If you looked into her eyes, she would steal your memories and curse you to walk the earth as a nameless one.
If you plucked a flower from her garden, vines would wrap around your limbs and drag you deep into the earth.
And if you ever,evermade a deal with her—you would regret it for the rest of your days.
Each recollection haunted me as I delved deeper into the trees, forcing bravery into my terror-filled heart.They were only stories, old wives’ tales used to scare off curious little ones.Or were they?Truth shimmered at the edges of them.
Those who made a bargain with the Enchantress never spoke of it again—except one.I knew of a fellow assassin in the tower who had visited the Enchantress and made a deal to bring back her sister from the edge of death.An impossible bargain, as the infection was too far gone.Death came for her sister.When she poured the elixir between her lips she hadn’t been breathing, but whatever the vial had contained, it changed her visage from one second to the next.Alive.Whole.Healed.The assassin never revealed what she had bargained for the elixir, but the weight of it clung to every line on her face to this day, and looking at that horror and grief in her eyes chilled me.
Coming to the dark wood was dangerous and bordered stupidity, but if anyone could alter my face and conjure an invitation to the Paravellian Balls, it was the Enchantress.Maybe she was nothing, but the girl’s recovery was the only real magic I had ever seen.
The mossy path curved, hiding the trail ahead, and the brisk air cut against my cheeks.I sniffed as my nose ran and threw an arm over my eyes to shield them from the brightening sunlight, rounding one final bend before staggering to a stop, overwhelmed at the sight before me.
Colors of every shade exploded like fireworks from a massive garden with the grandest array of flowers I had ever seen: roses, petunias, daisies, lilies, pansies, some in shades I’d never known existed.A garden of herbs wrapped around the back of a white cottage overgrown with ivy.My mouth fell open.How were the plants so fresh and vibrant this late in the year?
A pebbled path beckoned the way to the cottage door, but I couldn’t bring myself to take another step.The warnings of the evil within assaulted me, but the sight stole my breath away.I moved closer to the flowers hanging over the wooden garden gate, examining the purple specks on the petals of the white roses.I scrunched up my nose, not wanting to believe what my eyes were seeing.It couldn’t be natural.Was it sorcery?If she could change these flowers’ appearances...
“Touch one of its petals and the flower will sear your fingertips like fire.”
I spun, my heart jumping in my chest as I reached for one of the daggers at my hip.I half expected to turn into dust or disappear beneath the ground.
Her eyes caught my attention first, green spheres with flecks of light gold sprinkled around her irises like pixie dust.Straight ebony hair flowed over her shoulders and complimented warm brown skin that seemed to glisten in the sunlight.She was not young, but nor was she old.Her appearance spiraled me into confusion until I suspected her true age was masked by an enchantment.
I dipped into a curtsy, but she looked unimpressed.
I swallowed, unsure of how to proceed.“I came to buy an enchantment from you, Miss...”
She cocked an eyebrow as I trailed off, but she didn’t offer a name.
“What would a girl like you need an enchantment for?”She took in my attire.“What is your name?”
I drew my shoulders back and pulled the poorly fabricated invitation from my pocket, extending it to her.It might get me in the doors of the first ball, but it also might get me arrested if the guards identified it as a counterfeit.Sunlight reflected off the gold filigree and elaborate script.“My name is Marielle, and I need three invitations for the Paravellian Balls.”
Curiosity sparked in her eyes as she turned the paper over in her hands.“Why the Paravellian Balls?”
False fascination filled my voice.“It’s the experience of a lifetime, where a gathering of the royals and nobles from the surrounding kingdoms come together for seven nights of wonder and enchantment.It only occurs every five years.”
“And you wish for an invitation because you enjoy dancing so much you want to twirl at seven different balls, or because you hold a position of power you wish to form alliances from?”
“Each ball is unique in its own way,” I said.“It’s not the dancing but the puzzles and the masquerade.Most kingdoms attend to form alliances or strike trade deals, but there are others who simply go for political means or the enjoyment.”
“And you fall beneath the latter?”
“As I said, it is the experience of a lifetime.”
I forced hope and expectation to fill my eyes.
The Enchantress ran a slender finger over the invitation as if pondering my request—then wadded it into a ball.My eyes widened in horror and I lunged for it as she tossed it aside like a piece of trash.
“I don’t make bargains with liars.”Venom laced her tone.
“I—I’m not—” I stammered.
“Did you think you could trick or lie to an enchantress?I know far more than you could ever imagine, and I know exactly who you are,Analleia de Ellen Mercais Kallistar.”
Fear cracked within me like a whip, and I drew a dagger from each hip, searching the surrounding woods for danger.No one had called me by my full name in years.Nor should anyone remember me by it.The lines of my face hardened from an innocent maiden to that of a threatening warrior.
The Enchantress scoffed at my daggers as if they were nothing more than sewing needles.“Do not act surprised.I know all who enter my wood.”She homed in on the symbol engraved into the hilts of my daggers.“Ah, you come from the assassin’s guild of the Dark Walkers...that’s where you ran off to when your kingdom was destroyed.”
