by A E M
Sometime later she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “Charlotte, what’s wrong?” Wynn asked.
“Why?” She sobbed. “Why doesn’t anybody tell me anything?”
“Charlotte, where’s Ebby?” Wynn gently pulled her up by her elbows. “What happened?”
“She’s gone.” She whimpered. “She vanished right in front of me.” She wiped her eyes with her sweater. “She’s dead.”
“I’m so sorry, Charlotte.” Wynn rubbed her back. “Come, we need to tell your father.”
Charlotte laughed hysterically. “My father needs to tell me some things!” She pulled away from Wynn and ran down to her parents’ room. It was packed. She scowled. She wanted to be with her father. Alone. She pushed her way through the crowd to his side.
“She’s gone! Ebby is gone!” She cried out.
Lodestar scowled down at her. “Dane-weaver! You should control yourself!”
Charlotte glared at her. “Point your horn back up, because I’m not impressed and you’re likely to take out Zorach’s eye!”
Lodestar broke out into a cackle that spread into laughter from the others throughout the room. Charlotte crossed her arms in front of her chest and fumed.
“What is so funny?” She demanded.
“My dear child, you may be the first person in history to yell at a unitaur.” Isaac said with a cough and a laugh. He waved her over to the bed. “Come here, daughter.”
Charlotte sat down next to him and cried into his chest. He patted her back and kissed her head. “I’m so sorry about Ebby, Charlotte.” He wiped the tears from his own eyes. “I want you to know we are going to try to find your mother right now. Zorach will be leading a pack of centaurs to the last spot I had track of your mother. Wilder and Wynn are leaving to assist them.”
“It’s our turn for a rescue.” Wilder winked at her from across the room.
“Ah, yes.” Isaac kissed her head again. “I’d like to talk to you about that, dear one.”
Charlotte sat back up and wiped her eyes. “I’d do it again.”
Isaac laid his hand over her hand. “We will talk regardless, but right now you owe the room an apology for your outburst. Mourning, or not, you had no right to barrel through here like that. I deserved some of your fire, but they didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” Charlotte glanced around the room quickly.
“You’re forgiven, whiney dane-weaver!” Beau imitated Lodestar’s voice.
Lodestar snorted and rolled her eyes.
Charlotte smiled at Beau and then looked back at her father. “I’m sorry, Papa.”
“Why don’t you go for a bit so we can finish our meeting?” Isaac suggested. “You and I will talk privately later. I’ll send somebody to fetch you when I’m ready.”
She kissed her father on the cheek and stood. “I’ll be in the attic looking at the reports if anybody needs me.”
Beau caught her hand as she left the room. “May I come with you since I still don’t know what happened either?”
She tugged his hand. “Yes, but only if you don’t act scared of me.”
“Fear not, frail dane-weaver. I’m actually quite used to your whiney outbursts.” Charlotte hit him in the arm. Beau shook his head in mock sadness and placed his arm around her shoulder. “You did look frightening there for a moment.”
Beau’s demeanor was much less light hearted once they reached the attic. He turned her to face him and wouldn’t let her struggle away. His chocolate brown eyes bore into hers slowly.
“Beau Winguard. Say something.”
“There’s still something you haven’t told me, but I haven’t figured it out yet.” He grabbed the moonstone disc from her hands and paced across the room while he tossed the disc back and forth between his hands. Charlotte sat on the indoor swing and watched him. Beau’s wings spread out and tensed with his thoughts.
Finally, Charlotte strode over impatiently and grabbed the disc from his hands and slid it into a slot on the large oval mirror on the wall. “It’s time for some answers.”
An image of one of the Maguard popped up as he gave a report of what happened based on the interviews. It was bizarre to watch the information as part of a report instead of part of their lives. They saw clips of many of the interviews, pictures of the aftermath of the ballroom, as well as the demolished garage and parts of the grounds that had been damaged while the group tried to escape. Beau grimaced when the report mentioned Raven and her role.
