Forbidden (Chapter Two)

 

I woke with a start.

        At first I looked around groggily, confused at where I was, wondering why I couldn’t see the beautiful green of the trees or the soft gold of the sunlight anymore, then it all came flooding back. The forest, the rose—the boy.

I sat upright immediately as his handsome face reappeared in my mind. I was still in bed, my forehead plastered with sweat, my room was nearly pitch-black, and the window was still open. Dazedly I went over to slam it shut, then stood bracing myself against it, breathing hard.

For a few long seconds I struggled to understand that bizarre dream. I’d never seen that boy before. There was no way I wouldn’t remember his face if I had, that silk black hair, refined features and brilliantly captivating dark blue eyes...

But then I remembered, that only a couple hours ago, I’d been thinking about The Heart’s Desire. Possibly my mind had given me what it thought I’d wanted—my “soul mate”. But if that was the case, he wouldn’t have left, and that still didn’t explain the black rose left in his path once he was gone.

I shook my head in wonder. I was trying to decipher a dream. It was the middle of the night. The moon outside my window was gone, blocked now by several large gray clouds hovering over it. If I listened particularly hard, I could hear the grumbling snores of Mr. Bilfon, my father’s uncle, next door. I went over and threw myself onto my bed, trying to rid the dream from my mind by rubbing my temples. I glanced wearily at the clock that read 2:55 a.m., then stood and headed over the bathroom.

I wasn’t tired anymore—but waiting up until sunrise meant spending four hours doing nothing. In my vast bathroom I washed my face and glanced at my reflection in the mirror, noticing I looked paler than usual. My hair was an untidy mess of curls, and I busied myself combing through them to kill more time and distract myself in the process.

Then I left the bathroom, more awake than I’d entered, and went to lie on my bed again, staring up at the ceiling. I remembered the fight I’d had with my father yesterday, how horribly the evening had ended, and how I was in for a much worse day today, now that everyone knew about the accident.

I wasn’t sure why I was such a weapon for destruction, but it had been happening all my life. Whenever angry or overexcited, or feeling any very strong emotion, everything got out of hand. Things exploded, flames appeared, and every so often people were harmed. I recalled not long ago seeing a black mist emitting from my hands towards a teacher who’d agitated me, and the next moment she’d passed out. It had taken nearly a month to revive her, and took several witches from other kingdoms to complete the procedure.

My mother had always told me I was perfectly normal, just a little more powerful than everyone else. I didn’t like any of it—how people avoided me when I was around them, how when partnered for a school project I was always the one left over. But I’d learned to live with it. Now what always overwhelmed me was the feeling of guilt that always tackled me right after the mayhem was over.

What also irritated me was the way some people looked at me. As if I weren’t human, as if I were of some native species. Whenever I visited the village, at least ten approached me with wide eyes, bowing lowly and shakily whispering my name, as if I were some apparition and not the real person. This was why I found it difficult to bring myself to visit the village, though I loved the little stores and markets around the town. I very often visited Ava, the town oracle, who had very interesting stories. I didn’t necessarily believe in any of that future-seeing junk, but it was nice to guess what lied ahead. Only on rare occasions had Ava’s predictions actually come true, but I thought of them as merely coincidences.

Lydia, however, believed Ava completely. Ava had predicted she would find her true love in a few months’ time, and that she had. She had also predicted Lydia would receive a letter from a secret admirer, which had also happened. I’d rolled my eyes and scoffed at her, asking whose head was in the clouds now.

Since then was when Lydia and I had grown apart. She had finished her final year as a scholar last year, while I still had two more years to go. Lydia was turning twenty in September, while I was still seventeen.  

With a deep sigh I wondered if I should write a letter to Stephan to tell him about this bizarre dream of mine, but then blushed with the thought of it. It was probably too personal, and probably didn’t mean anything extremely important.

So I sprawled out at the foot of my bed and stared dreamily out the window at the moon, waiting for it to turn into the sun.

When the morning sky was tinted a misty purplish-gray and blue and the sun was visible along the horizon, I stood and got dressed. I threw on a white button-down shirt and a dark knee-length skirt, then pulled my hair back into a braid and collected my things. I watched the sun drift upwards until it was around eight, and then moved towards the door. But as my hand came to settle on the doorknob, my father’s angry face came into my mind. Maybe I should ditch today. But the idea made me feel like a coward, so I thrust the door open and headed down the hall.

