Grimwich, England
1842
The year I turned 14 was a year I wanted to forget. Not because I was beginning to grow up, but because of what had happened to me when I met with my father after four years of separation from him. To begin, I had not seen my father since he sent us to stay with Gramma four years ago, when he went to China. That was when Gramma was killed in the worst storm in Gillamoor village's history. (Yet my youngest brother Paxton survived the storm and later went to live in Bethsaida church.)
When Gramma died, my siblings and I were sent to stay with her sister Kelly Drake and her husband, Oliver Ligarius, in Grimwich, which was several miles from Gillamoor. There, we lived with our cousin (Kelly's daughter) Courtney Drake and her children Copper, Calla, and Crescent. Courtney made sure to always remind me that no one in the Hawksley family could be trusted, especially after Thayer's mother Briar had apparently put a hex on me after she heard a rumor that Camilla and I had plotted to kill Thayer after the boy's funeral. (I did NOT attend Thayer's funeral because Aunt Kelly didn't want me to mourn for a boy who wallowed in his deformity and ignored me, yet treated me badly whenever we met.)
So there's that.
After spending four years living with Aunt Kelly, my father came to the house with some good news. He had married a woman named Christiana Willer while he was in China (Christiana was a missionary's daughter) and he was invited to serve in Queen Victoria's court.
(Before we go too far, please note that the Queen Victoria I speak of is not an old widow draped in black. She was young and beautiful, spreading joy wherever she went. Her reign as queen on England saw many achievements in science and the arts, making her reign the Victorian Age.)
When Luna voiced her objections to the marriage, saying that Mamma had left him for Lord Rothchester, Daddy said that it was time for us to leave our Aunt and live in the world he lives in, the world of fine clothing and fancy titles. While Phoebus would remain in his school, Luna and I would travel with Daddy to London, where we would live in the Northfork Manor while he served the queen. Of course, Aunt Kelly and Cousin Courtney protested his decision, saying that a new stepmother would damage us girls, but Daddy would not listen. He needed us and we still needed him, even if we were older than when he had last seen us.
"Selena is old enough to go to court, and it's time for Luna to learn some manners of a proper English lady," said Daddy.
"But they're the daughters of Clio Drake," said Aunt Kelly. "Drakes are witches; they don't belong in London, especially in the Queen's court."
"And the daughters of Sir Lucius Farrington don't belong in the wild; they're proper English women and that is that!" Daddy said in turn.
"What are you saying?" Courtney snapped.
"Selena and Luna are coming with me whether you like it or not," said Daddy with finality in his voice. "I trusted Rowan to keep an eye on them while I went to fetch Clio, but it seemed that she couldn't do that, not when she had tried to kill an innocent boy for no reason, which was why she died."
“Paxton was a twisted little dwarf, not a son of a Drake woman!” Aunt Kelly snapped angrily. “Plus, he was the spawn of that Lord Rothchester, who saw fit to steal our Clio from you and your children and imprison her in his pathetic castle, where she died without seeing the sun, was he not?”
Any other arguments from her were drowned out as Daddy told us to go to our room and pack our things. as I packed most of the possessions I had brought with me from Gillamoor to Grimwich, I thought about how Alaric and Briar Hawksley had tried to get me to join their family through a marriage to their sons Thayer and Jeremiah. But both betrothals quickly fell apart, due to Thayer’s death and Aunt Kelly’s manipulations. Also, Aunt Kelly had wanted me to marry Stannard Bigley, as his mother Audris was a member of the Graylight Clan. (Of course, I already knew that marriage would never happen, as my father had gotten word of the betrothal and put an end to that almost immediately.)
As I was preparing to leave my aunt’s manor, Courtney came to me, saying, “Do not forget who you are, Selena. You're a Drake daughter, and Drake daughters do not conform to the world they live in.”
“I’m also a Farrington daughter, and Farrington daughters must serve their lords and ladies as they see fit,” I said in turn, feeling ashamed that I had forgotten who I was. I was a daughter of a Drake daughter and a Farrington son; while most families put their stocks in sons (and the Drake family had many sons as well as daughters), it was the daughters they invested in the most, as daughters were seen as life givers. The daughters were also powerful witches in their own right. But to reject the duty of bringing children into the world was saying that you were not a Drake; those who rejected that duty were ostracized and sent to live in a convent.
