Part Eight: The Lily Maid

Out flew the web and floated wide
The mirror cracked from side to side
'The curse has come upon me!' cried
The Lady of Shalott

Elliana felt the age more than anything. Ever since she and Kaden moved in with Conlon, her days seemed to pull her down faster and faster. Faryn had been prisoner almost seven years. Seven years. Elliana silently wondered if Selena even cared about her daughter missing. Elliana and Faryn had become fairly good friends, if one could call it that. Elliana spoke more to Faryn than to anyone, but that was forced from hours and hours of guarding her. Elliana personally thought that it was silly to continue to guard Faryn day after day. It seemed futile. Faryn wasn't going anywhere.

Except for mad. The days stretched on, and Elliana could see Faryn dying. Her speech became less clear, and she spent hours on end writing letters to her daughter. Elliana had learned that the girl- Rhiannon- was Faryn's daughter. Things began to make sense, and she could use her visions to her advantage for the first time she could remember. Elliana recalled the words of the spell Faryn had uttered in the vision, and after that the enchantment was found easily.

The spell, A Mother's Love, could be performed on any material thing. The charm would thus cause the item to act as a talisman. Only one time in history had this spell been performed successfully. Shortly after, the caster had died. Elliana reasoned that Faryn would drive herself to death anyway, so it didn't really matter. The talisman protected against death or injury by magical force- The Killing Curse.

Faryn learned the words easily, but Conlon seemed to sense something was going on. He stayed in the house and patrolled it for at least a month after Faryn was first ready to cast the spell. Elliana could wait, but Faryn could not.

"I feel Death." Faryn said one day while leaning against the dresser. She turned and looked in the mirror. "I see Death creeping up on me…hoping to catch me by surprise. But I feel it. I feel the sand slipping out of the hourglass…there is a curse here. The hate of the curse is consuming me…the curse is upon me and all I can do is watch. I don't understand these things." Faryn touched the mirror. It was an old mirror, and the wooden frame was carved ornately with designs from a thousand years ago. Elliana saw Faryn run her finger softly along the surface. A smooth crack formed when Faryn lifted her hand.

"Seven years bad luck." Elliana muttered, thinking of the silly Muggle books she had read. Faryn turned to her suddenly, looking forlorn. As much as Death had 'consumed' her, the sheer fact that she had broken a mirror seemed to make her distraught. Faryn's face then changed into a soft acceptance.

"I won't have seven years." She said gravely, looking at the mirror. Elliana looked at Faryn but said nothing. It was not her place to agree or disagree with Fate. Fate was a fickle one. "My daughter…we have to do the spell. How long can I wait? I want to know that my daughter is going to be all right. I want to be able to sleep in peace, when sleep comes." Faryn began to cry, and Elliana rolled her eyes. So much weeping as of late. Elliana walked over to Faryn and stood behind her.

"I'll get your wand tomorrow. Conlon has a meeting tomorrow afternoon, and I'm sure I can manage to get Kaden out of the house. Then, you can sleep or wake and it will make no difference. Your daughter will be safe." Elliana's mind started buzzing with excuses to get Kaden out of the house. She needed to get him to stay at work about two hours longer than usual. Faryn stood up and hugged Elliana, wiping away her tears. Elliana might have smiled, but she could only think of the days that lay ahead for Faryn. She had seen them in her dream.

"Thank you…thank you thank you…I will pray for you always. May your husband return to the way he was before…long before hate conquered his soul. I wish you happiness for all of your days." Faryn hugged Elliana again, and then started coughing violently. She had been doing that a lot these days, Elliana noticed. Faryn was getting sick. Her voice often sounded raspy, and all vitality had left her hair and skin. "And my letters…can you get them to Rhiannon? Please?"

Elliana nodded without words. She could only try, but for Faryn's sake she smiled. All of her life, masking her true doubts and fears. Smiling for others' to protect their feelings. Lying for others to protect their feelings. Even as Faryn fell into Death's hands, Elliana would lie to her. No one should have to leave the world with tasks undone.

