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  Back at Wickerwell they entered the Great Hall. Turner hadn’t been in the Hall before and felt as if he were stepping into a private part of the girls’ world. It was a mixture of a Goth’s inner sanctum and a medieval library, and smelled of old books and scented candles. In the centre of the room was a circle of old, mismatched chairs. Mother Torhild and Aunt Sigrid were there, as were Chloe, Brooke and Skye … and one other person.

  ‘Aunt Lani!’ said Ember. The girl’s Aunt was sitting in a large old easy chair, her legs covered in a crocheted rug. Ember crossed the room and gave her Aunt a strong hug. ‘I’m so glad you’re alright.’

  ‘Takes a lot to keep me down, dear,’ said Lani.

  Turner stood just outside the circle of chairs. Skye gave him a little wave, but when Turner looked at Brooke, her eyes opened wide and she looked away quickly.

  Aunt Lani looked beyond Ember and held out her hand. ‘Young man,’ she said.

  Turner walked to the old woman’s side and took her hand. It was plump but felt small and frail in Turner’s hands.

  ‘Oh yes. Now you’re awake your strength just radiates from you. Mother Torhild has restored much of my vigour this afternoon, but I feel your power drumming through me. It’s marvellous.’

  Mother Torhild coughed and held out her hand as well. When Turner took it, he felt a shock of power course through him. Images of misty moors, white tipped lakes and storms rushed through Turner’s mind. This was one amazing woman.

  The feeling must have been mutual. ‘Incredible,’ said Mother Torhild, ‘simply incredible.’ Still holding Turner’s hand, she spoke to the room, ‘I’ve never before felt so much potential … so much capacity.’ Her gaze bore into Turner.

  Turner was a bit uncomfortable with all this attention. Ember must have noticed as she patted the chair next to her. ‘Here, Turner, sit.’

  Once seated, Turner looked around at all the faces, shifted in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck. A room full of women—and him.

  Mother Torhild stood and faced the circle. ‘Let’s get started, shall we? I spoke at length with Celeste and Chloe. Celeste suggested it would be best … how did you put it, dear? It’s best if we all share the same page? At any rate, now we’re all here, I’ll try to be brief. It’s not good though I’m afraid. The news I’m about to impart is frightful, perhaps even world changing.’

  ‘I don’t like this,’ whispered Ember.

  Turner was wondering once again what he’d gotten himself into.

  ‘As you know,’ Mother Torhild continued, ‘Turner there is a human Ring. I have only met one other human Ring before in my life. It was in France in the middle of World War Two.’ She looked at the young faces around her, and chuckled. ‘Yes, I’m that old. It seems human Rings only appear when the Earth is in dire straits, when the Dark Forces are about to spread evilness and sickness to a large proportion of the population, causing plagues and war.’

  Mother Torhild sat down again and continued, speaking to Turner, ‘The Earth fights back, with the Vordenes of course. But in case of wars and plagues, the Vordenes need all the help they can get. One, maybe two Vordene are granted an Ellring, which is just an old way of saying ‘All-Ring’ or ‘Ring Lord.’ The Ring Lord is basically a protector spirit with incredible powers but in human form, so they can think and plan and act on those plans.’

  Ember smiled at Turner. ‘Ellring. You’re the Ellring, Turner.’

  Turner frowned, looked at Ember, but spoke to the room. ‘But I’m not. It can’t work like that. One day nothing, the next, all these powers? I’m just a guy.’

  Mother Torhild spoke to Turner. ‘You were just ‘a guy’, young man. But no longer. Look within, you must feel yourself changing? To discover what you really are, you must first cast aside what the world expects you to be.’

  Turner stared at his hands in his lap. Expectations. He could probably ignore the world’s expectations, but what about the women in this room? What of their expectations?

  ‘The Ellring,’ said Skye. ‘Why don’t we know about this? Shouldn’t this be something we learn about as we grow up?’

  ‘No,’ said Sigrid. ‘An Ellring could probably be summoned by a Vordene if they tried hard enough, with years of the right incantations. And what Vordene wouldn’t want a human Ring? But Ellrings are powerful beings which should only manifest in times of need. An Ellring in normal times could be a dangerous thing, their power unfocused, untamed and obvious to the outside world. Therefore, we try to keep the Ellring a secret. Even to other Vordene.’