“And I would say the same for you, Courtney,” I said in turn. “You may have married a lower class man, but you've forgotten that you're a Drake daughter as well. You should have known better.”
With that, Luna and I got into the carriage with our father and left Grimwich forever. As we traveled from Grimwich to London, I noticed that the skies were turning gray in anticipation of another storm. I wondered if this new storm would be as bad as the storm in Gillamoor Village; if it was, then I wanted no part in it.
But our family didn’t travel alone; Camilla came with me, this time as my servant. Luna was still not ready to have a servant, as she was 11 years old. She said to me, “I don’t know if leaving with your father is a good idea, Selena. Not if the hex is still on you.”
“Briar Hawksley may rant all she likes, but I care nothing for her son Thayer,” I snapped in turn.
“Even so, but his brother Jeremiah isn’t that bad,” said Camilla.
“And my aunt doesn’t want us associating with those Hawksleys at all,” I said in turn. "She hates them for some reason I don't understand."
Camilla then said, "You don't think SHE had anything to do with Thayer's death, or did she?"
"But I thought Thayer was killed when he was struck by lightning during that storm," I cried out.
"That’s what everyone else thought too," said Camilla. "Yet who knows what really happened to him when the lightning struck his house and killed him?"
"I don't know what happened to Thayer on that day and I don't care," I said in turn. "So, let's just drop it and leave it alone."
"Good idea," said Camilla. "The less we talk about Thayer Hawksley, the better. Besides, do we really want to talk about a dead boy when you're dealing with your new stepmother?"
"About that," I said as I glared at my father. "When did you decide to marry that woman?"
Daddy said, "My uncle told me that I should get married to a normal woman, as he believed that my marriage to your mother was a sham. Of course, my parents fought with him regarding the marriage, as they believed that once a marriage ended and a spouse died, it is folly to marry again. And I know you and your sister have read many stories about how cruel stepmothers can be, especially towards children who weren't born from their own body."
"I will never be cruel!" I snapped.
"Neither will I!" Luna said in turn.
"For your mother's sake, I hope you girls are never cruel to anyone, be it man, woman, or child," said Daddy. "As for Christiana, however, she is your new mother, whether you like it or not. She may be young, but you girls are to show her kindness and respect and do whatever she says."
I nodded, knowing that even though the story regarding Cinderella was still stuck in my mind, I would never judge a woman for who she was based on a fictional story. But I don't think I couldn't find a way to love a woman, a woman who was a replacement for my dead mother, someone who had brought me into this pain-filled world. But what happened to her, how she had been brought and sold to an English Lord like a slave without any worth, had boiled my blood to a point that I wanted to destroy all men for their evil so nothing like what Mamma went through would happen to anyone else.
But not so fast; I had to grow up first.
I said to Camilla, "We must be on our guard at all times; the Hawksley family is very powerful, and they could have many allies in Victoria's court. If they take one look at me, I'll be caught in their trap faster than you can say jiggery-pokery."
"Then let's prevent that from happening," said Camilla as she stared at my long blonde hair. "We must make you appear to be a face in the crowd, but to never draw any type of attention to yourself. Your father doesn't know about this, but the Hawksley family is angry about the broken engagement and do anything to make you pay for that, be it with your disgrace or your father's death. We can't let either of those things happen."
I nodded in agreement, but I knew I couldn't make any promises, not as long as I was still hexed. (The hex consisted of me not being able to talk to any boys without them being damaged in any way. Not even my male cousins were safe from the hex, as they were zapped whenever they spoke to me. My aunt was furious with Briar and ordered her to remove the hex, but Briar said she would only remove the hex when I was mated to a Hawksley man.)
As the carriage pulled into London, I gasped as I saw what the city had looked like. The place was crowded, with many people walking around the city streets, ships were pulling the harbor, and the markets were full of food and clothing. I was sure that I wouldn't fit in at London, not if I was born in a tiny village some miles outside London.
But this wasn't going to be my life.
By the time we reached the mansion where Daddy was going to live, I was trying to stay awake. Luna and Camilla had fallen asleep while Daddy was making inquiries with his valet. Apparently he was unsure if it was a good idea to bring his two daughters to the royal court, especially if those daughters were the children of Drakes.
