— Chapter Three —

Bound and Gagged

Aurora stared at the ebony wand in disbelief.  She had finally done it—and right on time too!  She, the Mundane Princess, had presented Prince Daniel with magic…

The surrounding chaos shifted into focus.  Oh right, I’m burning the castle down!

The peasants were running around, trying to make an exit, so the dragon, who was currently blowing smoke out of its large purple nostrils, did not burn them to soot.  

Her parents were yelling, “Aurora, put an end to it!”  

But Aurora did not know how: she tried waving the wand around a bit more, but that only seemed to cause further agitation on the part of the fiery beast.

To everyone’s relief, Princess Matilda burst through the crowd, waving her staff around in the air.  She conjured up a rain storm large enough to wipe out the fire, as well as the dragon, who collapsed to the ground and dissipated into a pile of purple and silver ash.  The purple light travelled back up towards and into the ebony wand, much lighter in Aurora’s hand now that the dragon was gone.  

“My thanks,” Aurora breathed.

But the jungle princess hissed, “Don’t go messing with spells you can’t handle, you elven-forest scum!”

The chaos of the crowd was dying, but now everyone was staring at Aurora.  

Cutting through an awkward silence, someone shouted, “How dare she curse us?!”  

Quickly others began to join in:

“Who does she think she is?  Hiding her powers from everyone…” 

“And then taking us by surprise with a beast like that!”  

“That wand was made of ebony!  You know what that means—she’s one of them!”  

“They’re really out there—they do exist!”

As though the initial uproar had never died down, the crowd was in chaos again—only this time because of the ebony wand.  It must have been a very dark symbol, for the folk of the Solar Kingdom were not only outraged at Aurora, but also terrified about what all this meant. 

Before Aurora could ask any questions, however, she was whisked away by her mother and father: “Come, Aurora!  We’ve got to go!  Now!”  And they dragged her out of the ballroom, grabbing Prince Jonathan and their coachman along the way. 

“Mother!” Prince Jonathan wailed.  “I want to talk a while longer with Princess Eleanor!”

“Another time, perhaps, Jonathan?!” their mother snapped.  “Maybe when Aurora hasn’t just lit the place on fire!”  

Aurora knew she was in real trouble now, for her parents being stern with Prince Jonathan was unheard of.  Usually, the Greenlandian prince got whatever he wanted, no matter how extravagant. 

The light of the Full Grain Moon guided their way back to their carriage, and hastily, they got seated for the long ride home.  Once again, to Aurora’s dislike, the coachman whipped the unicorns in order to get them to take flight.  And off into the silver moonlight they soared, making the Greens’ escape from the Solar Kingdom.  

Aurora was not sad to leave by any means, but she did have questions and the answers could not be waited for.

“You two need to tell me what’s going on right now!” she demanded.

“No, Aurora, you need to tell us where you got that wand!” her father ordered.

“What?  Why does it matter where I got it?  Is the offensive part not the dragon that was coming out of its end?”

“Oh, shut up, you silly girl!  This wand is none of your business!  Give it to us!  Now!”

“No, that’s not fair!” cried Aurora.  “This is the first time I’ve ever been able to perform any magic and you’re going to take away the very thing that finally allowed it to come out of me?”

“Aurora, you were using an ebony wand…” her father spoke darkly. 

“What’s wrong with using an ebony wand?”

“Don’t ask questions like that, you stupid girl!” her mother spat.  “Give us the wand!”

“Not until you tell me what’s so horrible about it being made of ebony!”

Her father reached over to grab the wand, causing the cart to tilt sideways.  Aurora kept her hands wrapped tightly around the piece of wood.  She was not giving it up that easily—although she was going to have to eventually, for she would not be able to keep her mother, father, and brother off of her.  

And then she remembered: she could do magic.  At least with this wand.  She whipped the ebony wand upward and pointed it in their faces.

While Aurora’s father gave a little chuckle, her mother laughed in her usual cold, dry, high-pitched manner.  “Really, Aurora?  You are a silly girl if you think you can keep that wand safe from me.  I am the most talented sorceress in all of the Greenlands!”