  Chloe asked, ‘Mother Torhild, why us? Why here?’

  ‘The Ellring usually appears where they will be needed most,’ said Mother Torhild. ‘So it looks like the Midlands are going to play host to some sort of apocalypse.’

  ‘Apocalypse? Such as?’ asked Brooke.

  Sigrid pushed some of her red hair from her face. Turner suspected she was probably a fire elemental as well. ‘Well, we know in World War II there was a Scather gate a hundred feet wide in Germany. It spilled out Scathers for months. Millions of them. Of course the general populous though it was some sort of mining disaster.’

  A couple of the girls scoffed. ‘That’d be right,’ said Brooke.

  Sigrid continued, ‘The Scathers contaminated Europe with fear, illness and evilness until finally infecting the rest of the world. It took almost two hundred full Vordenes, from all over the world, to fight off the Scathers and close the gate. But they didn’t succeed until the Ellring of the Stuttgart Vordene joined the battle. And although they won in the end, many Vordene and many Rings perished, including the young Ellring.’

  ‘So what about us? What do we do?’ asked Brooke.

  Celeste nodded at Mother Torhild and said, ‘Aunt Sigrid and Mother Torhild suggest we do the Binding as soon as possible. It makes the Vordene and Ellring stronger. A powerful whole.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ said Turner, ‘the marriage.’

  Most smiled and a couple of the girls laughed.

  Brooke shook her head at Turner. ‘It better be a honking big diamond ring, because really, you’re not my type.’

  Turner would have laughed, but Brooke wasn’t smiling.

  ‘Now,’ said Celeste, ‘tell them about your adventure to Wilby.’

  Turner and Ember recounted their adventure. It garnered many gasps and ‘Oh my Gods’ from the circle of women. When Ember had finished speaking, Brooke stood. ‘I’ve got to … I’ll be back …’ she said, and darted out the door.

  ‘What’s gotten into her?’ asked Celeste.

  For a few long seconds no one spoke. Skye broke the silence. ‘So we wait all our lives for a Ring, we hit the jackpot with an Ellring, and straight away somebody wants to take him from us.’

  Mother Torhild broke the silence. ‘Yes, it sounds like someone or something wants the Ellring out of the way.’

  Celeste leant forward in her chair. ‘But we all know Scathers don’t work like that. The Grimshade isn’t conscious is it? And Skorns are limited in their powers. Who or what has the power to do those things?’

  Mother Torhild gripped the wooden arms of her chair. ‘I don’t know, dear. I wish I did, but I think it’s definitely tied to the impending calamity. I’m sorry to say, if there’s some sort of sentient supernatural being behind it, it’s beginning to feel a lot worse than a plague or a war. The most dangerous dark forest is that with a mind in it. I suggest we hurry the Binding along. Give us three days to prepare. In the meantime, be on your toes. Protect your Ellring.’

  Turner once again shifted uncomfortably under the concentrated stare of seven powerful women.

  *

  It was now late afternoon. The circle had broken up into two groups. Ember stood to one side with Turner and Skye. The other group, ‘the oldies’ as Skye put it, consisted of Mother Torhild, Aunt Sigrid, Celeste and Chloe. They were huddled together on the chairs discussing Rings, catastrophes and Bindings.

  Skye suggested that Ember, Turner and she head to the kitche
n and start to prepare dinner.

  The three filed out of the Great Hall, but Ember grabbed Turner’s hand and pulled him to the stairs.

  ‘Hey! Where are you two going?’ asked Skye.

  Ember looked over the bannister her sister. ‘Just showing Turner my bedroom, we’ll be down to help in a mo.’

  ‘Cheeky thing,’ said Skye with a huge smirk.

  ‘I’m just showing him my bedroom.’ She took Turner’s hand again, ‘Come on.’

  They met Brooke coming down the stairs.

  ‘You OK, Brooke?’ asked Ember.

  Turner saw a range of expressions cross Brook’s face. ‘Look, I’m …’ She stopped, and crossed her arms. ‘Nothing. Don’t worry about it.’ She hurried down the stairs.

  Ember stood watching her sister for a moment. She let out a deep sigh.

  They continued up the stairs. Half way along the landing Ember opened the door to her room. She bit her lip. This was the first time in her life she had ever had a man in her room. She knew Turner didn’t really need to see her room, but Ember felt she wanted to share this with him. Her space.

