The first witch.
Olivia didn't want to be the first of anything. She wanted to be free, she wanted to go wherever she wanted, like the wind. She didn't want to live forever either, it seemed such a gloomy existence, to see her loved ones fade away leaving her behind.
She felt sorry for that mother she barely knew and had no chance to be with. Locked in her forest, with her limited power and, even if she didn't want to accept it, a slave to past glories.
She didn't want to be a witch because that meant being alone.
She wanted to be a wizard, like Eldrin, like the annoying Leander, like the rest of the wizards of the Order, like those young people who visited her castle every year, and with whom she wished to be friends, if it weren't for the fact that her own father was afraid that they would end up discovering her elven blood, which, for some blessed reason, had not yet manifested.
Olivia, in fact, had hoped that it would never manifest, that her impure human blood would infect the elven one to the point of rendering it ineffective. Then she would be of no further use to anyone, and they would leave her alone.
Silas was watching her from the ground. What was he thinking? How would he feel now that he knew the truth?
She should have told him from the beginning, but, while traveling with him, it had felt so good to be able to be someone else... Besides, as long as her powers remained dormant, on the outside she was still an ordinary human.
But there it was, floating in front of her very nose, the golden pentacle coming to shatter any illusions she had kept so far.
Daephennya finally lowered her arms, and the symbol dissolved into thin air.
“But... even if I don't like the idea,” the elf continued, backing away. “You'll have to go back to your father.”
“I thought you didn't want that,” Olivia complained.
“I promised him,” she then showed her palm, and Olivia took the hint. “Elf's promise. It will hurt me a lot if I don't keep it.”
“I didn't make you promise anything.”
“What a cold heart you have. Will you let your mother suffer for an unfulfilled promise? Will you let my body burn in the fire?”
Olivia had heard that the pacts made by the elves were sacred, and that breaking them resulted in unbearable bodily torture that no human could survive. The elves, on the other hand, were quite resilient but, still, it was torture after all, and Olivia felt as if she herself would be the one to inflict it.”
Her mother couldn't force her, she thought, not like this. Why did she do that, why did she risk so much? Maybe her father was right, she was cunning, but then again, she hadn't ratted her out either. Daephennya could have found her daughter very easily, she could have led her father straight to her.
“Human nobles, as well as elves, carry many responsibilities,” Daephennya continued. “We do not choose. Did the King choose to be born in a cradle of gold to hand over his existence to thousands of people he will never meet? Did the servants in your castle choose to take care of your filth? What makes you different from others that you think you can choose?”
Olivia didn't know what to answer. No one, she was no one, she didn't know who she was, she had never known herself, she had never been allowed to know herself.
“Think of your responsibility, all the people who depend on you, the inhabitants of the Circle, your future subjects. What will happen once the heiress leaves them? The gentle Lake Tribe, the balance between the elven families, the residents of the castle, the wizards of the Order, the villagers. Even the chimeras hiding behind the mountains, as your friend used to do.”
“If I become queen, I won't be able to rule Shadowrock.”
“But you will have children, many children, and one of them will be able to rule for you before your father passes away. He's still a young man. Don't you like the idea? A family that is nothing but yours?”
Olivia knew nothing about children, she had only seen the servants' kids, and they were afraid of her because she was the Count's daughter.
“If only I could...” sighed Daephennya. “I would have given you a sister... Who knows? I still have time,” she giggled again, which was out of tune with the natural serenity of her face, and that made Olivia's hair stand on end.
“Poor Alaric,” the elf continued. “He had to make so many sacrifices... especially for you, and now you're going to give it all up because you want to go, and have fun on that depressing island of hybrids that from afar seems so wonderful to you. But, my dear, you have your Master Eldrin, who came so close to becoming a Master Arcanist, and you have me, your own mother, an Architect. If you want to get more power, you don't have to look that far. Feeling lonely? Well, when you go to the capital you'll meet lots of girls your age with similar interests who will be eager to accompany the new princess. Are you going to turn your back on all that just to indulge your curiosity, and visit a reclusive Archmage who might as well slam the door in your face?
Her mother's words were like a waterfall, a non-stop torrent, and Olivia was drowning in them.
“But Silas...” she managed to say.
Olivia looked in the direction of the strangely silent mouse, waiting for him to utter a wish, which in the end he did not.
“It's not your responsibility, my dear,” the elf said. “There are people more prepared than you to take care of him. Not everyone has bad intentions.”
No, it would be foolish to think that Olivia was the only one who could save him. In the end, he was forced to follow her, because he had no other choice. If he could make it to the island with someone else, he would gladly do so and leave her behind.
“Don't speak for me, you nasty elf!” exclaimed the mouse. “I could see your intentions from the highest mountain peak!”
Ah, Silas, the usual Silas was back. Olivia couldn't help a smirk that almost turned into a smile.
“Now that you know I can't do anything to you, has your courage returned, little creature?” Daephennya leaned toward him, and the mouse backed away.
