Where was she?
Using her Gift to put those women to sleep. Finding the amulet. Her vision of the past. The attack in the woods. Ty.
It all came back to her in a series of swift realizations. She was with the Occidens Coven. They’d captured her, and where was Ty? The last she’d seen him, he had been fighting off the witches single-handedly. Had he gotten away? Had they killed him?
Ena’s heart started to pound as she stood up, fear gripping her once more. She went to open the door, but it was locked.
{Clavis}
She spoke her spellword quietly, but nothing happened. She tried it again, jiggling the door handle and pulling with all her might, but still, nothing happened.
She forced herself to calm and investigate her surroundings. There was a candle on the table, and she tried to light it with her spellword, but again, nothing happened.
They must have spelled the room against the use of magic.
She’d heard of it being done before, oftentimes to protect young children who hadn’t yet learned to control their magic, but she’d never felt the effects of it herself, and usually it required the person’s blood.
Ena reached up to touch the back of her head where she had hit it in the woods, feeling a large, tender lump. She winced at the pain, and saw on her hand the dried remnants of her own blood.
She went over to the door again and knocked gently. “Hello?” she called, her voice sounding small and desperate. “Is anyone there?”
There was no response.
Ena began to feel claustrophobic. It was dark. She was trapped. She started to pace frantically, searching for a way out of the room, feeling the walls and testing the floorboards. She felt so helpless without her magic.
Why were they keeping her here? Where was Ty? Was he okay? Had Steig and Turner gotten away with the amulet?
Suddenly, the door opened and light flooded the room. Ena shielded her eyes as they adjusted to the change.
A figure walked into the room holding a lit candle. She walked over to the table and used it to light the one already sitting there. With the candles now brightening the room, Ena found herself staring into a familiar face.
It was the woman from the kitchen that she’d used hervisanison. Seeing her more closely now, she saw that she was probablyin her mid-forties. Her face had gentle lines around her eyes, and she was thin. Her dark-blonde hair was tied back into a bun and her hazel eyes watched Ena like a hawk.
“It’s good to properly meet you, Ena. My name is Syrelle,” she said.
Ena stared at her cautiously, not knowing what to say. How did she know her name?
“Are you feeling alright? You took quite a fall in the woods, I’m told.” She paused, waiting for Ena to respond, then continued when she didn’t. “Of course, I wasn’t there. I found myself incapacitated until the sun rose this morning.”
The woman looked at Ena knowingly, clearly trying to gauge her reaction. But Ena gave nothing away.
“Where am I?” Ena asked. She had many questions, but asking this one seemed like a good place to start.
“You’re still with the Occidens Coven. I apologize for the sparse accommodations, but we needed to make sure you were secured for now. The room is spelled against magic. But something tells me you already figured that out.” The woman gave Ena a tight smile and moved to sit down in the chair. “Please, sit,” she said. “I think it’s time we had a conversation.”
Ena sat on the edge of the bed, her body tense and ready to run or fight. She waited for the familiar surge of hervisanis, but she couldn’t feel it at all.
“We’ve contacted your Coven,” Syrelle said. “When it became clear to us that you were a witch, we sent Aquilo and Auster a message asking if either of them claimed you. Your matriarch, Heran, and your sister, I believe, are on their way here as we speak to negotiate for your release.”
Heran and Greya were on their way here? Ena was immediately filled with an intense feeling of relief, followed by guilt, shame, and trepidation. How in the world was she going to face them after everything?
But another concern crowded that one out.
“Where’s Ty?” Ena asked, her tone deathly serious.
“The daemon you were with? Interesting that you would ask about him,” she said, tilting her head to the side and examining Ena like she was a curiosity. “Your matriarch explained that you were taken from your home a few weeks ago and haven’t been heard from since. Daemonic activity was suspected. But…” She peered studiously at Ena. “I was told about the way he defended you when my people found you in the woods… Maybe all is not as it seems.”
Ena did not want to antagonize this woman. She could not be seen as having been in league with daemons. Her position was already precarious, but if she could convince them that she was forced to go along with the daemons’ plan, maybe they would let her go. That was the truth, after all. They just couldn’t know that there was…more between her and Ty.