Queen Audrey picked up her staff and pointed it towards Aurora.  Out of thin air popped a coil of rope.  Before Aurora could even try to think of a defence, the rope started slithering like a snake, wrapping itself around all her limbs, binding her.  First, it tied her hands together behind her back; her legs were bound second; next, she was suspended in the air via magic; and finally, her arms and legs were bound together on her rear side, causing her chest and midsection to propel forward—a hogtie.  (Needless to say, the position was not suitable for someone wearing a corset.)

“Mother!” she cried.

Saying nothing, her mother pulled the slender stick of ebony out of Aurora’s hands and slipped the mysterious object into the pocket of the emerald green gown she had been given by the Imperials.  “Now do you want to tell us who gave you this?”

“I found it,” Aurora answered earnestly.

“And where did you find it?” the Greenlandian Queen questioned.

Not wanting to confess her midnight trips to the forest, Aurora responded with a fraudulent, “I don’t remember.”

“Liar!” her mother shrieked.  “Tell us where you found such a wretched thing!” 

Tears flooded Aurora’s eyes.

Her father stepped in: “Aurora, this is no small matter—we need to know where you got this wand.”

“First tell me what’s so terrible about it!”

“Audrey, maybe we should tell her… at least enough so that she understands the audacity of her actions.”

“No!  I do not want my children to know about—about that!”

“But maybe if she understood why this wand is so wicked—”

“No, James!  I don’t want her getting any twisted ideas!”

“What ideas would I get?” Aurora asked, still suspended in midair.  “Why is that wand such a threat?”

“Well, Aurora,” her father began, “there is this group of horrible, foul, vile folkians—”

“James!  I told you no!  She doesn’t need to know about their lot.”

“Whose lot?”

“Oh, shut up, Aurora!”  

And with a slight gesture of her mother’s staff, an iron witch’s bridle appeared out of thin air.  It made its way around Aurora’s head, gagging her so she could no longer speak.

Servants and noble-workers stared at the princess as her parents levitated her bound body through the castle.  One of the guards gave a nervous chuckle and said, “Well, I guess it didn’t go well!”

Her parents ignored everyone.  They levitated Aurora all the way up to her tower, moved her inside her chamber, and placed her on her bed.  Her mother waved her staff and Aurora’s hands were untied from her feet.  The princess was not free, however, for, with the next movement of her staff, the remaining ropes turned into chains.  And with the final bit of magic performed by the Greenlandian Queen, the chains attached themselves to the posters of Aurora’s bed.

“You will be left here until the issue has been cleared!” her mother hissed, sounding quite a bit like Princess Matilda now.  “I cannot tell you what you have done, but do know that you put our family in grave danger today.”  

Then they left her.

The smooth silk sheets underneath her contrasted with the pain of the chains digging into her wrists and ankles.  Aurora attempted to scream, but a mere muffled moan was all she could muster.  It was no use anyway; the guards would not come to her aid, being under the orders of the king and queen.

Her parents now had the ebony wand, her wand.  She had done the very thing they had always pressured her to do.  Why did they want to take the mysterious item away?

Aurora’s mind thought back to the people at the ball.  They’re really out there.  They do exist.  Who were the capital folk speaking of?  She thought of her father’s words in the carriage, the words her mother had been so horrified by: a group of horrible, foul, vile folkians.  

But it was not until Aurora thought back to what the maids had said that the possibility dawned on her: Rebel witches and warlocks!  Do they have something to do with this wand?  

No, that didn’t make any sense.  Mundanes couldn’t perform magic!  They had sacrificed their powers a near-thirteen Suns ago and drained them into the Magical Moat that surrounded the Solar Kingdom.  There was no way a mundane could actually rebel against the empire, even if they wanted to.  Magical practice was far too regulated.

Aurora decided that everyone’s disdain for that ebony wand must have been because of something silly, such as it being out of style.  Knowing that it was not the craft of some evil witch or warlock, she was determined to break free of these chains and steal it back.  But how would she make her escape?

Before she could ponder this further, footsteps could be heard coming up her tower.  A high-pitched voice rang through the door but it was not her mother’s posh accent.  No, this voice was bright and merry…

“Princess Aurora!  Princess Aurora!”  

