Magic's Mark

Chapter 30

The purple fabric of my dress shone in the sunshine as I stepped out of the car. The air felt fresh against my face, I relished the moment, the constant staying indoors waiting for this game of who will be king to play out was really getting to me.

"Are you ready?" Taylor's soft voice brought me out of the moment. He nodded towards the seemingly ordinary alleyway, where King Jaspar and Queen Anastasia has just disappeared out of view. The cold lump spread across my stomach.

"Sure," I replied, hearing the uncertainty in my own voice. Don't freak out now. We have been over this. You just have to get through these matches and then it's over. The thought brought on a mixture of fear and relief. Whatever happens, at least it'll be over.

My fingers rested against the dark wood banister as we descended down into the arena. This experience was like night and day compared to my first visit. The vast space practically vibrated with the tension in the air, along the walls torches were burning brightly, small flickers of magic exuding into the air. I breathed in deeply, holding onto Taylor's hand as we followed behind his parents. My skin felt as if it was itching from ants running across it, as the sheer amount of magic in the space around me rushed through the air.

"Stay calm," Taylor whispered into my ear.

I took another deep breath and tried to focus on anything but the magic vibrating around me in the air. Somewhere distantly, I heard an announcer shout out our names as we approached the wooden bleachers wrapping themselves around the spherical arena. My eyes locked onto the giant purple lion, the banner draped the section of the bleachers as we approached. The lion turned its head towards us and let out a silent roar before turning back to strike the pose on the Grimstaw family crest. As we climbed the stairs I could feel the magic vibrate out from the banner. Some kind of spell...

I looked straight ahead, through the glass globe I could clearly see the Brownlow family moving up to their rows on the opposite side. Their pink robes sparkled even through the glass and from a distance. Taylor steered us to the front row, closest to the middle of the globe.

As the seats below and above us started to fill up, my eyes scanned the rows looking at their faces. Taylor had told me that the higher and lowers seats where filled by warriors and smaller warlock families – leaving the middle section closest to the globe centre to the royal families. Absentmindedly, I squeezed Taylor's hand as my eyes swept across the middle row of seats. The clothes changes colour from purple to blue, to pink, to red, to green. A rainbow of different colours, showing the allegiance to the five royal families. My hand automatically smoothed down the purple shiny fabric of my dress. Why do I feel like such an imposter?

"Look it's about to start," Taylor breathed, squeezing my hand lightly.

I looked down into the globe, spotting the small opening at its base. I saw Marcus Mortimer, wearing his satin green outfit, it looked like something a judo fighter would wear when competing, as he stepped into the globe. He was followed by his mother, the Queen, her dress looked more like the traditional formal wear I had seen at the initiation dinner. Marcus walked over to the edge of the circle, his feet tilting forward as he stepped back as far up the incline of the glass globe as he could go. My eyes were drawn to the opening of the globe as I spotted a flash of pink. Olivia Brownlow stepped in, her hair beautifully curled and tied up in a bouncy ponytail. The bright pink satin sparkled as the skirt she was wearing swayed with her movements. She mirrored Marcus stance, opposite him in the globe, backing up against the glass as far as she could go. I couldn't help but think the lowest sweats at the floor must be able to see more than they bargained for up the short skirt of her tennis outfit like get up.