They saw Philip walk back into the ballroom. He stopped in the middle of the room and muttered a confusion spell that spread instantly across the entire room, hindering sight and smell and thought for everyone. It was then that Raven grabbed Audrey and flew immediately out of the room. The doors to the lawns were blown to pieces by some sort of spell, injuring many in the room. The dozen intruders quickly sifted through the room, taking a mermaid, an elf, and one of her father’s current students. They had tried to take Chime, but Spindle prevented it. They tried to take Isaac, but Josef and Basil prevented it. Two of the intruders had been killed. Ekos could be seen clearly giving orders to the others. The ones who were taken instantly vanished right after being strapped to a Chimera. It was obvious that the protection spell that encompassed the grounds was woven together by her father and Basil and Josef as soon as they stopped the attack against Isaac. It was hard to stomach the pictures of Raven and Ebby, who were covered with scorch marks. Charlotte turned from the picture of Ebby, and stood that way while the report ended. She didn’t need to see or hear anymore; she had watched Ebby die in person.
Charlotte sat on her swing again. Beau sat next to her, his wings spread out behind them. They sat like that for a long time before Beau broke the silence. “Do you want to talk about Ebby? Do you want to talk about any of it?”
Charlotte shook her head no.
Outside the sky slowly turned dark and began to rumble. “It’s fitting that it should rain today.” Beau observed.
Charlotte nodded. They started to swing slowly as the rain began to pour outside. Charlotte laid her head against Beau’s shoulder. “You know, Winguard, you are my best friend.”
“And you, Locklear, are mine.”
7
The Alliance Meeting
Triton held the baby girl in his arms.
She laughed and splashed the pool water at him.
“She is strong.” He smiled at Audrey.
“I will teach her to swim as an infant, and some day you will send her to visit my people.”
“Of course.” Audrey smiled. “You honor us.”
A cold breeze whistled through the ballroom. The windows held shards of glass, and the walls and floor and ceiling were covered with scorch marks. The broken furniture and glass had been removed. Charlotte walked around the room, lost in her own thoughts. Flashes of the night before danced before her eyes. She shoved her hands in her pockets and closed her eyes. How quickly life could change. She ran her fingers over the watery stonework and looked down at the puddles accumulating on the floor. Soon this room would be packed with magani and weavers from all over the entire United States. She would find a hob soon and ask them to put up something to keep the room dry. She leaned against the window frame and looked over the courtyard. So much for magical dances, lost shoes, and Prince Charmings. The dance had been failure. The shoes were lost. Prince Charming had been a foe in disguise. She thought of her packed bag under her bed. Running away would have to wait. Last night she had been ready to trade her heels for running shoes. Today she would trade her freedom to have her mother back.
She crossed back to the lobby and headed out the front doors after taking off her shoes. A little rain never stopped her. She crossed the lawns and walked around the scorch marks. This was where Ebby had fought for her mother’s life. Charlotte halted. Wait. Did Ebby have magic? She thought through last night. What she seen on the tape. What she had heard under the bridge. Ebby’s final words. She turned and looked back at the castle with fresh eyes. Her gaze
flickered over to the castle walls. The castle looked very much like what one would expect a castle to look like, though the towers were stained glass cylinders with ivy of iron growing up them. The stonework of the castle was a warm and rusty blend of colors, shapes, and sizes. But what secrets was the castle holding? She was fairly certain of one now. Ebby had to have had magic of some kind.
Charlotte glanced over at the left lawns of the castle, which held a farm with vegetable gardens and plenty of fields for the animals. Some of the fields were trampled, but repair would be easy. She turned to the right lawns where a large garage with a second story for the Winguard family stood in front of the orchids. Now the garage was in shambles. Part of the orchids was destroyed, too. She continued down the cobbled path to the rear lawns. Back here, many flower gardens, benches, statues, and fountains of water surrounded a willow tree in the middle. The willow was unique because it held a large amount of wind chimes-one for each year the owners had been married. Would any more chimes be added? She fingered the cuff links in her pocket. She needed a pair that could take her back in time.
