THE FARAWAY LANDS OF OZ - Book One

Part Two, Chapter Ten: Royals of a Different Kind

GLINDA

I enjoyed being here. I felt comfortable around the atmosphere of the "Siren's Call" and Marcy looked like she did too. Vincent knew how to interact with children. Marcy and I were just putting our empty bowls from lunch away and helped Vincent with the table.
His tavern was not visited at all but that came as no surprise with the behavior of all the people around here. It was at this moment that a familiar pink light exploded in the tavern area, as Vincent, Marcy and I were in the backroom of the "Siren's Call".
We came rushing out of it, seeing Evanora bleeding in Zion's strong arms and Isabel standing above them, glowing like a pink lantern with outstretched arms. She looked me in the eyes with her own, pink ones.
"She is bleeding. They told me to get you; you have to save them!" Shit! What did she do again? But wait a minute...? Them? I only saw Evanora and no one else seemed injured. Upon my puzzled look, she eyed me carefully.
"She is with child." She caught me off guard. Not because of her sudden magical abilities – I did not care about that – but by Evanora getting herself into mortal peril once more, this time endangering another human life, the life of her unborn child.
This was the tricky thing with witches. We may age slower, but it takes the blastocyst and thus the fetus to form at a threatening level of speed.
It was no more than a few days ago that she must have produced it for Isabel to notice the fetus' life-force. As one, having studied the arts of healing and mending, I had to know those kinds of things.
I stared at Zion with alarm but he was looking away with red cheeks and I decided to postpone my questions. Right now, I had to save my sister and my unborn niece or nephew. I rolled up the sleeves of my dark dress and stepped closer to my dying sister.
I patted Zion's shoulder to release her onto the table; I need space to work. He moved away, his face glistening with silent tears, leaving me my space.
I got the coat out of the way and ripped the blouse which was already sticking to her wound, apart. The wound made me gasp. The opening oozed a thick black liquid out of the cut alongside her blood. The veins around the impalement were of the same greenish black. The poison was spreading fast.
"What did this to her? I need to know what I am working with." I looked around the room into all those bewildered faces before I directed my eyes to Isabel. I trusted that she was able to tell me. Yet it was not she who replied.
"A black blade. Cursed metal used by warlocks of this country. Now that there are no more Magicks here, these blades are at a public display. Although there are only five of them, they kill within an hour."
I was surprised to hear the explanation escape Vincent's and not Isabel's mouth. He too had suddenly changed. Something was moving and I was confident that it did so in the right direction. As if the curse this London was under was slowly lifting.
"What poison does it use?"
"Dark magic," He replied shortly and although I didn't think he really knew but this helped me a lot. I didn't have my wand with me in the room right now and there was no time to get it here but items like these were not the source of our magic. They just help us focus and control it.
I placed my hand over her wound and meditated, focusing my breathing. The monks had taught me this long ago. A simple spell of cleansing the body, powerful enough to get rid of any toxin. Even dark magic, hopefully.
Streams of golden magic moved in the space between my palm and Evanora's wound, slowly sucking the poison out of her system. The child had remained unharmed. Any second longer and its fragile, mostly non-existing body would have died. I was barely able to focus anymore. I wanted to know when they had been able to... Anyway...
Now, the gaping hole in her skin looked by far better than before. It was scarlet and clean – disinfected enough for me to stitch it.
"Needle and thread, please," I said, holding out my hand. Vincent reached under the counter and placed both items on my palm. I lifted those and the needle and thread closed the wound by themselves. Vincent was just like mother's nursing bag at home. He had everything one needed to take care of anything.
I wiped the pearls of sweat off my forehead and slumped back into a nearby chair. Evanora was unconscious and for a moment, I had thought I would lose her forever. Zion stepped forward and stroked her temple, taking her right hand into both of his and kissed it. He turned to me with glistening eyes and mouthed the words "thank you".
"Of course. She's my sister after all." I stood up and placed my hand on his back reassuringly before I directed my attention to Isabel who was in conversation with Vincent. I walked towards them.
"Could you finally tell us what is going on? About the Vampires, about you and about this curse."
Vincent nodded, "It's best when you guys sit down. We have a lot to tell you..."
I looked at Zion and Marcy – who had been surprisingly calm this whole time – and agreed to Vincent's proposition. I sat down between Zion and the little girl with my back towards Evanora and prepared myself to finally hear the truth.