I walked rather quickly, anxious to get to class before running into anyone I didn’t want to see. That was a first—not once had I rushed to get to class, instead I would procrastinate until I was nearly late. My teachers would be surprised to see me up so early.

I exited the castle, speed-walking past the thickset guards at the gate, who smiled politely in greeting, headed up the grassy, dew-covered hill and the down again towards the academy. The sun was just rising, bathing my surroundings in faint yellow sunlight. As the doors of the school slammed shut behind me, I felt oddly edgy. Last night kept running around my mind.

My first class was Realms of the Earth with Mrs. Wright, the woman who pretty much despised me. I noticed hardly anyone was hanging around the halls; they were nearly empty. I slipped into Mrs. Wright’s classroom and took my seat. Her room was large and made of stone, very well kept, with scarlet curtains framing the windows. Though the room itself was tidy, the students’ desks were old and dusty, some nearly broken. Several people were here—I noticed Meagan and Jacinda chattering away across the classroom, Stella, Alexander, and Althea sitting at another table, and two others I didn’t recognize. Thankfully nobody paid attention as I neared my seat, where Stephan already sat.

“Hey,” I whispered, nudging his shoulder.

He had been concentrating hard on something outside the window, and jumped when I touched him, but then grinned. “Hey.”

“Where’s Mrs. Wright?” I took my seat beside him, dropping my books gently on the table so as not to be heard.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Oh—Sorry.” I hadn’t noticed until he’d pointed it out. I didn’t want to be heard, in case yesterday’s news had already drifted throughout the school.

Stephan was eyeing me narrowly. “Something wrong?”

“No—Yes, there is,” I sighed, flipping open my tattered copy of Realms of the Earth, Volume IV.

“What is it?” he murmured, pulling out his own book, which was in much better condition than my own.

“Has anyone heard about yesterday evening?” More people were starting to enter the classroom. Some of them spotted me and broke into whispers with their friends, and my stomach plummeted.

Stephan looked around, watching as people entered, glanced at me, and then hurried off to their seats. I took in his expression. He kept his face blank, lips pursed, but I knew he only did that when he was planning to lie.

He met my eyes and grumbled, “Apparently.” Then he added, “What happened?”

I explained grudgingly what had happened during yesterday’s dinner, how my father was acting like a malicious tyrant, how snotty Lydia was these days, how I wasn’t allowed back in the forest.

“So don’t go,” he said when I’d finished, his gray eyes firm.

I scowled. “Of course I’m going to go! He can’t stop me; it’s not dangerous in there.”

“You say that because you haven’t seen anything dangerous.”

“Exactly.”

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t any dangers in there, Scarlett. You should listen to him.”

“Why is everyone against me?” I growled, slamming my book shut just as Mrs. Wright came ambling into the classroom, her gray hair swept into its usual low ponytail at the nape of her neck, her birdlike eyes wandering around the classroom and settling on me, then looking hastily away. She walked to her desk and set down her load of books, while students’ whispered conversations thrived around the classroom.

“I’m not against you,” Stephan whispered, lowering his voice as Mrs. Wright called everyone’s attention. “I just think you should stay out of there, for a while at least. Emril won’t mind if you don’t visit for a couple weeks.”

“Everyone, today we will be reading of the Fire World. Open to page four-hundred ninety two and begin reading,” Mrs. Wright called over the silence of my classmates. Everyone did as they were told, burying their noses in their thick books. They knew not to mess with Mrs. Wright—she was the harshest teacher here.

“As you all know—or should know—Angelina Malthos was one of the greatest witches who specialized in fire,” Mrs. Wright said, her voice ringing out loudly.

“I promised him I’d help him fix up his house,” I whispered back to Stephan in a voice so hushed I was sure only he could hear me. Mrs. Wright continued to blather about whoever Angelina Malthos was. My eyes—roaming the classroom for the moment—settled on Elisa, a snooty girl who always seemed to think the worst of me. I’d started on the wrong foot with her since my second year at the Academy, when she’d teased me for my disastrous attempts at controlling my powers. Elisa was slim with straight white-blond hair falling over her face and a probing look in her contrastingly dark eyes.

