Phoenix Incandescent (Endeavor Series Book 1)

by A E M

  Charlotte tilted her head to the side. “Yes, because if I had to come in here, I was in major trouble.”

  Ebby turned back to her and kissed her on the cheek. “Well, whose fault was that?”

  Charlotte laughed and shook her head. She remembered a few instances that she still felt innocent about.

  Ebby tugged at her hand. “Let’s make a new fun memory in here.” She flipped her red braid. “There are some days in life that long for pampering and a nap until it is time to go to a celebration. You have been working hard all summer long. Let me let you indulge. Please?” She grabbed a pile of towels.

  “You are all acting mighty shady today,” Charlotte said suspiciously. She spoke the question that had tickled the back of her brain ever since Josef had announced the celebration. “Chime and Spindle are getting married tonight, aren’t they?”

  Ebby dropped the towels she was holding and howled with laughter. “You really think Josef is going to let Chime get married so young?”

  Charlotte, foot tapping the tiles impatiently, waited until Ebby wiped the tears from her eyes and ceased laughing. “But Ebby, she’s two hundred and forty years old! Surely she is old enough now.”

  “Just barely.” Ebby sighed. “Ah, to be young again.” She pointed to a stool. “Sit.”

  Charlotte raised an eyebrow before she let Ebby start working on her nails. “Ebby, why didn’t you marry?”

  Silence snaked between them. Ebby’s lips were pursed, her shoulders straight and tight. She focused on Charlotte’s fingernails, glancing up briefly now and then, but always dropping her head back down with a shake. Charlotte wondered if she had gone too far with that question. Ebby, like Isaac and Audrey, held secrets. Charlotte could sense them, hiding below the surface. She had needled the three of them for years to no avail.

  “Someday I will tell you. I promise.” Ebby said with finality. She looked up at Charlotte with soft eyes and an apologetic frown. Charlotte offered a shrug. The subject was dropped between them, but Charlotte silently simmered inside. Just when would she be old enough for Ebby and her parents to be straight with her? She knew the answer to that question. It wasn’t about age; it was about ability. Charlotte didn’t develop magic. Her mother married into magic, so she was included, but that inclusion did not extend to Charlotte.

  She glanced around the room slowly. In the middle of the room was a chandelier made up of green gemstones over a large round bed covered with a thick magenta comforter. There were no pictures, no decorations in the room. There was a closet and bathroom like Charlotte’s, but nobody was allowed past the locked doors.

  Charlotte focused back on Ebby. “Do you know what we are celebrating tonight?”

  Ebby sat back in her chair. “Yes, I do.” She smiled demurely before patting her legs. “Feet next.”

  “And that would be…”

  “Something you will find out in time.”

  They talked of many other things instead: the appropriate age for hobs to marry, normal human news, news from the magical world, and suspicions of what Basil had hidden in the locked cupboard in the kitchen. Charlotte wondered what was hidden in all of the locked places in the castle, but it was true that privacy was limited with so many guests and students running about. Niches of privacy and what was in them were guarded fiercely.

  Later in the afternoon, Chime woke them up when she bounced on the bed and landed between them. Ebby opened one eye suspiciously and sneered. “Yes, hob?”

  Charlotte sat up and popped Ebby with a pillow. Ebby had always been a little sterner, a little closed around the hobs. It was not a subject that Charlotte was even allowed to bring up, but she did try to neutralize it whenever possible. She turned to her friend with a smile. “Yes, Chime?” Ebby rolled away and stretched.

  Chime narrowed her eyes at Ebby before turning back to Charlotte with a pleasant grin. “All the danes have been checked out. Your parents have been home for some time, and are now asking for the both of you.”

  “Thanks.” Charlotte started for the door. “Will you join us, Chime?”

  The three walked down to the first floor of the tower. The room was simply, yet comfortably furnished. It was the perfect combination of Audrey and Isaac: furniture of plush and rustic, colors of green and brown, and scents of lavender and mint. Charlotte paused at the entrance. Audrey sat at her vanity in a mid-length dress of black lace over dark green, her ankles crossed under the stool. Her eyes locked with Charlotte’s, and she smiled in that way that mothers do when their grown children enter a room. Charlotte crossed to her and bent to kiss her mother on both cheeks.

