Pointing in the man’s direction, I make an upwards slashing movement with my hand from his stomach to the dead centre of his chest and whisper, “Secare,”
Blood seeps out from the wound I inflicted with the motion of my hand and starts soaking his shirt. I feel the warmth from Jacobi saving the wife and healing the daughter but don’t take my eyes off the man in front of me. I watch him struggle to breathe, finding his fish like gasps for air fascinating.
Then I remember what he did to his daughter, and I point at the man once more.
“Secare,” I quickly snap out again, moving my finger in the air from left to right in the direction of his neck, and he slumps as death takes him.
I turn to the two shocked girls, for even the wife is really just a girl not much older than me, and I point at them. The fear they convey makes me pause, but only for a second. “Obliviscatur,” I whisper, and I feel a release as they slump to the floor, breathing heavily with sleep. “They’ll remember none of this in the morning, but we need to get rid of him.” I tell Jacobi, not quite looking in his eyes.
“Cinere,” Jacobi calls out, and I look up just as the man disintegrates into ash. “Come on, Juni,” he says, picking me up in his arms and kissing my forehead gently.
“Are you ashamed of me?” I ask on a whisper.
He looks down at me as we fly across the sky. “Ashamed,” he frowns, “of you doing my job, sharing my pain and my burden? Not ever,” he replies, kissing my lips softly. “You’ve saved me more than you could ever know, and I couldn’t love you more.”
I close my eyes, feeling the moisture behind my eyelids. but I don’t let the tears out. I keep them inside and settle into Jacobi, knowing I’m completely safe and loved right where I am.
It’s been three days since the start of the tournament, and three days since Juniper and I broke the spell placed upon us. I feel different. I listen to the calls when they come for me, and I choose the ones I want to obey and the ones I want to hide from. Whenever I can, I hold Juniper in my arms and we kiss and we kiss because we’re finally able to do so without repercussions. Her new found magical strength scares me a little, but she’s controlling it well. I just hope we manage to get through today. I love her, and all I want to do is protect her.
Juniper, Lucas, James, Emmie and I stand together as we listen to King Ambrose’s closing address. It’s not too dissimilar to the opening one. A load of bullshit basically.
“Why do I have to have the most stupid father going?” Juniper mutters under her breath, but I hear it.
“I’m sure there are worse.” I try to offer her a bit of encouragement.
“Name one,” she demands,
“Um…” I fail to think of a name. “Okay, you win. He’s the worst.”
“I love you.” Juniper looks up at me and chuckles.
“Something you care to share with us, Juniper?” the King stops his speech and addresses his daughter.
“Sorry, Father, I was just remarking how majestic you look up on stage. I hope to be as regal as you one day.”
I try to suppress my laughter at Juniper’s response. King Ambrose shakes his head and returns to giving his speech.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce a new partnership which will benefit the wizarding world. It will give us security for the future while keeping us hidden from the humans. Michael Wilmot, will you join me on stage please. Juniper, you as well.”
I keep a tight grip on Juniper’s hand. I’m not letting her go anywhere near Michael.
“Juniper,” her father orders again, this time with more authority.
I still don’t let her move. She turns her head to look at me. “Cobi, I have to go up there.”
“You go, then I’m coming with you.”
“You can’t.”
“Together,” I growl.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this,” King Ambrose speaks into the microphone, “but it seems my daughter is under the influence of a dark and powerful magic. I’ve suspected it’s been running through the school for a while now, but it’s just been proven to me.”
The King clicks his fingers, and Juniper’s mother appears on stage. She’s flanked by two guards with long swords and has her hands bound behind her back.
“Escape his magic, Juniper. Allow yourself to come to me. I’ve captured your mother. She’s been infected by him as well. The monster has laid his hands on her and rid her of a natural illness when it shouldn’t have happened. She was destined to die, but he has changed the future and distorted the truth. Come up here now, Juniper. I don’t want to have to kill your mother to set the path right again when you can do it with a connection to Michael.”
I feel Juniper weaken in my arms, and I know her father is talking about me and the fact I’m a Guardian. Most of the people in Caspian are enthralled by the King, and they follow his every word, so to be told I’m a monster when they know nothing about me will lead to a revolution against me. We’re in big trouble.
And here I was hoping for an easy day.
“Juniper, one last chance,” the King warns.
She doesn't even need to say anything. I know instantly the decision she’ll make to save her mother. I would make the same choice if the roles were reversed, and I don’t care for my parents in the way Juniper cares for her mum.
“Go. We’ll figure something out, and I’ll come for you,” I tell her.
She takes a step away from me but then runs back into my arms and kisses me passionately on the lips. “I love you.”
“Always,” I reply.
James and Lucas step in front of me as Juniper runs quickly up onto the stage. She stomps straight up to her father and whips her hand around his face, and he steps back in shock.
“I won’t ever forgive you for this,” she tells him, then turning to the gathered crowd she speaks into the microphone. “The only monster in Caspian is the one here on stage, proclaiming himself to be our King. He’s behind so much evil-”
A magical bind wraps itself around Juniper’s mouth, interrupting her speech, and I push past Lucas and James to get to the stage. They’re doing their best to hold me back, but my strength is otherworldly, given my love for Juniper.
The crowd of students look on in terror as King Ambrose takes his daughter by the hand.
“The evil approaches,” he says, pointing to me, and several of the students step back and cower as I shove my way past them towards the stage with Lucas and James still holding on to me.
The King continues, “Destroy the monster, and I’ll do my best to protect your futures. He saved what shouldn’t be saved. He’s a devil in disguise.”
“I’m none of those things, I’m a Guardian, and you need to learn history better,” I shout at him, but it’s too late.
My world and Juniper’s falls apart as everything slows to a snail’s pace.
The King raises his hand and with commanding authority orders his wife’s death. One of the guards standing next to her holds out his sword and plunges it straight through her stomach. Juniper screams, and it echoes in my mind as I race faster to the stage. Lucas and James let go of me. They know there’s no chance of stopping me now.