The Shadow Wand by Laurie Forest

Author:Laurie Forest
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Published: 2020-03-31T19:32:45+00:00

* * *

Later that evening, I’m standing in front of my reflection, this time before a long, gilded mirror in the opulent changing room just off my bedroom’s side, the entrancing scent of the Ironflower perfume I’ve been dabbed with gracing the air. Veins of lightning periodically fork across the room’s small window, the storm continuing to hold off.

Aunt Vyvian and Mage Zinya Blythe, Evelyn Grey’s white-haired dressmaker, look me over with icy appraisal, their glacial stares reflected back to me in the mirror.

My aunt looks like a star-dusted night.

She’s changed into a glittering affair of midnight velvet decorated with the familiar Gardnerian constellations formed from diamonds, the star patterns echoing stories from our holy book. And diamond jewelry set into the shape of the Galliana’s Raven constellation, which resembles a bird spreading its wings if you connect the stars, graces my aunt’s ears and neck.

I set my gaze back on myself in the full-length mirror and take in the elegant, lethal creature before me.

My hair is splashed with a sparkling riot of emerald leaves, a wreath of gem foliage gracing my brow, the bruising on my face and neck gone from the Arnican tonic that’s been provided for me.

And my Sealing tunic and long-skirt...

They’re perfectly fitted, and all deep forest greens, this much color allowed only for Sealing ceremonies, the verdant Sealing color meant to highlight and enhance the deep-green shimmer of Mage skin, the so-called mark of the Ancient One’s favor upon us. Embroidered, emerald-dusted leaves swirl over me, my tunic tied snugly back and laced with a black silk ribbon. My eyes are heavily lined with black kohl, my lips and eyelids and nails painted dark green.

The overall effect is riveting. Severe and powerful and beautiful.

And the Wand of Myth is tucked under my skirts, wrapped in its cloth and pushed into my emerald lace stocking, snug against the side of my right thigh, my wand hand itching to take hold of it.

“You’re lovely,” Aunt Vyvian says, seeming momentarily overcome in spite of herself. And I note that the dressmaker seems a bit drawn in by me as well, her frosty green eyes softening in appreciation.

A feeling of surrealness washes over me as I stare back at myself and remember the last time I was transformed by Aunt Vyvian and made to look like my powerful grandmother.

And now I am the Black Witch.

I wonder, if there was some alternate Erthia where I was not raised by my uncle but by Aunt Vyvian instead...

What type of monster would I be?

“She’s ready,” Aunt Vyvian says to Mage Blythe, her eyes homing in on me. “Leave us.”

Mage Blythe politely dips her head and exits along with Sparrow, who quietly closes the changing room door behind her.

Aunt Vyvian comes up behind me and fingers the lacing down my back as my spine tingles with revulsion in response to her proprietary touch. Then she smiles at me in the mirror, unties the top lace, and yanks the strands even tighter, tighter than

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.