Sword of Elements Series Boxed Set 2: Bound In Blue, Caught In Crimson & To Make A Witch by Hamilton-Senter Heather

Author:Hamilton-Senter, Heather [Hamilton-Senter, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Two Paths Publishing
Published: 2016-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

CARDINAL

I bet somewhere, a gold harp with the soul of a girl in it is saying I told you so.

Despite the good idea of a day of training turning into a fiasco—and Redcap spouting Binnorie’s prophesy about me—Daley still insisted on stopping at a local mall on the way back home. Leaving me at the food court, he disappeared into the crowd of last minute Christmas shoppers. After less than an hour, I couldn’t bear the crush of people anymore. They could all see me now, really see me. It was probably my imagination, but everyone seemed to be watching me, wondering why I was sitting alone. I longed to hide again under Viviane’s binding spell, to forget who and what I was and make the rest of the world forget too.

I was a fool to ever want to be noticed.

In the throes of a full-blown panic attack, I pushed through the crowd until I found an exit. Outside, the air was cool and soothing. When I calmed down, I realized I was on the opposite side of the mall from where we’d parked. Retracing my steps back inside, I passed a small stall where a local artisan was selling wreaths. Some bowed to the local foliage and were fashioned from palm leaves woven together, but others were the traditional evergreen type. When I brushed my fingers against them, I was surprised to find they were real. A quick look at the price tag showed the rarity of the material in this climate, but most prices had been knocked down for the last hours of Christmas Eve shopping.

A lush one caught my eye; the needles were an unearthly, almost-turquoise. Several blue spruces were planted behind Peter’s house and I’d always loved them and the way they stood out from the drabber green of all the other trees. This wreath was large, but plain, and the only adornments were thin branches of holly woven through, stripped of leaves but not the red berries. The bright red against the blue-green gave the wreath a more modern look. I remembered Goodfellow had told me that holly provided protection and enhanced dreams, but I wondered if taking the leaves off had destroyed its power.

“The berries are real,” the woman behind the stall said. “You have to keep them away from any pets though because they’re poisonous, but they’ll keep their color through till January.” On impulse, I decided to buy it, even if it was only decorative and had no magic in it. The woman wrapped the wreath carefully in a white bag tied at the top with some twine. As I carried it back into the mall, I realized that the simple act of buying my very first Christmas decoration made me feel part of the world around me. I didn’t need to hide. I could blend in if I tried.

When Daley finally met me back at the food court an hour later, he was carrying a number of his own bags, including a heavy-looking one with the logo of an electronics store on it.

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