“He’s scared of spiders,” I announce.
I shut my eyes and use magical words to bring the illusion of a thousand spiders into the room, all different sizes and shapes. The spiders descend upon the man in the chair. They climb up his legs and under his clothes, crawling over his body and onto his face. He’s screaming and crying. James pales further and leaves the room. He’s seen too much. I understand and won’t hold it against him.
Lucas and I sit quietly while the guard screams as he’s covered in thousands of spiders which aren’t really there. He doesn’t know that, though.
“Okay,” he eventually shouts. “I’ll talk.”
I click my fingers and half the spiders disappear. Those remaining form a circle on the floor around the man, ready to jump if he doesn’t give us the information we want.
“Talk,” I order him.
“The King, he’s the one who sent us here. He wants…” The man starts to gag. I recognise immediately he’s being attacked by the same spell as the one placed upon Sebastian.
I know I have to think quickly, but I don’t need to, because Juniper appears at the door, and her eyes are black again.
“The King’s magic is in the room. I can feel it,” she says, stepping towards the guard we’re interrogating. She places her hand on his forehead. “He’s being killed because he knows something. He knows the key to us stopping the King.”
“What is it?” I question Juniper as the man continues to gag and struggle to speak.
“I don’t know how to prevent the spell from killing him, but I can see his thoughts. There’s a room in Caspian. It holds scrolls containing the truth, information which will allow me to stop the King. It’s why he’s attacking the school, and he wants me to marry Michael because as long as I’m not with you, my power won’t be able to grow. You’re not just a Guardian of life and death, Jacobi. You’re the Witch’s Guardian. The Guardian of me. The witch with the most power in the world.”
Juniper steps back, a look of horror on her face. “No,” she says, collapsing on the floor as the man takes his last breath.
I’m on my feet and bringing her into my arms in a split second. “What is it?”
I stroke her face, holding her close as tears fall from her eyes. I can feel the sorrow radiating from her.
James, Juniper’s mother, Emma and Mrs Donavan appear at the doorway. A fearful look of recollection on Mrs Donavan’s face as it seems a thousand memories flood back into her consciousness.
Juniper turns her head to look at Mrs Donavan. “You knew. You saw whatever the King wants hidden and imprinted your memory into the scrolls. What’s on them? Where are they?”
“I had to wait until you were older. I couldn’t stop him from taking you,” Mrs Donavan pleads as I look between Juniper and Caspian’s head teacher. “I was as helpless as everyone else. He doesn’t know it was me who put the scrolls there. There is so much in them. Even I’ve forgotten all I learned. I had to. I couldn’t face them every day.”
“I don’t understand,” I help Juniper to her feet, “explain it to me, Juniper. What did you see?”
“The guard, he was there the day spoken about in the scrolls. He saw everything as well, but like Mrs Donavan, his memories have also been suppressed. I saw it, though,” she states, turning to Mrs Donavan. “You were standing over Jacobi, watching the King reciting a spell. The spell which bound his powers. You learned the Guardian language just to read them?”
“What?” I splutter out in shock. Has Juniper gone insane? Or, more importantly, is Mrs Donavan a traitor?
“King Ambrose stopped me from being able to kiss Juniper and prevented me from becoming the Guardian I should be. Why?” I’m shouting and stepping closer to the headmistress. I’m livid.
“I remember it all now. I didn’t have a choice. King Ambrose was too strong and he was prepared to do anything to protect his secrets and stop Juniper coming into her powers, and afterwards he must have used magic to suppress my memories.”
“Bullshit!” I scream angrily. James steps in front of his mother, ready to protect her against my anger. “Why did you hide the scrolls?”
I’m pulled back by Juniper.
“Because the scrolls give information on how the King and Queen died, and I didn’t want them getting into the wrong hands. They’re the proof needed to stop King Ambrose. They talk of the power Juniper has inside her,” Mrs Donovan explains.
“The King and Queen, my parents.” Juniper steps beside me. Mrs Donavan nods.
“Yes, it was King Ambrose who killed them.”
I stand at Jacobi’s bedroom window and watch the night sky. Life as the magic world knows it is about to change, and I’m going to be the catalyst. I could leave things as they are. I could speak to the King and tell him what I know, warn him to leave me and those I love alone...
I glance over to Jacobi. We’ve had no time to spend with each other, only sharing a handful of kisses. At our age, we should be exploring one another, spending time together being carefree and having fun. I should want to make a deal for him, for them all, because what I’m contemplating is dangerous. Someone may lose their life, someone other than me, and I still cannot stomach the thought of Sebastian dying. It was my fault. All the lies are tied up in me.
Am I a bad person? I wonder it for the longest time, knowing I’m going to risk them all. Because, no matter what, I can’t let him continue to be King. He can’t be allowed to trick the world into thinking he’s something he’s not. He stole his title, and I’m going to claim it back.
I creep out of the room, needing to breathe the night air, and when I walk out into the back garden, I’m surprised to see Mrs Donovan.
“You’re out late, or early,” I say, “depending on how you look at it.”
“I haven’t been to sleep yet. Too many thoughts running through my mind.”
“Hmm,” I reply, “seems to be going around.”
“You should call me Rose.” She shrugs. “There seems little point keeping up with formalities. Your mum will call me Rose, so you, Jacobi, and Emmie may as well. I think we’re past the head teacher and student relationship, don’t you think?”
I smirk at her. “Well, depending on what the scrolls say, I may well become your true Queen.”
She smiles at me. “When when that day happens, I’ll address you appropriately, but until then, you’ll be Juniper.”
I chuckle. “Noted.”
We stand for a moment, both quiet and a little lost.
“What happened to Jacobi’s mum? I thought she came back here for him?” Rose asks.
“He sent her away. I think he cares about her, just not in the way you should care about your parents, it’s a distanced, forced kind of love. It’s actually quite sad. He loves them because he’s expected to, not because he can’t help himself.”
She nods.“That certainly is sad.”
“I need you to take me to the scrolls.”
She sighs. “I know. Are you bringing Jacobi?”
I look towards the house and contemplate it, then turning back to her. I nod. “If he left me behind, I’m not sure I’d forgive him.”