Elspeth- The Unwanted Princess

Ancient Magic?

Elspeth was in awe of what Owen had revealed. How did Levi talk their mother into giving her a piece of her dowery? She was certain her mother hated her and didnt want her to have anything she was entitled to. So she must have done something, like a spell swap, to pass the exam then. That was the only explanation she cohld think of. Plus finding out how much power her mother had was a bit intimidating.

"Well that went better than I expected" Elspeth commented out loud to nobody in particular. Levi shrugged and responded, "I wasnt worried, but I am suprised about our hearts age."

"I thought you knew all of moms secrets."

"I wish, mom might trust me, but unfortunatly it is all too evident that anything with our family history is on a need to know basis." Levi chuckled in response.

...............

Owen knew that Janet was ruthless and there was no way she would allow that kind of power out of her grasp. As curious as he was on how Elspeth managed to get something so powerful passed down, he knew it was irrellivant to his job. He would have to inform the magical council that Janet was hiding a lot more than they anticipated from them though. As he dialed up the Windbreak he uneasily waited for their coven leader to answer.

"Hello Owen, did they pass? Please tell me we have a reason to start a war with that wench Queen Janet." Liam his boss had been waiting for something to take down Earth City ever since Janet broke his heart so many years ago.

"Uhh sorry sir, but it passed."

"Well s**t, guess shes actually did a good swap spell thinking you wouldnt retest at the village"

"I suppose its possible, but sire thats not why I am calling. Either shes got a lot of trust in her kids or they did something shes not aware of."

"Not sure I am understanding you Owen, speak plainly."

"Liam, Earth City has a hear over two thousand years old. The power emmanating from that is beyond anything I have ever felt in all my years of doing this." Liam gasped at the revelation and tried to put his shock aside as he managed to get a million ideas of how they could replicate this power for all the covens of the world.

"You know thats impossible though. All of the ancient magic has been lost after the shifter wars. If this is real we NEED to get branch out to all of the covens. We havent had access to the ancients magic for centuries!"

"Its the real deal boss. I am sure of it. I could almost hear the ancient magic talking to me from it. Phenominal experience."

"Well I doubt Janet would allow even a piece of that to go out of her precious city. We definetly need to retest the validity before they enter Tiger clan." Liam responded calmly.

"I will call ahead to Ashton and let him know the findings."

..................

Ashton sat with his Grandfather in nervous anticipation of Elspeths arrival. He always was a good son and did what was best for the clan, but he was worried that perhaps he was making a mistake trying to over power Earth City economically. They destroyed his village so long ago it was practically lost from history, but he was intent on keeping the memory alive. Just as he let out a deep sigh his phone rang, it was Owen reporting his findings.

"Owen! I didnt think you would ever call! How did it go?"

"Well sir, It went well. The heart was real, but I do need to report that Janets been hiding the amount of power they have. The heart is over two thousand years old!"

"Wait, Werent all the ancients destroyed?"

"It is what we thought yes, but apparently Earth City was not as implied. This can make things quite dicey for the clan if you have access to that kind of power. I have a feeling Janet was not in the loop and has no idea that her secret is out. There is no way she would allow that to be known to anyone. Especially another witch. You need to be careful and guard it our another war could break out Ashton."

"I will keep that in mind Owen. Take care of my aunt will you. Let her know we miss her a lot. You both should come visit the family again. Perhaps for the wedding?" Ashton slyly snuck in the invitation to his Uncle in-law.

"We wouldnt miss it for the world." Owen laughed at his nephews eagerness to visit. Still the same old Ash. Now all he had to do was retest the heart before entry to Tiger Clan. Hopefully things went well on the journey.

...................

As Elspeth was sitting in the backseat with Levi She started to drift off to sleep. Once again she felt the dream relm shift as the same door appeared after recieving the pendant Jade Key. She opened the door of light and was greeted by Dion.

Hello my child, It seems you are having trouble accepting whats going on?

"I dont think it is that. More of a disbelief that I am finally out of that toxic household."

Good, When you get to Tiger clan you need to do the ritual tasked to you immediately. The sooner you are mated to Ashton the better. There are people in this world that wish to take your power from you.

"What power?"

You have inherited a precious gift and there are those in the world that would wish to take it while its not yet bonded to your new family. The sooner your bonded the better. They cant take it from you and claim it.

"The coven heart?"

Yes, many dark witches want ancient magic to access spells lost to time. You must keep that away from them.

"What happens if I dont do the ritual right away?"

Waiting to do the ritual can cause your family harm. I may not be able to tell you what or why, but it is important you dont dally in that department.