She was pleased at that gesture of fear.
“I won't speak for you, then, but, you, Olivia, think of all the people who suffer unjust situations, and those you could help, like Barthra, poor thing.”
“Don't talk about Barthra!” Olivia got angry for the first time, but couldn't help asking. "What's wrong with her?”
“Well, she has disobeyed, and your father has expelled her from the Circle.”
“No, you're lying! He would never...”
He could never. No matter how angry he was, he wouldn't be able to get rid of the woman who raised him, the only grandmother she ever had.
“Every choice must be paid,” Daephennya pointed to a spot in the forest. “Come closer, let the tree speak to you.”
The elf stepped aside for Olivia to advance towards one of the trees. She rested a hand on it and closed her eyes. Another trick her mother had taught her, besides hiding in the trunks.
Crossing a stream of branches, earth and roots, her vision expanded through the dense vegetation at the speed of the wind, and in just a few seconds she reached Barthra's hut, now empty.
“Barthra! Barthra!” Olivia shouted and her voice reverberated through the entire forest scaring all the creatures that lived there. The deer ran away, the birds left the branches, a bear lost its prey, and the ogres woke up from their late slumber, but, despite her persistence, the old woman did not respond to the call.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
In the end, her father had done the unthinkable.
“Become a queen,” her mother told her. “And you will avoid injustices like these. You were able to rescue a chimera with so little knowledge... Imagine what you could do as a ruler, and trained by me and Eldrin.”
“But I would be nothing more than the wife of the future king.”
“That's the first step. You'll see. You think I would let a daughter of mine become a mere consort?”
Olivia pondered the meaning of those words, but couldn't bring herself to ask.
“I don't want to go back to my father,” she said.
“You will have to, just for a little while. Then you will marry, and have power over him. When you stand up to him, he won't be able to do anything.”
Olivia didn't want to listen to her anymore.
“I need to think,” was all she could manage to say.
“I'll leave you alone for a while,” the elf conceded. “I think your friend will feel more comfortable sharing his thoughts if I am not present. I promise not to listen. Once you've made a decision, you know how to call for me.”
“What decision?, Olivia thought, when she didn't even have a choice.
That said, the elf disappeared into the thicket until her slender figure became impossible to discern.
Olivia felt like she was breathing again.
Now all she had to do was talk things over with Silas and...
“You're a damned elf!” the mouse exclaimed with a rage it seemed he had been holding back for a long time.
It wasn't going to be as simple as she had thought.
“Half elf,” she clarified. “And I didn't know that until just a year ago.”
“Explain yourself!” the haughty mouse demanded.
Olivia was about to let his tone pass, just because she had lied to him before, but then she remembered something.
“I don't know why I have to explain anything when you don't tell me anything about your former life either... But, just so you can see that I'm not the person you think I am, I'll still tell you that a year ago I found out that my mother wasn't dead, as I had believed all my life. And not only that, but she is not human, but probably the most powerful elf that exists.”
“You said she tricked your father.”
“That's what he told me after my mother appeared in front of me.”
That day they were visiting Barthra. Without warning, Olivia had the idea of committing the mischief of running away, and going deeper into the forest. Her father, annoyed, ran after her, telling her to stop. But she did not listen.
Suddenly, she felt a hand pulling her somewhere, and she ended up in a small glade she didn't recognize. She heard her father's voice calling her, but could not identify the location.
Then that elf appeared, who first introduced herself as the Lady of the Whispering Forest. It was the first time Olivia had seen her, she felt amazed at her beauty, her eternal youth. They were alone for a while without her father being able to find them. The elf went on to teach her some of her tricks, as if she were a new friend coming to show her pranks.
It all seemed so innocent, until at one point, the elf looked tired of the game and lifted the veil of mist that prevented her father from seeing them.
“Your father lied to you, Olivia. I am your mother, and I am very much alive,” was all she said.
As soon as he saw them, Alaric reacted in anger, and dragged Olivia away from the elf. But it was too late, he could not continue with the lie. His father had no choice but to tell the girl that Daephennya had tricked him by pretending to be a human, while gathering fruits from the forest. He became infatuated with her, he did not understand how. Without knowing who she really was, after some time, he asked her to marry him, but, then she disappeared, and he did not see her again for almost a year until one day he saw her emerge from the thicket, still disguised as a human, carrying a baby who was crying bitterly. It wasn't until she placed the child in his arms that she showed her true face, and disappeared again.
Since Olivia had found out about it, her father had forbidden her to go near the forest. He hadn't even been able to visit Barthra.
“And that's why you were angry with him,” Silas concluded.
“Since then he has become more cautious than ever.”
But Silas' indignation still didn't subside.
“You talked for two days straight, and at no time did it occur to you to tell me!” he shouted.
“I was going to tell you... and just then the ogre showed up... and then my father... and the thing with the trunk...”
“Well, how convenient for you!”
“Nothing has changed, Silas, I'm still the same person.”
“That Code of yours says something totally different!”
