“Answer me one thing before I do what you want,” Juniper demands. Her voice is calmer than I expect, and it sends a chill down my spine. I can sense the clarity in her thought.
“What?” King Ambrose snarls at her.
“Did my parents suffer?”
The King’s lip twitches with the hint of a smirk. The anger rises within me. I don’t need to hear his answer to know he gave Juniper’s real parents a painful death. I hope they rest peacefully in the afterlife now. Happy in the second world of the ancient magic we believe in. Ambrose won’t be as lucky by the end of today. I’ll see to that. He’ll suffer in the realms of Tartus for selling his soul to the evil side of our beliefs. His lust for power has corrupted him. My soul, the Guardian within, tastes the blood of victory and hungers for the opportunity to finish the King and all those who believe in his succession.
“It wasn’t quick, but it was deserved.”
The calm around Juniper shatters for a moment.
“They did not deserve death from a man they trusted. They didn’t deserve to be parted from the child they adored. I didn’t deserve to have loving parents replaced by a man who desires nothing but power.”
The mask she’s been wearing falls back into place.
A cold breeze brushes over the back of my neck.
A life from beyond.
Someone’s calming her.
But who?
“Your parents weren’t any good for the magical world. They’d have destroyed it in the end. We need to take control and stop hiding what we can do from the humans, who possess no magic. We need to fight for our rights, and with Michael on the throne, that’s what will happen. My son will take the magical realm into a new world where we reign supreme.”
“Delusional.” I can’t bite my tongue any longer. “Michael will try to harvest a power which doesn’t belong to him, and it’ll never work because it belongs to me just like Juniper does. We’re entwined forever, and the true strength of our power comes from that fact.”
“Shut up,” Taya snarls at me, the tendrils of her magic start to wrap around my mouth.
“Trying to take what isn’t yours will only lead to your downfall. A spectacular and painful one.” The binds close over my mouth, and I can no longer speak. All I can do is stare at what unfolds before me.
Juniper turns to me, and lowering her head, she shuts her eyes slowly, takes a deep breath, and then opens them again.
‘I love you’, she mouths before holding her hand out to Michael.
I want to struggle against all the binds holding me, but the magic is strong. It’s preventing me from doing anything but watching the woman I love being forced to give herself to another man.
The cold chill whispers around me again, and a voice I recognise penetrates deep into my head.
It’s Sebastian.
I feel his angelic presence as he speaks to me. “My grandfather had a strength within him unlike any other, but it only came from him believing in himself and his abilities. That strength can free you, but you have to trust in what you can do, both the good and the bad of being a Guardian. What you do is the Superiors’ choice, and you follow them because they’re inherently good. That’s your path. Believe, Jacobi, and trust the thoughts inside your head. Listen to the thousands of voices calling out.”
“How?” I question, unsure how I’m communicating with Sebastian.
“I’m an angel. No one truly dies unless they deserve it.”
No one truly dies unless they deserve it.
The good and the bad.
“That’s the true meaning behind being a Guardian. It’s following the path which separates the right from the wrong.”
I feel the coiled ball of energy ignite deep within my stomach as the realisation hits me. I catch my breath, and while I watch Juniper walk to where a high priestess stands ready to marry her to Michael, I allow the power of my magic to explode. Taya’s spell shatters. It turns to glass, and it fragments into a thousand pieces on the floor. My wings unfurl like a majestic bird of prey on my back, and I’m flying. I’m soaring and swooping down, ready to attack King Ambrose.
Emma, James, Lucas, Rose and Juniper’s mother all appear in the throne room, backed by the roaring voices of the students of Caspian Academy. I can hear the fighting spirit echoing around the world. All those in favour of good magic, crying out in outrage against King Ambrose and his illegitimate son and daughter.
“No,” the King screams and sends a bolt of energy towards the group of my friends who have just appeared.
I fly fast across the room and wrap them in the protective cocoon of my wings. The strength of my true Guardian nature gives me the power to squash out the flames of the King’s magical energy.
Sebastian appears before us as well, the light of the Eternals surrounding him. He smiles at me, and as a group, we prowl towards where Michael now holds Juniper hostage. The high priestess has fallen to her knees and prays for absolution for her crimes in trying to marry those not destined for each other.
“Foolish, man. You shouldn’t trust the King, Michael.” Juniper’s eyes turn as black as the night, and she shakes her head at the King’s antics. Michael lets go of her like he’s been electrified by the pure magic radiating off her. He looks down at his hands as they start to age, the skin wrinkling and drying all over his body until he looks as though he must be in his eighties at least.
“What are you doing?” The King jumps forwards, letting off energy bolt after bolt at Juniper. None get even remotely near her. Instead, they disintegrate to dust as they come into contact with the protecting spell she has surrounding her. The true magic of a Queen.
“I’m showing his true form.” She says, turning towards Taya.
A twisting magic expels from Juniper's hand and chases after my ex-girlfriend as she tries to run for her life. She doesn’t get far, though. It captures Taya around the ankle and circles its way up her leg, binding her, just like her magic did to me earlier. As it moves, it reveals Taya’s true form, a withered hag, a banshee. A woman who squeals for the death of a family member.
I’m moved to walk closer to the now old and incapacitated woman. I place my hand on her forehead, and her memories slam into me. The distress, the pain, and anguish. The need to be loved, but only being hated. The desire to scream out her pain. She watched as King Ambrose killed her and Michael’s mother. Michael helped their father, but Taya was only young, barely out of nappies. She saw and remembered the whole thing that day. She changed instantly as she bemoaned her mother’s death. Her father couldn’t have her spoiling his plans so he transformed her to the Taya who attended Caspian. She’s a broken woman.
“Stop,” I turn and order Juniper.
She cocks her head, and I know she’s reading my thoughts. Her eyes go wide and she withdraws her spell from Taya. I kneel down beside the stricken banshee. She opens her mouth to cry, but I press my hand against her forehead and allow my magic to sink deep within her. I don’t make the decision, I’m merely a vessel for the Superiors. They need to decide this time and I let them. I let them choose Taya’s fate, life or death. Eventually, her withered hag appearance fades, her magic disappears, and I feel the human woman she’s become.
“Sleep,” I whisper, and she falls into a deep slumber. I get to my feet and order Lucas to watch her.