But when I finally stepped out of the carriage, a woman came out towards us. She had dark hair, brown eyes, and cream-colored skin. I decided that she had to be a bastard daughter of a forbidden couple. I then thought about little Paxton, who was my mother's bastard, who was living in a church in Gillamoor. Had his color returned to him? How old was he now? Did he know that his grandmother had tried to kill him during a storm?
Shaking those thoughts of Paxton aside, I watched as Daddy hugged the woman. Luna woke up with an angry look in her eyes. Camilla frowned, knowing that she would have to face my stepmother soon.
But what about me, who had to not only endure hatred from the Hawksley family for refusing to marry Thayer, but I'm also cursed for loving a child who no one else wanted, yet wanted to see dead because of something that wasn't his fault?
I still remember what Gramma had said to me on the night of her death: "Paxton is not your brother, no matter what anyone says. He's a monster who destroyed your mother; he has no place in this family. The sooner you let him go, the happier you will be."
But Paxton is my brother, Gramma, I said silently as I stared into the distance. He has a place in our family. I then remembered seeing Paxton being struck by lightning and surviving while Gramma was also hit by lighting and killed. Pax was now 5 years old; he was still living in the church at Bethsaida. I hadn't seen him since Mother Marah took him away.
While Paxton's future was secured, I soon thought about my own future, which was compromised, not because Briar Hawksley hexed had hexed me, but because of Gramma's curse. (After all, she had cursed me because I accepted Paxton Rothchester as my brother instead of rejecting him as she had.) Or would my curse actually be a blessing in disguise?
London, England
1842
Three months had passed since I had moved to London with my father, Sir Lucius Farrington. At this point, I was beginning to grow weary of the city. I hated London, from the consistently stormy weather, the nasty smells coming out of the sewers, and the rude people who appeared to be everywhere.
To make matters worse, my new stepmother demanded that I learned to knit, embroider, and crochet, play the piano and sing, and to dress as a proper English lady. While I went along with whatever she made me do, I knew I was no proper lady, as I was a Drake daughter. Drake daughters were expected to perform many charms and spells, mix up various potions and poisons, and study all forms of healing. (Drake sons, however, were forced to knit and crochet, keep control over the house, and provide the support for the clan.) I bet Phoebus was angry because he had to learn what most people in society would consider "women's work"; Gramma had spanked him several times for calling crocheting "women's work". She also didn't approve of her grandsons dressing in elaborate uniforms and learning how to fight, as she preferred to keep them safely beside her and making them learn to cook and clean.
When I voiced so much of that to Christiana, she laughed, saying, "Why would your grandmother's clan place so little value on their sons and forcing them to work like women?"
"We don't know; that's just how the clans do things," said Luna in turn. "Plus, our Gramma doesn't want us to learn to do useless women's work."
Christiana was horrified, as she had spent most of her life believing that women were to be kept inside the house while the men could go out into the world. Only a handful of women could be unmarried, especially if they went into the convent, but to be unmarried was to be a disgrace to not only themselves, but their families as well.
I then said, "Maybe instead of learning to sew a boring picture on a useless scrap of cloth, we can teach you how to manage this household."
"And why would you want to stop embroidering?" said Christiana. "My mother told me that idle hands are the devil's workshop."
"Don't you think it's time to kick the devil out of his workshop and take over?" said Camilla. "If you want to make something with your hands, you can at least make something that is useful, such as a brand-new dress and stop buying your clothes from the markets."
Christiana turned white with shock as I turned to glare at Camilla. I told her, "We have to be careful with how we go about things around here. We can't have anyone around here knowing that we're Drakes."
"I've noticed," she snapped, "but we can't let ourselves become one of those useless women content to sit in a gilded cage until old age and contentment makes that cage useful. That's how your mother died; she was locked in a cage."
"Who would lock your mother in a cage?" said Christiana.
"Lord Rothchester," said Luna. "He grew angry when our mother refused to be his mistress, so he took her away from her family and locked her up in his castle."
"He sounds like a monster," said Christiana.