“It's just drawings!”
“It's your essence! How can you not see that? Now we're not just enemies... we're... doubly enemies!”
“You're not making any sense!”
“Our alliance ends here!”
Olivia took a deep breath.
“What are you going to do now then, where will you go, back to the mountains?” she asked.
“I'll go to the island by myself.”
“Don't be stubborn. The road to the island is full of wizards.”
“I'll be guided by my sense of smell.”
“You have no idea what you're looking for. What if you're wrong? What if you end up somewhere other than Stormbrace?”
“I'm not a child!”
“I'm not saying you are. I'm just saying... no one can survive alone! Chimeras live in packs. I thought you, of all people, would understand that better than anyone else.”
The mouse didn't respond for several minutes.
She had hurt him again, Olivia thought, but she didn't know what else to say to him.
“I'm hungry...” said the chimera at last. “I won't eat elf food. I'm going hunting.”
“Will you leave?” Olivia asked with a shrinking heart.
“No promises. Although I trust that hateful elf even less. I don't buy the story of her letting me go just like that. I don't like the idea, but I think I'll have to put up with you for a while longer, and run the risk of you betraying me.”
“I won't betray you...”
“Again?” he finished the sentence.
That said, the mouse wandered off into the grass. Olivia believed him when he said he would return and, in fact, he did a while later, turned into a fox. From some traces of blood on his muzzle, she guessed that he had succeeded.
They slept outdoors this time. Olivia missed the warmth of the tree, but didn't want to risk being trapped inside again.
The next day, as soon as the sun rose, they rejoined Daephennya, and Olivia let her know her decision to return to her father, once Silas was safe and on his way to the island, although she still didn't know how to help him.
“Wise decision,” nodded the elf satisfied. “And don't worry. I know how to help you... My child, before you leave your old life, I will grant you a gift, the first of many I will give you.”
“What is it?”
“From what I've heard, you've always wanted to witness the Return of the Sirenians.”
Olivia was surprised that the woman could even know that.
“But... it's late...” she objected.
“Not as late as you think. Actually, you woke up just in time! The Sirenians haven't reached the lake yet. It will take you a day's journey to get there.”
“But my father will be attending, and he will take me with him as soon as he sees me.”
“I'm afraid your father will be late this year.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he doesn't trust me, and keeps looking for you on his own.”
“Ah, right...”
“But... to put your mind at ease, I will now share with you the other half of my gift.”
Architects, her mother explained, had the ability to create illusions. She would give Olivia a talisman that, hung around her neck, would help her pretend to be someone else. Of course, she would design it so that its effect would not last more than a few days, just long enough for her daughter to partake of the festivities. Once the affair was over, she could keep her promise to Daephennya, to her father and to Silas.
Being at the lake, Silas could not be touched by any wizard, and would receive the help of the Sirenians, a peaceful race that would have no problem in guiding him to the Isle of Demons.
“You have done a great job,” said Daephennya to her daughter. “You have saved him from a cruel fate. Now you must let others finish what you started.”
“How do you know I won't run away?”
“Because I trust my child's wisdom,” for the first time, Daephennya reached out a hand, and placed it under Olivia's chin. “I have watched you grow up, though from afar,” she broke away again, and clapped her hands together. “Now, let's not waste any time! We must prepare your disguise.”
The elf sent for her servants who appeared with some blue garments for Olivia to try on. Upon closer inspection, the girl realized that it was the same tunic worn by the Acolytes.
The costume was appropriate because it was normal to meet that type of wizard on the road, as they traveled from town to town in order to learn about the history and geography of Terrarkana, as well as the teachings of the Leaders of the various Wizard Orders that could be found in larger towns or other castles such as Shadowrock.
It would have been a perfect idea, except that Olivia was embarrassed to be wearing a color that was not yet appropriate for her. Her mother reassured her that the place would be crowded with people, including Acolytes, like her, who would take advantage of the occasion to watch the spectacle.
No one would notice her presence. It would be like a drop in a lake, as was the case.
All this time, Silas stood apart without saying a word, not even to Olivia.
Finally, her mother handed her the talisman: a green, polished stone with a faint light inside. When that glow began to fade away, it would be the sign that the talisman was losing its power.
Now in her Acolyte's robes, Olivia hung the talisman around her neck, and hid it under the tunic. She didn't feel anything special, but when she turned her gaze to Silas, the fox twitched its ears, and watched her curiously.
One of the elf assistants held up a mirror to her, and met the satin face of a long-haired blonde girl with green eyes. Daephennya let out a giggle, because of her mischief, saying that she had tried to make her daughter appear more like her, but then she changed her mind because, in that case, Olivia would attract much more attention.
That same morning the travelers bid farewell to the elves, who accompanied them to the edge of the forest, as if they were just saying goodbye to a couple of old friends, although Olivia couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach thinking about the impassivity of her elf mother, who was letting her go just like that, as if, in reality, like an experienced Architect, it was her who was pulling all the strings.