Page 46 of Magic Claimed
“Could someone please help me move these chairs?” Anise asked.
When the wolves had cleared space, Anise drew a large triangle overlapping a square. She lit a candle at each point of the triangle and asked the wolves to stand at each one.
“Serafine, please stand in the middle of the square.”
I took a fortifying breath and stood where she showed me to. The golden bubbles flew from the walls to flow along the shape Anise had drawn. Light streamed from the triangle to cover Jarom, Eike and Alerick, making it look as though their skin glowed gold. They looked like golden gods. Virile. Powerful. Otherworldly. If they felt the magic on them, they didn’t show it.
Anise retrieved a long, silver wand that glinted in the light. It looked like a twisted branch about the length of her arm. I’d never seen such an exquisite piece.
“Where did you get a wand like that?” I asked.
Anise shook her head. “I don’t know. The wolves found me with it and I don’t remember how or why I had it. Only that it’s powerful. It connects me with ancient magic.” She ran her fingertips over the wand before she looked back at me. “Are you ready? I don’t think this will be painful, but I haven’t done a remembering spell of this magnitude before.”
I was no stranger to pain. I nodded, bracing myself for the unexpected. In my experience, all magic was painful. “Go ahead.”
“I’ll need to use the magic of your bond to connect the ancient magic with you,” Anise said.
“Wait…what?”She was using bond magic?
Anise touched the wand to the edge of the triangle and golden light erupted over me, through me, became me. The golden bubbles in the room surged into the triangle and surrounded the square. It created a vortex of magic around me. My hair whipped into my eyes and the robe flapped about my legs.
I lunged at Anise to stop the spell but I was frozen in place and then I was falling, falling, falling into a pool of liquid gold and sank heavier than a stone. The sheet of gold morphed into four people encircling me. The blonde haired woman from my memory cast her fingers through my hair and smiled. It was such a sad smile.
“Mama? Papas?”
She didn’t answer. Nor did the three men. They all looked strange from this angle until I realized everyone was so tall because I was small. They couldn’t hear me because this was a memory.
I clung to my mother’s dress. Tears streamed down her face. Her eyes were red, as though she’d been crying for a while.
“It’s all right, mama. Don’t cry,” I said.
One of my father’s peaked out of the window. When he turned around, his face was grave. “It’s time. We cannot delay any longer.”
They looked stern and miserable when usually they were smiling and playful. Something felt all wrong.
I tugged Mama’s hand. “What’s wrong, mama?”
She bent down to me and sniffled as she took my cheeks between her hands. “You have to be a brave girl, do you understand Serafine?”
I nodded. Of course, I was a brave girl. I swam in the pond yesterday with the ducks. She should know how brave I was.
“I want you to remember that your fathers and I love you very much. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “I love you too, Mama.” My child’s mind grew more confused by the moment.
“My beautiful little girl. If there was anything else I could do, I would do it. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mama.” I agreed but I didn’t really understand. I just wanted her to stop crying. Mama sobbed as she kissed me and cuddled me as though she’d never see me again. It made me cry.
Someone shouted outside and loud bangs made my ears hurt. I covered my ears, but the bangs and shouting grew louder. One of the windows exploded, raining glass inside. I screamed.
My fathers circled us. There was Papa with his head of sleek black hair, Father with hair as white as snow, and Dada with his mop of brown curly hair and golden glowing eyes. Each of them kissed and cuddled us, but I could tell they were in a rush.
“It is time, Sylvie,” Papa said.
Mama’s face crumpled as she took an old book from Papa. It was torn and crumpled and I didn’t understand why she held a dirty old thing like that so carefully. She touched the tip of the wand to my forehead and whispered words I’d never heard her speak before. Serpentine and slippery, I felt each word sink in to me. Golden light flashed bright and the torn up bit of old book vanished. Something sizzled through me all the way down deep inside, burning deep inside my chest.
Mama’s shoulders slumped. “It is done.”