“Another time; he’ll understand,” Stephan muttered under his breath, just as Mrs. Wright whirled around to face us.

“Miss Castillo, would you mind giving us the name of that creature?” she asked, her tone dangerously spiteful.

I met her venomous gaze bravely. “Umm... What?”

Her thin mouth twisted into a scowl. Around her, my classmates were all watching the scene with an amused glint in their eyes. “Maybe, Scarlett, if you weren’t always chattering away with Stephan here, you might learn something every once in a while,” she spat, then stalked off towards the board and wrote in huge capital letters: GERMAN FIREDRAKE.

“That,” she said, with a pointed look in my direction, “is the name of the beast that nearly took her head off. Angelina hardly had any time to ward off the dragon, but she managed to do so with her powers. The German Firedrake is one of the most dangerous of all dragons, extremely lethal, immensely tall, more intelligent than probably all of you put together. The worst part, I’d say, is their ability to read minds, and their sharp senses.

“Most are told that, when facing one of these beasts, they must first blind them to gain an advantage over them. Of course, that is only partly true, because they can smell and hear almost as well as they can see...”

She droned on, and I tried to pay attention. The rest of class seemed a little tense. Everyone struggled to copy down notes from Mrs. Wright’s teachings, and later had to read through a couple pages in their books and answer the questions at the end of the passage. I hastily wrote down whatever came to mind and finished before anyone else, then put my head down.

I hadn’t been expecting Mrs. Wright to call on me for one of the answers—again—but she seemed especially nasty this particular day.

“Miss Castillo, who invented the plant that is resistant to fire?”

I sat up quickly and skimmed through my notes. “Mariana Delos?”

“No,” she murmured tartly, not looking one bit disappointed. Her piercing gaze turned to Stephan, who was looking quite nervous; his gray eyes darting away and back to her eyes.

“Mr. Morocco?”

“Uh...” he glanced down at his paper. “Leonidas Auguste?”

For a moment Mrs. Wright didn’t respond, simply looking him over like an insect, then with a quick movement of her head, nodded. She turned from our table and walked briskly over to her desk, continuing with her questions. I gave Stephan a small smile of relief.

He grinned and continued his work. I was very lucky he was such a braniac, or she would have continued to ask us just to humiliate me in front of the class. Once the bell rang, a sound music to my ears, I picked up all my things before Mrs. Wright called class and hurried towards the door, while Stephan was muttering something about her under his breath.

“Crabbier than usual, she seems.”

“Where have you been? She’s always that way,” I murmured back.

“Miss Castillo, Mr. Morocco, over here please.” Mrs. Wright’s voice rung out from behind us. I looked reproachfully at Stephan and saw he was starting to look tense again.

We walked back over to her desk, more than anxious to get out of this classroom. She fixed both of us with a look of disapproval as we approached.

“Maybe, Miss Scarlett, you’d find yourself answering my questions correctly if not always babbling to Stephan.” She smiled coldly.

I bit my lip and looked down at her desk to avoid her penetrating eyes.

“Detention, Miss Castillo, this Friday; you’ve had enough warnings. Mr. Morocco, let this be your warning.”

I nodded, and with a sigh, turned from Mrs. Wright towards the door.

Once out in the hall, I grumbled in exasperation. “That old hag is out to get me,” I muttered sullenly.

“Doesn’t seem very fond of anyone, Scarlett,” Stephan reminded me with a chuckle.

“It’s not fair. Just because I’m not her favorite student doesn’t mean she can use the slightest excuse to throw me in detention,” I mumbled, ignoring him. “You didn’t get detention,” I reminded him.

Stephan rolled his eyes. “I’m terrified of that woman. I swear I once had a nightmare where she turned into a werewolf.” He shuddered at the memory.

I laughed, but it was cut short as I bumped into someone.

I looked to see Elisa, a sneering expression crossing her face when she realized who she’d collided with.

“Scarlett,” she said in a voice thick with mock adoration, “how are you dear?”

“Move, Elisa, you’re blocking the door.”

“Rude, aren’t you?” She snorted. “For first-class royalty I expect more politeness, coming from the princess of—”

“Stuff it, Elisa,” I growled, trying to push past her to the door. Stephan followed behind, looking uncomfortable.

