Luathara - Book Three of the Otherworld Trilogy (21 page)

Picking up a stick and pushing away a few of the leaves plastered to the ground, I opened up a small space on the damp earth and started drawing random images.  After a few moments I paused, glancing around the open meadow I had settled in.  I wondered if this would be far enough away to practice taming Cernunnos's magic.  Regardless of my fear and trepidation, I was pretty certain that I could whip it into shape if I just worked with it; practiced that simple exercise Enorah had taught me over and over again until I could open my magic up entirely without affecting the pale blue rose that sat next to it.

You'll have your chance
, I promised it.

As if the foreign well of power heard me, the rose pulsed once, a brilliant, electric blue, then settled back into being a young, dormant bud.

Breathing a mental sigh of relief, I continued doodling and another worry invaded my mind.  I had no idea how I was going to keep this secret once Cade returned.  Surely he'd notice I was hiding something and despite what he'd told me about the practice of
shil-sciar
, I couldn't risk the truth slipping out that way.

"Something troubling you?"

I yelped at the sound of Enorah's voice, snapping the stick I'd been using to draw.  She smiled and dropped down from
behind
the
giant
beech tree
I'd been using as a backrest.

"So, spill.  You can talk to me, I'm the only friend you've got
right now
in this strange and wonderful world of ours."

Enorah
arched her eyebrows in anticipation
and I allowed myself a little smile.  I couldn't tell her what was really bothering me, so I went with what she probably already assumed.

"I'm worried about Cade, well, and all of us.  I can't hide here forever and it's only a matter of time before the Morrigan figures out how to get beyond the magic that protects the Weald."

Enorah crossed her arms and leaned back against the tree.
  She nodded and sighed.

"True, but Cade is very capable.  He's been dealing with her his whole life you know.  If anyone can evade the Morrigan it's my brother."

"I know, but I still worry."

We remained silent for a while, listening to the fires from the village crackle, the scent of their smoke spicing the
pleasant summer
air.  Animals, some familiar to me, some not, scurried in the branches above and the underbrush below, evading predators or searching out food.  The brilliant colors of the forest seemed more vibrant here than they ever
were
at home, and I wondered if it was a result of the living magic that thrived all around us.  I so wanted to forget about all my worries and drink it all in, but then a new thought occurred to me.  Enorah had taught me a few handy spells this morning, could there be a charm that might help me hide the secret of my new magic?

Clearing my throat, I glanced over at Cade's sister.  With her arms still crossed, she had her face tilted towards the sky.  I imagined she was doing what I wished to do: taking in the
beauty of the forest
in all its glory.

"Enorah," I said tentatively.

She made a sound of acknowledgement.

I took a deep breath.  Okay, here goes . . .

"Is it possible to use my glamour to, um, hide information I don't want anyone else to know?"

She lowered her head and trained her sharp eyes on me.  I
pursed my lips
and reached for a new stick, hoping to seem only slightly interested in an answer.

"Why do you ask?" she said after some time.

I shrugged.  "Just in case.  There are some things
I want to keep to myself for now
and
I'm afraid I'll accidentally let them slip before I'm ready to share them
."

"No one can force you to share your secrets Meghan.  Well, perhaps the Morrigan could if she got a hold of you and used her dark magic."

Ignoring her use of the word secret and instead latching onto the Morrigan's name, I nodded vigorously.  I had only really been thinking about keeping
the knowledge of my new magic from
Cade, but if his mother found out . . . ?  I shuddered.
  That would be beyond disastrous.

"Yes,
that's exactly it.  I'm safe for now, but as soon as I leave the Weald there's a good chance the Morrigan could corner me.  I'd like to be prepared
."

"There's a way," Enorah said slowly, quietly.  "It isn't known to many, and I learned it a long time ago, when I lived a different life."

I arched a brow, but she held up a hand.

"Please, don't ask."  She smi
led a sad smile.  "In fact, it'
s this very trick I'm going to teach you that keeps those memories away from prying minds."

My curiosity ached to know what her dark secret was, but I could tell from the sudden change in her demeanor that her past was a book best left unopened.  Besides, Enorah was my friend and a good friend didn't pry.

"Oh,
" I said instead,
"
I'd never press you Enorah if you didn't want to tell me-"

Again, she
held up a hand and shook her head
, cutting me off
.  "I know Meghan, don't fret.  Now," she inhaled and pushed away from the moss-encrusted tree trunk, "the convenient thing about this spell is that you only have to use it once for every secret you want to keep, and then it takes care of everything else for you."

I gave her an incredulous look.

Enorah merely
smirk
ed and said, "Imagine a spider, with a hundred legs
instead of
eight."

I wrinkled my nose at her.  I had nothing against spiders, but they weren't my favorite things in the world.  And to imagine one with a hundred legs?  Eww.  But if that's what I had to do, then so be it.

"Now, this spider lives in your subconscious, sort of like your magic, and it spins a web in the corner of your mind.  Once it's established, you give it the knowledge you want to keep hidden from all prying minds and it will wrap it up like an insect and place it in the center of the web.  Any words or other thoughts that come to you about the secret you keep will be snatched up by the spider's legs and added to the web.  Only you can look at them, no one else can, no matter how powerful they are."

