Chapter 16
Nina still remembered the way to the Inner Circle. She knew the secret spells she needed to get herself there through the teleportation portals in the High Council quarters. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go, though. The members knew she had run away and she wasn’t sure if they were dumb enough to fall for the deceit she had planned, or if they would even accept the sight of her.
“Viria went into the Inner Circle a few times,” Ivanna explained. “She overheard a lot. They won’t have anyone but you taking over Morrigan’s position there.”
“That’s really strange,” Nina admitted.
“Morrigan loved you a lot,” she said. “The seal over her throne will not break unless you’re in its presence.”
Nina scoffed. “Loved?”
“Well, no,” she agreed, “but obsessed, yes.”
“Makes sense.” She sighed. “All right, let’s do this.”
Nina stood on Morrigan’s signature portal and chanted a few spells under her breath, and she broke into small pieces of light that evaporated and disappeared into the air. Ivanna went over to stand and simply moved her fingers in the air that traced out a small symbol, and she was gone.
They two appeared in the familiar room made of black stone and was dimly lit with scones of fire mounted onto the walls and candles on the crystal chandelier above them. Ivanna always wondered why they couldn’t just get electricity here and upgrade to lightbulbs like in the HQ. Or computers. Or anything that has helped the world toward efficiency.
No one was present in the room. The books in the wall seemed untouched, the curtains dusty, tables dull with books, ink bottles, and pens left lying open. The pedestal – which held the glowing, smoky water of the essence of the realm – had minute fissures and cracks, grey and brown patches marking it in places. The witches and wizards didn’t bother cleaning the place after Morrigan’s death. They left everything as it was.
The throne sat at the far corner of the room in its red, black, and gold glory upon its ruby platform within an enclosure of its own on the either side of it. Nina shuddered as he took it all in, and it was just how she’d remembered it, except dusty. She could see the aging in the book pages, walls, and curtains, and in the wood of the table.
“Go to it,” Ivanna ordered. “The throne will let you sit on it.”
“What happens if it doesn’t?” she asked.
“You won’t be able to,” Ivanna explained, “the throne puts up an invisible wall around itself if anyone but whoever is assigned to it nears it.”
Nina breathed deeply. She wasn’t willing to take a step forward, but she remembered who and what she was doing it for. So, she pushed her will and walked to the throne that glimmered under a soft light coming from the window above it. She neared it cautiously, wishing for it to just catch flames and combust, or melt away.
Stopping before the throne, she looked back at Ivanna who was waiting expectantly.
“Nina,” she said gently, “You’ll be shifting the responsibility to me as soon as the throne accepts you. It’s okay if you don’t want to do it, though. Viria will find another way.”
“Can she?”
“Nothing is impossible for her.” Ivanna chuckled. “But you doing this will save us a few months’ of work and using dark magic.”
Nina felt horrified and it was enough to convince her to do this. She marched up the sparkling ruby platform and easily plopped herself onto the throne. Ivanna gave her a half-smile, one that conveyed gratefulness. It reminded Nina of the Ivanna she knew before Morrigan took her away to the Inner Circle.
Neither of them expected what came next. The room exploded into dust, making them cough their lungs out. But the air cleared up just as suddenly, and so did their chests, and it was as if the room was never left unattended. Everything had been cleared of dust, their shine and gloss returned. The two did not expect all of the members of the Inner Circle come barreling through the door either.
“Nina!” one of them cried. It was Agatha. Nina remembered her well. She’d dueled with her a lot and often lost. She was pretty disappointed when she found out Nina attempted to run away. As cruel as she was, she took just as much a liking to Nina as Morrigan had.
There were gasps and murmurs that spread around everywhere as more people filled the room until there were twelve in total. Ivanna looked at them and understood why any discrepancy would take place from their side. Twelve was a large number and it was hard to control what was going on within such a number.
“Erm,” Nina started, “Hi, guys.”
Ivanna watched everyone very carefully.
“And what made you come back?” An oversized man with a protruding pot-belly sneered. Agatha glared at him.
“Morrigan chose her for a reason,” she declared. “She needs to state no reason for her return.”
Agatha’s too eager, Ivanna noted. Fat guy’s reasonably questioning.
“That’s not it, Agatha,” another witch spoke up. “She ran away from responsibility only to come back to claim it without proper basis or experience. We work on merit.”
Nina felt absolutely awful, but she looked at Ivanna in the shadows who raised her hand in a gesture to wait it out.
“Why would you question Morrigan’s decision?” a wizard asked. “If Nina wasn’t worthy, then she would’ve taken off the spell from the throne after Nina had disappeared.”