"Ok so bond with the heart when I get to Tiger clan. I can do that no problem."

Ahh I see, you are confidet. Thats a good quality. Dion was chuckling at Elspeth. You are going to need to use that key along with a spell to get your husband bonded with you. I will give you the exact words the day you need them. Most likely you will start with Ashton and his Grandfather before we bring the whole pack in for a crash intro.

"Alright I will trust you" Elspeth felt content with Dions statement. You must rest my child, now sleep......sleep

Elspeth awoke to Levi gently tapping her shoulder.

"Are we there yet?"

"We should be there in a few minutes. Owen said that we need to retest the heart before entry to Tiger clan to ensure that it is still real."

Elspeth was instantly awake now "But I thought we only had to do it once!"

Levi looked incredibley confident about the situation though. "Dont worry sis, it will pass I am sure of it."

"I just assumed mom did a swap spell, so I hipe you are right."

"Even if she did she would ensure it was a multilayered one so it wouldnt swap for a min of 24hrs. So dont stress about it." This reassured her that things would pass, but also made Elspeth uneasy. Ashtons family might find out later, but wait Dion told her to use the key to bond with Ashton. That must mean she did have a real coven heart. But how?

Just as before Owen performed the same ritual and chant and came to the same conclusion as previously. Thankfully it all went well and Tiger Clan allowed them to enter the premises. It was eerily quiet though causing Elspeth to grab her rune bag out of habit. Whenever something felt off she resorted to a reading to verify the wrong. As the car crept down the path to Tiger clan there was a small bridge that ran over one of the creeks that branched from a canal. Elspeth pulled the first rune that read 'danger' and just as she yelled at the driver to stop. A massive blast sounded right before they could drive over the bridge. It knocked the car off its trajectory causing it to flip on its side.

Levi had manage to throw a small protection spell around both himself and his sister just in time to deflect the shattering glass and falling debri from the blastwave.

With ringing in her ears and completely disoriented Elspeth drug herself out of the broken windows of the SUV and helped her brother out as well. She didnt hear the attackers rifling through the car looking for the safe that Levi kept the heart in.

Levi however knew what they were being attacked for and immediatly looked for his phone to inform his mother about the attack. Suddenly he realised she wouldnt know about what he did yet so he decided to call Tiger Clan. He was given the Covingtons family number for emergencies and THIS most definetly qualified. Thankfully Ashton picked up immediatly

"Whats going on we hear and saw a huge explosion! Is Elspeth hurt?"

"We are under attack someone stealing the coven heart. My sister is fine. I sheilded her from the brunt of everything. We need assistance though medical first." With that Levi hung up and kept his sister in a tight hold.

"Stay with me!" He guided her to the edge of the burning bridge and gave her his jacket. "Wait here for help"

Elspeth was still in shock and not sure what she could do to help so the runes she stil was clutching in her pocket was what she reffered to. They told her to stay as well.

When Levi looked in the front of the SUV he saw Owen was pinned by a guardrail piece to the seat he was in. It had went through his shoulder and was probably the only thing keeping him alive.

"Who did you call?" Levi shouted at him

"I....dont know......what....your talking about...." He rasped ragedly

With his anger hightening his magical senses he could feel how close the metal was to Owens major arteries so he decided to use that

"I SAID WHO DID YOU CALĹ!!!" He shouted as he tugged the metal through Owens shoulder and motioned his intent

"LIAM! His name is Liam! I didnt know he would attack tonight he didnt even tell me!" Owen was nearly passed out before but the gut wrenching pain of moving metal ignited his adreneline again.

As quickly as the attack had happened it was already over. Levi saw the safe he had brought raided and proceeded to check the contents. It was empty. He went to check the back up and saw it was open too. By this time emergemcy vehicles wre on the scene and tending to everyones wounds quickly and efficiently. Thankfully Levi and Elspeth were completely unhurt beyond bumps and bruises. He really did well with protection spells and Elspeth was thankful he was there tonight.

Ashton was directing everyone and had an alternate route planned to return to the clan. He was livid. It hadnt even been one day and someone had already tried to kill his future wife, but why?

"Owens on his way to the hospital, the driver didnt make it." One of the emergemcy crews stated.

Levid sneered "The wrong person died then because this is Owens fault."

"Wait a minute we will do a thourough investigation before condemning anyone especially a family friend." Ashton replied.

" Ask him who Liam is then." Levi stated coldly.

That name seemed to cause a pause, but not long. "I will. thank you Levi. I hope nothing to valuable was taken?"

"Lets get everything back to your home and we will find out then. I need a drink after that fiasco of a welcom party." was all Levi could manage for now.