Magical Acts: (Skeleton Key) by Michele Bardsley, Skeleton Key Page B

I’m sorry, he tried to convey. I love you both.
    Rin lifted her hand. On her palm glittered the ring Auron had offered Chamomile. Pale blue light pulsed around it, and when it faded, the ring had an ethereal glow. “The essence of Auron’s heart remains within his token of love.”
    Nath sent a beam of sapphire light toward the ring, but it merely bounced off.
    “You can’t take it or destroy it,” said Rin. She closed her fist over the ring and grinned. “Without his heart, he’s turning to stone. And stone he will remain for all of his days.”
    “No!” cried Malie. She lifted her hands, and blue magic whirled, hardening into a crystalline dagger.
    Rin stood and walked to Malie, her eyes blazing with malice. “Go ahead. My death will not end the curse.”
    “Harm none,” whispered Malie. She looked at her son and wept. “That is every mage’s oath.” The dagger clattered to the marble floor. Auron watched his mother drop to her knees. He couldn’t form tears or words. How sorry he was to have brought his parents to this horror.
    “Please, Rin. Release my son. I will take his place.” Nath knelt next to his wife and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Am I not the one you want to harm? Take me. I honor my wife’s pledge and my son’s sacrifice.”
    Rin crowed in triumphant.
    Then the room glowed brightly, so brightly that Auron could not see anything but the soft, golden light.
    “No mage shall harm those who are in my favor,” said the most beautiful voice Auron had ever heard. “The Tarlett mages are under my protection.”
    “The curse cannot be broken, Goddess!” Rin shouted angrily.
    Auron strained to see, but his vision was blackening. And his hearing was fading, too. He’d lost all sensation in his body and had stopped trying to move. He couldn’t even feel the beat of his own heart anymore. The golden light wrapped around him, as comforting as his mother’s arms.
    “I cannot undo what has been wrought, but I am not without recourse. Auron Tarlett will not be a statue forever. Every year on the night of the three moons, he shall wake and seek the one who will end his curse. She will be as pure of body as she is of heart.”
    “And if he does not find anyone?” asked Malie in a broken whisper. “And what of us, his parents? Through your divinity, we are immortal. I cannot bear knowing my son is trapped and alone for eternity while I live.”
    “The Goddess placed her hand on Malie’s bowed head. “You and your beloved shall sleep until Auron’s curse is broken. If he is not freed within one hundred years, I will escort you all to the next world.”
    “Thank you, Goddess.” Auron barely heard his father’s words.
    A few seconds later, the mage without his heart was nothing but stone.

    * * *
    T he Goddess watched as her servants brought the statue of Auron into the Tarlett castle. To protect him, she put his stone effigy in a secret room accessed through a panel in the main study. Auron would know how to leave it. He’d been using it as a hiding spot since he was a boy.
    After her servants had moved back into the study, she entered the small room and cupped Auron’s cold, stone cheeks. “Dear boy, I won’t let Rin ruin your life. She’s hidden herself from me. No doubt a wise move because my fury is such that I would break my own laws and kill her.” She kissed his brow. “Do not despair. I will help you find your mate.” She leaned forward and whispered, “The night will bring you power. If you remain strong in your faith and your magic, you may well be able to use it even in this form.”
    She left and placed her palm on the wood panel designed to look like a piece of art. The door swung shut and blended into the black granite wall.
    Dismissing her servants, she walked up the stairs and to the bedroom of Nath and Malie Tarlett. Both lay in their bed clasped in each other’s arms. At least their minds and bodies would be at rest while Auron remained cursed. She