In the previous episode, Clara believed she had paid the right price for her love’s life. Now she doesn’t seem so sure; she becomes a conflicted soul… Lauren Kirk-Cohen continues to take us through that journey of the unknown. What are we worth? What is the true value of our love?

...Continues from The Price of Life I

I am dimly aware of falling to my knees as Eric rushes forward. My head spins; I think I’m about to be sick. I was supposed to pay the price – me, not them. My vision blurs as Eric puts his hands to his parents’ clammy foreheads. He turns back to me and I cringe away, expecting to see hatred in his eyes for what I have done.

I see only desperation. “Clara,” he whispers. “What do we do?”

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. Eric turns back, shaking, to his parents. A single tear drips down his nose.

“I’ll go back,” I say, and I hear my voice as though it comes from the other end of a long tunnel. “I’ll go back and make the sorceress put it right. Don’t worry, I’ll fix this.” I put my hand on Eric's shoulder, and am surprised when he doesn’t shrug it off. He loves me more than I deserve.

I am torn for a moment, not wanting to leave Eric alone to deal with this, but I realise that I can do no more good sitting helplessly by his parents’ beds than I did sitting helplessly by his. “I’ll be back,” I get out. “I’ll fix it, I promise.”

I stumble out of the room, infinitely grateful that the ‘I told you so’ I have been dreading never comes.

My pace steadies as I walk down the road. I’ll just get to the sorceress and tell her to clean up this mess. It’ll be fine. I’m not doing a very good job of convincing myself.

I glance at the closed doors on either side of me. Suddenly gripped with new fear, I press my nose up to the closest glass pane. My knees nearly buckle. I can only see two members of the family, but both of them are on the ground, sweating and coughing.

It’s not just Eric's parents. It’s the whole town. For all I know, it could be the whole world.

Somehow, I find myself on a horse, galloping as fast as I can away from the scene of nightmare. I don’t stop at night, but slow to a walk, not wanting to run into a hole and break the horse’s leg. It is only then that I hear the steady hoof beats behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see a familiar figure.

Eric, what are you doing?” I hiss. “You should be caring for your parents!”

“There’s nothing I can do for them,” he says. “We both know it. Our only chance is to persuade the sorceress to help us.” 

“You can’t come, it’s too dangerous… ”

“Clara, our whole town is dying because of me ... ”

“No,” I say emphatically. “I went to her, I got the magic, I agreed to pay the price, I gave you the cure, even though you asked me not to. This is my fault, not yours.”

“If it wasn’t for me, this wouldn’t have happened,” he says firmly. “I’m coming with you.”

I desperately want to dissuade him, but I can see it’s not going to happen, and we are wasting valuable time. “Then hurry up,” I say, breaking into a trot.

Dawn is just breaking by the time we get to the sorceress’s home. I wish I knew her name, wish I knew who to demand justice from, but sorceresses never give their names; for one with magic, to know their name is to have power over them. I sigh in relief as I see other people wandering about picking fresh herbs in the early morning; at least the destruction I have brought seems limited to my village.

I don’t knock timidly this time, but barge into her small cabin, Eric right behind me. “What have you done!” I shout.

She is sitting in her chair, waiting for me. “It is you who have done it,” she says calmly. “I warned you there would be a price.”

“I price for me to pay! Not my village!”

“I cannot tell who the magic will choose. No one can.”

“But it always chooses the person getting the magic,” I say. “Why not me? It’s supposed to be me! Undo it, now.”

“I cannot. Only you can,” the sorceress says.

“Tell me how,” I say at once.

“To undo what has been done, you must take back what you have done. Take back the cure from the one you saved, and your village will be cured.”

“But… but if I take the cure back from Eric, he’ll die.”

“Yes,” she says softly.

“No,” I whisper. My eyes meet Eric's, and his mimic the horror in mine. If we are to undo the harm I have caused, Eric will have to die.

Continues...

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