Blood of Thorns

Marion still could not understand why her powers had not shown up in her yet. Her grandmother was one of the most powerful wizards that she has ever known, and her mother had learned all that she knew from Maleficent, but with all of those magic powers running in her family had not passed down to her quite yet.

Maybe she took on her father’s non-magic genes? She did not mind that she did not have any sign of powers yet, but she knew that her grandmother would be disappointed in her. She was sixteen for fairy’s sake, well past the age that magic appears!

“Marion!” The girl snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her cousin who looked at her with confusion with a hint of frustration. “Did you even hear me?” Merlin had seated himself on the foot of her bed once he knew that she was finished changing out of her night clothes and into more appropriate clothing. “I said that we should go see her. Maybe she’ll be willing to answer our questions.”

She nodded. “Wait, what questions Merlin?” Marion placed herself across from her cousin, closer to her pillows. Crovus was staring at her from her pillow, where he had made himself comfortable as he did most mornings. She was pulling a silver handled hair brush through her tangled mess that she called her hair as she waited for Merlin to answer her question.

“Well,” he began. “You’ve always wondered why you haven’t gotten your powers yet, right?” She nodded her head slightly. “I’m quite certain she can answer why. And then you won’t have to sit and wonder why anymore, as you have done many times in the past. And maybe she will know where your mother is. I have overheard you worrying about both her and your father.”

“I suppose,” was all Marion could muster. Her father still has not come back from his most recent trip after gathering some new information about her mother’s whereabouts. The last time that he was gone, she was waiting for him to come back for three months; every single day her thoughts went out to him, hoping that he would come home safely. She begged him not to leave this last time, but he would not listen; he was so close to finding her that he could almost feel her in his arms again. Marion knew she could not change his mind.


“Papa, where are we?” Marion had fallen asleep in her father’s arms as soon as they set out through the forest. Her surroundings were not of a forest, but of a village, will a tall dark castle looming in the distance. Villagers shuffled past the pair quickly, not making eye contact with either of them. The forest trees grew far above the houses; it was as though the village was built to be kept a secret from outsiders. The two were not outsiders though. Her father knew about the village, and of the queen that ruled the land. “Can I walk now? My legs hurt.”

“Stay close.”

Marion pushed her hand into her dad’s rough, sweaty hands. She was determined not to get lost in the strange town; her father was already worried about her mother, so she did not want to worry him further by having to look for her. The young child had never seen such a large village before; the one that she lived in only took half a day by foot to get from the east side to the west side. If she looked to the left or to the right in this new place, she could not see any signs of the wall that surrounded them, keeping them safe from what creatures lie in the deep forest.

They walked in silence, the castle getting closer as the day went on. “Are we going to the castle Papa? Because I’ve never been to a castle before!”

Her excitement grew and grew as they approached the tall wooden doors, guarded by two guards on either side, swords hanging down from their waist belts. But they did not try to stop the two. It was as if they knew who they were and that they were coming. They simply opened the door and shut it as soon as they stepped into the entryway.

“My son,” a cool voice echoed throughout the room. Marion stood behind her father, scared at who the voice could belong to. Was it an evil witch? A terrifying queen? Whoever it was, she did not sound friendly. “And my young Marion… my sweet granddaughter.”

A tall figure came into Marion’s view. It was a woman. The only color that she wore was black, from her head to her toes. Her hair was hidden underneath a horned hat. A crow sat on her shoulder, staring at them with its piercing yellow eyes. “I have heard the news.”

Her father stepped closer to the woman and gently embraced her. If the woman called Marion her granddaughter, then that must mean that she was her grandmother. Was her grandmother a queen?

“Are you a queen?” The question flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. Marion clasped her mouth shut with her hands and sheepishly looked away from the woman. But the woman was not mad. She merely chuckled as she bent down in front of her, staring deep into Marion’s innocent eyes. “I’ve never met a queen before! I mean, we had one, but I’ve never seen her before. I heard she was lovely though…”

The woman nodded. “”I am, my child. I am Maleficent - your grandmother,” the woman replied. “I know magic just as your mother does. In fact, she learned all of her magic from me.”

Marion gasped. “Does that mean that I will have magic too?” It was something that she always dreamed of, ever since she had first seen her mother perform a spell. All she could do was wonder what kind of magic she would have. The power of lightning? Or of the Earth below? Or maybe she could have control of all the water in the world. The possibilities were endless in the eyes of a young child.

But before Maleficent could answer her daydreaming granddaughter, Marion’s father spoke up. “I have to go back… to see if Milena made it.”

Maleficent stood and faced him. “I shall watch over Marion, but know that you will always have a home here. Come back safely.”

Marion’s father did not say a word as he pulled her into a hug, muttering “I love you” before leaving her behind for the very first time.


“Do you think I will have fire magic like my mother has? Or maybe something different?” Marion could not stop asking Merlin questions as they wandered down the long hallways of the castle that they had grown up in. She did not give him enough time to answer her previous question before she asked another.

“Well whatever it is, you better get it soon because I am sick of hearing about it!” Merlin sighed, crossing his arms in front of him. They had already checked Maleficent’s bedroom, but she had already left. The next place that they were going to look was the dining hall (and not because they were hungry); the queen never skipped a hearty breakfast served by her loyal cooks who could cook anything in the entire world. There was nothing that the pair could think of that they could not make.

But before they could make it to the dining hall, four guards rushed past them, barely missing the two. Marion and Merlin looked at each other before running after them. They turned into the dining hall, right where the guards had come in. On the end of the table, hunched over with a spoon in her hand, was Maleficent. The soup that she had been eating was thrown to the floor, but not a single maid cleaned it up; they were busy focused on the health of the queen before them.

“Grandmother!” Marion yelled as she ran to her side. The woman’s face was pale and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. “What happened?”

“We think she was poisoned, ma’am.”

“We would never do such a thing!” exclaimed one of the cooks. The three women looked flustered. One of them had tears streaming down her face. Marion knew that they were not lying; they were the most loyal servants that she had ever known.

“Bring her to her room,” Marion ordered two of the guards. While her grandmother was sick, Marion would have to take on the role of acting queen… at least until she was told otherwise for she was the heir to the throne. “And call for the doctor. Tell him it is an emergency.”