Alec to step up to speak.
Alec doesn't bother introducing himself. "It's my job to protect her. I-I can't do that right now, not with the shape I'm in." His voice falters, but he holds eye contact with the people in front of him. "I don't care what happens to me. Just, please, don't force us out when I can't take care of her." He starts to say something else but decides against it and steps back. He focuses on the ground.
The crowd erupts once again into whispers that rapidly grow into loud conversations. The man with the grey hair and Cedric are arguing quietly, but I can't hear them over the roar of the fairies.
My face burns. I hate it, being torn like this. One life verses several hundred. It should be an easy decision. But when that one life is Alec...
"Alright, alright!" The grey-haired man holds up his hands to silence the crowd once more. "You know how this works. All in favor of tossing them?" If we weren't so far underground, you'd be able to hear crickets chirping. "All in favor of sheltering them." Every person in the room raises a hand. The grey-haired man smiles. "Then it's decided. They stay until it's safe for them to leave."
The crowd cheers again. Cedric storms off into the tunnels, an intense and worried frown on his face. I swallow my guilt and smile weakly at a few of the fairies up front who are waving at me. I feel like throwing up.
Kalima puts an arm around me again. "Good news: you two can have an actual room instead of that nasty old cave. Well, you'll still be staying in a cave, but...it's a nice cave."
"Thank you," I tell her, although I'd be glad to go hide in the nasty old cave right now.
"Would you like separate rooms or—"
"Separate." We turn to see Alec standing behind us, his arms crossed over his chest. The angry mix of guilt and conflict on his face is hard to look at. Kalima nods once, seeming to sense the tension.
"Alright, if you'll come with me..." Still holding onto me and with Alec not far behind, she leads us past a few excited ignis and down a new tunnel.
Our rooms are a short walk from the throne room. When we reach Alec's, he pushes aside a red curtain that matches the cloth that was draped over the thrones and leaves us without a word. I stare blankly at the floor where he'd been standing. Kalima pats my arm and pulls me a bit farther down the narrow tunnel. We stop at the next red curtain we come across, right beside Alec's.
"Try not to be too upset over him, dear," she says. I meet her eyes and she smiles, her eyes crinkling. "He only acts this way because he cares about you."
I laugh, but the smile doesn't quite reach my eyes. "He thinks I'm a burden."
"Oh no, no, no!" she exclaims, tsking and shaking her head. "It's so easy to see through his façade. That boy would die for you."
"Because he has to." I say it automatically, I don't think about it. But my cheeks start to burn with shame. Alec has proven several times already that he's willing to die for this cause, but it sounds as if I'm brushing that off like it's nothing.
"Anyone else in his place would have left you by now. Very few are willing to give up their lives for any purpose, even one such as this. That poor boy was on death's door when you arrived, yet he's still willing to throw himself right into Anabella's grasp. Keep that in mind the next time he's grumpy," Kalima says. She gives my arm another comforting rub before releasing me. "I will see you soon, Edlyn." She smiles. I watch her walk away until her and the light she carries disappear before entering my room. It's small, but slightly bigger than the last. The same bed of rock takes up one corner but this one has several thin blankets atop it that I'm sure will make all the difference in the level of comfort. A single torch hangs from the wall beside the doorway and a circular red cloth covers most of the cold floor. Two chairs and a table carved flimsily from the stone just as the bed was take up the wall opposite. A few beautifully cut gems and stones sit atop the table in a little bowl. I find myself wishing that it were a vase of flowers instead and that the room had a window.
I run a hand along the bed blankets. They're made of the same material as my dress. I take a seat on the edge of the bed, my shoulders slumping forward. I'm tired. I'm so tired.
I want to speak to Alec, but I can't face his anger. I wish I knew what he is thinking—what he's really thinking, and if Kalima is right. He wouldn't call me a burden to my face, but is that what he thinks of me? Or...what? I wish I knew.
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