"Kaden, I need you to restock our potion supplies." Elliana said over breakfast. "Could you go to the City after work today?" Elliana sat down next to Kaden and picked up the Daily Prophet. Harry Potter starts school. She pondered absentmindedly while waiting for Kaden's response. Harry Potter…oh yes. The downfall of Voldemort. How could she have forgotten? The Boy Who Lived. Personally, Elliana couldn't see any reason why Harry Potter was a hero when he hadn't even done anything. How had he survived the worst wizard in decades? It amused Elliana, but she could not come up with an answer. Elliana tossed the paper aside and sipped her tea.

"Yes. What do you need?" Kaden finished his toast and eggs and put his plate on the counter for the maid to wash. Elliana pulled a list of two dozen items out of her pocket and handed it to him. Kaden looked at the list and seemed to wonder how she had let this shopping list get so long. Elliana didn't care what he thought, though. She had more important things to tend to. She kissed his cheek before he Flooed to work and turned her back to the fireplace. Elliana collected herself and did some reading before the afternoon rolled around. She had a wand to steal.

Throughout the morning, Elliana straightened the upstairs, baked a cake, and finished a play. She tried to remember how she had kept herself busy when she lived at Kristin's, but the answer never really came to her. What had she done all those hours and hours? School work. House work. And she listened…to Brooke.

Four and a half hours later, Elliana found herself at the door to Conlon's study. She brought down the wards easily. Conlon wasn't original, and the wards were the same all around the important areas of the house. Elliana stepped inside the study and looked around. It was neat and orderly, as she might have expected. She pulled her wand out and whispered a Revealing Spell. Everything that was guarded by magic glowed a pale blue. She walked towards the bluest area and looked inside a glass case. Faryn's wand.

Elliana knew the spell he had used to guard the wand. Only his permission could open the case. Elliana had a way around that. Earlier that afternoon, she had asked him for the keys to the basement. While she was down in the basement, she slipped the key to the box off the ring. Doubtful he would notice it was gone until it was too late. Elliana slipped the key into the latch and unlocked it. She Summoned Faryn's wand out of the case and hurried out of the study.

"Faryn, wake up." Elliana said as she entered the room.She knelt by the bed. Faryn turned over and looked at Elliana sadly. Faryn was very sick, and it was apparent that she only had a few days left in her life. The room looked yellow, as it had in the vision a long time ago. Faryn clutched her stomach as though she wanted to throw up. Elliana pulled a small orb out of her pocket. It was glass and clear at the moment. Elliana knew that it would fill with magic when the spell was cast. "For the spell." Elliana said, handing Faryn the orb.

"Thank you." Faryn rasped, looking at the orb with amazement. She gathered her strength and sat up in the bed. Her face was sunken with sickness, more so than a few hours ago. Faryn's hair fell out of its loose ribbon and hung in her face, but she concentrated on sitting up. Elliana helped her sit up fully and handed her the wand. Faryn looked at the wand as she had the orb- silently drawing power out of the objects. Faryn held the orb in her right hand and the wand in her left.

"Maternus Amorus, Nunc et Semper." Faryn said the words calmly, but Elliana felt immense power behind the incantation. All of the love Faryn had ever given anyone was captured in the words. The orb glowed blue with light, and then the glow died away. The orb was now a dark, swirling purple. It reminded Elliana of the night sky. Faryn coughed and handed the orb to Elliana. She collapsed back on the pillows and fell asleep. Elliana tucked the orb in a box. She'd set the orb in its pendant that night.

The man ran. His footsteps pounded the empty street as he fled the shadows. He didn't understand why they were after him. He hadn't done anything. His wife had disappeared, but it hadn't been his fault. He couldn't get to his young daughter. He couldn't do anything. But they were after him anyway.

