Healers' Call

The Florist and his Daughter

Mauve tumbled out of the portal, hitting the ground hard. Her brother narrowly avoided falling on top of her, landing in a heap beside her. She twisted to look behind them as the portal shimmered for a few seconds before dissolving.

She picked herself up and dusted down her skirts. They seemed to have fallen into some type of ruined castle. The archway that held the portal was attached to one of the few remaining walls. No doubt some of the portal's magic had stopped it collapsing like the others.

Bottles and colourful wrappers littered the ground, which made Mauve angry. Their careless regard for such an important magical place was so typically human. She knew they didn't understand magic as the Fae did, but she couldn't understand the pleasure they seemed to take in littering their world.

"You okay?" Carrick asked, also looking around with a stiff expression.

Mauve was going to answer him when thoughts of their father entered her mind. There hadn't even been time to say a proper goodbye.

She couldn't stop the tears cascading down her cheeks, even though she knew she had to be brave.

"Hey, come on. It'll be okay." Carrick awkwardly tried to console her.

"What if we never see Father again?" The thought was burning her up inside.

Carrick looked away from his sister, trying to master his own emotions. "We just have to hope we will. What else can we do?" He wasn't sure whether they would ever see Lania again, never mind their father, but now would not be the right time to point that out.

"How can you just stand there? Why aren't you upset?" Mauve accused him, her cheeks flushed from crying and her sudden anger.

Carrick sighed. The truth was, he was just as scared and upset as his sister, but he was choosing to focus on their mission. He wasn't sure why it was so important to deliver the letter, but he didn't doubt his father's words. If he said it was Lania's only chance, then Carrick would not question it.

"Auntie gave us a job, something that could free Lania from Lorcan's forces. We need to focus on that." Anything to distract them from what was happening to their father back home.

Mauve regarded him with a stony expression, before it morphed into one of despair. "Do you think they'll be okay?" Her timid voice conveyed her deepest fears. They'd already lost their mother, she couldn't bear to lose their father.

Carrick kept his expression as void of fear as possible, not wanting to add to his sister's distress. "Lorcan will want to question them first, especially when he realises we're missing. After that he'll want to make an example out of them so he'll need them alive. There will be time to save them." He wished his words to be true. Unwilling to voice his fears and scare Mauve further.

Mauve nodded her head, comforted, though Carrick felt far from relaxed.

His words seemed to set a burning need inside them to begin their mission. A small flicker of hope that they could cling to.

"Pass us those maps." Carrick held out his hands as Mauve rummaged in her knapsack, withdrawing the two bits of paper.

They unfolded both of them and held them out, quickly discarding the one that showed their realm, Adiocion. Instead, they focused on the one that showed the human realm. There were two portals still active in the United Kingdom.

"This is ours." Carrick pointed to the one who's name they'd spoken as part of the spell to awaken the portal. "And you've still got the letter?" His gaze flickered over to Mauve as she rummaged in her pockets and withdrew the envelope.