Page 55 of Charmed

Relics…curses…I failed to comprehend the overall meaning. Unbidden, my gaze drifted from the glowing instructions to the lily pad where Maeve had often rested, a nearby presence I didn’t realize just how much comfort had brought me until it was gone. I tried to look away, only for my attention to be repeatedly drawn away, as if by some magical force beyond my control.

I gave my head a rigid shake.Focus. I wrangled my distraction into submission and took in the puzzle. Relics, curses…yet once again my thoughts wandered into paths that had nothing to do with clues and competitions.

“Do you think she made it back alright?” Though I had no one to confide in except for my silent spellbook, the part of me that had grown used to Maeve’s companionship still expected her to answer.

But there was only silence, leaving me to wonder. Though my portal had allowed Maeve to return to her cottage in the woods, I wasn’t sure whether she planned on remaining there or eventually returning to our magical chambers. I scolded myself at having been too dazed by her sudden transformation to ask the essential questions.

“I should have gone with her.”

The spellbook nudged my next clue towards me, forcing my thoughts back to the matter at hand. I sighed.

“I know accompanying her would have been too much of a detour when time is pressing, but what if something happened to her? Her powers are still in their infancy, especially with the recent occurrences of late.”

A rather unpleasant emotion I couldn’t name tightened my chest at the thought, even as a vision of Maeve’s usual fire filled me with assurance. Such fierce resolution would allow her to meet any potential challenge she encountered with the determination that compelled her to fight for her brother, develop her powers, assist me, and repeatedly put me in my place.

My lips twitched at the reminder, even as a peculiar ache tugged on my heart…the same sensation that had kept me up for most of the night and filled each of our lingering memories, tempting me to disregard the competition and go after her.

A feeling of frustration bordering on panic seeped into my consciousness. If I was this distracted by Maeve—when she wasn’t even present—how could I have any hope of progressing in the competition? More disturbing on a personal level, why was she affecting me like this?

A gasp of mingled horror and understanding escaped as I finally put the pieces together.The potion. When I had tried to craft the healing potion, I instead created vat after vat of a love potion…whether by some mistake of execution or perhaps the strange force that seemed to be affecting my abilities.

How could I have been so careless as to allow myself to touch the substance and inhale its vapor? Clearly I had fallen under the spell, and now that spell was jeopardizing my future.

Rather than dwell on her memory, I needed to instead follow her example and focus on the task at hand. After much concentration, I finally managed to subdue my thoughts of the loveliness of her mischievous countenance and her soulful dark brown eyes enough for the clue to form some semblance of meaning:find one of the mystical relics, break the enchantment placed upon it, and cast another charm upon it in its stead.

I groaned. I had little experience with not only relics but curses themselves, not only in breaking them butplacingthem. Unbidden, my mind drifted to the curse Maeve had been under. While hers had been simple to cast through a potion, a cursed relic was comprised of some of the most complicated magic, something I doubted I could perform even when my thoughts weren’t otherwise occupied.

A headache pulsed against my temples, made sharper as I attempted to formulate a plan. While I was inexperienced in relics, my best friend Prince Xander had dedicated several years to their study in order to earn his right to his title as the crown prince, as was tradition in his kingdom, Meridia.

I conjured a map and carefully studied the distance from here to Analasia, where Xander now lived with his wife, Crown Princess Taryn. Though my most recent task had brought me near the border, the distance was too vast to travel without the aid of a portal…if my finicky powers would cooperate. I gnawed my lip, deliberating. Would seeking Xander’s advice be cheating, or just the providence I needed?

Maeve’s advice from one of our conversations filled my mind:no one can rely solely on their own merits. A king has advisors, a prince has guards, and those in a village all rely on one another to survive. Seeking guidance from others will only enhance your efforts in doing your best and allow you to reach your full potential.

I considered the rules of the competition. The task didn’t specifyhowto obtain a relic, so acquiring one whose location I already knew about didn’t seem dishonest, and leave me more time to focus on the curse. Xander didn’t possess magic of his own, so he wouldn’t be able to assist me beyond giving me direction on where to begin my search. With time pressing, his knowledge would prove invaluable. With the fierceness brought by the highly skilled remaining competition, I couldn’t afford to lose due to the delay that would come in attempting to tackle an element of magic I had little experience with on my own.

I knew that the other competitors were doubtless using every resource at their disposal; my yearning to win solely based on my own magical prowess was simply not realistic…or expected. If the rules had specified that I wasn’t to receive magical assistance, it stood to reason that nonmagical assistance was well within the bounds.

I silently cursed myself for not having the foresight to study more about relics and the curses surrounding them, but there had always been far more important matters to focus on. My natural inclination was to regret my negligence, even as I recognized that my past choices had been the best for me at the time and had helped me grow in other realms of magic that had brought me this far.

With a steadying breath I gathered my resolve. If I was mistaken and Xander’s advice turned out to be prohibited, I wouldn’t be any worse off since I’d also lose the competition should I rely on my own limited knowledge. In any case, it was worth the gamble. And without Maeve’s presence, I could no longer bear the thought of being entirely alone.

In my lingering wariness I fumbled with my portal, so that it opened nearly a mile off course and forced me to waste a precious hour trekking to the Analasian palace. A simple spell changed my wizard’s robes to a more princely attire, a nod to my title I’d hoped to avoid but which couldn’t be helped considering the circumstances.

Thankfully, both Xander and his wife, Taryn, were available, as if luck were finally on my side. Princess Taryn possessed just as much experience in relics as my friend did, an abundance of knowledge that would only prove valuable to my quest. I wondered if any of my competitors would likewise seek their aid…not Demetria, of course, but the royal couple’s expertise was well known. Hopefully I could at least be the first to benefit.

They met me in a secluded parlor that would grant us the privacy necessary for our discussion. At my entrance they rose in greeting, Xander with a wide smile, Taryn with a young infant propped on her hip. Even midst my discouragement I couldn’t resist a smile.

“Ever since you’d informed me of your daughter’s birth I’d been hoping for a chance to meet her. She’s darling.” The young princess was a perfect combination of both her parents. She blinked curiously up at me with her father’s large green eyes as I ruffled her dark hair.

Taryn’s gaze was adoring as she smiled tenderly at her daughter. “This is Hope.”

I conjured a magical rattle that played music for her to play with. “The perfect name for the child borne after much trial.”

Due to the tense relations between their kingdoms and the complications that had risen due to their being in line to inherit their separate thrones, it had taken them four long years before they could be together; even after their marriage, they’d been forced to keep their relationship a secret—even in the months following their conceiving their daughter—before they’d overcome the final obstacles and finally came together.

My own aspirations had distracted me from corresponding with my friend these past several months, leaving me little idea how Xander had been adjusting to his new position as consort after abdicating his previous title as heir in order to be with his wife and daughter. With the strain harrowing his expression, the transition had been difficult, with the added difficulty of Xander’s younger brother, who’d inherited his title of crown prince following his abdication and now appeared to share the tyrannical Meridian King’s invasive ambitions.

By the haunted look filling his eyes, Xander had needed a friend these past several months…and I’d failed him, yet another reminder of what I’d sacrificed in the pursuit of my own ambitions. I resolved to be a better friend from this moment forward.

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