Of course!  Miss Alice!

Aurora had a plan.  At once, she started moaning and crying loudly, as loud as she could with the witch’s bridle around her head.  “Oh, help!  Help!  Miss Alice!  Help!”  It came out very muffled, but it was loud enough to do the trick.

At once, Miss Alice burst into the room.  Horrified, she ran over and pulled off the witch’s bridle.  “Oh, Princess!  What have the king and queen done to you?” 

“My thanks, Miss Alice,” Aurora exhaled.

“Princess Aurora, I just heard about your arrival home!  Rumour has it you were severely punished.  Well, now I see that the rumour is true.  But why?  Did the Grain Moon Ball not go well?”

Aurora knew that she had to put on a good act: “Oh, Miss Alice!  It didn’t go well at all!  I made a spectacle of the Greenlands, and my parents tied me up to keep me from doing it again!  Oh, I am deeply ashamed!”  The last day had been so overwhelming that the tears came fairly naturally.

“But Princess, is it true?  Did you really perform magic?  I mean, that’s what nearly everyone in the castle is saying!”

Aurora scrunched up her eyes to pretend that she had been traumatised by the incident, when, in actuality, she had found casting the dragon quite fun, even with it destroying some of the Solar Castle.  

“Oh, Miss Alice,” she wept, “yes, I did—I did perform magic—but it was destructive!  It scared all of the Solar citizens and even wrecked some of the castle!  Oh, I am so embarrassed!”

To Aurora’s delight, Miss Alice sympathised: “Oh, Princess, that must have been humiliating!  And to have that happen in front of the majestic Prince Daniel…  You must be mortified!”

“Oh, yes, Miss Alice!  As I said, I am deeply ashamed!”

“What can I do to help you feel better, Princess?”

This was the ticket Aurora was looking for.  

“Well, I would feel a little better if I were out of these chains…”

Miss Alice bit her lip.  “You said the king and queen put you in those chains?”

“Yes.”

“As punishment?”  

Miss Alice clearly disapproved of the punishment but was still reluctant to release Aurora.

“Yes, but Miss Alice, please!  I am already heartbroken at the fact that I will not be marrying Prince Daniel.”  (Aurora was really playing it up now.)  “I could at least be comfortable, even if I’m lonely.” 

“But Princess, I thought you said you did not want to marry Prince Daniel?” Miss Alice questioned.

Right, Aurora thought, Miss Alice actually listens to what I say.

She racked her mind for an excuse.  “Well, no, I wasn’t interested in the prince…”  She paused to swallow hard.  “Until I saw him!”

“Oh, was he handsome?” Miss Alice squealed.

Aurora tried to sound genuine: “Oh, very much so!”

It wasn’t really a lie; Aurora knew any girl would find the prince attractive.  

Any girl but her.  Not that it mattered now.

“Oh, I am so envious, Princess.”

“Envious?”

“That you got to meet the prince!”

“Oh, right,” Aurora choked.  “Yes, it was an honour!”

She hoped Miss Alice would unbind her soon.  The thought of marrying Prince Daniel was plaguing her mind, making it hard for her to keep the lie going. 

Miss Alice was rambling on about how lucky the princess he chose would be when Aurora interrupted, “Miss Alice, I don’t mean to be rude, but please, could you get me out of these chains?  I am rather distraught by the whole ordeal, and I just want to be able to lie down comfortably in my misery.”

Miss Alice hesitated.

“Please!”

“Oh, alright,” the maid finally agreed.  

But instead of helping her, Miss Alice moved towards the door leading to the tower stairwell.  

“Where are you going?” Aurora asked. 

To Aurora’s dismay, Miss Alice said, “I’ll go ask the king and queen if they will release you.” 

“Great,” Aurora muttered, as Miss Alice scurried out of the chamber and down the tower.  

Aurora had to wait a good half hour before she heard Miss Alice scurry back up the tower.  But when the footsteps neared the top, she did not recognise them as Miss Alice.  Instead, Queen Audrey appeared in her chamber, and she was steaming with anger.

“Mother?  Have you come to release me?” Aurora asked.  Worth a try.

