Archon's Hope: Book III of 'The Magician's Brother' Series

by HDA Roberts

  "That wasn't nice," Hopkins said after telling the rest of the class to head for the auditorium.

  "I'm in a mood," I replied.

  "Hormones kicking in again?" she asked sweetly.

  "Can we go back to not talking? I miss it."

  She stuck out her tongue at me, and a mortified look crossed her face as she remembered the decorum she was supposed to be projecting as a teacher.

  "Ha ha, made you forget you're supposed to be better than me," I whispered.

  "I will throttle you in your sleep!"

  "My response remains the same as the last time you said that."

  "Just for that, I'm not going to get you out of this," she said, turning and walking away.

  "Hi," said a voice behind me, I turned to see three of the young women from Audacity's entourage standing very close to me. One was curling her hair around a finger, another was biting her lip, and the third was squirming like there was a small ant colony in her underwear (I speak from experience on that last one, very bad camping trip, don't want to talk about it), "I like your eyes."

  "Magical accident," I said self-consciously, rubbing the back of my head.

  She seemed taken aback, but then she smiled, quite a nice look, actually...

  Wait a minute.

  I cocked my head a little. I knew that smile. I recast Mage Sight.

  "You're quite a bit taller since the last I saw you three," I said, smiling.

  And suddenly the women vanished, and there were three Pixies flying around my head. Completely invisible to everyone without Mage Sight, I might add. How had I missed them? I'd cast Mage Sight earlier on in the proceedings. I suppose I was focussed on Audacity, but still, that was sloppy of me.

  "I told you we wouldn't fool him!" said one

  "No you didn't!" said another.

  "Yes I did!"

  I couldn't keep track of who was saying what, they were darting about too quickly. Suddenly there was one sitting on my shoulder and another on my head, her legs swinging over the side, her tiny feet perched on my ear like a foot rest, their wings folded up into their backs, I assume, because they'd vanished. The third landed on my arm, and I brought it up instinctively; suddenly I was cradling her.

  They all looked much better, skin healthy and a little flushed, their hair curled and styled with flowers wound into them; their dresses looked freshly made, the leaves green and alive.

  "What brings you three by?" I asked.

  "We were on our way home from a trip and we wanted to see you," said the one on my arm with a yawn. She grabbed onto my jacket, curled up, nuzzled in closer to me and abruptly fell asleep. She started snoring adorably within a few seconds, which left me scratching my head.

  "Don't mind Melody," said the one on my head, "she's forever looking for a comfortable place to nap."

  "Who isn't?" I said with a smile.

  The other two giggled, it was quite possibly the cutest sound I'd ever heard.

  "I'm Mathew," I said, "I never heard your names."

  "I'm Jewel," she said, and then patted the head of the pixie on my shoulder, "and this is Meadow."

  "Nice to meet you properly," I said.

  "We just wanted to say thank you for what you did for us," Jewel said, "and to tell you that we've missed you."

  "Very much," Meadow said, wrapping her little arms around my ear.

  "Very much," Jewel agreed.

  "That's nice of you to say," I replied, "I'm glad you're alright. Are the others okay, too?"

  "Yep," Meadow said, "all in good health and back with their families, except for the cat. He walks by himself-"

  "And all places are alike to him," I finished the quotation with a grin (Rudyard Kipling, Just-so stories, in case you didn't get it).

  "You know cats?" Jewel said, adjusting her position so that she was draped over the crown of my head, her face in front of my eyes, her fingers in my hair for support.

  "I've always been more of a dog person," I said, "but I know a little."

  "I like dogs," Meadow said, "they snuffle, I like snuffles."

  I grinned, "You should meet my dog sometime, he's the very best snuffler around."

  "Really? I can meet your doggie?" Meadow asked.

  "Of course," I said, "he's big, but he's the friendliest dog in the world. He's too afraid to even chase birds, you'd be fine with him."

  I was babbling, I know, I was just a little struck. They were just so sweet, I didn't know what to do with myself, if that makes sense.

