Page 65 of Tricky Magic
“You mean like when you threatened to kill me?” she said with an arched brow.
He rolled his eyes.
“Yes, that, and other things,” he said, and then held her gaze in such an intense way. “I am too old to dance around questions and feelings. It didn’t work for us the past few weeks, and I don’t think it will work in the future.”
The future.She didn’t know how to respond to him. Thank Hel for Billy, who trotted in right when he seemed to notice her grasping for something to say.
I hate to break up this revelational love fest, but I need to talk to Ellea,Billy said.
Ellea kissed Ros fully on his non-morning-breath mouth before crawling out of his enormous bed. She stood there naked before him and had never felt so confident. He pushed up more and the blanket fell away from him, revealing his perfect tan skin, his broad chest, and abs that directed her to her new favorite thing in the world. Billy chuffed dramatically before nudging her out of the room.
* * *
Ellea summonedwarm leggings and a light sweater as they headed out of Ros’ cabin.
“Thanks for saving me,” she whispered to her familiar.
I wasn’t really saving you, just giving you time to think. But I do need to talk to you,Billy said to her.Let’s go for a walk?
Ellea was concerned, but nodded. They headed toward one of the longer trails that would eventually loop back to her cabin. Billy looked up at her with big sad eyes, and Ellea was worried something was truly wrong.
I heard that story Devon told you last night,Billy said.
“Yeah, that was a real treat. But I’m not surprised,” Ellea mumbled to her beast.
It’s not the entire story, though,Billy said, sounding even sadder.
“Most fairy tales aren’t,” Ellea said, trying to keep her voice somewhat happy. She hated how Billy was acting.
The princess in the story, her name was Astrid, and she was a witch, just like you.
“Just like me?” Ellea asked in a whisper. “You mean...”
She was a trickster. But wholly trickster. You see, back then, it wasn’t like it is now, with witches and mortals living side by side. Each had their own land and sometimes they would avoid each other or sometimes war would break out. But tricksters, they were feared far more than the other witches.
Tricksters were challenging. They fought against normalcy, constantly trying new things, and back then, new was never good. Everyone was so afraid of change or challenge. So when a trickster was discovered, they would be killed without warning. For most found, there was no trial, no test, just removed from the world. Others weren’t so lucky. They would be tortured, forced to create things or to be experimented on. No one fully understood what a trickster could do, but they knew they didn’t like it and they didn’t want to find out—especially after Astrid.
She was a real princess, with a castle and a family who loved her. The king and queen ruled over a small island and kept their magic a secret as much as they could. They would hide other tricksters or any magical being that needed refuge.
When Astrid turned fourteen and it was time for her familiar to leave, her father asked it to stay. Askedmeto stay.
Ellea stopped at the fork in the trail and bent down to her beast, her friend.
“Whatever you’re about to say, it won’t change anything between us,” she said and rubbed the wrinkle between her deep forehead.
I know, Bug, but I need you to hear it.
Ellea nodded her head, and they continued walking.
Astrid had spent her whole life on the island, and as she became older, she became more restless. Her father asked me to stay for a year or two to accompany Astrid as she traveled away from the safety of the island for the first time.
So I did. I took my human form and accompanied her as we traveled for a few years. We traveled across the sea, through deserts and mountains. We saw mortal lands along with the good and bad that came with it. We saw secret supernatural territories, which were beyond amazing, but they also helped her understand why her parents hid her and the island for so long.
We traveled for three years and headed back after her seventeenth birthday. There were some small correspondences throughout our trip with her family, and no one ever said anything we would’ve worried about. But when we arrived home…the island was in ruins.
It was as if war had crumbled it in its ugly hand. There were no people left, no homes, nothing. Not even a way to understand what had happened. We salvaged what we could and left. After talking with a neighboring island, we learned that a royal family from the continent had come and destroyed everything four months before we came home.
Astrid was devastated. She had no family, no land, and no means to avenge what had happened. But she did have time, and she took it. The fairy tale you heard was true, but the time leading up to it, that was all her. She created a whole new identity and story in order to get access to the royal family that ruined hers. The middle part, with the prince coming home and learning what she was, that was also true. But when she destroyed the land and the townspeople, she burned with them, and I couldn’t save her. I tried everything. I tried stopping her, protecting her, but she was too lost, too stricken with grief, and in the end, I don’t think she wanted to live in a world where tricksters were no longer a part of it.
