2 2. The Tragic Backstory

"Tell me."

Rowan was fixated on Davinity as if to double-check that she heard correctly. She pretended to act shocked, but they both knew that she would have wanted to hear more from the beginning. Rowan was a witch. Most people didn't know this because the King and Queen feared magic. It was outside of what they knew, therefore it was bad.

Rowan and Davey had been best friends since they were five. Davey met her when she was out walking through the city during a rainy day with her nanny, and Rowan threw a handful of thick, red, mud at her head. Davey was covered and crying and all Rowan could do was laugh. When Rowan's mother, Esmerelda, had noticed what her daughter had done she ran over to apologize and help get her cleaned up. Before she could reach the princess, however, Davey picked up some of the fresh mud off of the ground and slung it back at Rowan. Rowan let out a shriek of joy and ran behind a potted plant.

Esmerelda stepped between the girls as to prevent any more mud throwing and invited the princess and her nanny into their home down the road. The nanny agreed but told Esmerelda that if it was alright with her, she was going to leave Davey with them for a bit so that she could return to the castle and retrieve a clean dress for the princess. Esmerelda willingly agreed and her and the girls started to head toward their home.

Davey didn't know why, but her memory of this event once they actually arrived at Rowan's house was very cloudy. She remembers the house had colorful stones paved into it among the basic grey ones. She also remembered a fireplace to the left of the room when you first walked into the old wooden door of the house. Other than that she remembers her nanny coming back and putting her least favorite gown on her. Then she recalls there being shouting from downstairs between her nanny and Esmerelda. Rowan was trying to cover her ears and distract her with cool rocks and books and dolls, but even through all of that, she learned three new words. 'Witch, Magic, and another one that she was told she wasn't allowed to repeat'

She remembered seeing the fear in Rowan's eyes after hearing them yell, but she kept it together to keep Davey with her. After that, Davey must have fallen asleep because she has no memory of seeing Esmerelda again or leaving their house.

After that Davey and Rowan would meet in the palace gardens, the baker's shop, the candy store, the old treehouse on the hill. And every time she saw her, Rowan would show her something no one else knew. Magic. Her mother was teaching her witchcraft and what she was showing Davey, was making her realize that magic isn't always used for bad. She would make rocks float, make Davey speak with a foreign tongue, and she even-whether it was on purpose or not-turned both of them into mice for a day. Rowan was the girl who gave Davey her nickname. She said it was after the fearless pirate 'Davey Jones', and because it just sounds like 'Davinity'. The name just stuck.

All of this went on till the girls were about ten until one night Davey woke up to a loud siren echoing through the city. It was the fire sirens. She looked out of her balcony window that overlooked the city and saw that it was Rowan's house. The building was engulfed in bright blue flames. Horrified, Davey rushed to her parents' room frantically. She tried to explain that it was her best friend's home, but they couldn't understand anything she was saying through her terrified sobs. Instead, she pulled them to the closest window and showed them. They looked just as scared as Davey. After all, fire isn't supposed to be an electric color of blue. They didn't want to take their daughter anywhere near the scene in case the fire was toxic in any way or to see if her friend had even survived.

After a moment of thought, they ordered a vehicle to take them towards the scene. They ordered Davey to stay there and said that they would return as soon as they knew anything. Davey didn't go back to sleep that night. She just silently looked out her window and watched all of the failed attempts to put out the fire. She watched the sun slowly rise up over the mountains in the horizons. She watched it slowly light up the city, but she didn't care.

Hours later there was a light knock at her bedroom door. It opened to reveal Rowan, standing in a big grey t-shirt, fuzzy purple pajama pants, and holding a stuffed animal that looked like a hand-sewn attempt at a bear. Her eyes were red and puffy, she didn't say a word, she just walked in and laid on the giant pastel green bean bag in the corner of the room. She laid facing the wall. All Davey wanted to do was run to her and give her a hug, but before she could her parents pulled her into the hallway and shut the door.

Her mother spoke in a softer tone than what she usually spoke in," We need you to give her her space. Rowan will be staying with us until further notice." Davey spoke with an innocence to her voice," Why? Her mom doesn't like her staying at other places. She's afraid she's going to get hurt." The was a few seconds of silence and then horror struck across Davey's face. Suddenly it all came together. Why Rowan was not speaking, why she was at the palace, why her parents pulled her out of her room. "No.", it was all she could say. "Davinity, if you could just listen for a moment." Tears started streaming down her face. "No! No! Please, no. She can't be dead. She can't be! What about Rowan? No!"

The conversation went on for what felt like hours. She couldn't believe it. Esmeralda was dead. Her best friend in the whole world was an orphan. Her best friend was laying on a bean bag in her bedroom because she's trying to process that her mother isn't coming back. Her house, her only family, and all of her life had just burned to the ground before her eyes.

The process was long. There were days that all Rowan could do was stare at a wall. However, slowly but surely, Rowan was healing. She continued to do what she loved, witchcraft, but in more secret than before. She was getting stronger. She knew it, Davey knew it, and one other person knew it. Rowan continued to practice bigger and stronger spells, and it eventually led the girls to today.

Rowan was standing before Davey saying that her magic could get Davey a spot on the Board of Guards. This was something Davey had been trying to get her parents to do for her for years. If somehow, Davey could get as much information out of this spell as Rowan was bargaining, then there was no way her parents could deny her anymore. There, however, was one problem. Rowan had told Davey she could get her put on the board before but has yet to be successful. For some reason, this time felt different. It felt like there was infinite confidence behind every word she was saying. She needed to hear this plan. So she listened as Rowan started to explain this intricate spell and what they needed to do alongside it to get it to work.