Author's note: Okay, I must say that this chapter was difficult to write but fun at the same time :) I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think! Also thank you to Whisked for bringing up some major points in your last review that have helped me plan for future chapters and thank you to Minxy Jinxy as well for offering to try your hand at some commissions for this fic and for Pleasurable Punishment :) I look forward to seeing what you come up with :)
Love,
HM
Chapter 4
The Fourth Magician stared in silent fear at the woman, Ironus still holding her up off the floor. Ironus stared at his wife, stunned and then his gaze flicked back to Irys.
"Are you insane, Willow," he bellowed.
"No, I would know my own daughter when I see her. Besides she looks just like you and I," the woman said with a small smile.
"There's only one way to tell if this is Irys."
Ironus yanked her shirt up. There was a wide scar that ran up to just below her breasts from her navel. Her father's posture immediately slacked and he dropped her onto the floor. Her glared at her then turned and left, slamming the door shut behind him. Irys stiffened as her mother wrapped her arms around her.
"Oh my god, Irys, I thought I'd never see you again," Willow whispered, tears running down her cheeks onto her daughter's shoulder.
When Willow pulled out of the hug, Irys saw Nicodemus staring at her over her mother's shoulder. His brown eyes were glazed over and he wore a pained expression.
"Come, Irys. You can stay with your father and I. We'll get you a change of clothes and get that arrow out of your back."
"No!"
Irys jumped about a foot off the floor at her father's booming voice. Willow glared at her husband.
"Why can't she stay with us for gods sake? She's our daughter!"
"We don't know where she's been, Willow! For all we know she could be a spy. She's staying in the prison and when Councilman Rodor returns he can decide what we will do with her. I've already sent a rider out with a message requesting that he returns immediately."
"You have a point, I didn't think of it that way. It's been twenty-five or so years since she left, who knows where she went," Willow said, now staring at her daughter with the same cold look as before.
Willow and Ironus left without another word and Nicodemus hesitantly followed them, glancing back at her over his shoulder once. The cell door shut heavily and clicked loudly as the lock slid into place. Irys's strength kept dwindling, they had left the arrow in her back and if it was left much longer an infection would no doubt begin to fester.
The Fourth Magician didn't have the strength or energy to try and heal herself; she slumped against the wall in defeat. As her eyes rolled back she lost consciousness and hit the floor hard.
Irys's eyes fluttered open and she slowly sat up, pain shooting through her back.
"It's about time you woke up. You need to eat something," a soothing male voice said.
At first Irys thought she was back at the Keep, but everything came back in a rush and her heart skipped a beat. She turned slightly to see Nicodemus smiling softly at her.
"How long was I out for," she asked, turning away from him.
"Four days, well almost five. It's dusk right now, so yeah almost five. I took the arrow out when I thought you were going to die. And man was that infection nasty to heal," Nicodemus said, grabbing a loaf of bread off the tray next to him on the floor.
The cell door banged open to reveal a woman about an inch or two shorter than Irys with long, waist length black hair that was in a braid. Her hazel eyes blazed with a fire that reminded Irys of Roze.
"So it's true, you're back," the woman said with a snide tone and a sneer.
Oh great, now there are two of them, Irys thought frustratedly as the woman reminded her yet again of the First Magician.
Her youngest sister... Nola. They had never gotten along for as long as Irys could remember. Nola had always been jealous of what Irys had. Irys was born with magical abilities but Nola wasn't. While Irys was training with her father, Nola would watch from the sidelines, sick with envy. But that envy soon turned to sinful jealousy and that jealousy ignited into a burning hatred. Irys had another sister, Lily, but they had always gotten along just fine. And Lily didn't appear to be living in town at the moment. Had she been there, things would have been easier for Irys.
"Nico sweetheart, why don't you go. You've spent all night healing this whore, you must need something to eat," Nola said.
Nicodemus stood to leave and Nola wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply and moaning into his mouth. Irys rolled her eyes...
And she calls me a whore.
But right at that moment it clicked in Irys's mind where Nicodemus's pained expression had come from. Tears welled up in Irys's eyes as painful memories came clawing back to the surface. Nico had been her first love, her only love...
He walked out, glancing at Irys once before exiting. The Fourth Magician looked up at her sister with a cold stare. Nola stood with her hands on her hips and smiling evilly at her older sister, who was now at her feet where she belonged.
"You always had to have what I had, Nola. That obviously hasn't changed," Irys said scornfully.
"The point of the matter is, I have whatyou had. You lost everything, including Nico's love when you decided to turn your back on the Jewelrose Clan."
"I didn't turn my back on any of you! I've been looking out for this clan ever since I left-"
Nola backhanded her, which ended up being a serious mistake. Irys took a thread from the power source and projected magic toward her younger sister, who had no way of blocking it, or so she thought...
Suddenly Irys was back on the ground, screaming in agony.
"W-What the hell d-did you d-do to me," Irys managed around her own screams.
"I redirected your little spell."
Roze sat at her desk with a frown.
Irys should have returned by now, she thought.
There was a knock at her door.
"Come in," she said, already knowing who it was.
Yelena practically ran into the room with her backpack over her shoulder.
"Roze, Irys is in trouble. So I'm going to find her, you can come along or not it's your choice, but I'm not going to let my mentor die," the young magician said forcefully.
"I'll go find Zitora and meet you down at the stables."
About thirty minutes later they were all riding out into the plains towards the village where the girl was.
Why do you think Irys isn't back yet, Zitora asked in her mind.
I'm not sure, but that's what I intend to find out.