I nodded, while trying not to speak about how he had lied about stealing my mother, not allowing us to see her, and even inciting a section of the Royal Court to turn against my father, which was why he had spent the last four years in China. I didn't need to relieve that nightmare.
But while I was thinking of a way to persuade Christiana that sewing and knitting was for boys and girls should learn to work as men work, Camilla said to me, "Your father tells me that we're to be taken to court tomorrow, so we must go over what we must say to the Queen."
I nodded, knowing that Camilla and I had been going over a false identity for me and Luna. We were to pass ourselves off as Sarah and Mary Farrington, the daughters of Sir Lucius Farrington and his wife Clara. We had to pretend to be proper English women, something we knew Gramma wouldn't like. (To be honest, I don't know if Queen Victoria knew anything about the Drake family, but at this point, it's not best for us to take any chances by exposing ourselves to the court.)
"Are you sure this is a good idea, especially since I don't agree with how women spend their time sewing useless handkerchiefs for their men?" I cried out.
"You have to do whatever it takes to survive in this world, even if it means pretending to be a silly useless English lady," said Camilla. "Plus, if the Hawksley family is in the Royal Court, they won't know if you're a Drake if you disguise yourself."
"A deception," I said with a frown on my face. I always knew that deceiving people was wrong, but I was also cursed to never talk to boys or men without them being hurt unless I married a Hawksley man. What would Gramma or Mamma say if they found out that I had to deceive the most powerful woman in the world?424Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoCXP9vzXB
Buckingham Palace was huge. I had never seen anything like it, not like the castle where the Magical Royal Family lived, which was some miles north of Grimwich. I always knew that castle was huge, but when I saw it up close, you could say that the effect was almost...humbling.
As we all know, Buckingham Palace was where the king or queen of England lived. Well, it was originally known as Buckingham House, and it belonged to the Duke of Buckingham. That was, until King George IV had the house turned into the palace you children see today.
The outside was made of marble, but I wasn't exactly interest in the gardens bordering the palace. On the inside, there were huge paintings of people who lived and died before I was born, of kings and queens who ruled over England before anyone knew that there was magic in England. I frowned as I stared at a portrait of King Henry VIII, the man who was infamous for having six wives. What on earth would possess a man like him to make him have six wives, I thought to myself.
“Such a tragedy, that man having all those wives,” said Camilla as she stood next to me. “Someone like him should have known better.”
“Unless he was cursed to have six wives,” I said. “But who knew what happened during that time.”
“At least his daughter Elizabeth turned things around for the better, not that anything actually improved for the witch clans,” said Camilla as she recalled our history lessons. “But I wonder why she never married and extended the family line.”
“She was probably cursed for being the daughter of her father’s second wife, Anne Boleyn,” I said. “But let’s leave that alone and focus on something more positive, such as our queen here. She is smart not to take six husbands and have dozens of lovers.”
“I’ve noticed,” said Camilla as we walked into the throne room. There, we saw the Queen and her husband, Prince Albert, sitting on their thrones draped in all their finery. Many people were also there, most of them were chattering away instead of looking at an apparently disgraced English knight and his two daughters.
To note, I had dyed my hair a dark brown color and wore an elegant gown. I also used the name Lady Sarah Farrington. But I knew that the disguise would do very little to make me pass as a knight's daughter, but I had to try. A Hawksley could be hiding in the shadows, and I had to be careful not to be seen.
Of course, nothing lasted forever, for one man saw us and turned to say, "Is that you, Lucius Farrington?"
"Who did you think it was?" Daddy said as he turned to face the newcomer. "Well, look at you, Jasper St. Claire. You haven't aged a day. How have you been?"
"Well, things have changed since we last saw each other," said Sir Jasper St. Claire. "After you left for China, your brother Phineas discovered what Lord Rothchester had done to your family; he and his men seized the castle and killed the entire family. The servants were sent to the States and Emily (the last Rothchester heir) was suddenly married off to Lord Hugo Pennington two years ago."
"Isn't that man in his 60s?" Daddy said with a shocked look on his face. I wondered who sanction that marriage, because I'm not sure if the queen would have approved of a marriage between a young woman of 19 years and an older man.
"For all intents and purposes, Hugo's nephew Roscoe isn't about to leave Moscow anytime soon, and he has spent the last 17 years trying to find a wife for his uncle," said Sir Jasper said.