Wow.  I simply gaped at Enorah.  That was a
convenient
trick
.

"Where on earth did you learn how to do that?" I breathed.

She shook her head.  "Can't tell you that, and you mustn't let anyone know I taught you.  Very few Faelorehn know h
ow to cast this particular spell
and it's not something I should be teaching others."

"Oh Enorah, I'm sorry," I reached out to her,
feeling
guilty
that I'd
put her in
such a
position.  But I wasn't sorry I'd be learning this rare bit of magic.  I needed it.

Enorah grabbed my hand, her eyes shining.  "You are my friend, Meghan.  And you are dear to my brother.  Of course I don't regret
teaching you
.  Now," she cleared her throat and smiled, "are you sure you're up to this?  You did spend half the day practicing with your magic.  Do you want to wait a day or two?"

"No," I said automatically.

At her slight look of surprise I smiled sheepishly.  "I feel perfectly fine, honest."

"Okay then.  Here's how you create your very own spider . . ."

I stood up straighter, all my attention on
my tutor
.

"First, you have to separate out a small granule of your magic, about the size of a marble, just like we practiced today.  With me so far?"

I nodded and closed my eyes.  Since it was so fresh in my mind, creating the marble-sized sphere of glowing blue was a cinch.  And even better, Cernunnos's rose
remained tightly furled
.

"Next, repeat these words after me:
Caerah nost, foreth setten aevoreh feain
."

I opened my eyes, almost losing control over my tiny ball of magic.  "Huh?" I said.  "What does that mean?"

"It basically means
:
Hold fast the secret I wish to keep
.  Simple enough words, but since they are spoken in the language of the ancients, they hold more power
than others
."

"Is that the same language I hear you and Cade and the Dagda
speak sometimes
?"

Enorah shook her head, her eyes somber.  "No, that's a different language."

I opened my mouth to ask more, but Enorah interrupted me.

"Do you need me to repeat them?"

"Please," I answered.

She said the phrase several more times and when I was sure I had it, I closed my eyes again and found that little sphere of magic waiting for my instructions.

"Caerah nost, foreth setten aevoreh feain."

My accent wasn't as smooth as Enorah's, and I'm pretty sure I mispronounced a few of the words, but t
he blue sphere
of my magic
burst forth like a supernova
.  I squeaked and fell
to the ground, my rear end making contact with a damp pile of leaves.  I blinked away the shock and when I focused inwardly, I saw a tiny blue spider, busy making a web in the corner of my mind.  She was pale turquoise, just like my magic, but had a lovely red and black pattern on her back.  She was actually kind of cute.

"It worked!" I breathed.

"Good," Enorah said, standing somewhere above me.  "Now, take whatever information you want to remain hidden, and hand it over to the spider.  Just picture it and say it in your mind.  When the spider grabs it and takes it to the web, you're all done."

I nodded, closing my eyes again and forgetting about the
soggy
earth soaking into my pants.  I found the spider again, busy with her web, and told her about the secret magic Cernunnos had given
to
me and how I needed her to hide it and any other thoughts I had about it.  The spider reached out with her multiple legs, long, delicate strands of pure, raw magic, and grabbed up
all the
thoughts about my extra source of power.  She gathered them together, like those little word magnets used to write poetry on
a
refrigerator, and spun her beautiful silk around them, securing them in her web.  I smiled again and sighed.

"All finished?" Enorah asked as she gave me a hand up.

"Yes," I said with relief.

"One more thing to know.  You can destroy the spell any time you wish.  Just simply find the spider and its web in your mind and speak the word
duantis
.  It means 'done'.  Also, if you let your glamour run down,
like
if you visit the mortal world and stay there for a long time, your spell with die off on its own."

I nodded, committing the word to memory with the others I'd learned.

Feeling a hundred times better now that I'd found a way to keep my
s
ecret safe, I headed back to the village with Enorah.  We planned on going out tomorrow once again to practice with my glamour, but I had the whole afternoon free.

"So, is there anything else you'd like to know about our daily life here?"

Enorah's
bright tone of voice was a pleasant change from her earlier, somber mood
,
so I took advantage of the situation and said
, "Actually, I'd like to know how you clean your laundry."

Laughing, Enorah swung an arm around my shoulder and led me towards the creek.

"Unfortunately, we have to do it the old fashioned way.  However," she added, a glint in her eye, "I can show you another trick with your glamour that might help
get the job done faster
."

-Eleven-

Arrival

I kept a tally of the days Cade was gone.  Yes, it was silly and pathetic and practically drove me crazy, but I couldn’t help it.  Besides, it helped me keep track of my progress with my magic as well.  Every morning, Enorah and I would hike to that hilltop meadow, far enough away from the village that if my magic got a little out of control, it wouldn't damage anyone or anything.  We would spend hours there, going over what I'd learned the day before and then Enorah would teach me something new.  I always warmed up with the same expand and contrast drill from that first day, and as the days progressed, I became better and better at pushing my magic further without Cernunnos's
glamour
butting in.  A few times it tried to join my
own
glamour, but I always managed to force it into submission
.  And anytime I thought about it, that
little magical spider living in the corner of my mind
would work
furiously to
keep it secret
.