The Twilight Children//The School for Good and Evil

11 ~ Elsie's Passing

. : Laura of Neverland : .

"You told them I had a condition?" 

Laura's voice echoed with rage as she rocked back and forth across the small carriage. Dovey sat across from her, silver hair twisted neatly and tucked under a black hat, a thin pearl netting covering her face. Her cloak was also black and wrapped tightly around her. If Laura looked closely enough, she was reasonably certain she could see silver lines running over the cloak.

Dovey narrowed her eyes and clasped her hands tight on her lap. "What would you have wanted me to do? Tell the son of the people who want to destroy the magic that you are the Fire Sage and that the reason your body was reacting as such was that your partner in cardinal balance, and the Water Sage, died suddenly?"

Laura huffed and crossed her arms over her own black cloak. They had arrived from Merlin earlier in the day, along with the location of the Water Sage. Elsie's family had found her body in bed that morning. She had simply passed in her sleep.

A small sense of relief flooded Laura at the news. Elsie hadn't suffered in her death. She had found a peaceful ending. 

Elsie had been Laura's partner in cardinal balance for over twenty years since Urla was killed. Laura still recalled the hunt to find her and bring her to Neverland. After training, Elsie returned to her kingdom and ruled relatively peacefully until her death. It was rare that the Sages got any peace in their lives, and Laura was happy it was Elsie. 

Whenever one of the Sages passed, the magic that relied on them as a source of balance and stability had nowhere to go. Consequently, that meant the magic rushed to the opposite Sage, who it recognized as familiar. Laura hadn't expected the sudden rush of unfamiliar magic in her body, and like most when their cardinal partner died, she had been unable to handle the magic.

Laura could still feel the chills running through her body. Dovey had been regularly pawning off her own magic to help maintain Laura's fire magic, while the water magic sapped at her life force. She only needed enough to keep herself alive and to help Elsie pass on. It would release the magic from her and onto the next. Then the search would begin for the next Sage.

Laura rested her head on the wall of the carriage, her head bouncing in time with the horses' hooves. They had been travelling for three days, directly north. 

Elsie's kingdom was located far enough north that it almost teetered off the edge of the world. For days now, a chill had settled into the air and even now Laura could see her own breath. Outside of the carriage window, snow was piled high on the ground and crawled up towering pines. In the far distance, Elsie's kingdom came into view. 

A beautiful kingdom of ice and snow, it rose high above the pines and snowy landscape. Towering spires made of shimmering silver and despite the cold, it still seemed to bustle with a sense of life and melancholy after the death of the queen. 

Laura yawned and turned to look back at Dovey. "Is everyone else already here?"

"Yes," Dovey responded. "Merlin sent news earlier that her family wanted to be present when she passed on."

Laura nodded as the carriage jostled onto icy cobblestone pathways, and through narrow streets lined with black mourning flags. At the top of the castle, the kingdom's flag had been lowered to half-mast. 

The carriage twisted up the hill towards the castle and came to a halt outside of the tall doors. Laura could see a few of the other council members-- including Merlin-- waiting for them at the door. They all wore the same long black cloaks that Laura and Clarissa wore.

Clarissa pushed the door open and helped Laura out onto the ice. She could feel the cold seeping in through her shoes, and she curled her toes, sending some warm magic down to her extremities.