  "He sounds like you," Jewel said with a giggle.

  "Hey!" I said, which just made both the little Fairies laugh.

  "We heard that you're being courted by the Unseelie," Meadow said, "You're not going, are you?"

  "Oh no, they scare the crap out of me!" I replied.

  "Good," Jewel said, "They're not nice."

  "I agree," I replied.

  "We have to go soon, we don't like the way that one behind us smells," Jewel said, gesturing at the spot where Darius had sat.

  "Neither do I," I agreed, "Try to be careful not to go near him. He'd think nothing of hurting you."

  "You'd protect us," Meadow said.

  "I would, but better to be safe than sorry," I said.

  "You are wise, Summer Shade," Jewel said.

  "Summer Shade?" I asked.

  "It's what we Seelie call you. The shadow that offers shelter from the burning sun," Jewel said, "I like that on you."

  "Around here they call me Rat-Eyes, I think I much prefer your name," I said.

  "Who calls you Rat-Eyes?" Meadow said, glaring around, "I'll make them sneeze until they puke!"

  I smiled at the fierce little Pixie, "That's okay," I said, "but thank you for offering."

  "Would you mind waking Melody?" Jewel said, "Your people are getting suspicious."

  "Sure," I said, I pressed the little fairy's arm gently, she wrapped her arms around my fingers and muttered something intelligible before burrowing deeper into the crook of my arm.

  "That went well," I said, "Melody? Time to wake up."

  "Won't," she said.

  "Try tickling her side, that works sometimes," Jewel said.

  "Hey, that's no fair, telling him I'm ticklish!" Melody complained.

  I ran a finger along her ribs and she emitted peals of laughter before darting up and away, her wings buzzing as she hovered in front of my face.

  "Oh, that's so mean!" she said, giving me a very 'Cathy' look.

  "Jewel told me to," I said, pointing at the sprawled Fairy.

  They laughed and flew into the air.

  "Bye, Shade," Meadow said, planting a tiny kiss on my cheek and flying away.

  "See you soon," Jewel said, following suit.

  "You're a comfortable pillow," Melody finished before following her friends.

  I blushed heavily after the little pecks. What was wrong with me?

  "I always knew you were away with the Fairies, and now I have proof," Hopkins said from behind me.

  "Oh, ha ha!" I said, turning to face her.

  "Red as fire engine," she said, grinning, "don't worry, you aren't the first one to get overwhelmed by all the cute. It doesn't really go away, either."

  "How could anyone think of hurting something like them?" I asked.

  "Empathy is a precious gift, Mathew, and it's not one that everybody receives," she said sadly, "I'm astonished that you have any, much less the truckload you burden yourself with. It's actually quite impressive, and it gives me a lot of hope for the future."

  "Thanks?"

  "Oh, and keep an eye out for the Pixies, they get very... attached, and they tend to bond for life. They'll show up in all sorts of places you wouldn't necessarily want cute observers. Bedrooms, showers, lavatories, to name a few. They aren't as innocent as they pretend to be, though, and don't turn your back on them if you're ever in Seelie, they can change size for a short time, and can get aggressively amorous."

  "Aggressively amorous?" I asked, going even redder.<
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  "You wouldn't be able to look Cathy in the eye afterwards, let's leave it at that."

  "Thank God," I muttered. I really did not need to hear any more of that.

  She shook her head, "Not many people can bond with Fairies, Mathew. Fewer still can create interest in both Seeie and Unseelie. It's remarkable, if a tad worrying."

  "Yes, isn't there some way of getting that Princess off my tail?"

  "About that..." Hopkins said, massaging her forehead, "getting free of her may not be entirely... possible. You see, Unseelie bond for life, too. It's actually the only good thing about them. And she seems to have rather picked you."

  "Impossible, look at me!" I said, gesturing up and down, "I look like something the dog wouldn't eat. Look at her!"

  "Look at Cathy, she loves you," Hopkins said with a smirk.

  "We know each other, have for years. She's had time to see past this. That Princess must be after something else."