Nah, he seems okay, Ivanna assessed.
“Nina has always been a very important part of the community from the beginning,” a pale, blonde wizard spoke passionately. “If our leader is back, then we should treat her with respect.”
Definitely suspicious, Ivanna noted.
“I understand why people would be suspicious, but the throne does not work for simply anyone, Morrigan’s magic or not,” a dark witch explained. “She should definitely undergo assessment and training to prove herself, but she cannot be forced off. The throne has accepted her. There must be some potential in her.”
Reasonable. She’s all right.
“She still needs to explain why she came back, though,” a silver haired witch said. “I think we deserve that from her, if she’s wants us to cooperate with her.”
Agatha and the blonde wizard seemed furious. A few more of the witches and wizards spoke and Ivanna pinned down three more for suspicious behavior. Almost half the group was candidates for investigation of betraying the realm’s supernatural creatures. It was disturbing.
“I came back because of a vision,” Nina stated confidently. Ivanna was impressed with how convincing she sounded then. “Trouble will soon fall to our communities and I’d been busy looking for answers.”
“How will your coming back help?”
“Morrigan’s essence within me faded away a while ago,” she said. “She visited me and told me to come back here and complete her job. Once that was done, I was free to leave and hand over power to one of you. But I know things about her even you don’t. Once those are taken care of, I shall leave and you will be the ones to lead.”
All Ivanna had marked suspicious exchanged eager glances with each other. Viria had taught her enough about reading the air and faces and she was glad she’s paid attention to it.
“How would you determine who is fit from us to take your place?”
“I won’t,” she said. “Ivanna will.”
Good move, she thought to herself as she moved out of the shadows. Seven of the witches and wizards nodded in approval once they saw her.
“Ivanna, we’ve heard about you from Morrigan,” the silver haired aged lady came forward. “You’ve taken her position in the High Council, I believe?”
“Yes, I have.” Ivanna nodded.
“I heard a lot about you from the other members of it,” she said as she took Ivanna’s hand to shake. “You work well with the people and have built good connections. A capable leader, I must say.”
“Thank you,” Ivanna said. “I appreciate the acknowledgement.”
“How would you vouch for Nina taking up such a position?”
“The only reason I brought her here was because of Morrigan’s orders, but I’m given the reins to judge and guide her. Her role in the community is vital. People will listen to her, since she’s well-known as the prodigy child and Morrigan’s chosen one.”
The silver-haired lady looked at her, and for a moment, a flicker of vulnerability surfaced through. She appeared helpless, but now very hopeful. She squeezed Ivanna’s hand lightly which she immediately understood. Something was really wrong in the Inner Circle.
“Please choose wisely when the time comes, Ivanna,” she begged in a low voice. “The future of the community depends on it. I know Nina is a good person at heart, and so are you. Please retain that and choose someone similar to make the right decisions for the community and not for easy power.”
Ivanna knew instantly she could trust the woman.
“I’ll be sure to honor your request,” Ivanna replied. “I didn’t come here without a reason and plan.”
The lady closed her eyes and breathed a prayer, looking at Ivanna like she was a blessing. She moved away and walked toward the bowl set on the pedestal that looked good as new. She dipped her hand into the smoky substance and pulled out a beautiful black gem the size of a thumb nail.
“I approve of this for the time being,” she said to the people, “All in favor?”
Out of the nine that rose up, four of them rose carefully after a little consideration. The silver-haired lady nodded at them and walked to Nina.
“Take care of us, Nina,” she said. “There’s a reason you were chosen in all of this.”
She placed the stone against Nina’s forehead. It glowed silver and the magic snaked off the gem to coil around her head, forming a delicate black crown.
“Will you be staying with us?” one of the wizards asked Nina.
Ivanna stepped in immediately. “She has a lot of information to give me and a lot of work to do in the community. I need her there for very important purposes.”
“Sounds all right,” he said. “I take it you will be playing the role of Nina’s assistant, like Nina was with Morrigan.”
Ivanna nodded. “She has a lot to learn under me, so a student of sorts. She’ll be under my watch the whole time.”
“Surely, you can trust her enough to let her try and make her own decisions,” Agatha spoke. “How will she learn otherwise?”
“I will simply suggest, not influence,” Ivanna answered. “You need not worry about her development. She will be resigning and transferring her powers soon enough. There can be no mistakes.”
Agatha frowned but did not reply.
“I think a meeting needs to take place today to review some important contracts with all of you,” Ivanna said. “When do you suggest it take place?”
“Now,” the silver-haired woman said. “There’s a lot that needs to be addressed. The sooner the better.”