Her mother looked as though she could have murdered Aurora.  “No, you stupid girl!” she spat, taking large strides towards the helpless princess.  “How dare you manipulate your maid to get out of your punishment!”

“Mother, I—”

“No excuses!  You are a selfish child!  Relentless with your tactics!  And Miss Alice… don’t get me started about how useless she is!  The amount of disgraceful things she has let you get away with! 

“Why, I’ve had it with this nonsense!  You will be locked in here for a moon, young girl, you hear me?  A moon!  You will sit here and think about all you have done, how you have destroyed this family’s prosperity.  Meals will be brought to you by a new maid. ”

“A new maid?”

“Yes, a new maid!”

“What will happen to Miss Alice?” 

“She has been sacked!  And I want her moved as far away from you as possible.  I told her when we hired her that she could not have any sympathy or understanding for you, being the silly girl that you are.  You abuse her weakness to get what you so selfishly desire.”

“No, Mother, please!  It wasn’t her fault!”

“Of course, it wasn’t—it was yours!  But I can’t have such an idiotic servant working for us!  Especially while you run around causing some kind of mayhem everywhere you go: hiding an ebony wand, setting the Solar Castle on fire, ruining our shot at growing our power!”

“But, Mother, what about me and what I want?”

“What?!” her mother spat, face growing scarlet and sweaty.

“I never wanted to marry the prince.  I never wanted to become the queen of the Solar Kingdom, nor the empress of New-Camelot.  I just want… well, I don’t know what I want, but I do know that it is most definitely not that.”

“Aurora, why do you reject us so?  We have given you everything a girl could possibly desire.  And you destroy it all, throw it away.  The audacity!  Now, I’m going to leave you here to think about all you have done, all you have spoiled.”  

And with those words uttered, the Greenlandian Queen turned, walked out of the chamber and began heading down the tower steps.

“Great, I’ve lost Miss Alice her job,” the princess muttered to herself.  “Oh, how could I have been so stupid?”  

Miss Alice probably told her parents exactly what Aurora had told the maid: that she was distraught because Prince Daniel would not choose her.

Aurora was filled with anger—anger at herself for acting so rashly—anger at her parents for firing Miss Alice—anger at them for chaining her up in her chamber—anger that they had taken the ebony wand from her—anger that she could not run away with it into the woods—anger that she could not see the animals, tell them about how she had performed magic, maybe even show them.  

She was angry she couldn’t be there right now, that she would have to wait a whole moon to see them.  Especially with the novel boot prints…  Will another huntsman pass through while I’m held prisoner?  Will Buttercup and the others be safe?  

She was angry with what happened in the Solar Kingdom—angry about how they treated the mundanes and the elves—angry with herself for causing such a spectacle—angry at all those who had laughed at her—and angry at Prince Daniel for being such a rude boy and yet still being idealized by so many folk blinded by wealth and fame.

There was now a warmth in her hands and feet.  It must have been from wriggling around in the chains.  But then the warmth escalated into a burning sensation.  She cried in pain.

Is this part of my punishment?  Not surprising.  But then Aurora realised it couldn’t be her mother torturing her from her own tower, for the princess’s left foot felt as though it was on fire as it burnt right through the chain.

Aurora gasped.  She blinked hard a few times, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.  But her eyes had not been fooling her; her left foot was, indeed, melting its way right through.

She wriggled her left foot around, and her right foot began melting through its own chain.  It was easy to ignore the pain now.  

Once both her feet were free, the next thing to free itself was her left hand.  Surprisingly, Aurora felt no pain as it magicked its way through.  Instead, there was a pleasurable, tickling sensation.

First the dragon and now this! Aurora was in awe of herself.  The ebony wand must have unlocked her powers or something.  She would need to retrieve it as soon as…

But then she noticed her right hand was not freeing itself; it was not burning through the chain.  

“No!” she cried, pulling at the chain.  

Had she not done the first three at all?  Had it all been a twisted joke her mother was playing on her?  

No.  She had done it.  She had already proven she could do magic.  

She stared at the final chain, wishing that it too would melt away.  

Nothing.  

How had she done it before?  Had it only worked because she was angry?

