A Tale of Magic... (40 page)

Madame Weatherberry nodded. “However, the endeavor quickly backfired. My book was banned in all the kingdoms and I became a global pariah. As punishment for my attempts, the Northern Kingdom sent a cavalcade of soldiers to my home in the In-Between. They strapped my husband to a wooden post and burned him alive while they forced me to watch.”

“Horence!”
Brystal gasped with large eyes. “You’re the witch from his story! Horence tried to warn me before I came here. I didn’t understand what he was saying at the time, but he was warning me about
you
! He was telling me that
two things
were about to become
one
! That carving in the woods—those were
your
initials!”

“Horence Marks and Snowy Weatherberry,” she said. “It feels like a lifetime ago.”

“Snowy is your real name?” Brystal asked. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

“It isn’t,” she said. “The fairies named me
Snowy Celeste Weatherberry
after my specialty. They said I started causing storms from the moment I was born.”

Brystal had been so focused on discovering her own specialty, she had never asked Madame Weatherberry what
her
specialty was. Now that she knew the answer, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t figured it out already, and not just because
weather
was in her name.

“On our first night at the academy, there was a horrible thunderstorm,” she said. “You summoned that storm because you knew it would frighten us and bring us closer together, didn’t you? And after Lucy and I went into the In-Between, you sent us another thunderstorm so we wouldn’t leave the castle while you were gone! And two days ago, you sent that snowflake to the academy so I would come to the Northern Kingdom! You’ve been using the weather to manipulate us from the beginning!”

The fairy nodded again. Brystal scrunched her forehead because something about Madame Weatherberry’s story still wasn’t adding up.

“But why did the
fairies
name you?” she asked. “When we recruited Emerelda from the coal mine, you said you were raised by a human family. You said they tried to kill you and that’s how you got the burns on your left arm.”

“I lied,” Madame Weatherberry said. “I only told that story to convince Emerelda to join the academy. The burns on my arm didn’t come from a fire—it was
frostbite
. The same frostbite that covers me now.”

“So you got those marks from using witchcraft,” Brystal said. “That’s why you started covering yourself with gloves and coats. And that’s why you wouldn’t let Mrs. Vee treat your wounds. The bruise I saw on your face, that was frostbite, too, wasn’t it? The more damage you cause as the Snow Queen, the more the frostbite covers you.”

Madame Weatherberry looked down at her bony, blackened hands and sighed with a heavy heart.

“Correct,” she said. “And the more she covers me on the outside, the more she consumes me on the inside.”

“But what led you to witchcraft in the first place?” Brystal asked. “How did you go from writing
The Truth About Magic
to destroying an entire kingdom?”

“After Horence was killed, I used witchcraft for the very first time to bring him back from the dead,” she explained. “The spell was a complete disaster. Horence returned to earth as an unnatural being, and my left arm was changed forever—but it wasn’t only my arm that changed. I told you the witch in Horence’s story died after she conjured the spell—but that wasn’t entirely untrue, because part of me
did
die that day.”

“How so?” Brystal asked.

“My husband never committed a crime or hurt anyone in his life, but humankind murdered him simply to teach me a lesson. And indeed, I learned a very valuable lesson that day. I suddenly realized I had been foolish for believing
The Truth About Magic
was enough to change humanity’s ways—they would never be persuaded by the
logic
or
empathy
of a book. The only way humankind was going to accept the magical community was to
fear
and
need
the magical community.
We
had to give them a problem, and then
we
had to be the solution. And as I laid eyes on my frostbitten skin for the very first time, I knew exactly what problem to create.”

“The Snow Queen?”

“Precisely,” Madame Weatherberry said. “To become the Snow Queen, I had to access all the anger that I had suppressed over the years. Just like your wand put you in touch with your magic, the scepter put me in touch with my rage. Unfortunately, there was so much fury waiting inside me, the task became overwhelming. Each time I picked up the scepter, the Snow Queen became stronger and stronger, and it became harder and harder to fight her off. I asked Feliena, Newtalia, Squidelle, and Crowbeth to join me and help me with the transitions—but the witches cared more about revenge than acceptance. They allowed the Snow Queen to control me and they used her like a weapon.”

“But why didn’t you stop?” Brystal asked. “If the Snow Queen was consuming you like this, why did you keep returning to the Northern Kingdom?”

“Because the world wasn’t taking her seriously,” Madame Weatherberry said. “My plan would only work if the
whole world
saw the Snow Queen as an unstoppable threat. It would take complete desperation for them to turn to witches and fairies for help. But King Nobleton consistently lied to the other monarchs about the destruction the Snow Queen caused. So to gain the other sovereigns’ attention, I increased the attacks and made each one grander than the one before. However, it didn’t matter how hard the Snow Queen struck the Northern Kingdom, the other monarchs ignored her. The only way King Champion, Queen Endustria, and King Warworth would ever acknowledge the Snow Queen was if her destruction went worldwide.”

“And now you’ve covered all the kingdoms in a blizzard,” Brystal said. “You’ve given humankind the ultimate problem, so how is the magical community the solution? Who are they supposed to turn to for help?”

Madame Weatherberry hesitated before responding, and Brystal could tell the answer was going to be difficult to hear.

“The academy,” she confessed.

“What?”
Brystal gasped.

“If the world had recognized the Snow Queen’s first attack, I would have never had to involve anyone else,” Madame Weatherberry said. “I could have been the problem
and
the solution to my plan. But as the attacks continued, I realized the Snow Queen would likely devour me before I completed my mission. So I recruited a coalition of fairies to finish what I had started in case I was compromised.”