  “Lottie, how I’ve missed you!” Audrey hugged her.

  “I’ve missed you, Mama.” Charlotte answered from inside the hug.

  “You did a fine job this summer.” Isaac said from the desk on the opposite side of the room. He sat in his chair, one leg crossed over the other, and a book across his legs. Charlotte crossed to him and kissed him as well.

  “Thanks, Papa.” She said.

  “We have a surprise for you tonight.”

  Charlotte sat on the end of their bed with Chime and Ebby. “Is this about tonight, or in addition?”

  “It’s about tonight.” Isaac said. He glanced over at Audrey. “A gift from us.”

  Charlotte stayed silent. What exactly was the gift? She looked at each of her parents carefully. What were they up to? Was the gift the celebration or something for the celebration? She gulped in a breath of air. Could this be their way of telling her what to choose? She sat up straight and blinked back the wide eyes that had taken over her face for a moment. She turned to Ebby and glared. Ebby glared back and then nodded at Audrey.

  “Mama?” Charlotte asked.

  Audrey brought out a large white box from her closet. She set it in Charlotte’s lap and kissed her forehead. “I’ve been planning this event for a long time. I know that your father and I are terribly old fashioned, but we wanted to have a ball for you. It will be a sort of coming out to magical society ball.”

  Charlotte gripped the sides of the box. A chose to keep your memories and marry a weaver ball, more like it. A last chance ball. A you don’t want to leave this, do you, ball? Why didn’t they get it? She wanted to marry when the time was right, not because she had to. She looked up at her mother’s face, so hopeful and kind. She wished they would talk to her. No, wait. She wished they would fight with her. She laughed silently at that idea. Neither of her parents were the loud, fighting type. Okay, she would compromise and wish they would have a stern discussion with her. It wasn’t that they couldn’t. It was that they wouldn’t in this case. They were too afraid to ask how she felt; too afraid to learn what direction she leaned.

  “Thank you.” She said quietly.

  “What’s wrong?” Her father asked just as quietly.

  She wrapped the truth in a lie with a bow. “I’m a little disappointed.” She looked over at Chime. “I thought you might be getting married tonight.”

  Chime laughed and shook her head. The tension in the room slid back into the shadows. “My father is having issues with me getting married. Something about me being the youngest. I think we may elope.”

  Ebby and Charlotte gasped. Chime laughed even bigger. Everybody knew that Josef would have a fit if she eloped, for hobs simply did not celebrate in small ways.

  Audrey sat down by Chime and wrapped an arm around her. “I wouldn’t worry about eloping. This morning I overheard Josef speaking to Basil about needing a wedding cake for you soon.” She winked wickedly. “But don’t you let on that you know! We should have some fun with Josef first. Perhaps I will let it drop that you two had asked where danes go to elope.”

  The other women laughed while Chime looked dreamily down at her plum colored dress. She spread her hands on the soft fabric and smoothed it out. “It won’t be long before this is a bridal gown.”

  Audrey added, “Not long at all.”

  Charlotte watched Chime’s pleased face as well as the look of
pain that crossed Ebby’s face. What secret was that woman keeping?

  Ebby recovered quickly. “Congrats, hob.” She placed a hand on Chime’s hand for a brief moment. “I’m going to get dressed.”

  Chime left soon after and Charlotte was left sitting at the end of the bed between her parents. They spoke of their trip. She spoke of the fun and mayhem that was typical of the guests. Her mother held her close. Her father grasped her hand in his and held tight. They didn’t speak of the decision.

  “Shall I dress?” She finally asked and held the box up off of her lap a few inches. “I can’t wait to see it.”

  “We can’t wait to see you in it.” Audrey answered.

  “Well I, for one, can wait.” Isaac scowled at the box. “It’s missing parts of it.”

