Wand (eBook)

PART 1

NINE OF CUPS “GENEROSITY”

“You make all kinds of mistakes,
but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce,
you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.”

—Winston S. Churchill

NEW ORLEANS

Tara, the Madigan’s matriarch, sits in her favorite spot on the windowsill of her room, overlooking the garden and waiting for the sun to rise. She’s still in her night gown with her long, gray hair hanging down, almost brushing the ground. Dawn is always a magical time, the first sunrays playing through the leaves, chasing away the dew drops. Birds start to sing, and bees are buzzing everywhere. A gentle moment in the day when everything is waking up. She hasn’t slept much. The events of the last few weeks keep replaying in her head. Jumping from one unnerving experience to the next. Every time she closes her eyes, she sees the emerald green fairy eyes of her daughter Ceri, full of anger and hurt. To admit to her that it’s true that Ceri’s real father is a fairy and had forced himself on Tara was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. Felaern was his name, and he held a high position at the courts of the land of Fairy. A realm that Tara used to visit a lot when she was young. Whatever happened to Ceri in Fairy has changed her. Not only in her looks, but her magical powers have also grown significantly. Witch and fairy magic are mingled together, an untamed wildness flows through it. Slightly scary actually.

For a moment, Tara mumbles a spell and a tiny light sparks alive above her finger; playfully, she lets it bounce from one finger to the next and back again. Her eyes follow the little light, only half-focused— it’s almost as good as a meditation. A sense of calm returns, until the image of Bridget in pain pops up. Her granddaughter was tortured. Who knows what the permanent scars will be from that? She’s in her mid-twenties, a strong-willed vibrant young woman, and although she pretends to be fine, they all know something is simmering underneath. Hopefully Wes, her artist boyfriend, will be able to help her through that. He has been such a gift to the family. Tara has quickly grown very fond of him. His upbeat personality reminds her so much of her late husband Seamus. He even managed to draw Maeve, Bridget’s twin, out of her shell. The girls seem to have reconnected. The only positive that has come from all this.

Bridget did show an enormous amount of strength and willingness for sacrifice. Tara is now sure she had made the right choice when she marked her as the next Guardian of the Wand of Wisdom, the elemental force entrusted to them. The Wand has been in the Madigan family for generations. Her age aches in her bones, the Guardian needs to be strong. Especially now, Tara feels weak and no longer in control of her family. The moment to pass on the Wand has become urgent, she has waited too long. Tara can feel it, literally. A weight on her soul. It’s been hard to pin down Bridget and convince her. She can understand her granddaughter’s hesitation, but nobody wants that kind of responsibility. It had destroyed her own mother, a sensitive soul. Bridget is the one—there’s no choice.

When she glances at Seamus’ portrait, there is merely the empty forest. It had surprised her how much the painting had brought her comfort since Seamus’ passing. His smile and reassuring eyes were always listening and encouraging her. Oh Seamus, my love. Wherever you are now, I hope you hear me. Come back to me.

She blows on the spark at her fingertips, and it drifts into the air, out of the window, in search of her husband. Resolute she turns away from the window and gets up, ready for the new day.

Facing her own estranged twin sister, Lucy, has been another shocking experience. Lucy had always been ambitious and her hunger for power had been the cause of her being banned from the family. Although they secretly stayed in touch for a while, over the years, it became less and less frequent. It had been so long that decades had gone by. Almost forgotten… Until Lucy stole the Dagger of Consciousness, one of the other elemental objects of power, and set off their current predicament. With the diversion of a convincing lookalike, they had managed to reclaim the real Dagger and hide it from everybody inside the Magical Tarot Deck. However, the Dagger belongs to Gwen’s family, the Janssons. Gwen has been staying with them ever since the Dagger has been hidden. So far, Tara has been able to convince her that it’s safe where it is now. But there is no doubt in her mind that Gwen will demand the Dagger back soon. Should she return it? Is that family strong enough to protect it? After all, Lucy had killed Gwen’s sister and stolen the Dagger from her. No—it’s safe where it is now. Should Gwen confront her, she can always say that only Bridget and Maeve know where it is and that they don’t want to say for safety reasons.