Night in the city was dreary. He ran from the ghostly streets and into the grassy meadows. The sun had set, and the faint colors of twilight painted the horizon. The countryside spread out before him, but he couldn't run fast enough. The man saw a grove of trees ahead. If he could only reach them. The shadows were closing in…closer and closer. The man stumbled on a rock and rolled over.

"Nooooo!" The man screamed. He couldn't understand their hushed whispers. They spoke words he had never heard before and the man's life passed before his eyes in a violent green flash. Robert Kelsinger's body was never found.

Elliana sat at the bench in the basement, setting the orb. She heard Conlon return from his meeting an hour ago, and he hadn't appeared to have noticed anything. Elliana had put the wand back in its case and locked it after Faryn had finished the spell. She drew up the wards again and closed the door to the study. It seemed as though Elliana had pulled off the deception well enough.

Rhiannon had been in Elliana's visions lately, and the visions were occurring on a regular basis. Elliana had discovered several things about the girl. Rhiannon would discover she could control fire after she started school. Rhiannon had three cousins who could also control the elements. Elliana supposed that Rhiannon would be well protected, and even more so after receiving the necklace. Rhiannon would be sorted into Slytherin- Elliana had seen the crest on her robes in one vision- and she'd have quite a temper. Her cousins would help with that. The one thing that amazed Elliana was the discovery that Rhiannon would meet her son, Kaden.

Elliana couldn't pick out much more from the visions, but she had wrought a pendant for Rhiannon from what she knew. Fire rose around the orb and two words were engraved at the bottom. Faryn had given Elliana insight into the Aithne words- Ignus Oriens.

Once the orb was set and blazed, Elliana put it back in its box. Next would come the hard part. How was she to explain this to Conlon? Would he be upset? Elliana supposed that he would be, but she didn't dwell on the matter. She put her things away and walked upstairs.

"Elliana." Conlon said, nodding as she met him in the hall. She handed him the box and an unspoken agreement passed between them. He wouldn't ask. Elliana knew that that wasn't Conlon's way. If he was truly curious, he would wait until she told him.

"For Selena Aithne when she comes. To give to her granddaughter." Elliana said, sweeping past Conlon and up to her room. Kaden was standing by the window, watching the sun set. Elliana said nothing. She changed out of her work robes and into clothes to go to dinner. They were going out with someone from Kaden's work. Elliana had met the people before, and they seemed nice enough. But, if Kaden didn't want to talk, Elliana wouldn't force him. By now, there was nothing to say.

The cake was horrid. Elliana struggled to eat it politely as Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Price discussed Quidditch with Kaden. Kaden wasn't eating the cake. Elliana set hers aside with the excuse that she had filled up on the delicious dinner. Again, she was lying for someone else's sake. Elliana tried to concentrate on the situation, but her mind was slipping.

A girl with a pixie haircut looked through the abandoned dorm room. It was Christmas, but one would never know from the expression on her face. She was forlorn, and searching for something. The girl had spoken to the Mermaids…why couldn't they give her straight answers?

"Where the light is eternal, and the music never dies. People are always happy there." The mermaids' advice had been little help. The girl was going through her cousin's books when her eyes caught something worth while.

"Salazar Slytherin left the school, because his disagreements with the other Founders angered him. He could not achieve the power her hungered for in his lifetime, so he left all of his studies in the catacombs beneath Paris. This maze of passages would later become his tomb. Only one thing could open the tomb, and that was the Mermish Spearhead. The Spearhead was lost several years after Slytherin's death…" The girl snapped the book shut and then looked at the newspaper article that had caused her to first go to the Mermaids.

ARTIFACT STOLEN: MUSEUM ON ALERT

Magnus Mynerfield

The British National Museum of Magical Artifacts is still on high alert after the disappearance of a rare Mermish artifact. The artifact disappeared sometime in late August, and You-Know-Who is said to be behind it. We confronted the museum coordinator, a stout, balding man with a limp.

