Ara felt a deep pull within her at the headmistress’s words. She would never say it aloud, but she believed the vessel existed and perhaps would exist again.
“That’s not fair!” Roxie cried out and voices rang in agreement.
Sidonia raised her hands. “I agree. The Magnus treaty the witches had to sign, or lose their lives if they refused, gave the humans and wizards an unfair advantage and left witchkind with the scraps. We serve under them both when often we should be leading. Our current Imperial Witch, Olympia, has done much to ensure her protégé will be a respected and valued member of the king’s counsel when the time comes by making the position invaluable. The Calami witch chosen to work alongside Olympia and potentially succeed her must be of impeccable talent and unimpeachable character.”
The Kingston triplets nudged each other and smiled at that. Ara chewed the inside of her cheek. She had promised her father on his deathbed she would do whatever it took to take care of Seren and their mother, and she had promised herself that she would do whatever it took to master her magic. She would keep those promises by becoming the protégé to the Imperial Witch. Perhaps then Seren would understand why she needed to leave, why she had to leave.
“Originally, this class was designed to teach you magic to slow the signs of physical aging or enhance beauty. Things an insecure king or queen might be interested in, but when you leave this class in your fourth year and the Calami witch in the top rank goes to Olympia as her protégé and potentially her replacement, that simple magic can be expanded on there. Today, I want you to learn the value of saving a life. Of using everything you have learned in your year at Calami and putting those skills into practice should a member of the royal family or an important general of Lynoria were to become ill and you were the only witch available to treat them,”
Sidonia leaned back on the long desk at the front of the room and crossed one scarred hand over the other. “I can see the spark that lit at the thought of becoming the next Imperial Witch and that tells me each one of you belongs in this room. You have the desire, but desire doesn’t equate to skill.”
Sidonia stood and raised her hand, as she gestured in front of her a gust of wind whistled past them, leaving in its wake a small cauldron, bottles and jars of ingredients varying in size, and a stoppered potion on each table.
“One of you will drink the potion on the table,” Sidonia explained, “the other two will measure your response to the potion and come up with the antidote. The first group to reach the correct solution moves up in rank.”
“You’re poisoning us?” Ariminta accused, her voice rising to an even shriller pitch. “Do you know who my mother is? She knows Olympia personally, and I really don’t think she would appro—”
Sidonia raised her hand and closed it as if wrapping it around something unseen, pulling it towards her. Ariminta gasped as the wind left her lungs. “Miss Kingston, who do you think approved this lesson plan?”
Lily shook with quiet laughter next to Ara, and Roxie looked as if she would replay this moment for years to come as a fond memory. Ara took the potion in hand and removed the stopper from it, sniffing deeply.
“It’s odorless,” she whispered before raising it to her lips. She would take the poison rather than put anyone else at risk.
Sidonia snapped, and the sound reverberated through the room and through Ara’s very bones. “Miss Marudas, while your enthusiasm for the assignment is admirable, I believe Miss Sinclair will be the one to take the potion. Her natural healer abilities as a blood witch would mean this assignment would be over as soon as it began should she be allowed to participate.”
Lily took the vial from Ara and raised it in salute to the headmistress. “You do think of everything, don’t you, Headmistress?”
Sidonia laughed. “Miss Sinclair, I seem to have given your intelligence far too much credit if you thought I wouldn’t have taken your powers into account when planning this lesson. Now, elect one person at each table to drink the potion and get to work. You have less than thirty minutes.”
Ariminta regained control of her voice and shoved the potion at her cousins. “One of you take it.”
Lily raised the clear potion to her lips and drank. She swished it back and forth before swallowing and then considered. “Odorless and tasteless.”
Ara tuned out the Kingston triplets as they argued over who would drink the poison and looked Lily over. “Are your lips tingling?”
Lily touched her lips and shrugged. “Not really.”
Ara ran her hands over each ingredient as Roxie asked more questions. She knew she should pay attention to Lily’s responses and write down her observations, and yet she knew the answer. The same way she knew the vessel had been a living, breathing woman imbued with power centuries ago. The same way she knew where to find Seren any time, her younger sister ran off to pout as a child. The deep pull of her magic told her, and she trusted her magic.
Ara examined the ingredients provided and grabbed two jars, potash and iron. She measured each ingredient into the mortar and took Lily’s hand. “May I?”
Lily looked at her, her eyes wide with confusion, but offered her hand.
Ara took the gold claw-tipped ring all blood witches wore on their thumbs and pricked her own with it, providing the third ingredient. Three drops of scarlet life splashed into the mortar, creating a puddle of red on its surface.
She pounded the pestle into the ingredients, feeling the vibrations in her hands as she mixed them into fine dust. Pouring the vibrant indigo powder into her palm, she pressed it with her other hand. Focusing her magic on the cure in her hands, she felt it swirl, growing warmer until it solidified into a small, round shape. She handed it to Lily. “Swallow this.”
Lily and Roxie stared at her, and the Kingston triplets stopped what they were doing, Ariminta examining the ingredients Ara had pulled.
“It’s thallium poisoning,” Ara explained, pushing the tablet into Lily’s hand. “Take it or start having some very embarrassing bodily emissions soon.”
As Lily took the pill, Ariminta mixed the same antidote, grabbing Temperance’s hand and drawing blood before pouring it all into a glass of water, thrusting it into her other cousin’s hand. “Hurry up, Hazel. Drink this. Headmistress, we’ve finished.”
“We finished first,” Roxie said as Sidonia walked over to them.
Hazel wretched violently, blue liquid spewing from her mouth to the floor.
Ariminta shrieked, her voice filling the room. “What’s wrong with you? You took the antidote.”