“So
that’s
the real reason you started the academy?” Brystal asked in disbelief. “You weren’t training us to help and heal people, you were training us to be your
assassins
?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said teaching was the greatest privilege of my life,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Watching you and the others flourish has brought me happiness like I’ve never known before. I’m deeply remorseful to put you in this position now, but in order for us to succeed, I’m afraid you have to fulfill the promises you made me.”

Brystal felt like her stomach had been yanked out of her body.

“Madame Weatherberry, no!” she cried. “I could
never kill you
!”

“Yes, you can,” Madame Weatherberry said. “When humankind learns that
you
saved the world from global annihilation, they’ll finally have a reason to respect and accept the magical community. You and your classmates will lead the world into a new era where people like us will never have to hide in the shadows, where they can live openly without fear, and they’ll never be crippled by their anger again.”

“No!” Brystal said. “There has to be another way!”

“This is the only way,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Believe me, I wish there was an easier path to take, but this is the greatest opportunity that fairies and witches have had in centuries! If we don’t do this
now
, it may be another millennium before we have a second chance!”

“No, we’ll find a better solution!” Brystal said. “Come back to the academy! We’ll find a way to cure you from the Snow Queen!”

“It’s too late for that,” Madame Weatherberry said. “Scepter or no scepter, the Snow Queen has consumed me past the point of no return. I have days—maybe
hours
—before she takes me over completely. And I don’t want to spend the rest of my life imprisoned inside her.”

Madame Weatherberry raised Brystal’s wrist so the tip of her wand was pointing to her teacher’s frostbitten forehead.

“Please, I’m begging you!” the fairy said.

“No! I can’t do this!”

“We don’t have a choice!”

“I’m sorry, Madame Weatherberry, but I—”

“YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DEFEAT ME, YOU STUPID INCOMPETENT GIRL!”

Suddenly, the Snow Queen resurfaced in Madame Weatherberry’s body. The witch wrapped her hands around Brystal’s throat and started choking her again. Brystal couldn’t breathe, her vision blurred, and she started losing consciousness. If she didn’t act fast, she would die in the Snow Queen’s hands. Brystal raised her wand, pointed it at the witch, and made a decision that she would regret for the rest of her life.

BAM!
A bright and powerful blast erupted from Brystal’s wand and hit the Snow Queen directly in the chest. The witch flew across the dining hall and landed hard on the floor. Brystal kept her wand raised as she cautiously approached the Snow Queen’s motionless body. The witch’s eyes fluttered open, but instead of seeing the Snow Queen’s glowing red gaze, Madame Weatherberry’s eyes returned.

“What… what… what just happened?” she asked.

“I made my decision,” Brystal said. “And I’m not killing anyone.”

“You should have finished her! All of this could be over by now!”

“You might be right,” Brystal said. “And later I may regret sparing you, but not nearly as much as I would regret ending your life. I’ll never understand why you chose violence as a road to peace, I’ll never understand why you chose fear as a remedy to hate, but I will
not
repeat your mistakes. If I’m going to continue down the path you’ve paved, then I’m going to walk it at my own pace.”

“Brystal, humankind will need
proof
that you slayed the Snow Queen! My death is the only way you’ll earn their trust!”

“You’re wrong!” Brystal said. “You don’t have to die for your plan to succeed—on the contrary, all the destruction you’ve caused, all the fear you’ve instilled, and all the lives you’ve taken will all be meaningless without you!”

“What are you talking about?” Madame Weatherberry asked.

“You said it yourself. The only way humankind will respect and accept the magical community is if they
need
the magical community,” Brystal explained. “But the minute the Snow Queen is destroyed, humankind won’t
need
us anymore. They’ll forget she ever existed, they’ll rewrite history to say
they
were the ones who conquered her, and the world will go back to hating fairies and witches just like before. But if you stay alive, and keep the world in fear of the Snow Queen striking again, the magical community will
always
have leverage over humankind.”

“But I can’t keep fighting her like this,” Madame Weatherberry said.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Brystal said. “You said you only have
days
or
hours
before the Snow Queen consumes you completely—well, I say you have
years
or
decades
left in you. You’re giving up because you don’t
want
to fight her anymore, but the Madame Weatherberry I know and love would never let me quit like this, and I’m not going to let you, either.”

“But what do you suggest I do? Where do you suggest I go?”

“I suggest you use whatever strength and time you have left to get as far away from civilization as possible. Take yourself deep into the Northern Mountains and get lost in a cave somewhere. Find a place that’s so far removed not even a Map of Magic would detect you. Send a gentle snowstorm through the kingdoms every now and then to remind humankind that you’re still around, but whatever you do, keep yourself alive.”

“But if she consumes me and returns?”

“Then we’ll be ready for her,” Brystal said. “We’ll find other fairies around the world and recruit them into the academy. We’ll train them using the lessons you’ve taught us and prepare them to face her. We’ll create such a strong coalition of fairies that the Snow Queen will never stand a chance against us.”

The front doors of Tinzel Palace creaked open and the sound of several sets of footsteps echoed through the corridors. Lucy, Emerelda, Xanthous, Tangerina, and Skylene entered the royal residence, and Brystal could hear their hushed voices as they searched for her.

“It’s your classmates!” Madame Weatherberry said. “They can’t see me like this! If they discover the truth, they’ll be devastated, they’ll lose faith in everything I’ve ever taught them!”

“Then don’t let them,” Brystal said. “Follow my plan! Leave the palace before they see you!”

“But what will you tell them? They can never know what I’ve done!”

“I’ll tell them the truth,” Brystal said. “I’ll say that after a long battle, the Snow Queen finally overpowered you, but you managed to scare her off and send her into seclusion first. That’s all they need to know.”

The classmates’ footsteps were growing closer in the corridor outside the dining hall. Madame Weatherberry looked back and forth between Brystal’s pleading face and the open doorway, but she couldn’t decide what to do.