“Detention again, I suppose? Tsk, tsk, when will you ever learn?” her voice called behind me.

I ignored her and headed to my seat in the Astronomy classroom. Stephan raised his eyebrows at me from across the room, obviously referring to how pestering Elisa could be. I scowled and sat down beside Tia, a girl who never spoke to me but always looked very jittery whenever I was near her. Mr. Billows, a thin man whose scraggly beard was nearly larger than his head, was writing today’s lesson on the board.

Astronomy blew by—and I managed to yet double my detention. I’d never had a problem with Mr. Billows, I’d just found him very boring throughout the year. I’d had a paper on the planets’ alignments due today, and in my little episode yesterday, had forgotten to finish it. He apologized, but explained he would have to give me another red slip, and then his eyes had shot to my hands, as if flames would shoot out of them.

Luckily, nobody seemed to bother discussing what had gone on in the castle during yesterday evening’s dinner. Disasters like those occurred too often to be gossiped about anymore.

I didn’t run into Elisa again, and made it safely to History with Stephan. This was one of my least favorite classes of the day, mostly because it was my class with Alec Vincent.

Alec Vincent had moved here about a year ago from Lemnos—a kingdom not far from Messenia—where he had led as a prince. Girls had adored him from the moment he’d arrived, hording him at any moment he was alone—which wasn’t very often— and seizing any opportunity to speak to him. Of course, with his appealing personality and charming looks, what else did you expect? He was a lean guy around eighteen, with windswept white blond hair and exuberant green eyes. Nothing ever seemed to bother him. He had annoyed me ever since he had moved here—always crowding me in attempt to flatter me, like the girls that did the same to him, but all it did was annoy me. He reminded me somewhat of Lydia, and it was a shock to me that this confident, haughty boy wasn’t her soul mate.

As I took my seat beside him—Stephan was across the room—he looked over and flashed a smile.

“Hello, Scarlett.”

I responded by opening my book to the page it said on the board, and for once, emerging myself in its detail. I really wasn’t in the mood to make conversation with Alec.

“Aren’t you going to answer?” he pressed, and I still felt his gaze glued to my face and my jaw clenched.

“What’s bothering you, sweetheart?”

I shot him a glare. “Don’t call me that.”

He rolled his eyes like I was the one being ridiculous. I looked at small Mrs. Afrisius as she spoke, resting my chin on my palm to try and block Alec’s face from my view, but still felt him staring at me.

“I heard about your evening last night,” he murmured after seconds of listening to Mrs. Afrisius’s thin voice, obviously just trying to get my attention.

“It was an accident,” I muttered harshly.

“Yes, well, you seem to be a recipe for disaster. Nobody’s surprised at what happened.”

I glowered angrily at a page of my book, and my eyes widened when the edges began to sear. I quickly tried to rid my anger and hide the ashy, burnt edges of my book from Alec’s view.

“If you’re attempting at flattery, it’s not working,” I said through my teeth.

“You don’t seem to be very easily flattered, my dear,” he said in that annoying accent of his.

“Stop calling me that!” I hissed.

I saw him smirk. Mrs. Afrisius was going over the Thermanthian war and I struggled to copy down notes for my exams and to try and ignore Alec.

“Why don’t you just give up?” I whispered. “I’m not interested, Alec. You should have realized that by now.”

He pursed his lips. “I think some day you’ll come to your senses. Why is it that, when every girl attending this school wishes to be with me, the person I want doesn’t feel the same way?”

“Life is harsh,” I muttered.

“It is,” he agreed. “But I’ll win you over someday,” he said confidently, flashing another would-be charismatic smile. “According to my oracle.”

“And what exactly did your oracle say?”

It was a good thing we were sitting at the back of the classroom, and that Mrs. Alfrisius’s ears weren’t as sharp as Mrs. Wright’s. I still didn’t look at Alec, instead kept my eyes glued firmly to the front board.

“She spoke of a striking maiden who would a stun with her beauty,” he murmured back. “If that isn’t you, I don’t know who it is.”

I sighed in exasperation. “Well, look twice then. And forget about me, please.”

“We’ll see,” he said with another charming grin, and winked a twinkling sea green eye.