  Charlotte kissed her father’s cheek before she peeked into the box. Racy red it was. The dress was strapless with vertical ruffles. The front was shorter than the back. She squealed with delight and ran to her parents’ closet to change. Charlotte turned side to side in front of the mirror, this time with a pleased grin.

  “It’s gorgeous!” Charlotte called out.

  “Come out, daughter.” Isaac called back. “I’m still deciding whether I should claim all your dances or not.”

  Charlotte peeked around the closet doorframe. Her father was pacing back and forth in front of the bed. Her mother was watching him with amusement. Her heart skipped a beat. Could she give them up? She frowned at herself in the mirror. It was true. She was considering giving up all she knew, all she loved, for the chance at choosing love. How much did love cost? Did the weight of finding it balance what she was willing to give up to find it? She blinked back her tears and stepped out of the closet.

  Isaac stopped pacing. He stared at her, eyes wide, mouth open a bit. Audrey stood and placed her hand in Isaac’s hand. They exchanged a tender glance.

  “I, um.” Isaac frowned. He reached out to Charlotte and waved her over. “Come here, Lottie.”

  Charlotte found herself wrapped up in her parents’ arms. She laid her head on her father’s left shoulder. Her mother leaned in on his right. He held them both, without word, for a moment without measure.

  “We love you, Lottie.” Audrey finally said. She looked her daughter directly in the eyes. “We love you no matter what happens.”

  “Had to get in one last try?” Charlotte asked quietly. She directed her gaze up at her father, who seemed to be in a state of wordlessness. It was a strange affliction for a professor.

  He looked down at her through his glasses and snorted. “The rules are garbage sometimes, and I helped make most of them.” He muttered.

  Charlotte hugged his side.

  “We wouldn’t be good parents if we didn’t try our best.” Audrey added.

  It was true that they had tried. Charlotte had suffered through enough blind dates to know. “Are there even any young weavers out there I haven’t met?” She joked.

  Isaac frowned. “Well.” He looked down at his feet.

  “Some.” Audrey said quickly and leaned into Isaac. “Not every weaver takes classes here, you know. And there are a few who took classes here only as children.”

  “Just enjoy tonight.” Ebby said boldly from the doorway. She was wearing a blue metallic shorty unitard paired with a tutu and a bustle. Charlotte thought back to the days when she was a toddler and young girl. Back then she would run around the castle in a tutu alongside Ebby. After they had run around until their lungs hurt, they would dive into the swimming pool, tutus and all. Their eyes met and they instantly both smiled, aware that they were both thinking fondly of the past.

  Chime popped back in with Spindle this time. They were hand in hand. Spindle wore slacks now, but had kept his leather jacket. “Oh, Charlotte!” Chime said.

  Charlotte gave her parents another hug before stepping back and twirling in her dress. “It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”

  “You are gorgeous.” Audrey corrected her. “The dress is merely an accessory.”

  Charlotte smiled and blushed. “Mama, thank you.”

  “Yes, well, I suppose you had to grow up.” Isaac cleared his throat and dusted off the imaginary specks from his clothes. “And now I must feed you to the wolves.”

  “It’s a dance, Isaac.” Audrey laughed. “Not a sacrifice.”

  “Humph.”

  Spindle turned to Isaac. “It’s time, Sir.”

  “Well then, if we must.” Isaac said. He winked at Charlotte and then offered Audrey his arm.

  Isaac escorted Audrey up the steps to the door to the library. Spindle and Chime popped back out. Ebby left on her own, the way she liked it.

  Charlotte hung back for a moment. She gazed over at her mother’s vanity and her father’s reading chair. She silently said goodbye to the room. Upstairs, under her bed, was a bag. Tonight, after the ball, she would leave her home. She wasn’t going to let them erase her memory, and she wasn’t going to marry on orders. The Weaver Council would have to hunt her down first.

  3

  Step on his Foot

  “What are you?” She asked, hands on her hips, foot tapping.

  He reached over and tugged her braid. “I am a bronze eagle. What are you?”

  He looked her over and flashed a teasing smile. She was half covered in mud.