Basil appeared in front of her, umbrella in hand. He sat down on one of the benches underneath the tree and waved her over. Charlotte joined him.
“Almost everyone is here.” He sat against the tree, staring up at the wind chimes as they tingled and banged and sang their metallic song in the wind.
“Basil.” Charlotte started. “Did Ebby have magic?”
“Oh, Lottie.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes, Ebby had magic.” He chuckled sadly. “Of course she had magic.”
Charlotte waited silently.
He finally opened his eyes. “Speaking of magic, what is your decision?”
“I can’t tell you.” She gripped the edges of the bench. “I can’t tell anybody.”
He snorted and shook his head. “I should have thought about that.”
“So you know what I’m going to do?”
“Choose your own path?” He said. “It fits you.” He stretched his legs out.
“Basil, fill in the blanks for me.” She begged.
“Your father will tell you later today, Lottie.” He stood and looked over at the dining hall. “The magical community has been asleep for so many years. Let’s go find out what happens when it wakes.” He tugged at her soaked sweater. “But change into something dry first.”
Charlotte hurried to her bedroom and peeled off her clothes. Representatives from the entire magical world were downstairs. What should she wear? She stood at the edge of her bed and nudged the bag and luggage hidden underneath. Still there. She ran to her door and locked it, then pulled the largest suitcase out. Inside was her favorite pair of jeans, which was full of holes she had patched with red lace. She pulled them on and then tugged on the lacey red top she always wore with them. Boots and jewelry finished the ensemble. She played with her hair and touched up her makeup. There. She could face a room of important magani now. Back underneath the bed the suitcase went. Someday she would unpack it. Maybe.
The dining room was packed with magani shoulder to shoulder. There were elves and dwarves and hobs and gnomes and weavers. The mermaids and mermen were present along with Triton. They could alternate from tails to legs, but their legs were still covered with scales and their feet looked like flippers. Faunus and Fauna were there with a collection of fauns surrounding them. Standing in the front of the room with the Maguard were two magani Charlotte had never seen before in her entire life. Fairies.
The fairies hadn’t been seen out of their homeland since they migrated to the Americas. While most others were still exploring the country, they were safely tucked away in their quickly found paradise. They were well built and their skin emitted a faint glow. Neither one had wings.
Barnabas stood at one end of the room on a small circular stage. “Attention, please! It is time to begin.”
The room hushed quickly, and all eyes were upon Barnabas. “It has been a very long time, my brothers and sisters, since we have all gathered. I thank you for your quick response and attendance.” He bowed to each corner of the room.
“I’m afraid peace reigns no longer in our world. For the previous three years we have noticed a sporadic, yet increasing amount of disappearances within our communities. The attack yesterday evening was an escalated event that caught even the attention of the danes.” Barnabas brought out a local newspaper depicting an explosion and closure of the well-loved Wayfarer Castle. Charlotte looked around the room for her father. The castle was closed for business? Josef must have been part of that cover up story, for her father hadn’t been conscious long enough to notify the dane press.
“Last night there were three other attempted attacks. The fairies were able to block the attack on their homeland, while Triton quickly drowned those who tried to attack his home. Faunus reports that he lost many Fauns. Let us also note that the Fauns have been kidnapped the most during the last few years.”
“Until now, we have had very little to go on. Fortunately last night there was enough resistance that we have some hope. At the time of the attack, Isaac Locklear was able to secure and maintain a connection with his kidnapped wife. A group of centaurs and bronze eagles has been sent to the place where Isaac lost connection with his wife. Isaac has extended an offer to any who would like to stay as long as they wish while we are searching for those who are missing. You will have the protection of the Maguard while we remain here. I now open the floor for a member of each group to come forth and speak in the order you were informed of earlier. If you have any new or undisclosed information, please share. If you have any requests, let them be heard. If you have anything to offer to help, let it be known. But I warn you, make it civil. Make it logical. Make it to the point.”