"I do hope the Aurors find it soon." He told us before hobbling off to yell at a child for touching the Holy Grail. The museum has increased security by twenty percent. There are security trolls standing guard at every entrance, and wards have been put up over the more important things.

Will the museum ever get their artifact back? The world may never know.

That had to be the answer, then. The girl thought this over for a moment and looked out the window of the dorm. The moon was rising, and it was late into the night. She wondered where her cousin was, and if had anything to do with the theft of the Mermish Spearhead. After all, that's what had to have been stolen. The girl just knew.

The girl could not find anything else of worth in the room, so she sat on her cousin's bed and sighed. Where could her cousin be? Other than being kidnapped, there was only one place that her cousin might have gone. And she never would have dared…right? Her cousin always went on and on about wanting her ties to remain strong, and doing such a thing would severe what she had worked for. The girl fell asleep, and dreamt of her family.

Elliana realized that Mrs. Price was asking her a question and she raised her eyes. Kaden was glaring at her for embarrassing him, she was sure. Elliana smiled and shook the vision from her head.

"I'm sorry, my mind must have wandered." Elliana said softly, focusing on Mrs. Price. The woman was too thin for her own good- practically skin and not much else. The woman's face had far too much rouge, not enough intelligence, and a rather large freckle on the end of her nose.

"I asked if you and Kaden went to many games." Mrs. Price repeated. Elliana flushed for not hearing her the first time and shook her head. She began to explain about her dislike for the game in general.

"I will watch it if better teams are playing," Elliana said, seeing that she had offended the Prices. She recalled from the conversation earlier that their favorite team was the Appleby Arrows, so Elliana tried to make a recovery. "My favorite team to watch is the Arrows. Such good chasers." Elliana reminded herself that Natalie had been recruited to play for the Arrows, so it wasn't much of a lie.

"Yes, I agree completely. Our boys just love playing the Chaser position. I suppose they'll be quite the thing when they start school." Mrs. Price glowed with pride. "My boy Jasper, for example, wants to play for a team outside of school. He wants to start now. I've tried to tell him there's no use seeing as we'll be moving to Scotland within the year." Mrs. Price smiled stiffly. Elliana knew that Hugo Price had been moved to the Scottish branch of the museum and was due to start in November. Apparently Mrs. Price was not pleased about that.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality, Hugo." Kaden said, standing up and clasping the man's hand. He kissed Mrs. Price on the cheek politely and slipped his cloak over his shoulders. Elliana did the same as they said their farewells. As she and Kaden walked to the fireplace, he slipped his arm around her waist.

A tear slipped down Elliana's cheek as Faryn began to cough again. But still, Faryn insisted on speaking. She still had things to say. Faryn clasped Elliana's hands and looked at her pleadingly.

"Rhiannon…"

"Her necklace is done." Elliana assured her, kneeling by the bed. Faryn was having trouble forming words at all, and even sitting up caused her pain. She looked thirty years older than she had when Elliana met her. Faryn coughed again and started speaking.

"Time means nothing…life is what you make it." Faryn pulled her blankets tighter over her shoulders and looked at Elliana. Her eyes were empty, already in some distant place. Elliana heard the rain outside. She bit her lip. Faryn began to sing softly, but the tune wasn't recognizable. Elliana watched as the candle on her nightstand flickered. Faryn's singing lowered to a whisper and then into a cough. Half a moment later, her eyes closed. She slept peacefully, now and forever.

Elliana tucked the blankets over Faryn's shoulder and stood in the doorway for a moment. The woman looked serene, and Elliana could feel the love radiating as the spirit fled from the mortal world. Faryn loved the daughter that she had only known one month. Faryn loved that daughter enough to sacrifice her life- even if she was doomed to die anyway. Time was a jester, and Time was laughing.

Elliana walked from the room slowly and heard weeping coming from the living room. She stood in the doorway of the room to find a woman kneeling in front of Conlon Baggert. The woman did not appear young by any means, but she was beautiful. Her silvery blond hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. She wore a cloak of purple, and as she opened her eyes, Elliana saw the violet to match.