I looked away and tried to concentrate on taking notes, but during the class I continued to think about Ava since Alec had mentioned his oracle. I wanted to visit her, to see what she saw in my future, just so I could be on my guard.

So once the bell rang, I hurried over to Stephan before Alec could call me back.

“Stephan,” I said to him, tugging him out the door before Alec noticed. I spoke once we were in the packed hall.

“What?”

“Want to head down to the village today after classes?”

He looked suddenly hesitant. “Scarlett—your father—”

“I don’t give a damn what my father will do,” I interrupted heatedly, “but I want to go see Ava. And if you’re not coming I’m going alone.”

He pursed his lips, and then let out a heavy sigh. “Fine,” he muttered, and then took a look at his watch. “I have to get to archery. I’ll meet you at the castle.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Stephan,”

He pursed his lips again, eyes skimming over my face, then shook his head dazedly and turned to head down the hall.

 

*   *   *

After a private Archery lesson with Mrs. Bellevue, Stephan and I set off.

I always found it fairly difficult to visit the village, mostly because the inhabitants found me such an interesting choice of subject. All seemed to admire me and would look at me like I was a foreign species, some looked very nervous and would move away when I passed, others were keen to approach me and strike up conversation. One woman, in particular, Ms. Ben—an elderly woman who always wore her deep purple shawl—was always the first one to advance on me when I visited the village. She’d eye Stephan suspiciously for some reason, and though he didn’t ask I knew he was wondering why this strange, elderly woman looked at him that way.

Today, however, Ms. Ben wasn’t there for some reason, which made my trip to Ava’s hut much easier. I still had to dodge the little girls’ compliments and requests for autographs, and had to deal with everyone staring intently at me—which I’m sure Lydia would love, but she was too shallow to visit the village.

Tugging Stephan along by the hand and rushing past two young boys who were gaping at me in shock, I made it through the beaded curtain that hung suspended over the entrance of Ava’s hut. Letting out my breath now that I was out of view, I looked around.

Ava’s hut was a dreamy-looking kind of place, with several strange but interesting possessions upon the shelves, many crystal balls and tarot cards, bottles of ancient remedies and potions, pictures of supernatural creatures I hadn’t even heard of, books containing information on predicting the future. The lights were dimmed and there seemed to be smoke issuing from an unknown source, giving the place a sluggish aroma.

Ava herself, a woman with shockingly dark hair and a contrastingly pale, narrow face, was sitting at the table she usually made her renowned predictions with a young woman not much older than I, who was dressed in tattered clothing. Ava wore a shawl draped around her shoulders that always seemed to remind me of Ms. Ben’s, but it was instead a deep jade green.

“I see... happiness,” Ava was saying, gazing into the foggy crystal ball set upon the table intently, her face strained, her dark eyes blank. “Fortune.”

The young woman’s face broke out into a smile. I could see her face was dirt-ridden, but still very pretty.

“Anything else?” she whispered.

“Not much,” Ava said, and life seemed to flicker behind her eyes; she was snapping out of her trance. Ava looked up and spotted me. “Oh! Scarlett!”

The young woman turned around and her eyes widened once she noticed me; she stood up immediately, nearly knocking over the crystal ball on Ava’s table.

“Princess Scarlett, my apologies, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting—”

“No, no, it’s fine,” I said, smiling slightly at her. I felt a deep pity welling up in me that this woman should treat me this way. “Just finish what you were doing, I can wait.”

“No, no, I’m finished,” the woman said at once, her light eyes sweeping over my appearance with a slightly dreamy look. “I’ve never met you in person before... You’re so much prettier than they say, do you know?” she breathed.

I chuckled humorlessly. “Um... Thank you.”

“Goodbye, Ava, and thank you,” the woman said to her, and then looked back at me. “Goodbye, Princess Scarlett.” She glanced at Stephan. “And...”

“Stephan,” he said for her, smiling.

She nodded, swallowed, and quickly rushed out the beaded curtain, probably off to tell her fellow villagers she’d just made conversation with their princess.

“Well, dear, how are you?”

“I’m okay,” I sighed, sitting down in the stool the woman had been sitting in before.

“And you, Stephan?” Ava asked politely, looking up at him.

He shrugged, still grinning. “I’m good.”

“Any trouble around the castle?” she asked, dusting off the tabletop.