  "Yes indeed. But it's all you."

  "I have a headache," I said, rubbing my eyes.

  "Get used to saying that, Unseelie women are near-insatiable," Hopkins said, earning her a glare, "oh, and I checked, the women your Pixies were impersonating are fast asleep in their car. Lucky cows, a Seelie sleep leaves you feeling and looking ten years younger."

  "Are your lot supposed to be vain?"

  "Are yours supposed to be stupid?"

  "Going by my brother, probably."

  "In your sleep, that's when I'll strangle you."

  "You plan is to come into my room in the dead of night and put your hands on sensitive parts of me, how interesting... Ow!" I said, rubbing my arm where she'd hit me, "Oh, don't you start that bollocks, I've already got one Cassandra!"

  "Go to the auditorium before I start petitioning for the return of corporal punishment," she said, pointing at the door.

  I muttered and went on my way.

  I wondered how long it would be before she realised that she'd need me to wake up Audacity.

  "Mathew Graves, get your arse back here this instant!" she said, bursting through the doors.

  Not long.

  But I was already under an illusion and being carried rather rapidly in the direction of the auditorium by my shadows.

  Chapter 14

  Satisfying though that exit was, I did have to pay for it when Hopkins tracked me down and dragged me back to the gym so I could wake the idiot up, at which point he flat-out refused to do a lecture and stomped off in a huff.

  After that, Belle was under the impression that I was now the British Sorcerer Division's Champion by default; her attempts to sit in physical contact with me at every opportunity were starting to piss off Cathy no end.

  The Shadowborn hated me more than ever after that class, and the Hellstroms even more than that, but otherwise things were proceeding smoothly for once. Cathy and I spent more time together, and she was getting even more... 'amorously aggressive' (as Hopkins would have put it), as time went on, which was just... terrific. The things we were figuring out were making life at Windward fantastic.

  I remained in contact with my friends and allies, all of whom fed me little snippets of information from the Magical world. Apparently the Conclave had finally shut up about me, willing to let sleeping Shadowborn lie, I think.

  Tethys was up to a significant number of new tricks, and sent me some pictures of her new dancers, not to mention some other things that I had to delete before Cathy could see them and ask why I had things like that on my phone when the real thing was a suggestive eyebrow-wiggle away (seriously, that's all it took, I love my girlfriend).

  Cassandra had been doing very little beyond her work, and threatened to come visit, which I said I was looking forward to. I really had missed that gun-toting lunatic.

  Other than that, I managed to slide back into the routine of a kid at school, and I found that the more time I spent doing it, the more I wanted that life, away from all the magical crap that otherwise would complicate it and keep me from doing all the unspeakable Cathy-related things I'd been waiting to do for such a long time.

  My scores hadn't improved, neither had Cathy's. We didn't really care.

  Eventually, the last month of the winter term came around, and preparations were under way for the Snow Ball.

  It was Mid-November, and it had started snowing

  Cathy, Bill and I were sitting in Kimmel's common room next to the radiator, which I was making warmer with a discreet little spell. Cathy was on her computer, tapping away contentedly while Bill and I played Magic: The Gathering. I was losing, badly.

  "What sort of dress should I get for the dance?" Cathy said, turning the computer around, "blue and classy or green and poofy?"

  "Have you considered red spandex?" I asked with a grin.

  "Wait for your next birthday," she said in that tone of voice that raises all the little hairs on the back of my neck, "But seriously?"

  "You always looked good in blue," I said.

  "Blue it is."

  "But that dress is awfully figure hugging, there's no way I'll be able to concentrate on dancing."

  "We'll work something out," she whispered in my ear, I shivered.

  "You know, all this lovey-dovey stuff is really cutting into our gaming time," Bill complained as I turned to receive a kiss.

  "I will stop when I'm dead and not one minute before," I replied.

  Cathy giggled and pulled her own deck out of her backpack. After which, I didn't win a game for a while. Those two were far too good, and I can't invest a huge amount in Magic cards when I need real Magic textbooks, which weren't cheap at all.