"I see," Daddy said as he motioned to where we were standing. "Meet my wife Christiana and my daughters Sarah and Mary."
At once Camilla and I glanced at each other, and then I went through the recommended courtesies. (Never let it be said that Rowan Drake never taught her grandchildren to use their courtesies whenever they were in the presence of royalty.) But I have never felt comfortable whenever I had to deal with the Flintwood family and their court, so what made me think that I could deal with Queen Victoria and her court?
While the Queen and her husband greeted our family with gladness, I was still wary. After all, I spent the last four years of my life having to deal with the overly obnoxious Hawksley family and their allies. And let me tell you something, that was not a pleasant experience, not because I turned Jeremiah down, but his mother blamed me for the death of her favorite son Thayer.
But when Camilla pointed out a young man standing next to an older man, I shuddered. (Remember when I said that everyone in the Hawksley family was married?) Well, there is always someone in every family who (for some insane reason) preferred not to marry, but to keep in the company of people of their own gender. (Well, I hate to say this, but people in the magical community who indulge in that sort of behavior are banished and stripped of their magic. Those who are stripped of their magic live for about 5-7 years before dying of a magical disease.)
Yet, I knew that no matter how many people are publicly shamed for indulging in their selfish desires, someone will do that wicked thing anyway and be punished for it with being banished from the community and losing their magic. I had learned the names of the people in Gillamoor Village who were disgraced and had to leave their families. (Those who lost their magic were forced to leave their families; to break that tradition was to court death, as you will learn later on.)
"Isn't that Fenton Hawksley?" I said as I stared at the older man. I had never seen him before, but I knew about him from Alaric’s ramblings. According to him, Fenton had refused to marry a woman his family chose for him; instead of naming another bride, he chose to run off with another man, bringing shame and disgrace to not only his family, but his bride as well. No one had seen him since he was banished many years ago.
"Indeed he is," said Camilla. "He was supposed to marry my aunt Lucetta, but the night before their wedding, he had run off with another man, leaving her standing at the altar, humiliated."
"What a fool!" Luna snapped.
"And to make things worse, Aunt Lucie had to marry that horrible rotten Lord Avery Latham," said Camilla. "And that man was terrible indeed. He tormented my family and hurt my aunt, blaming her for allowing Fenton to leave her, as if she had the capacity to tell him what to do. You can only push someone so far before they snap. And when Aunt Lucie snapped, Avery paid the price for his stupidity with his own death."
"OK, that's quite enough of that, Camilla," said Luna. "I'm sure that no one wants be reminded of your family's sordid run-in with the Hawksleys."
"Indeed," I said as I stared at a boy standing next to Fenton Hawksley. He had Fenton's famous red hair, but his eyes were pitch black. "Do you know who he is?" I cried out.
"Uh, no, apparently," said Camilla. "But if that's Fenton's son, he's in a world of trouble."
"And why would he be in a world of trouble?" I said.
"Because if any member of the magical community is exiled, they're not allowed to use magic or get married and build families," said Camilla. “I'm sure Fenton found a way to get past this restriction by mating with a Norm woman.”
"And how is this possible?" said Luna. "Last time we checked, no one who is exiled from the magical community is allowed to marry and have children. But how and why Fenton Hawksley mated with the Norm woman and have his son is something worth investigating."
"Indeed it's worth investigating," said Camilla. "If the Magical Council found out that things like this were happening under their very noses, I'm sure Fenton and his family won't live to see another month."
I nodded as I stared at the boy. He glared at me, as if I was more like a small harmless lion cub rather than the fearsome Drake girl I knew I was.
He said to me, "Would you care to tell me who you are and where you come from?"
"My name is Lady Sarah Farrington, the daughter of Sir Lucius Farrington, and I'm from Nottingham," I said, repeating the lie that Camilla and I came up with while we were on our way to London. There was no need for us to reveal me as a Drake witch, not when that name had already brought me so much trouble with the Hawksley family. "And what's your name?"
"My name is Rafael Hickman, and my parents are Phillip and Barbara," said Rafael. "I'm not sure where my father came from, but my mother's family came from Northumberland."