Rafael and Seraphina ascended to the platform as representatives of the elves. They were both tall and lean and wore emerald robes of fine silk. “Honored Friends, we propose an Alliance be created and maintained to share information. We are so disconnected that we have let an enemy brew in our very presence. He or she has been tearing at the threads of our communities and we know nothing of the scope of the plan or the depth of treachery involved. I hereby submit a request to Isaac to use his castle as a safe base of operations. He has extended a generous offer to let all of us reside here during this conflict. I propose that we all take his offer by each leaving trusted representatives. I pledge our loyalties to the Maguard by leaving my daughter Evangeline to assist them in their hunt. I pledge my loyalties to you all by leaving my nephew Wilhelm to assist in the repairs of the castle and the building of a closer relationship between us all. While we have visited before as friends, and some of our people happily work and live here, we have lived in a state of harmony in which we have gotten lazy about checking in with each other about serious matters. Had we all been open to each other about the disappearances, we may have prevented this tragic situation. No longer may we all ignore each other’s needs. We are brothers and sisters in Magic!”
The dwarves were next, and were represented by Stonebinder. He stood silent on the podium for a few minutes, his old eyes appearing to take in and take apart each person or creature standing in the room. “We have trained the Maguard every year as a precaution, and now the time has come to use them once again. While I respect the honor given to us in the form of new additions to the guard, let me remind you that they function as a group and the success of their operation depends on them being able to function the way they have trained.” He paused and bowed deeply to the elves. “With respect, I propose that we form a new group that will function alongside the Maguard.” The elves bowed in acceptance of Stonebinder’s words, and he stepped down.
Next were the giants, who had chosen Rhett to speak. Most giants refused to speak or be around the smaller magani, so it was generally up to a half-giant to communicate. “The giants have chosen to remain neutral in this situation. They will keep the lines of communication open, but are wary of sending out troops to hunt others down until there
is more proof of what is happening. Thank you.”
The room went wild, and it was several minutes before anybody could get a handle on the volume long enough to speak. It was Triton who finally got everybody’s attention. With a wave of his trident, he brought not only some of the rain that fell outside, but also the entire swimming pool of water through the doors and windows to soak everybody. While the room was silent from surprise, his thunderous voice spoke, “That is enough! We are pledging allegiance to each other, but we cannot force it upon any group! If you will calm down long enough to remember that the giants are furthest away from the dane society and even from the Magical society. They have pledged to be open to communication, something they rarely do. All they are saying is that they do want to jump on a bandwagon without further information, which is a wise choice.” The room was quiet. “I understand that many of you here have lost loved ones, so that makes their words hurtful, but you have to restrain your feelings long enough to process the information. We cannot turn this situation into a witch-hunt. We must proceed carefully in everything we do. Now, I will pledge my loyalties to you. I will keep representatives here while most of us return to my kingdom to make sure it is secure.” Triton stepped off the platform at the same time raising his arms. All of the water drained from the room, their clothes, their hair, everything and rose into a cloud and floated back in the direction of the pool. “Don’t worry, Isaac, it will be filtered by the time it fills the pool back up.”
Charlotte was a little surprised to see Josef step on the platform next. He cleared his throat a couple of times before Rhett stepped forward and held Josef up on his shoulder. “Our place remains here protecting our family from further harm. We will be rebuilding the castle, and using our free time to research our library and visit with other hobs to try to find more information.” He paused and sighed. “We lost many gnomes yesterday. I also am here to represent them, as we have had some from neighboring communities travel here in order to honor those who were killed. It’s all too easy to forget that our household’s gnomes were wiped out, as they were small and mostly silent members of our community. But the loss of life was great, and I ask that we all observe a moment of silence in remembrance. Thank you.”