  Turner stepped into the room and looked around. Ember watched him take in the ancient wooden bookcases that lined the walls; they held hundreds of books.

  ‘Wow. You like reading, I see,’ he said.

  Ember spread her hands. ‘The world is wondrous and weird … and I mean to find out why.’

  Many of the books were old and well used, but Turner pointed to a fantasy trilogy. ‘Hey, I’ve read that. One of my all-time faves.’ He pointed to another. ‘And that, I’ve read that one too. Bit too heavy on the romance for my liking though.’

  Ember gave a little laugh. ‘I wonder if you and I have ever read the same book at the same time. You in London, me up here …’

  Turner cocked his head. ‘No wonder you like those romance books …’

  They both laughed then.

  A writing desk stood in front of a deep window, on which sat a small modern laptop. Ember’s large bed, unmade, took up most of the other side of the room.

  ‘It’s not what I expected,’ said Turner. ‘But in a good way. It’s like a cosy library. I was expecting lots of red I guess. Red walls, red bed, maybe some skulls …’

  Ember placed her hands on her hips. ‘Skulls?’

  ‘Well, maybe some candles? Hanging from the ceiling, or in those medieval candelabra things?’

  Ember stepped up to Turner. ‘Get this through your noggin,’ she tapped his forehead in time to her words. ‘We … are … not … witches.’

  Turner gave her lopsided grin. ‘Sorcerous women using ancient magical powers. Not witches. Yeah, I know.’

  Ember sat down on her bed and flopped back, her arms above her head. ‘Ugh. OK. If I’m a witch … that makes you a warlock, Mr Ellring.’

  Turner stood at the end of the bed. ‘Touché.’ Ember was aware of his gaze.

  He looked around again. ‘Plus you wouldn’t want candles in here. I’d hate to see your little library nook go up in flames. I like it. I really do.’

  Ember sat up. ‘Thanks, Turner.’ She gestured towards a child’s drawing on the wall beside the desk. ‘Look.’

  Turner took a step or two and looked at the picture, which had been framed and sat behind glass. It was a rough drawing of a girl with a stick arms and a triangle for a dress, standing next to what looked like a big cat with long, comical whiskers and a lightning bolt tail. The little girl’s arm stretched out to the cat.

  Ember stepped close and leant into Turner’s back. She could feel the heat of him.

  She pointed at the picture. ‘It’s me and our Ring. The jaguar. I drew it when I was about six or seven.’

  Turner’s body stiffened. ‘So that’s … that’s me and you then …’

  Ember didn’t know if she was making him uncomfortable, so she stepped back. Turner turned. He was breathing heavily, as was she. She lowered her eyes. ‘Yes. Me and you.’ She placed a hand on his chest, her eyes searching his. She could feel his need; it infused him. She swallowed. Her mouth was only inches from his. ‘I can feel what you’re feeling, Turner. I want—’

  ‘Ember!’ came Skye’s voice from the landing or stairs. ‘Are you coming to help with dinner? Or do you two need some more time?’ This was followed by a big laugh.

  Damn! Skye would probably come up next. Ember searched Turner’s eyes for a moment, ‘Guess we’d better go.’

  He let out his breath. ‘Yeah. OK.’

  Ember sighed, turned and walked to the door. So close!

  CHAPTER SIX

  TURNER LOVED THE sounds and smells of a busy kitchen. It reminded him of Christmas when he was young, of his Mother and Aunty May preparing the huge family feast, of knives chopping, pans clattering, and the way a kitchen was transformed by the aroma of garlic in oil, or the noise of a food processor.

  ‘How’s your salad going?’ asked Ember, who was stirring something at the stove.

  ‘Ha,’ said Turner, slowly cutting a small tomato. ‘Can’t really go wrong with just tomatoes, feta and lettuce, can you?’

  ‘You’ll be a gourmet chef soon,’ said Ember.

  Brooke stood on the other side of the small table, buttering slices of crusty bread. Until now she had hadn’t said much at all. ‘Like you, Em? That rice is a tricky gastronomic dish, isn’t it?’

  Ember didn’t say anything, but the piece of bread Brooke was buttering suddenly burst into flames.

  ‘Hey!’ said Brooke, batting out the little flames with another piece of bread.

  ‘You wanted toast, didn’t you?’ asked Ember over her shoulder.