"I see," I said as I thought about why I didn't pay attention to my geography lessons during my years in Grimwich. Rafael's mother had to come from high nobility, but how and why she was roped into marrying a disgraced member of the Hawksley family was up for debate.
But the awkwardness between myself and Rafael didn't last long, as Rafael's mother came to retrieve him. She stared at me with a hard look, as if she was trying to read me. But I knew I would never be the noblewoman I was pretending to be, not as long as a Hawksley man was in the Royal court.
But I knew that nothing would last forever, as Fenton Hawksley saw me and said, "I know who you are, Selena Drake, and I heard about what you did to my nephew. Your grandmother told you to kill Thayer using magic, did she not? It doesn't matter, as I never liked the boy to begin with, as no one else in my family did. Only his mother loved that boy, and she loved him more than she loved the other children she gave my brother. But you just had to kill him, didn't you? The boy claims that he wanted you, but you had to kill him."
"But I didn't do it," I cried out. "I would never hurt anyone...intentionally. Thayer was hit by lightning four years ago, as my grandmother was."
"A likely story," Fenton snapped, yet his eyes told me the whole story. He had the power to control the weather, which meant that HE had been the one to cause that lightning storm that killed his nephew and my grandmother, along with zapping little Paxton and turning him into an albino.
When I voiced that to Fenton, he laughed, saying, "I should have known that nothing gets past a Drake witch. Did you really think that I was going to take being banished lightly? Especially if I have the power to create life from two different people, be they men or women. If they had listened to me instead of casting me out, who knows how quickly the mages and spellcasters can repopulate and thus stem the decline of our magical world. But in choosing to live like the muckdwellers that surround us, they have rejected the magical ways of life. And who do we have to blame for that? Those blasted Ainysians, who have forgotten where they came from, who made that compulsory mating spell on us so we must mate as the muckdwellers mate!"
I frowned, knowing that Gramma, Mamma, and Aunt Kelly had told me numerous times that it was wrong to refer to a Norm as a muckdweller, as that particular term was deemed insulting towards Norms. (The proper term for a Norm was Nomagic.) Camilla said to Fenton, "I heard what you said to Selena, and I must warn you now, your time upon this earth is finished. Before her first child is born, a storm will come to London. This palace will be hit by lightning and you will die!"
"Indeed," said Fenton as he glared at Camilla. "Camilla Vectem, isn't it? I remember your aunt Lucetta; she was quite vain and thought she could control me. Well, I was quite happy when I discovered that she had forgotten me and married another man."
"But she didn't, not when Lord Latham treated her badly and was cruel to her family," Camilla snapped in turn. "But he paid for that when he and their oldest son were murdered by her own hand. Aunt Lucie and her younger children now live in Doonatel, where so many other disgraced Mages and Spellcasters are living, and you were the cause of her disgrace, were you not?"
When I saw Fenton staring at Camilla in horror, I knew his days were over, long though they were. But I also knew that like it or not, I would have to pay the price for Thayer's death. I recalled the soothsayer saying that I would have five bastard children, but none of my bastard children would be able to use magic. (That wasn't to say that my grandchildren couldn't use magic, but that's for another story.) I knew that bastards were seen as a disgrace to the people of Eirebul, and the parents who created them were shamed in the city streets; most of those bastards were sold as slaves and sent to either the States or Australia. With that knowledge, I shuddered to know that this would be the fate of my five bastard children, as their fate would not be good. I also felt thankful that little Paxton had escaped from that tragic fate that so many others like him did not survive.
But that's not all, as I said to Fenton, "If you don't want your wife and son to find out about who you really are, you will keep all knowledge of me being Selena Drake hidden from prying eyes."
"And you better keep your secrets about me from the Queen," Fenton said in turn. "It would be treason to accuse her favorite magician of witchcraft."
"And it would be treason to lie to the Queen about who you truly are," I said in turn. "But no matter; I can always expose you as a fraud and (without using magic) and no one will be the wiser. I can send a message to Alaric and Briar Hawksley telling them who really was responsible for the death of Thayer and I can tell my aunt Kelly who killed her sister Rowan. And I know you won't be able to stop me from doing that."