“Not really,” I sighed.

“Isn’t the ball coming up?”

I scowled. “Don’t remind me.”

“In about a month or two, isn’t it?” Stephan murmured curiously, observing a huge hour glass from which time was ticking by very slowly.

“What’s this, Ava?” he asked her.

“Oh, a nice woman from Thermos gave me that a while ago,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s supposed to tell how long we will live. Once the sand runs out...”

“We blow up?” muttered Stephan, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, looking at the crystal ball the young woman before me had used.

“Who was that woman?” I asked Ava.

“That was Cassandra,” she replied, nodding and smiling slightly, her pale face dim in the weak light. “Very nice woman. Works around the village, tutors the children, around the ranches, you know.”

I nodded. “So... she asked you for her fortune?”

Ava pursed her lips, her eyes tightening. “Yes, she did. She believes in what I say.”

I looked at the ground, playing with a loose thread on the long sleeve of my gown, which today was a deep burgundy.

“So, Scarlett, what do you need today? A remedy? Advice?” Ava asked, cracking her knuckles and leaning back in her chair.

“I was wondering... about my future.”

Her eyebrows went up; usually I didn’t ask Ava to tell me about this prospect. “Your future?” she repeated.

“Yes, please. I’m just curious, you know. Strange things have been happening—I mean stranger than usual.”

Stephan snorted beside me and busied himself in looking around Ava’s small hut, examining her many belongings.

Ava nodded tightly, smoothing her hair, which was tied in a taut black bun. “Okay... I will need to switch, then. Boy, hand me that crystal ball, will you?” Ava pointed with one hand towards the murky blue glass sphere sitting on the shelf.

Stephan picked it up carefully and handed it to her. She set it on the table and looked deeply into it, mumbling words in a language I didn’t understand in a low voice.

I watched the glass ball as the clouds inside seemed to shift and swirl around, hoping to see something for myself. Ava continued to mumble, her eyes growing slowly distant. Stephan watched over my shoulder with drawn eyebrows, while I bit my lip nervously. Would Ava finally make an accurate prediction?

For a few moments nothing at all happened. I was under the impression that we’d be sitting here forever. Ava seemed to gaze endlessly into the depths of the globe, while I saw nothing but the foggy gray clouds, which seemed to darken as I watched them. Stephan sat beside me, looking unsure, but didn’t say anything. Ava continued to mumble in the strange and unheard language, which sounded a lot like Greek, though I wouldn’t know because I was failing Languages at the moment.

Then the lights in Ava’s hut seemed to dim. The smoky aroma thickened, making it hard to breathe. I watched Ava’s face, which was wearing an expression of abstraction, like she was another world away.

Ava let out a slow, shuddering breath. Her face seemed suddenly whiter than it had been a second ago. She shut her eyes briefly, inhaling again, her lips trembling slightly.

Fear crept up my spine. This was not normal behavior for Ava; even when predicting the future. She seemed like she was in pain; holding back a scream that would shatter the glass of the globe.

“What do you see?” Stephan whispered after minutes of watching Ava this way; there was something in my throat forbidding me to speak.

I looked down into the glass orb and froze when I saw the murky gray clouds had turned a shocking shade of black. They swirled faster than ever. I could’ve sworn I saw the shape of a human head once, but they continued to shift and whirl around each other so I couldn’t be sure.

“Darkness,” Ava croaked, with a hoarse cough. My fingers clutched the border of the table. Ava’s face seemed to be drained of all color and her expression was that of a prisoner that had been enslaved and tortured for years.

“Darkness... Triumph...” Ava whispered gravelly, still taking deep breaths. “Pain... Endurance...”

“Triumph for whom?” Stephan asked after exchanging an anxious glance with me.

“You will meet a dark, handsome stranger...” Ava whispered, her pale lids shut, obviously unable to hear Stephan. “There’s strength...” she continued. “Death... Malevolence...” her voice seemed to be growing louder and louder. “Malice... Shadows... Longing...”

Unexpectedly, something seemed to jerk Ava’s head back. I gripped the rim of the table nervously, while Stephan tensed beside me.

