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‘Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ Killian told me. ‘Taking on two Shining Ones and a witch in one go, all by yourself, it would be a miracle if you hadn’t been “killed”. And to be fair, the chances of you being attacked by any Shining One is zero, so take heart from that.’
I grinned and nodded. ‘I guess so.’
‘Keely’s doing really well with fire,’ Romy told me. ‘Star’s impressed with her. It seems that’s her gift, which makes sense when I think about it. Keely’s always been the fiery one.’
‘Whereas Harley seems more at home with earth magic,’ Killian said. ‘And that makes sense, too. She’s always liked growing things. She takes after her father, apparently. Ewella said he loved gardening. Ah, it’s a shame I never met the fella. I’ve a feeling I’d have liked him a lot.’
‘I’m sure you would,’ Romy said softly. ‘I have very few memories of him, but they’re all happy ones. I wish I had some memories of my real parents, but I’ll never have those.’
‘Aye.’ Aidan sighed. ‘I know we complain about our folks, but it must be said I’m grateful to have them in my life. We’ve been very lucky, right, Killian?’
Killian nodded. ‘We have. I feel for you both, I really do. The Pendragons have taken an awful lot away from you.’
‘Which is why I’m going to make sure they don’t take anything else,’ I said grimly. ‘At least, once I get the hang of magic.’
‘Like I said, you’re doing grand,’ Aidan said. ‘It’s a lot to juggle: fae magic, witchcraft, and the Guardian gifts.’ He gave me a curious look. ‘Which do you feel the most affinity for?’
I honestly didn’t have an answer, so I merely shrugged. I didn’t feel competent in either fae magic or witchcraft, and I felt as if I’d barely scratched the surface of being a Guardian, which had been mostly theory so far. Hector had assured me that, although we had a lot of learning to do first, once I started work as a Guardian, it would all come easily and naturally to me. I could only hope he was right, though based on the struggles I was still having with my other so-called natural gifts, I didn’t hold out much hope.
It had been a long and exhausting four months since we’d reclaimed our magic. Sometimes, I would literally crawl into bed at night and fall asleep before my head had even hit the pillow. Other nights I would lie there in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling into the early hours, my mind racing, my body and brain exhausted, but unable to switch off.
Everyone had been amazing, and so generous with their time. Even Mrs Greenwood had sent us regular cakes to show her support, which I thought was lovely of her.
Blaise and I both agreed that her chocolate fudge cake was to die for. He’d been back to Castle Clair and had been surprised and touched when she popped round to Castle Lodge one afternoon to say hello, and had brought a full cake for him, remembering how much he’d loved it when he lived there before. He had, he admitted to me, been reduced to tears by her kind gesture, especially given that he’d almost killed her grandson. Not his finest hour.
I had to admit, against all the odds, I’d really grown to like Blaise. I’d liked him as John Ford, of course, but there was an added depth to him now he was his full self again. He was bright and interesting, and he made me laugh a lot. He was surprisingly wise, and incredibly patient with me. Apart from Emrick and Keely, he was probably the person I talked to the most. I would never have believed it.
I’d spoken to Trinity and Sirius about the cryptic looks they were giving each other about him, and at first they’d denied all knowledge. Eventually, though, after asking Celeste’s permission, they’d confided what she’d told them.
It worried me, I can’t deny it. Knowing that destiny was still pulling Blaise along, that it hadn’t finished with him yet, was scary. Given what it had made him do in the past, I couldn’t help but fret that he was going to cause huge problems for us in the future.
Even so, I found myself trusting him a little more each day, and I just hoped Celeste’s strategy would prove effective. If he was treated as family, with love and kindness, maybe he’d find the strength to turn away from the dark side.
It was quite certain he was always watched anyway, whether by Trinity and Sirius, Celeste and Hector, Iliana and Raiden, not to mention the other Castle Clair witches. I knew Ewella was also watching him, which was natural because of her love for Romy.
It surprised me a little that Emrick seemed to have no worries about him, and maybe that was what gave me confidence. Whatever the reason, I felt I’d made a friend. It would have been nice if he’d had magic and could have helped me in that way. I knew he’d been a very talented witch, and I felt his experience could have been useful. As it was, we talked a lot about the mistakes he’d made, and about how easy it was to let magic dominate your life and use it as a way of getting anything you wanted.
He was very clear that I couldn’t allow that to happen, and that I had to be responsible, and I know he talked it over with Romy a great deal, too, because she told me. The overwhelming feeling I got from Blaise was regret for his mistakes and the people he’d hurt. It touched me when he cried with happiness as he thanked Celeste, Hector, and Jethro for the hard work they’d done to clear Bevil’s name. He’d been over the moon, upon his return to Castle Clair, to find that his brother was now seen as the hero, even though his own reputation was completely trashed. I thought that spoke volumes about him.
When it came to the three of us Pendragon children, Romy was the star turn among us, which had surprised everyone—mostly herself. She’d absolutely blossomed since her magic returned, and she seemed to handle it all beautifully. She was gifted in the same way Sky was, finding it easy to zap herself to wherever she pleased and becoming frustrated that she was currently restricted to the island, but that was Emrick’s orders, and even Romy wouldn’t push him. She could move other objects effortlessly and levitated for fun. In fact, she and Trinity had levitated onto the tree branch, rather than climb the tree. I hadn’t reached even that level yet, which was embarrassing.
My head was buzzing with the three disciplines I was trying to juggle, and all the time I kept thinking about the visions I’d seen as my magic had been restored.
Who was the dark-haired woman, and who did she want me to save? And where was the little stone room I’d seen in my vision? Who were the man and woman who were with me, and what did the man mean, only I could do this? Do what?
‘Find the sword in the stone,’ the dark-haired woman had pleaded. ‘Free my love’.
I’d spoken to Emrick about it, naturally, but he’d merely shaken his head and said life was full of mystery, and the visions the crystals had chosen to show me would probably make sense one day, if not now.
He didn’t seem particularly keen to try to work out what they meant, claiming that the most important thing right now was to focus on managing my gifts. And I supposed he was right. It was just another frustrating question, to add to all the other questions I had burning away inside my mind.
We reached the gate at Peloryon House and Star and Aidan said a regretful goodbye.
‘Are you not coming in for something to eat?’ Killian asked his brother, but Aidan shook his head.
‘Sorry. We have—things to discuss this evening,’ he said quietly. ‘I promised the folks I’d be there.’
‘What kind of things?’ Killian asked, then sighed. ‘Don’t tell me. Wedding stuff, right?’