  You might ask why I'm drivelling on about this sort of thing. Even at my most optimistic, I doubt than anyone but me is concerned with the comings and goings of my recreational activities.

  The answer is simple; it was at that moment, sitting there, losing a card game to my friends, that I realised that I didn't need Magic to live a good life, or a happy one, even. It was part of me now, and always would be, I knew that. But it didn't have to define me, and I was going to make sure that it didn't. The only thing that really mattered to me was building a life that included the people I loved; everything else was a distant second.

  You could say that this was the moment when I decided on my life's priorities.

  I didn't want to be a powerful man, a ruler, a leader. I didn't want to shape the world. I wanted to live well, help out where I could and find out just how deeply I could fall in love with this girl I already couldn't imagine living without. I just wanted to be... quiet.

  I smiled broadly as I lost again, a purpose back in my mind. I'd been somewhat lost since I'd gone public with my Magic, but I finally felt like I was back on the right track.

  It felt good.

  Never let it be said that the Fates can't hear you when you think things like that. They hear, alright, and they can be such bitches about correcting you.

  Two weeks later, and it was the last Saturday of term before we broke up for the Christmas Holidays. The night of the dance. I wore a suit and had actually bothered to make myself presentable; I even went to the trouble of casting a renewing Illusion that would make me look somewhat normal, like I had before my eyes went red and my face got scarred. I appeared at Curie House with my original eyes, the left blue, the right brown, my face unblemished, my hair combed and my teeth brushed.

  I felt badly underdressed when I saw Cathy, and my face broke out in a wide grin.

  She wore sky-blue, as promised, a beautiful dress that hugged her figure right to her ankles. She wore her hair loose, and it framed her face in gold.

  "You look amazing," I said as she approached.

  "You look weird," she replied with a frown, "Are you Magicing something?"

  "A little."

  "Lose it," she said, taking my hand, "I'm with you, not a tweaked you. I love you not in spite of how you look. You are you."

  I smiled, and released my Illusions, revealing the ugliness underneath.


  "Much better," she said, stroking my mangled cheek, looking in my scary eyes, "much sexier, too."

  I laughed and kissed her gently, careful not to mess the tiny touch of makeup she had on.

  "You remembered, good boy," she said as I pulled back, "this bodes well for the evening."

  I offered her my arm and we headed to the gym. This was the other one, the one that didn't have a Magic-containing circle in the floor. It was three times the size and decorated in white and ice-blue, the walls covered in silver sheets, the floor in some kind of blue traction-aid.

  Belle was there with Wilbur and Courtney with one of the Rugby Captains. I said 'Hi' to each of the pairs and a couple of other people I recognised; I'd tried to get Bill a date, but he wouldn't cooperate. I'd never been to one of these before, but Belle had, and it was quite simple really. There was music played throughout, you could dance, or not, as the mood took you. There was food and drink available along with some seats for when you (meaning the girls who didn't have the sense to wear flats) needed a break.

  Cathy and I avoided the fast dances, neither of us had rhythm. We enjoyed the slow dances though, every last one, bar two, and those not that slow. Those went to Belle and Courtney by prior arrangement with Cathy.

  There was a photo stand, and we got those done, much to Cathy's annoyance when I made her laugh at the wrong moment. I maintain it made a better picture, but she still made me get another.

  The dance started at eight and went on until eleven. Most were gone by ten, the couples exiting in giggles, hand in hand with their partner. Cathy and I stayed until the last dance, swaying gently with each other until Miss Polly called it a night.

  We walked into the crisp air, and I gave her my jacket as I walked her back towards Curie. We reached a crossroad between the main avenue and the side road leading past the field. Cathy took my hand and guided me down the road that led to my house, to Kimmel. Her face was flushed and she was shivering as she picked up the pace.

  I opened my mouth and she shushed me with a kiss before I could say anything, just leading me onwards. We got to the front door and I tapped the code in quietly. She shoved it open, and we darted up the stairs. It was quiet, most of the corridors dark, and we found my room quickly.