Before she was noticed, Elliana heard the last bit of their conversation. It seemed that the woman had known a Conlon that Elliana had never met. The rain outside played background music to the woman's pleas.

"I loved you." The woman whispered.

"That love is gone. Only ice remains." Conlon said harshly. Elliana had heard the words before…in the vision. The woman…could the woman be Selena Aithne? Of course…she would have finally found them. Elliana sighed to herself. Too late, though.

"Take me instead! My life! Please…"

"I cannot kill you. The ancient magic remains!" Conlon pushed away from her and walked over to a drawer. From it, he pulled a box that Elliana instantly recognized. The necklace.

"Here. Take it. It's for your granddaughter. A lasting gift from her mother." Conlon told Selena. Selena opened the box and gasped. Her eyes grew furious.

"You think a necklace will replace a daughter?" She screamed and stood. Conlon did not wince, and he closed the gap between them and placed a hand on her cheek. He was taunting her, Elliana could tell. Catching Selena in her grief.

"No, but it will ensure you an heir by magical means."

"I want my daughter!" Selena fell to the floor and began to sob. The necklace lay forgotten to the side of the woman. Elliana walked into the room and caught Conlon's attention.

"Conlon," she said. "I've come." She stopped in front of Selena and looked at Conlon. An unspoken message passed between them, and Conlon nodded. That nod held all the finality Elliana had ever seen. Conlon knelt, and lifted Selena's chin. He frowned deeply.

"Get thee gone. It's over. She suffered no pain, no hardships, no taunting, and no loss of pride. There's your mercy." Conlon spat the last world and stood, leaving Selena to cry harder. Elliana noted that he used lies to protect the matriarch's feelings. He lied to Selena, even in her grief. As much as he claimed that he hated her, he lied so that she would not dwell on the pain that she had caused her daughter. "I loved you once, as well. Take the gift home to your granddaughter. Time will test her mother's will." Conlon said as he walked from the room. Elliana watched as Selena pulled herself to her feet and strode from the room and out the door. As the door slammed, Elliana listened to the rain.

Silence echoed through the house, and seemed as though it would last forever. Time was frozen, and the house was a wax museum. Dawns dawned and the suns set, forever in motion everywhere but that house. No commotion arose, and nothing ever remained the same. Everything was changing, but the house was a paradox. As people came and went, the house stayed the same. The house lived in a memory.

The Baggert family lived and moved on with their lives. The many years that Faryn had spent with them appeared a speck on the grander scale of things. Letters lay tattered and forgotten, and candle wax spotted the tabletops. The furniture gathered dust, but it never seemed to lose its grandeur. The house seemed more than a castle. It seemed to embody a whole realm of time- controlled solely by the magic within. Time had no meaning here.

The lady Fate had danced her dance, and sent the lives into helter-skelter. Although they seemed to recover, Fate was never satisfied. Fate would work in mischievous ways, aided by Time. Reality became a falsehood, and only dreams lived on. One could only believe in dreams. The rest was tainted. Dreams were as pure as the ethereal rain. Ghostly and enchanting, but pure. The rain and starlight remained untainted like the house. The house became the dream, fading from the eyes of the world and available only to those who searched for it.

The light of the purple dawn would stream in from the east, and it seemed as though, in the very next second, light was penetrating the western windows, signaling night. Nothing mattered, and nothing changed. An ancient magic held this place like a painting on a canvas. The house would stay the same, preserved as the magic would preserve those within. The ancient magic remained.

It would be seven years until anyone came to search for the house. Seven years the house laid waiting. Seven years with no one to guide it. Such is the life of a house- older than the trees to begin with. The house held memories in its walls, gently becoming a memory itself. The rooms faded into sepia, but the atmosphere had a certain luminescence to it. Light filled the house, even in its dreary, rainy state. The light held it a sanctuary, silently waiting. Waiting for one who would draw from it the secrets of the world.