She thought of Prince Daniel—of being forced to spend her days in the Solar Kingdom—of being forced to rule as Queen Aurora Imperial, as Empress Aurora Imperial.  Worst of all, she thought of never again being able to make a midnight visit to the Greenlandian Forest.

This final image was the very thing that did it.  Her right hand, hot as the Sun, was actually on fire, alongside the chain.  Once again, the magic was painful.

But then it was over.  The chain was gone.  Four piles of ash lay on her bed. 

Aurora clutched her right hand with her left.

“Cosmos…”

However, she hadn’t time to celebrate, for her escape had just begun!  Now she had to get that ebony wand back.  Only then could she make her way out of the castle.

With haste, Aurora changed out of the ball gown, which was now covered in soot.  She was as relieved to be able to breathe properly as she was to be wearing a simple black dress—a fairly plain garment, the only embellishments being a bit of lace and tulle.  It covered up most of the girl, flowing all the way to the floor and featuring long bell sleeves.  She was much more comfortable being able to adjust the lace-up front to her liking.  The smooth material was soft against her skin.  Now that Aurora had things her way, this was the sort of clothing she would be wearing all the time: something simple and functional, not some flashy garment that made her feel ridiculous.

Aurora took her Greenlandian Princess tiara off and threw it on the floor.  She pulled her hair out of the elaborate knot the capital maids had fashioned.  Truthfully, this would have been quite challenging—however, the knot had already come part-way undone.  Should she credit this to her magic too?  Aurora walked over to her full-length mirror and fastened her golden hair into a long braid.  Upon doing so, she was pleased to see she needn’t bother removing the face paint—she had already sweated it off!

Once she had the ebony wand, she would not be returning to the castle, so she grabbed a brown leather satchel, in which she could store food, and slung it around her body.  She gazed around her chamber, wondering if there was anything else she should bring.  This was a bit nonsensical, for none of her regal possessions were going to help her survive out in the wild woods, out in thereal world.  

And so, she gave her chamber one last look and began her escape out of the tower prison.

Once outside her chamber, Aurora dared not venture down the stairwell, for it was certain her parents had placed guards at the bottom.  She instead went further up her tower, all the way to the lookout.  

In the arched windows, the midday Sun was warm and bright.  Aurora crawled out one of the windows and hopped down onto the turrets.  Greentown looked tiny from up here.  But Aurora wasn’t afraid of heights; she regularly climbed up the tallest trees in the Greenlandian Forest.

Praying to the Cosmos nobody would see her, she scurried across the turrets towards the next tower, Prince Jonathan’s tower.  She climbed all the way up.  Just as soon as she was in Prince Jonathan’s lookout, she was out on the other side, making her way across the next set of turrets.  She dared not think of what would happen if her brother found her, as he was sure to rat her out.

It was not long before she found herself at the top of the tallest tower, her parents’ tower.  Surely, the ebony wand was in there somewhere.  

Aurora climbed through one of their lookout windows, taking extra care to be absolutely silent.  Once inside, she placed her satchel down at the top of the stairs.  Then she tiptoed down the stone steps and into the darkness.

Just outside her parents’ chamber, she paused to listen.  She heard nothing, so she continued down the stairs.  With prudence, she peered into their lair.  Aurora had not been in here for over ten Suns.  It was even larger than her own chamber, which was unnecessarily huge itself.  

Fortunately, no one was inside.

The chamber was decorated with green and gold, the Green house colours, and evergreen trees, the Green house sigil.  Normally, Aurora would have loved these decorations.  But not here, not like this.  

Her parents’ twelve-foot tall, emerald green canopy, composed of silk imported from the Deserted Desert, was not necessary.  Nor were the oil paintings, almost all of them portraits of the Green family.  (To Aurora, these were merely memories of long, tedious afternoons spent sitting perfectly still next to three bigots!)  Nor was the grand balcony, eastward facing, so the Greenlandian King and Queen could watch the Sunrise.

None of it was necessary; it was all ridiculous!  Green and gold evergreen trees and Suns with faces littered everywhere!  

But one particular decoration caught Aurora’s eye: the shape of a Sun carved out of pure gold, sitting in a golden stand on the top of her parents’ very green and golden altar.   Aurora was mesmerised by the thing—but not in a pleasant way—rather, she was disgusted.  