What has happened to her? To even think about hiding behind her granddaughters! It’s not like her. Lucy thinks that Mab, the Queen of Fairy, has the Dagger. When they both find out it’s a fake, it won’t take them long to figure out that the Madigans have it! Better to start to plan ahead, be pro-active. Not wait and see what her twin has in store. The things that Lucy, or even worse Mab, could do with that amount of power are unimaginable. They have to keep the elemental objects safe and away from them at all costs.

Tara has always been the strong matriarch of the family, but her position is failing. She had lost the trust of her family. Maybe that’s the most painful thing that had happened. Can she blame them? Probably not.

Time and again, she has run through her reasoning for keeping a lot of things secret; if she had to do it again, she would definitely handle it all differently. That’s all water under the bridge—there is no other choice than following the path taken.

She might be old; she might be losing her grip, but she’s still the head of the family.

For a moment she steps into the morning sunbeam and twirls around while she recites an ancient spell to recharge. This helps to burn away the morning blues.

Let’s see what she has to look out for. Swiftly, she grabs the Ace of Wands from her altar and shuffles her regular tarot deck. With her left hand, she chooses a new card. The Nine of Cups, a dolphin happily looks at her while her pod is frolicking in the background. A happy card, it’s about being generous but also being together and enjoying the pleasures in life. A good omen. This lifts her spirits and helps her to get ready to face her family today. The Magical Tarot Deck is locked up in the family safe. Not to be used again. This special deck that Seamus had painted of their family caused enough problems. How could they ever have anticipated that it would end up in the hands of her malicious twin? That Lucy would wield it against them. Seamus’ card is still missing though. They have to work on that.

When she finally makes it to the kitchen, Tara finds a moping Luna at the table and Bridget at the stove. Luna is her most powerful daughter and rarely out of sorts. She wonders what has put her in this mood. Another unexpected thing that has actually happened is that Tara and Luna have found common ground in how to deal with magical things. It has been a joy to share spells and work together.

“Where’s Maeve?” her granddaughter is the queen of the kitchen and normally, she would be cooking up a storm at this time of day.

Bridget’s back stiffens, “Don’t you trust my cooking?” There is clearly something more going on.

A freshly baked batch of muffins is still steaming on a plate on the table. Tara reaches for one.

“I wouldn’t do that.” Luna warns her, “It’s not the same.”

“Hey!” Bridget snaps her finger and an air hand slaps Luna gently on the back of her head.

Without looking up, Luna sends some water from the sink flying right into Bridget’s face. A laugh escapes her. Tara is shocked; this is the first ever playful exchange she has seen between mother and daughter, in maybe ever. Without thinking, she grabs a muffin and bites into it with full anticipation and can’t hide her disappointment. The girls may look alike, but their cooking skills are vastly different.

“I told you,” says Luna with a deadpan expression.

Tara rolls her eyes at her. “What’s wrong with you? Has Tom come back yet?”

Luna’s face falls and she turns back to pretending to read the newspaper.

“Tom went straight to Boston,” replies Bridget for her.

“What? Why?” With nothing else around, Tara goes ahead and finishes the muffin.

Again, Bridget answers, barely hiding her gloating tone. “You don’t leave a man like that behind. He’s used to being in charge. He’s a man of action. To dismiss him like that… Hell, I would have done the same.”

“It was the only way,” is all Luna says.

“Really?”

Luna spins around and now her eyes shoot daggers at her daughter. Bridget smiles, happy to have needled her mother and to finally get a reaction. It’s not very often that she gets the chance to rub it in. Usually, her mother is the one who knows everything better and can’t wait to tell you so.

“I’m sure if you explain it, he will be reasonable. He’s such a nice man. I really thought he was the one for you.” Tara tries to smooth things out. This only results in a murderous stare.

“Where is Maeve?” Tara tries again, hoping for a safer topic of conversation.

“She’s...