Ava let out a piercing, bloodcurdling scream, and her head jerked from side to side. I saw her pupils were enlarged, so the white of her eye was no longer visible, only black, her eyes dilated like a cat’s her fingers were curling into claws, her face was turning whiter so she looked almost like a ghost. I was stricken with fear, frozen in place, watching as Ava let out another painful, earsplitting screech that seemed to shake the tent. 

“Ava!” Stephan shook her shoulders. Ava’s stare was blank and her face was still that deadly shade of white, while the black clouds in the glass sphere continued to whirl around one another, making two shapes long enough for me to see them: a smoky skull and a black rose.

“Immortality... Evil... Desire... Anger... Wrath... Jealousy... Lust...” Ava shrieked, her neck strained, as Stephan continued to shake her.

I sat there, immobilized, unable to do anything.

“Ava!” Stephan shouted, shaking her so hard that the crystal ball fell to the floor and shattered into thousands of tiny, glittering shards. A black foggy shape rose from the contents within: the skull, its jaw opening wide at me in a livid fashion. The smog dissolved into the air, while Ava was turning her normal color again, trying to catch her breath, looked thoroughly exhausted and hunched over the table.

I sat there in front of her, a tear streaming down my cheek, one quavering hand over my mouth. I watched numbly as Stephan asked Ava whether she was all right, and as Ava distantly shook her head and came back to the present.

I was unable to speak as Ava faced me; too many emotions were running through my head. All of them merged together, but one feeling in particular outshone the others, and that was dread. More tears flowed down my cheeks as Stephan looked anxiously at me.

“What was that?” Stephan asked Ava.

Ava shook her head, taking deep breaths and clutching her stomach. “Such violence...” she whispered, looking dazed. “Such horror... I’ve never seen anything like it...”

Ava’s eyes settled on my tear-streaked face, and the expression on her face was one that no one had ever given me before. She was looking at me in shock, in disbelief, like I’d just done something extremely unexpected, like I’d murdered a child or had some terrifyingly outrageous secret. I still had my shaking hand over my mouth, confused and bewildered, frantically reminding myself that Ava’s predictions weren’t always true...

“Scarlett, let’s go,” Stephan said abruptly, grabbing my arm and hoisting me up from my seat.

“No, dears,” Ava said calmly from behind, though she was still a little breathless. “This way; you wouldn’t want the villagers to see their princess like this.”

She held open a satiny curtain to where a dark entrance was visible, and Stephan tugged me past Ava—I didn’t even look at her—and through the room. It was another storage room full of herbs and potions and medicinal supplies, more crystal balls and crates stacked upon one another, full of unknown materials.

I followed Stephan dully through the dark room, using his hand as a guide because I was afraid I’d fall over if he released his grip on my arm. Once we were out the back door of Ava’s hut in the orangey sunlight of the radiant setting sun, I took a deep gulp of fresh air and looked up at him, still at a loss for words.

“What was that?” he whispered, gray eyes glittering fearfully, expression rigid.

I opened my mouth but no sound came out; Stephan seemed to take my silence as a visible display of the horror surging through me, and hugged me. I hugged him back, needing someone to hold on to, needing the comfort after what I’d just heard Ava say.

Wrath... Jealousy... Lust...

Three of the seven deadly sins. I was sure if Stephan hadn’t stopped Ava, she would’ve continued... Pride... Greed... Sloth...

“Are you okay?” Stephan asked, pulling back to wipe the tears from my face with the sleeve of his shirt.

I shook my head to clear my mind, sniffed and wiped at the remainder of the tears on my face, and found my voice.

“I’m fine.”

He let out his breath. “That was scary.”

I nodded. I was remembering the beginning of Ava’s prediction now... “You will meet a dark, handsome stranger...”

“What d’you think she meant by ‘triumph’?” Stephan asked, cutting through my thoughts.

I shrugged and shook my head, staring at the dirt ground. Triumph... That expression wouldn’t have crossed her face if she’d meant triumph for me. Maybe an enemy would get what they want...

“Can we go back to the castle?” Stephan asked cautiously, watching my face.

“No,” I said quickly, knowing the last thing I would need was to see Lydia’s arrogant expression or my father’s malevolent glare. “Let’s just stop by the woods and finish homework or something. I need to... to think.”

Stephan nodded and led me out from behind the line of huts, which created a barrier between me and the shopping villagers. Though there weren’t many, I still didn’t want to go out in public like this, with my face lined with tears.

