Chapter 15: Threads that Suffocate

Rose and Lillian burst into Jasmine's work station in a flash of light and rolled on the ground.

"Rose." Jasmine startled awake from the mountain of a dress on her table, almost burying her and rushed to the both of them.

Lillian laid on Rose's chest, gasping for breath as she pulled herself off and tried to stand up, instead she looked like a newborn giraffe trying to walk for the first time.

"Are you ok?" Jasmine pulled Rose up from the ground.

"I'm fine. It's the both of you that need to be looked after. What am I, your babysitter?" Rose complained as Lillian kept struggling to stand up, knocking all the fabric hanging on the wall down, still gasping.

Jasmine tried to get to Lillian but she was struggling too much that she couldn't get near her. Her face was turning purple with every gasp she took and her eyes looked crazed.

"Rose. Move away." Jasmine shouted, summoning the treads in her fingertips and twisted around Lillian's arms, legs and torso, to prevent her from moving anymore.

Unable to move anymore, Lillian continued to struggle; convulsing crazily.

"What happened to her?" Jasmine asked, looking into Lillian's empty eyes. She traced her fingers from her eyes to her neck, feeling something wrapped tightly there.

"I don't know. But I grabbed her from the Duke. He was crushing her in his hands."

"He placed a spell on her. It's incredibly powerful for such a simple spell. Let me see if I can just-" Jasmine tried to break it but it wouldn't break, Lillian was slowly losing consciousness. "It's not working, Rose. Let me just try this."

Jasmine used her threads to get between Lillian and whatever was suffocating her, forming a barrier between her neck and the thing. The moment she did that, Lillian gasped trying to take in as much air as her lungs would allow her.

"You did it. Good job." Rose congratulated Jasmine from where she stood behind her.

"Lillian, are you ok?" Jasmine lowered her, retracting the threads, except the ones around her neck.

"Yeah." Lillian coughed out, touching the threads around her neck. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. It's still there and I don't know how to remove it. This is like the dress all over again." Jasmine collapsed onto the chair while Lillian tried to gain her composure on the floor.

"What did you find?" Rose asked her, pulling up another chair.

"The thing is, the Duke specializes in casting spells. He cast one on the dress. If Lillian had taken the dress then she would have been disintegrated before she even made it there."

"How's that possible? You're telling me that he influence the magic of the Old Sage?" Rose asked, disbelief in her voice.

"The spell on the dress, I was able to break it but not the one on Lillian's neck. It's like he's getting more powerful as the minutes passed."

"What kind of magic user is he?" Lillian asked from the floor, still rubbing her neck and the threads there.

"Spell Caster. They fall in the category of Magic Holders. Using the magic they gathered in them and casting spells to manipulate what the magic can do. They don't tend to be very powerful though, I can break it in just like that." Jasmine snapped her fingers in frustration. "But it's not working now and I am a tad bit worried."

"I need to ask, is it possible for Spell Casters to make their magic more powerful through … I don't know, their unborn child?" Lillian asked, trying to sound as nonchalantly as possible.

Rose and Jasmine looked at each other like they were silently communicating with each other. Then turned to her, giving a sheepish smile.

"There is, isn't there?" Lillian asked sighing. "What's the spell about?"

"If I remember correctly, it's a forbidden spell." Jasmine began, walking to a shelf of books at the back of the room. She took a book out and flipped through the pages.

"Yup. I was right." She walked back to them with the book in hand, placing it on the table, next to the dress. She pointed to words written in an entirely different language.

Lillian only stared at the pictures intently because that's all she can understand from the remaining gibberish while Rose and Jasmine read the letters there, with interest.

"Uh. Could you read them out?" Lillian asked, nervously, "I can't … read."

"This is a forbidden spell because it bounds both mother and child. The caster's magic will grow with every child's birth and death."

"Wait, Wait, Wait. You mean that every child she gives birth to, he'll kill?"

"No. It means that every child that is born of their blood will carry enormous magic but they'll die before they can even turn one year old. Because their little bodies will not be able to handle the magic contained in them. When they die, the caster gets that magic." Jasmine explained sadly.

"No way is that son of a b***h doing this. He wouldn't. Of everything else, everyone knows that he loves his wife." Rose said trying to keep the anger in her voice down.

"People can get desperate," Lillian said, grabbing the dress from the table. "You took care of this right, Jasmine?"

"Yes. But, Lillian, shouldn't you consider it a little bit? From the way his power feels, the Duchess is close to labour and with that thing still around your neck, you might not survive there." Jasmine tried to reason with her.

"Even so, she made a wish to me, right? I'm her Fairy Godmother now and I have to try what I can for her. You should see how she looks at the unborn child, and how protective she is of it. I want to do what I can to stop him." Lillian replied, getting out of her clothes.

"But, Lillian. No one knows how to break this spell, you're just going to go in recklessly?" Rose asked, her eyes still on the pages.

