She gasps and grabs the top of a cabinet to steady herself.
“There was a ruby. It was a perfect oval shape and so smooth, I remember it clearly,” she says, but then pauses. “Your mother, she had it.”
“My mum is involved in this?” I snap, shock rippling through me.
Rose shakes her head. “No, Ambrose gave her the jewel. It was mounted as a pendant on a necklace.”
I shoot up from the chair. “We need to get back to Jacobi’s house and wake everyone up.”
Rose closes her eyes, grabs my hand, and in no time at all, we’re standing in Jacobi’s living room. Muttering a few words, she rids the house of the sleep spell. I hear movement and groaning, and within minutes, Emmie, Lucas, James, and my mum are all standing in the living room, frowning at us, aware we placed them under a spell. “It was for your own good,” Rose states, but they continue frowning.
I sit them down and explain everything we’ve learnt and tell them what’s happened to Jacobi. I get varying degrees of response, including Lucas picking up a chair and throwing it through the back window, which Rose quickly repairs with magic. I then turn to my mum.
“Mum, have you got a necklace with an oval ruby pendant?” I ask her.
She frowns and thinks for a moment but then looks up at me and nods. “Yes, it belonged to your grandmother…” she breaks off, her words dying on her tongue. “It belonged to King Ambrose’s mother,” she amends, and her gaze drops to the floor.
I shake my head, already knowing that isn’t the case. Automatically, I know what it is and where it came from. “It was my mother’s,” I tell her.
Her eyes snap to mine again and a sheen fills them. I don’t want to hurt her, she’s still my mum, but my real mother and father were snatched from me, and I want to know about them.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
Reaching out, I grab her hand. “It’s not your fault, you didn’t know. But now I need that necklace. Can you get it for me?”
She nods. “Wait here a moment,” she says and blinks out using magic.
I turn to look at the others. “We’re near the end of this now. We might not win, but whatever happens, we’re close. If you want to bow out, I’ll completely understand. There’ll be no badmouthing those who choose to step away. This is potentially a life or death situation.”
“I want you to go, Mum,” James says to Rose.
She shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”
“Mum,” he snaps.
“No!” she snaps back.
“Okay!” I shout, holding my hand up. “This is how it’s going to go,” I say, just as my mum appears back in the room. “I’m going to face King Ambrose on my own.”
“To hell, you are,” Mum argues.
I turn to her. “He nearly killed you last time.” My words evoke a pain in her eyes which tell me she still loves him. I look towards Rose. “I need you to stay and look after my mum. I also need you both to place protection spells upon me and Jacobi when I leave.”
My mum stares at the floor, and Rose steps up next to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders giving her a squeeze. James looks at me and mouths a thank you. I smile at him and look towards Lucas and then Emmie.
“Don’t even think about telling me I’m not coming,” Lucas snaps.
I grin at him. “I need you there. Jacobi needs you there,” I reply and his shoulders drop as he thinks about his best friend. “But I also need you to do something else first. I need you three to visit the council and share all the evidence we have about the history of what’s happened. Rose will give you the scrolls and both my mum and Rose will back you.” I heave out a heavy breath. “I also need you to go to Caspian and tell the whole story to the students. They all need to understand and spread the information to their parents.”
“But they might not believe us,” Emmie says quietly.
I look towards her and nod. “They might not, but we need to give them the option to choose. Until now, they’ve all been brainwashed because their parents had their memories removed. Now they get to choose their own path.”
“And what about you?” James questions, stepping over to Emmie and capturing her hand in his own. “What if you don’t make it?”
My mum cries openly now, and Rose tucks her against her chest.
“Then, I’ll live my next life.” I shrug. “This is my destiny. Now I have to live it and see where it takes me.”
“Here,” my mum sniffles, handing me the ruby pendant Rose spoke of.
The second it touches my palm a riot of memories, thoughts, emotions and knowledge hits me, pushing my body down into a chair as I breathe through the beautiful onslaught. When it’s done, I remember everything. I remember my real parents, and their unconditional love for me. My father had dark eyes and dark hair, love shone from him. He would pick me up and swing me around, my legs flying in the air as my giggles erupted. My mother had my lilac eyes and silver hair. Her smile was breathtakingly beautiful. I was her biggest love. I remember my mother singing a song to me at bedtime.
Look to the skies and close your eyes, my pretty princess,
Whisper on the winds, and the angels will be listening.
But for now, sleep soundly, Mummy and Daddy will watch over you.
“I remember a rhyme she would sing to me at bedtime,” I tell the others. “I think it was her way of making sure I knew I could speak to the Superiors.”
They all gasp, but my head is elsewhere.
“We all have our plans, and I only have thirty minutes until I have to get to Jacobi, but first I need to do something. Are you all clear with what you have to do?”
They all nod and mumble words of agreement. I take one last look at each of them before spiriting myself away to the top of a mountain in the Alps. I sit down with my legs crossed, close my eyes, and follow my heart.
“Are you listening to me? Can you help me in any way?” I whisper into the wind, praying for an answer.
‘We are sending you a secret weapon who is much more powerful in death, than he was in life’
The words are whispers in my mind, and I gasp, “Sebastian.” When I open my eyes, it’s true. He stands there, tall, imposing, and so much stronger than he was before.
He smiles. “I’m an angel now,” he tells me, “and I’m going to help you get your throne back.”
“Come on then. Let’s go save my Guardian and finally set the world straight,” I reply, holding my hand out so we can face the onslaught together.
When Juniper appears in the centre of the room, I collapse under the weight of what she’s going to do to save me. Still bound from moving by Taya’s spell, my legs slump to the floor.
Juniper, the woman I love, looks so small as she stands before the King. Her eyes are dark and focused on the man in front of her. The man who’s tormented and destroyed her life, and the man who seeks to marry her to his own son so he can finally control all the power of the magic in the realm.
I see now we’ve been controlled since birth, and it was a ploy by King Ambrose to get to this stage. To get to the point where Juniper was old enough to consent to marriage and therefore make a binding contract.