Sapphire

  Shawna couldn’t think. She couldn’t move. Adhara remained just as silent and still. Both stared in astonishment at one another. Almost as startling was the disappearance of the entire forest. She found herself standing in a large stone hallway lit by torches that were unable to lift the castle’s damp darkness. She could not tell if it was night or day, or even where she was anymore, for there was not one window.

  “Ava?”

  It was whispered so lightly Shawna wasn’t sure if she had imagined the sound or not.

  “Ava,” Adhara said again with more strength in her voice.

  Shawna snatched her sword from the ground so quickly that Adhara jumped and took a step back. Adhara’s eyes searched her, but they did not narrow in anger; they looked worried. Shawna’s brow creased as she looked over her crystal blade at the woman she despised so much. All the spite was welling up inside her again. Now was her chance to kill all those constricting feelings of hate, vengeance, and pain with one quick blow. In one moment she could avenge her friends, herself, and their entire quest would be saved if only she ran this woman through with her blade.

  Do it. Now’s your chance. Do it! Kill her! But she just stood there, staring, heart pounding, a tremor beginning to flow from her arms to the sword. Kill? said another voice in her head. Are you truly capable of such an act?

  The creases around Adhara’s eyes relaxed, she began to smile, and took a step nearer. She started to raise her hand, a grin of triumph brightening her eyes.

  “No!” screamed Shawna, throwing the sword high over her head, rushing forward, and swinging it down with all her might.

  The moment before it struck, her sword was ripped from her grasp and clattered across the stones far behind her. Adhara spun around to see what had stopped her daughter’s attack, for she hadn’t moved at all. A man, in simple skins and furs, partly robed in darkness, stood a ways down the hallway. He lowered his hand, blue light melting back into his skin. Firelight flickered across his scarred arms and face. Shawna felt detached from her body, and she couldn’t breathe. It was her father.

  Adhara looked like she was about to collapse as well. She sobbed and took a stumbling step in his direction as he strode towards them. Her mother was crying? Shawna looked back at her father, the man who had saved her all those years ago, and saw the same concerned loving expression on his face.

  “Warwick,” her mother choked, as she fell into his arms.

  He wrapped her in a desperate embrace, burying his face in her golden hair and closing his eyes. Shawna felt like her legs had vanished, she couldn’t feel them, she couldn’t feel anything. She didn’t understand. This woman had tried to kill her. Why were they holding each other? Why had he disarmed her? She looked from the corner of her eye for her sword. It glittered only a few paces away.

  “Ava, daughter.”

  His deep voice bound her legs with invisible chains of her own making. She remembered that voice.

  You’ll be safe, the voice had said. I will not let you take her. She remembered those words so perfectly.

  What had changed? Hadn’t he meant what he said? Why was he now on that witch’s side? These confused thoughts tied her into knots; her limbs wouldn’t work, her heart thudded against her chest like it was trying to escape its ribbed prison. They both turned to look at her, hands clasped. Adhara smiled. Her father let go of her mother’s hand and stepped towards her.

  A hundred possibilities flashed through her mind in seconds: Run! Sword! Fight! Stay! Trust him—Her mind paused on those words—trust him. She gazed at him, at his soft brown eyes smiling back at her. She couldn’t help but trust him. She wanted to trust him. He was her father. When they were standing only a few feet apart, he stopped, still smiling slightly. She could hear the throbbing echo of her heart in her ears.

  “You found us,” he said.

  She glanced past him at her mother, then back at him as he spoke.

  “I knew she was wrong.” His eyes were shining with tears. “I knew you had the will and the strength.” He knelt down and opened his arms. Shawna dropped her shoulders and raised her head defiantly. “My dear little girl, I missed you more than you can know. We both did. It’s all right now. You broke her power.”

  His smile was so loving and kind that tears sprang to Shawna’s eyes before she could stop them. Without reservation, she flung herself into his arms. He wrapped them around her, and she had never felt so safe in all her life. She didn’t care if he and her mother were no longer enemies, that Adhara had tried to be rid of her, or that everything was turned upside down. All she cared about was knowing her father was here, that he had saved her, loved her, and it was as if time and worlds had never separated them.

  He released her and held her at arms length. She quickly wiped a few tears from her cheeks and looked over his shoulder at Adhara with confused suspicion. Warwick turned around to follow her gaze.

  “I think,” he said, “we need to explain. She doesn’t understand.”

  Her mother and father smiled at each other, and she glanced at her fallen sword once more.