Fenton snarled at me, but I knew I had won a victory over him. He couldn’t do or say anything, lest I expose him for who and what he truly was. But little did I know that I had tangled with a Hawksley after the great pains I took to avoid dealing with them.
But that can wait for another day.
Of course, the prying ears of Seth St. Claire (Jasper's son) caught the conversation as it happened; little did I know that not only would I have to keep a very dangerous secret, but I would be involved in an unexpected love triangle...
Buckingham Palace
1843
A year had passed since I arrived in London with my father, Sir Lucius Farrington; it was also when he began serving Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. I had observed life in the royal court, from the mind games that the nobles played with each other to the servants' gossip about certain things and people. I also had to dodge any and all attempts to get anyone's attention, lest I zap any boy or man who spoke to me and he wasn't a Hawksley.
Speaking of which, no sooner than when my father officially became a member of Queen Victoria's court, I was involved with both Rafael Hickman (I mean Hawksley, as Rafael's father was Fenton Hawksley) and Seth St. Claire (the son of Sir Jasper St. Claire). That was because Seth was the only male in the palace (other than my father) who could withstand the zapping that happened whenever I spoke to another person. Rafael was technically a Hawksley (despite his father's banishment), and I knew that I would have no peace until I was mated to a member of the Hawksley family, for better or worse.
At the same time, Christiana gave birth to a son and a daughter, and left court to recover from the birth and raise them. Daddy, however, was much too busy keeping an eye on the crisis happening in France and Germany to keep watch over me. Luna spent plenty of time shocking all the noblewomen by putting down their silly ways and demanding that the men put their swords away and take up knitting. Well, most of her ideas were shot down by both sides, but that didn't mean she didn't try.
As for me, Camilla and I knew that when we heard the soothsayer speak about my future, she had predicted that I would go through many hardships and die by strangulation. Camilla, however, learned that even though she wouldn't have any bastards, she should hope to have only sons, for if she did have a daughter, she and that daughter would die.
One night, she said to me as we were preparing for bed, “We really shouldn't have spoken to that soothsayer in the first place. Because we made that mistake, all the bad things she said were going to happen to us are happening now.”
“I have that hex on me because I refused to marry Thayer Hawksley and you have to deal with the man who destroyed your family because of his selfish pride,” I said. "Such a terrible thing we have to deal with."
"Maybe for you, but I'm not the one who's sleeping with two boys and manipulating a man with his own damning secrets," said Camilla. "I didn't get a hex put on me by Briar Hawksley."
I frowned, saying, "At least Rafael is nice to me."
"And he's also a Hawksley, albeit a disgraced Hawksley," said Camilla. "Don't forget, the Hawksleys hated the Drakes because Josce Hawksley dishonored Protasia Drake while he was married to Mildred Compton. Because of that dishonor, the two families hated each other, and they hate each other to this very day.”
“I'm sure that no children came out of this deal, did they?” I said with a worried look on my face.
“Well, there is Fabian Andronicus, who claims to be a descendant of the bastard child of Josce Hawksley and Protasia Drake, and his family lives not too far from where the Golden Globe still stands,” said Camilla, “But I don't see how that's important.”
“Well, it's not like I can't trick Rafael into thinking that I like him,” I said with a smile on my face. “Or, maybe I should, seeing as the Hawksleys have cursed me because I turned down their son. It'll be the perfect revenge.”
As I said those words, I had no idea of how much those words would scare me. I always knew that I would have to get my revenge on the family that cursed me, but I never dreamed I would actually go down that particular route. Especially since Mamma had told me numerous times to never give my maiden’s gift to the first man I saw.
But then I thought about the soothsayer and how she had cursed me to have five bastard children before I would marry and have eight more children. I don't know what game she was playing at, but if she was going to control me and everything that happened in my life, she had another thing coming. I'm not going to let anyone control me, be it a man or woman or soothsayer or witch or spellcaster. I am a Drake girl, for better or worse, and Drakes cannot be controlled so easily.
In fact, I’m going to make those Hawksleys pay for putting that curse on me; Briar will certainly rue the day that she and her husband had plotted to marry me off to their son Thayer (and after Thayer’s death, his brother Jeremiah). No one messed with Selena Drake and lived, not unless you fancy sleeping with the lights on.