  “You look like you might be a little girl, but it’s hard to tell.”

  “I am fierce.” She replied and pushed him into the mud before she ran off.

  Charlotte walked along the loft in the library, listening to the thrum of music from the dance hall. Her fingers strummed the beat against the banister and she thought of whom she might meet and dance with tonight. Would she find a new face? Would an old face present a new side? Was it possible that she might find somebody to love the night she planned to leave? She hummed a laugh at the thought and smiled. She lived in a castle. She dealt with magic second hand daily. But this was no fairy tale. There was no prince on a white horse right outside her window. No, in her story she would ride her own horse to freedom tonight.

  Charlotte leaned over the iron banister and remembered the sound of her father’s steady voice as he taught his classes. She had sat up here many times when she was younger, hopeful that someday she would join the class. But as the years went on and her hopes diminished, she stopped coming to his classes. She stared down at the worn desks and chairs, lined up and ready for the new school year.

  “Room for two?” Beau stepped out from under the loft.

  “Plenty.” She gripped the banister. “Come on up.”

  He stepped back and angled his head up at her. His sun soaked brown hair fell back and his wings spread out a little.

  “What is it?”

  “I’ll only come up if there are no glasses of water around.”

  “Come here.” She waved him up. “I have no water, but if you misbehave, I’m sure I can find a cup of cold tea around here somewhere. Papa is always leaving them behind on bookshelves.”

  She smiled at the familiar sound of whooshing air as Beau flew up and landed on the loft. Show off. He was dressed in slacks now, but his hair was still wind-blown and his feet were still bare. He smelled fresh of wind and earth with a faint hint of seawater.

  “Call me Cupid, for I am here to deliver you to your Prince Charming.” He paused and winked at her. “Scratch that. Your parents invited several. However will you choose?”

  “Personally, I’ll start with the ones who wear shirts.” Charlotte teased.

  Beau’s eyes grew large in mock surprise, and then frowned with mock displeasure. “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to make a shirt for me, let alone get it on?” He teased one of the ruffles on her dress. “Good for you that I’m not in the slightest interested in some wingless dane who wears shirts.”

  Charlotte nudged his hand away from her dress. “Your mother and sister wear tops.”

  Beau threw his head back and laughed. “For obvious reasons.” He offered his hand. “You know, you should
be delighted to be escorted to your party by a muscly winged man with no shirt on. It gives you a safety net while meeting guys tonight.”

  She took his hand. “Well, I’m surprised my parents are allowing you to escort me. I would think that they would worry about you chasing off potential suitors.”

  Beau tapped the outside of her hand with his thumb. “They came home this morning to find me cleaning water off the kitchen floor. I think that they are more worried about you chasing off potential suitors.”

  Charlotte put her hands on her hips. She wanted to say so much, but she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to stop once she started. She bottled her secrets up tighter and dropped her arms to her sides.

  Beau’s lips straightened and his brown eyes focused on hers. “Have you made your decision?”

  Charlotte pursed her lips. At least he had asked her, but she was still irritated at him for spending the summer away. It was supposed to have been her summer to say goodbye to him, too. When they were together, they were inseparable. They both came and went from that inseparable state without worry about bothering each other; it was how their friendship worked. Until this summer. She frowned at him.

  “Did you enjoy the summer away?” She didn’t cover her displeased tone.

  “You’re mad at me?” He asked, amused.

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared.

  He raised his eyebrows. “It’s been a long time since we’ve fought.”

  She stared back at him silently, daring him to ask why.

  He squeezed her arm gently. “No quarrels between us tonight, Lottie.”

  She held his gaze.

  He drummed the bannister with his fingers. “There are a couple of possible wackos down there to stay away from.” He gently tugged a stand of her blonde hair. “I took the liberty of interviewing some of them while we waited for you ladies to finish getting ready.”

  She shook her head at him and tapped her fingers against her arms.

  He shook his head at her and pulled her into a hug. “Dear Lottie. Why are you angry with me? Sincerely, Beau.”