They stopped after a long, hard day's ride and set up camp. Roze scouted out the area around them while Zitora started the camp fire as the stars began to shine brightly in the night sky, the moon once again casting an eerie glow. Yelena sat silently with her knees to her chest, staring into the flames. Her eyes grew heavy and she fell onto her side, sound asleep. Zitora laid a blanket over the top of Yelena to keep her warm.
As the Third Magician stood up straight, an arm wrapped around her waist while a hand covered her mouth to stifle the yelp that sounded from her. Zitora instantly relaxed though as she recognized Roze's body against hers. The First Magician's lips brushed Zitora's ear.
"I found a pond not far from here. Let's go for a swim," Roze whispered, her voice dripping with seduction.
Zitora turned to face her with a mischievous smile. They reached the pond a few minutes later. Zitora's breath caught in her throat at how beautiful it was in the white glow of the full moon. It took them a couple minutes to reach the side of the pond because it was down in a ravine.
The Third Magician slipped just as she was about to reach the bottom, but Roze was there to catch her. They stared deep into each others eyes as Roze gently pushed her against the rock wall. Zitora wrapped her arms around Roze's neck pulling her closer so as to capture her lips with her own. After sharing a deep, passionate kiss Roze backed away to catch her breath.
Zitora began removing her own clothing and when Roze didn't do the same she feigned surprise and put on a sly smile.
"Why, Master Featherstone, you can't seriously be thinking of going swimming with your clothes on."
Roze smirked, deciding to play along.
"I was actually. I just really don't feel like taking my clothes off, on my own."
"Then why don't I help you with that," Zitora whispered.
The Third Magician pulled the First Magician's shirt from her shoulders and ran her hands over the muscular body while kissing her feverishly. Zitora slowly moved her hands down to the waistline on Roze's pants. Roze helped her pull the pants down and off.
"You always were too slow," Roze said with a seductive smirk.
She pushed Zitora into the pond, then jumped in after her. As soon as both their heads broke the surface their lips were together, moist tongues tangling and curious hands questing each others bodies. The pond was warm and comfortable, the water lapping at their skin as they moved fluidly together, touching, kissing and savoring the feel of soft, slick skin.
Irys stared up at her sister, astonished.
"S-Since when did you have the ability to access the power source," Irys demanded.
"Since about a year ago actually. I must say that I understand now why you walked around like you owned the world. Controlling magic makes you feel like the most powerful person in the world," Nola said with a triumphant gleam in her eye.
"But, magic begins to manifest during puberty. How did you just begin using it a year ago?"
"I paid a visit to the Daviian Plateau. The Vermin helped me... 'realize' my abilities. But I do believe that's all you need to know, Irys."
"What does Lily say about all this?"
Nola smiled devilishly.
"Lily played a big part in helping me."
Irys just stared at the floor, thinking hard.
"Well if you'll excuse me older sister, I do have better things to do rather than converse with a lowly prisoner."
Nola took her leave and Irys was left to herself again. Closing her eyes and focusing she reached out for Yelena, but somehow the connection they shared was blocked. The Fourth Magician's energy was sapped almost immediately. With a sigh she lied down on the bedroll in the corner and within a couple minutes she fell asleep.
She flinched awake at the sound of the cell door opening slowly and then shutting. Staying absolutely still and keeping her breathing steady she listened, trying to discern who was in the room. Irys was lying on her side, her back facing the door so she couldn't see who was there, not that she could have seen anything anyways due to the pitch blackness of the room.
She couldn't help but tense up when she felt a hand on her shoulder, pushing her down onto her back, and lips brush the sensitive skin of her neck. When the person's lips reached hers, she instantly relaxed. It was Nico... Then she immediately tensed up again and pushed him off.
"Nico, we can't do that. You're with my sister," Irys said breathlessly.
"But I want you, I'm only with your sister because I felt like she could replace you but I was wrong," he pleaded.
"We're not married."
Like that's ever stopped you before, she thought to herself mockingly.
"I need you Irys! More than I ever needed you before."
"I-I... Let me think about it okay? I-I don't think I'm ready yet..."
"Okay, I understand. I'll come check on you in the morning okay?"
Irys didn't answer, just sat and stared at what she could see of the ceiling. Roze's actions were making Irys question everyone and everything around her...
Yelena woke in the middle of the night with a start. She had been having a nightmare of Valek being beaten to death by Sitian assassins. She told herself over and over again that it was nothing more than a bad dream.
Just as she was about to fall back asleep she heard a woman moan loudly off in the distance. Yelena sat up and looked around in confusion. Roze nor Zitora were next to the camp fire. She heard another moan and shot to her feet, following the sound. About five or six minutes later she reached the edge of a ravine, where the moaning was echoing from.
Lying down, she crawled to the edge and looked down into the ravine to see a pond. There were two people in the pond, holding each other close and, as far as Yelena could tell, there were things being done below the surface of the water with eager hands.
She realized with a start they they were two women and once she focused more on the faces her eyes widened. The two women were Roze Featherstone, the First Magician and Zitora Cowan, the Third Magician. Yelena shot to her feet and ran as fast she possibly could back to camp. She lied down and wrapped herself up in the blanket.
The young magician heard the two Masters come back and she pretended to be asleep, with her back to them. Yelena tried to sleep but each time her eyes closed, the image of Roze and Zitora kissing and making love passionately would pop up and she would jolt awake.
Well this is an extremely fun camping trip, Yelena thought to herself sarcastically.
Author's note: Well there's chapter 4... I'm going to say this now... :) I can't wait to post chapter 5! (I'm just trying to perfect it right now) It's going to be tense and we get to see just how controlling, no possessive, Roze is of her 'toy' the Fourth Magician... And what will Yelena do about this new found secret of hers? Chapter 5 will be up soon!
Thanks!
HM