Once we reached the giant hill leading down to the castle, my heart accelerated nervously. My parents were down there. 

I tugged on Stephan’s arm once we reached the edge of the forest.

“We need our books,” he reminded me.

“Well—you go get yours, if you want. I’m not going down there.” I crossed my arms and sat down against a large boulder.

Stephan scratched the back of his head irresolutely, glancing down towards the castle below and then back at me for a couple seconds before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Fine,” he muttered, sitting down beside me and gazing at the setting sun. “But only because of what you went through now.”

I stared at the darkening sky, wishing I hadn’t gone to Ava after all. More than half of her predictions never turned out to be genuine. People mostly went to her for advice, for suggestions or opinions, because Ava was wise and very intelligent. Or they asked for a certain ingredient, and maybe a quick tarot reading. Nobody really asked for her to foretell upcoming events in their lives, so seeing that woman sitting there when I’d entered came as a slight surprise to me. Cassandra had seemed somewhat naïve; believing every word that came out of her fortune-tellers mouth.

But now I had another reason to think badly of Ava’s predictions: because sometimes the outcomes were scary.  Ava had never seen anything like it; she’d said it herself. Whatever she’d seen was so ghastly she was in pain. Whatever she saw that lied ahead for me was not pretty. And the skull...

That could only mean one thing, right? Death. But if I was going to die soon Ava would not have gone on for so long looking so tortured. Death was quick and brief. Unless someone was planning to torture me infinitely. I shuddered at the thought.

And then there was the black rose, the rose I’d seen in my dream last night. That was the part I didn’t want to think about, because it decreased my doubtfulness of Ava’s abilities. It was not mere coincidence.

I watched the sun descend, counted the colors in the sky until my eyelids began to droop. Stephan hadn’t spoken the entire time, probably knowing I’d need the silence to contain myself. He’d kept quiet and left me to my thoughts, sitting silently beside me. Now he stretched and sat up, staring at the horizon.

“Uh-oh.”

Something had caught Stephan’s eye; I looked down to see what he’d seen and noticed two guards dressed in deep green leather, speaking to my father, who looked incensed even from this distance. I watched as my father’s tiny figure marched away, leaving the other miniature guards to run through the castle gates and start trotting up the hill.

I cursed under my breath and stood suddenly, nearly hitting my head on a branch.

“This way,” I said to Stephan, running towards the opposite side the guards were coming. I sprinted through the forest, my evening with Ava away from my mind for now, Stephan darting behind. I jumped over the branches and holes in the dirt that would slow me down then ran down the hill once I was sure we were out of sight. It was hard to run downhill; twice I nearly tripped, and I could hear Stephan clumsy stumbling behind me. I made it to the castle and ran around towards the back doors, cautiously opening one and peering in before making sure it was empty.

“Scarlett,” Stephan whispered beside me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

I nodded. The students of the academy slept at the school, so Stephan wouldn’t be in much trouble for being out late. It was just the opposite with me. I edged along the hall as Stephan disappeared behind me, and scampered down the hall.

It struck me that not many people were out. I’d probably missed dinner; my father was probably fuming. The corridors were ominously empty, and that worried me. But I couldn’t stop to think about it. I hurried up the revolving staircase and down the hall, turning the corner, moving towards my room...

A hand settled on my shoulder as I touched the doorknob.

“Nice to see you, Scarlett.”

Cursing my father within, I shut my eyes briefly and cringed from his touch, spinning around to face him. Compared to the enraged person I had seen shouting at the guards, he looked relatively calm. His expression was blank but there was an intensity in his eyes that scared me.

“Do you know you missed dinner?” he asked serenely.

I nodded wearily, waiting for the blow.

“And where were you?”

“The village.”

He pursed his lips. “You missed dinner,” he said again. “And a meeting with Ellen to discuss this year’s theme for the ball.”

“I’m sorry.” There was no emotion behind my words.

He nodded, considering. “Scarlett, do me a favor and be home for dinner. Go wherever the hell you want, but at the very least join your family for supper.”

And with that, he stalked away.

I watched him, confused and weary, expecting him to turn and march back here and shout in my face, but he didn’t. I straightened, still puzzled, and turned from my room to grab some dinner.