I then said to Camilla, “I will find a way to hit them back, especially where it hurts. Fenton Hawksley may have been exiled from the magical community, but that doesn't mean I can't destroy him or his son.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Selena?” said Camilla. “I'm all for revenge against the Hawksleys for their cursing you, (and to be perfectly honest, they deserve it) but this is going too far, don't you think?”
“No, I haven’t gone far enough,” I said. “It’s time for me to stop playing the meek mild maid and become the witch I should have been. Those other noble girls may pretend to not be hurt by Rafael’s cruel comments towards them, but I don’t scare easily. He will know who I truly am by the end of the night.”
At this point, I didn't think it mattered to me anymore. I had learned my lesson about trusting the Hawksleys after seeing how they reacted when I didn't go to Thayer’s funeral. I remember how Thayer had treated me whenever we met, from him pulling my hair to pushing me down and saying horrible things about my mother. Anybody who hurts another person for no reason doesn't deserve to be married at all.
I stood up and said, “And if you excuse me, I have a date with destiny tonight. If all goes well, I will have not only gotten rid of this hex, but I will have gotten Rafael and his mother away from his father. Once Fenton is alone with no one to defend him, I will reveal his treason to the queen; she will be so full of rage that she will have him executed on the spot. I dare say she might do the job herself.”
“Either that, or she could have her husband take care of this mess,” said Camilla with a strange look on her face. “I’m sure the magical government would be very interested to hear about what's going on with the Hawksley family."
"I've noticed," I said as I left the room. “Fenton Hawksley has played his final trick on this unhappy world, and now he's run out of time. There will be no escape for him, no matter how hard he tries, as there will come a day when all his tricks will be exposed before the world."
With that, I stepped out of the room and began my destiny.
Before we go any further, here's a part of what happened to Selena:
Selena was 14 years old when she came to London to join the British Royal Court, and she was 15 years old when she began her affair with Rafael Hickman, the son of the disgraced spellcaster Fenton Hawksley. At the same time, she was romantically linked to Seth St. Claire, the son of Sir Jasper St. Claire, a member of the royal court. No one knew of the affair, as most of the courtiers assumed that Rafael was gay and/or his father or mother were keeping him away from any potential wives.
Several months later, Selena became pregnant with her first child. At the same time, a terrible thunderstorm hit London, which killed many people. Several weeks before the death of Fenton Hawksley, Selena and Camilla had discovered a plot against Christiana (Selena's stepmother) and her children, Luke and Naomi; the girls exposed Fenton before the royal Court as a traitor. Queen Victoria was so outraged that she had Fenton and Barbara banished from the palace. King Ernaut Flintwood of Eirebul also learned about Fenton's treason; after a short trial, Fenton was sentenced to death for witchcraft, conspiracy, and treason. Yet Fenton escaped and returned to Buckingham Palace, where he was killed by lightning. Barbara, however, was imprisoned in the infamous Brass Tower for her part in Fenton's treason.
As for Selena and Rafael, they had three sons named Ryland, Piers, and Terra. When Terra was born, Queen Victoria sent Rafael to King Ernaut, citing that Rafael was controlling Selena and keeping her away from her family. (Selena and her lover Seth had two children named Thorn and Acacia.) Of course, Alaric and Briar tried to claim Ryland, Piers, and Terra as Hawksleys, but Victoria and Lucius would not allow them to take the children. Also, King Ernaut's spy, Sir David Trichenberg, reportedly witnessed Alaric and Briar plotting to use Rafael to kidnap Selena and bring her back to their home in Hazelfield Manor. After a lenghty trial, both Alaric and Briar were found guilty of witchcraft and conspiracy and were executed. (Thus, the reputation of the Hawksley family was severely damaged due to Fenton’s lies and manipulations.)
By the time those events happened, Selena was 22 years old and the sole caregiver of Ryland, Piers, Terra, Thorn, and Acacia. (It saddens me to say that Sir Seth St. Claire was forced to marry Lady Mary Dwyer in 1849 and leave Buckingham Palace.) Selena’s brother Phoebus went on a tour of Japan while her sister Luna served in King Ernaut’s court as a maid of honor to Queen Maudelyn.
But now comes the time where Selena begins to feature in the lives of Sir David Trichenberg and his son, Leopold...
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