  ‘Yeah. She’s wonderful at toast,’ said Brooke quietly, between clenched teeth. A thin wisp of dark smoke rose from the bread, and the smell of burnt toast filled the room.

  Turner laughed, which earned him a glare from Brooke. Jeez, there was no fun in this girl.

  Chloe entered the room. ‘Well it sounds like someone’s having fun.’ She held up a couple of bottles of wine. ‘Got the special stuff from the cellar.’ She placed the dusty bottles on the table.

  ‘Have Mother Torhild and Aunt Sigrid gone now?’ asked Ember.

  Chloe removed some wine glasses from a cupboard. ‘Yep. Celeste and I saw them off. They’re going to organise the Binding, and the High Vordene are going to start talking to the other Vordenes around the country, to let them know what’s happening.’

  The food prepared, everyone helped set the table in the sunroom, but this time its windows were dark and mirror-like.

  Turner looked around at the five sisters. ‘Your Aunt Lani not eating?’

  ‘I took her some food about twenty minutes ago,’ said Chloe. ‘Some crackers, fruit and cheese. She was sleeping, so I left it beside her bed. It’s been a big day for her.’

  The bottles of wine were opened and Celeste held up her glass of chardonnay. ‘A toast,’ she said loudly, and waited for everyone fall silent. ‘To Turner. Our Ring has come at last.’

  Turner noticed Ember’s smile. It seemed to say ‘Sorry you’ve gone through a couple of rough days, but hey, it’s not all bad.’ Well that’s what he hoped it was saying.

  There was a chorus of ‘To Turner’ and everyone took a sip.

  ‘Oh my God, I missed wine,’ said Skye.

  ‘Another toast,’ said Ember and held up her glass. ‘To Skye. Welcome back to our not-so-little-anymore sister.’

  ‘To Skye. To Skye.’

  Turner’s eye’s widened. A small rainbow had formed over the table, a shimmering arch of colour, its apex a foot above the heads of the diners. With child-like wonder, Turner reached out and placed his hand through it. As quickly as it had appeared, it dissipated. Turner looked around the table at the smiling sisters and saw they were smiling at him and his reaction to the rainbow.

  ‘Skye’s way of saying thank you,’ said Ember, and nudged his elbow with hers. ‘You can close your mouth now by the way.’

  Turner looked at Skye, who was smiling shyly.
‘Wow. I mean, wow. I know you girls don’t like the word, but that was magical. Thank you, Skye.’

  ‘That was nothing,’ said Brooke waiving a fork, ‘I can …’

  Celeste held up a hand. ‘Let’s leave anymore parlour tricks until after dinner, shall we? With Brooke’s little demonstrations someone always ends up wet.’

  Turner noticed Brooke stab at some tomato pieces. She kept her gaze on her plate and didn’t respond.

  ‘Yes,’ said Ember, taking a sip of wine, ‘and poor Turner here can’t afford to get wet. We weren’t able to get to his house to pick up any more clothes.’

  ‘Why don’t you take Turner shopping tomorrow Ember? London? Paris? Sydney?’ said Celeste.

  ‘Oh Paris! Can I come?’ said Skye.

  ‘I think just Ember and Turner this time, Skye,’ said Celeste, and gave Ember a small wink.

  ‘What about that thing that’s after Turner?’ asked Chloe.

  ‘Damn, forgot about that. Maybe we should stick together. Or Em and Turner could just take a quick trip to London perhaps?’

  Turner frowned slightly. ‘You girls don’t have a private jet, do you? So I take it you’re talking about your holy well tube?’

  Celeste nodded. ‘We can go to any other spring anywhere. Even if it’s just to Paris to buy up big on clothes and handbags.’

  Turner waved a fork. ‘But you can’t just appear in the middle of Paris or wherever, next to a spring or well. People would see you.’

  ‘We know of hundreds of hidden springs,’ said Celeste, ‘where we can appear without being seen. Plus, if we feel anyone at the other end, we just don’t go.’

  ‘The transporter beams canna work, Captain,’ said Turner.

  In answer to Celeste’s raised eyebrows, Ember placed her hand on Turner’s shoulder and said, ‘He’s a nerd.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Celeste and returned to her meal.

  Turner smiled. He was thinking about transporter beams and what you could do with them. You could zip into bank vaults and escape with gold ingots, for instance. ‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask. Where do you guys get your money?’