"What do I do then? Sitting around isn't going to do anything. Maybe Roman might know something. I have to hurry, she did look like she was going to go into labour any time soon when I last saw her." She wore the dress on and was doing the buttons as she spoke. "Were there always buttons? I remember being able to wear this without any problems before."

"Oh, I added the buttons. Zippers didn't really match the dress that much, and I changed some designs too." Jasmine smiled as both of them stared at her.

"You had the time to do all that while still breaking the spell?" Lillian furrowed her brows at her.

"Yeah. I couldn't let it be. Rose knows how I can get."

"Yeah, boy, do I know it. She stayed up for a week once because she couldn't cut a straight line for the innerwear of a period drama." Rose shook her head at that memory.

"It's for a movie and you have to be as historically accurate as you can, otherwise, what's the point?" Jasmine argued back, getting passionate about this topic.

"Lillian, you know that when you go back in this dress, we won't be able to help you in any way right? We'll not be able to interfere with the way the story progresses, only you will." Rose said, helping her with the buttons in her back.

"Yeah. I know. Both of you have been a great help so far, so thank you so much. If I make it out alive, Jasmine has to make me a dress from the fifties." Lillian pointed to her.

"And if you die?" Jasmine asked back.

"Just hope I don't die," Lillian said just as Rose looped the last button into the hole. "See ya'll later."

Lillian disappeared in a flash, leaving the two to stare at where she stood.

"Think she'll make it out alive?" Rose asked.

"Wanna bet?" Jasmine looked at her from the corner of her eyes, playfully.

"Sure. Let's make a bet. I say she'll come back bloodied and bruised." Rose held her hand out.

"Well, I say she'll be alright, with only a few bruises. She's got a relatively good head on her shoulders, sometimes."

They shook hands with this bet, unbeknownst to Lillian who was dreaming of the dress Jasmine was going to make for her as she arrived back to the palace, only to run into the Duchess, Roman and the Duke.

Well, Sh*t.

"Lady Lillian!" Margaret ran to her as fast as the belly will allow her to. She took her face in her hands and inspected her.

"You're alright. I'm so glad." She hugged her tightly, sobbing. "I'm sorry. I'm just an emotional mess today."

Lillian and the Duke made eye contact, neither turning their gaze away.

"It's ok, Duchess." She patted her back, still looking at the Duke, who smiled at her with an annoyed air to him.

Roman looked at both of them, he too is very tense. Just then the Duchess cried out.

Her water broke.

"Are you going into labour, love?" The Duke walked to her in slow controlled steps.

In a swift motion, Lillian pulled her behind her but he snapped his fingers and she felt the threads around her neck break, the grip tightening itself again as she fell to the ground, coughing.

"Lady Lillian?" Margaret looked at her collapse while she was in pain.

"Geno. Stop it. You're going to kill her." Roman called to him, sword in hand.

The duke looked at him with a sinister smile. "That's my intention. You see, she isn't a normal human, she's from the enemy kingdom, sent to take you down." He snapped his fingers again, the grip tightened and Lillian shook as she tried to get air to her lungs.

"Geno! Stop it." Margaret shouted, holding a knife to her stomach, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Ok. Ok." He loosened the grip around Lillian's throat, allowing her to gasp for air, a cocky smile on his face. "Calm down. Ok, darling?"

"I-I'm sick of this. I won't cover for you anymore nor will I ever be a part of this." She raised her hands to stab herself but she couldn't move, dropping the knife right beside Lillian's cheek.

The hell??? I almost got stabbed.

Lillian's face was calm but her heart was anything but calm especially when the Duke started to laugh.

"I knew you found out about something, I didn't expect it to be this one. Didn't you say that you wanted a child of your own? And you want to kill it now? Are you crazy?" He shouted at her.

Where's this useless Kin-

Lillian spotted a frog hopping on the ground.

No way. No way. When did that happen?

Loud laughter filled the room as he made his way to the both of them, snapping his fingers again and he threw Lillian across the room.

"Lady Lillian!" Margaret tried to make her way to her but she couldn't move and the pain coursing through her body as she trembled. The Duke grabbed her face and made her look at him.

"W-What happened to you? Why are you like this suddenly?" She cried to him, pain pricking her entire body.

"I've always been like this, honey. I just needed someone to fall for it." He grinned at her. "Even if you lose this child, you'll have more. Even if you escape, any child you have will make me grow in power. You'll never escape me. I'll soon become the most powerful person in this kingdom and I wouldn't have to lift a finger for it." He called for the doctor he brought. "She's in labour. Please take her to the room."

"Of course Duke Geno. Please come with me, Duchess."

Margaret was too weak and in too much pain to refuse so she followed him, one step at a time while the doctor guided her gently.

Lillian gripped her neck as she stood up against the pillar. She looked at the Duke smiling triumphantly as the Duchess and the doctor made their way to a sofa at the side.

Taking in a deep breath as she and the Duchess made eye contact, she summoned the magic she had, spreading it all around the room as it swirled around the Duchess and said, with a soft melodic voice, "You have been trialled. Judgment shall commence, now."