Irritated with the witch moving just out of reach around them, Ariminta, at the center, shoved one of the others toward her.
"Just grab her," she hissed, an edge of fear lingering in her eyes. It was clear that she hadn't forgotten what Arabella was capable of.
Hazel, the shoved triplet, made a daring lunge for Ara. In that same swift movement, Arabella grasped her wrist, using the witch’s momentum against her by side-stepping and pulling so Hazel fumbled across the glowing circle with a shrieked apology to the other two.
"It's no matter," Ariminta hissed at Arabella's smirk of victory. "It is still two against one and if she uses her powers, she loses by default." As if her own words were the reassurance she needed, Ariminta slithered forward to close the gap between them.
Icarus followed them around the barrier, stepping carefully to observe each movement. He would use what he found to guide them in technique over the following weeks.
Temperance lingered back, not as certain as her sister who had moved within striking distance. The braver triplet lashed out, a fist swiping in the air where Arabella’s head would have been had she not ducked in time. Ariminta stumbled forward, hissing. Red filled her cheeks when her fist met nothing but empty space and she, herself, almost tumbled out of the barrier. Arabella wasted no time, vaulting forward towards Temperance who squealed like a stuck pig. Fervently, her hands waved and a chaotic blast of yellow magic raced by Arabella’s ear. The rogue curse ruffled her hair, missing her by a fraction.
“Exit the circle, Miss Kingston,” Icarus rumbled.
The look Ariminta shot her sister could have withered fresh roses. Finally, at even odds, Arabella turned to the remaining triplet, blue eyes gleaming in a way that filled Icarus with concern. Perhaps she was more changed than he realized. Calder was rubbing off on her far too quickly. A careful balance was required for the vessel, something both born and taught.
As the two of them circled each other, moving as though engaged in a lethal dance, Icarus recognized Arabella’s movements a little too well and the way her eyes looked off into the distance as if listening to a voice no one else could hear.
Her power had often leant itself to the more unexplainable and it had been a long time since a seer had come forth. Is it possible?
His musing didn’t last long. Ariminta made another lunge for the witch, swinging wildly in some manic attempt to land a blow. Arabella’s face was set in concentration, her eyes bright and head tilted as though someone were whispering to her, guiding her next actions. With a steady slap, she knocked Ariminta’s attacking fist to the side, countering with an open hand that caught the triplet just beneath her chin, at the sensitive dip of her foolishly exposed neck. A move Icarus was now certain he’d seen before. One of Cal’s favorites, taught to him by their father.
The triplet’s eyes grew wide, panicked as the throat-forming jab stunned her back. Grasping for her neck, she struggled momentarily to breathe. Running for her sisters who hovered at the edge of the circle like gathering mice.
“Miss Sinclair,” Icarus murmured.
Lily, needing no further elaboration, took her time stepping to Ariminta’s side and running a pricked finger over the young woman’s throat until her labored breath relaxed.
As soon as she was able, Ariminta screamed, clutching her cousins for support, “She could havekilledme!”
Icarus stifled a sigh and walked to the three of them, making a show of inspecting her neck that was now its regular creamed tint. “I think you’ll survive, Miss Kingston. Your cousins may accompany you to the dining hall for a cup of soothing lemon tea.”
Baffled by his nonchalance, the triplets continued to screech and cry as if their pain had been shared again as they made their way out of the room to do as permitted.
A soft pattering of applause broke out amongst those left. Many eyed Arabella with admiration and praise. Excited murmurs picked up until the room was full and loud and Arabella was grinning ear to ear. When the flurry of students finally broke away from her to pair up and begin practicing on their own, Icarus approached her.
“Well done,” he said earnestly, but then leaned in to whisper so that his words would be for her, alone. “Although next time I expect you to fight using yourownskill. Tell my little brother I need to speak with him.”
The afternoon air was crisp and the sky overhead clear as Icarus trekked over the stretch of meadow to reach the Whispering Wood where Cal waited. The look on his brother’s face the perpetual smug mask he carried everywhere, but Icarus noted the tension in it. A sliver of uncertainty and exhaustion.
“Calder.” Icarus nodded, pulling up short at the ground’s magical barrier. The last time they’d been together out here, it hadn’t ended well. “How are you?”
Calder rolled his eyes, kicking off the willow he was leaning against, perhaps his favorite as it seemed to be the one Icarus often found him at. “Let’s skip the niceties, Icarus. What in the seven rings of hell wasthat?”
His brother was shaking, but be it from anger or relentless, brutal wind, Icarus wasn’t sure. Calder buried his hands within the pockets of his perfectly tailored navy blue suit and glared at him.
“Perhaps a cloak next time?” Icarus offered.
“Save the lecture. Why did you try to humiliate Ara so entirely? Pitting her against those three horrible witches whodespiseher? That was low, brother, even for you.”
A sigh escaped him, full of hidden grief. The sad realization of how deeply his younger brother's hatred for him ran. Hadn’t there been a moment, a glimpse of their old bond somewhere? Vaguely, he recalled the sound of his brother's begging through a hazy cloud of pain. It was still in there, buried deep, under layers of scar tissue inflicted by their treacherous uncle.
“I think you need to leave Arabella be.”
Cal’s face hardened to brimstone. “I believe we’ve already beat this matter bloody. I have not set foot over this barrier once since we last parted, though perhaps I should if you’re going to continue to treat her this way.”
“Do not think me a fool, Calder. I know you are whispering in her thoughts.”
“You gave me no choice today. What should I have done, let her stand alone? I do not make a habit of abandoning those I care about.” He paused for a moment and in his next words, some of the anger softened. “And did you ever consider that perhaps she is whispering in mine? That she wants this friendship just as much as I do?”