As she gazed at the work of art, she felt inclined to destroy it—although doing so would be pointless.  The gaudy decoration represented everything she loathed about her parents: their greed, their selfishness, their lust for power, their hatred of anyone and anything different from them… Cosmos!  That was probably why they had it there, a sigil for what they had been striving for with their daughter: to grow their power.  

Aurora laughed, thinking about how that would never happen now.  

Then, remembering why she had come, she began rummaging through all the drawers, cupboards, and shelves.  To her dismay, however, the ebony wand was nowhere to be seen.  Oh, where did they put it?

Aurora spun around, trying to speculate what her mother would consider a fit hiding place for such an item.  She was beginning to wonder if her mother had hidden it in their chamber at all when suddenly—Whack!—something hit her right on the back of her head.

Aurora turned around to see the ebony wand levitating in midair.  “Oh, there you are!” she cried, grasping the thing, so overjoyed to have the piece of wood back in her hand.

“Where were you?” she spoke to the wand, feeling a bit mad.  “Well, it doesn’t matter now that I have you back.”  

Just as the words escaped her mouth, Aurora wished she had kept quiet.  The wand couldn’t hear her, but her mother and father, quarrelling up the tower steps, could.

There was no time to scurry back up the stairwell.  Instead, Aurora crawled under her parents’ bed, praying to the Cosmos she would remain undiscovered.  Only a second after she had made it under the bed did her parents enter the chamber.

“What are we supposed to do with her, James?  Should we just let her act in these rebellious ways?  With no punishment?”

“No, of course not, Audrey.  But punishment, such as leaving her chained up in her room for an entire lunar cycle, will not help her to cooperate.”

“Are you blaming me for her ways?”

“No, Audrey, I’m not—you know I’m not.  I just think, now that the girl has proven herself useful—well, there is no time to waste!  We should be spending every waking minute getting her trained.  Why, within the moon, she could have those powers under control.  Prince Daniel definitely thought she was the most beautiful.  If she could even become half as talented a sorceress as Princess Eleanor or that jungle savage…”

“Oh, James, she’s destroyed all that!  There’s no sense in regaining hope for the child!  She’s the antithesis of us!”

Her parents kept going on and on; what would they do with the misfit princess that no prince or nobleman would ever marry?  

If they caught Aurora, she would be done for.  She clutched the wand close to her chest.  How can I escape?

Aurora looked down at the ebony wand in her right hand.  Wait!  Where is my right hand?  Only the ebony wand remained.  And she would have believed the wand was levitating in midair, had she not still been able to feel the thing.

She lifted her left hand, but could not see it either.  Cosmos, I’ve turned myself invisible!  Safe to make her exit, she was about to do so, but then she considered the ebony wand.  It was still visible.  She would have to get it across her parents’ chamber without them noticing.

She slithered out from under their bed, leaving the ebony wand so it would stay out of sight.  Being invisible was an odd experience; she stood there like she normally would, yet her parents were completely unaware of her presence. 

Her parents’ argument had grown quite heated.  Aurora hoped that one of them would storm out of the room.  For how long she would stay invisible, she hadn’t the slightest clue, but she hoped for long enough.  She could not abandon the ebony wand—her wand!  Not now, not after all this trouble.

“Should we just give up on the girl, then?  Is that what you’re saying, Audrey?”

“Maybe.  I don’t know where we would send her, but I’m not keeping her here much longer.  She’s got to get married and leave.  Or, if worse comes to worst, just leave.”

“With no man to take care of her?”

“We’ve tried everything!  James, she was supposed to marry Prince Daniel.  This was how we conceived it.  Don’t you remember?”

“Of course, I do!  It was my idea, if you remember.  But the Cosmos seems to be working against us.  What do you want me to do, Audrey?”  

At this, Queen Audrey turned away from her king.

If he would just do the same, Aurora would have her path: right through the centre, with both of her parents’ backs turned.

“Audrey, I know it’s horrible!  We had such an opportunity.  And yes, she completely spoiled that for us.  But I hardly think we should kick her out of the castle.”

