Princess Esme's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

Morganna moved to her shelf of jars. She lifted three and set them on the table. "Magic like this is not free, child," she said. "The road to true love must be paid for. I take one thing. The thing you love most." Esme's stomach dropped. "I have no gold. I brought nothing." "I do not want gold." The witch tapped her walking stick once on the floor. "Gold is easy to give. I want something that costs you." Esme's hand went to her satchel. She knew before she opened it. Inside lay the charm bracelet her mother had made for her. She drew it out and held it in the firelight. Small charms hung from the chain. A book. A leaf. A tiny fox. Her mother had chosen each one for the things Esme loved. It was the last piece of her mother she owned. "This," Esme said. Her voice broke. "My mother made it before she passed." She closed her fist around it. Every part of her wanted to hide it back in the bag. But she thought of the duke riding toward the castle. She thought of the tower door locking behind her. She would not go back. She opened her hand and held the bracelet out. "Take it." Morganna's eyes softened for a moment. She lifted the bracelet from Esme's palm. The charms swung and clinked. The witch nodded slowly, as if she understood exactly what it had cost. "You have the courage after all," she said. She turned to her work. She poured dark liquid from two jars into a bowl. She crushed dried herbs between her fingers and stirred them in. Her lips moved in low words Esme could not follow. Then Morganna crossed to the wall. Three flat stones sat in the stone at eye height. She pressed her thumb to the first. Light passed through it and spread to the next, then the third. The air by the wall tore open. A ring of pale light hung there, wide as a door. Through it Esme saw green hills and a road she did not know. "Go, girl," Morganna said. "Take the horse and ride through. No one from the castle will find you here. The road on the other side will lead you to the one meant for you. Trust what you feel there." Esme stared at the light. Her mother's bracelet was gone. But the door to a life she chose stood open in front of her. She climbed down and led the black shire up the stairs by his reins. The horse's hooves rang on the stone. At the ring of light she paused and looked back. Morganna leaned on her stick and lifted one hand. Esme walked forward into the light. The tower vanished behind her. Green hills spread ahead under a strange sky. She had paid the price. Now she had to find him.