The Greenlandian Queen said nothing.  She remained turned away from King James.  

Please turn away, Father, Aurora wished silently.

“Audrey,” her father spoke more softly now, as he walked up to Aurora’s mother, grabbing her from behind.  

Now was her chance.  Aurora bent over, grabbed the ebony wand from under the bed and bolted out of the chamber.  She was just through the doorway when she heard, “Audrey, kicking Aurora out of the castle—leaving her on her own—it will only make her more likely to join a rebel coven.”

So they do exist!  The maids hadn’t merely been trying to spook her.  Aurora wondered how this could be possible.  

More important than their existence was that her parents knew of these folk, yet they had kept them a secret from her.  There must have been a reason for this, and Aurora was going to find out what it was.

Queen Audrey could be heard fretting: “Oh, James, what if she already is one of them?”

The princess felt her invisible jaw drop.  So, that was what they thought of her!  How could they think she was that low?  She had always been untalented, yes.  And there was no denying that she was a disappointment.  But evil?  That she certainly was not!

The invisibility was wearing off now; angry, she was losing her focus.  In a panic, Aurora tucked the ebony wand into her boot and dashed up the stairs, grabbing her satchel along the way.  She had to hurry—best to get out of the castle before the enchantment wore off completely.

After climbing out the lookout window, Aurora scaled down the stone wall, as per usual, using the spaces in between the bricks as a ladder.  Once she was close enough, she hopped down to the ground.

She had to get out of Greentown.  The last thing she needed was a guard catching her running through the courtyard with an ebony wand.  Desperately, she ran through the courtyard to the outer wall.  Up, up, up she climbed, terrified that someone would catch her.  

She was just nearing the top of the wall, invisibility almost gone, when she heard a castle guard say, “Hello… what’s that over there on the wall?”

“I don’t see anything,” another guard answered him.

“Don’t you see something faint?”

“Nah, mate, your eyes are playing tricks on you—too much ale, I reckon!” 

Aurora climbed faster.  Once at the top of the wall, not wanting to take any chances, she  jumped and, upon hitting the grass, did a little roll on her side to prevent herself from getting injured. The invisibility had worn off entirely now, but this did not matter; she had made it out safely.

Feeling relieved, she ran across Green Road, off in the direction of the woods.  She no longer cared about the vile words her mother had said about her; she was going home!  She was just wishing she could get there faster when—Wham!—something hit her backside.

Aurora turned to find the ebony broom.  She had no idea where it had come from, nor was she certain it would take her to Secret Glade, as it had before.  But she was in no place to risk getting caught by a castle guard, so she climbed on top of the piece of wood and allowed it to fly off into the distance.

To her delight, the broom did take her to Secret Glade.  The animals were there, and they were surprised but delighted to see their friend.

“Oh, you are not going to believe what happened!” Aurora called out to them as she hopped off the ebony broom, which zipped off into the trees.  “This wand”—she pulled the stick of ebony out of her boot—“has allowed me to perform magic!  Me!”

All the animals looked at Aurora curiously.

“Here, I will show you!” she cried, excited to finally be able to properly try the ebony wand.  She whirled it around.  Out from the tip came sparks.  

But these were no ordinary wand sparks—no, these sparks were the most beautiful rays of light Aurora had ever seen!  All of them were various shades of purple and, as they danced around her, they were sparkling madly in the midday Sun.  She and the animals stared at her conjuration in awe as the different shades swirled around at her control. 

Aurora could not believe it.  She was doing magic!  It felt so good to finally be able to do it, even in its simplest form.  Of course, she knew she would have to practise a lot if she wanted to learn the Craft and hone her skills.  But even without knowing what she was doing, the act of conjuring raw magic was euphoric—no wonder it was reserved for only the royal and the noble!

Aurora was entranced by the purple light—her purple light.  She was hypnotised by both the beauty of the wand sparks and how powerful she felt in casting them.  In fact, she was so hypnotised by the light that she did not notice the looks of terror on the animals’ faces.  She was completely unaware that she had been followed, completely unaware that there was someone right behind her.  She did not notice anything, not until—“Vinctum!  Levitatia!”—a castle guard had snuck up behind her and magicked her into another bind.

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