"No, you didn't. You got that only because I asked Arianna not to send you back to an abusive stepfather. I did all your work. I strongly recommend you find a job in a different field." I was never happier to kick someone out of my car at the airport.
We never heard from her again. Good riddance.
* * * *
A year later, Sienna asked to see us. Arianna sighed and agreed. We met at the table.
"I would like a second night off a week and permission to start dating," she said. "Plus an allowance against my earnings."
"You're not here because you want to leave?" Arianna asked.
"No way," she said. "You're still teaching me."
"Permission granted," Arianna said immediately. "You're already a good agent, Sienna. Coordinate with Moira."
"I might be a good agent," she said. "But if I stick with you, I could be high end."
"Yes," Arianna agreed.
"Will we be able to work something out if I start seeing someone? I don't want to leave like Beck did."
"You will stay bound to me," Arianna replied. "But yes. We should be able to work something out."
"Thank you, Arianna."
* * * *
Dale and Abe served their full sentences. The last thing they did for us was build a second women's bunkhouse; all the agents working for us were required to live in the bunkhouse. The day it was done, Arianna invited the two of them and me into her office. I stood behind her.
Never, not once, had they expressed the sort of remorse for what led them to us that Corbin had expressed.
We presented them with their paperwork and Arianna gave them a copy of the rules they would have once she released them. She had asked for my help preparing them, and I had asked if we could insist on treating all women with respect. She agreed to that, but when I mentioned work ethic and drinking, she said, "They will be free, and it is their decision whether they wish to return to their slothful ways. I will not continue to use their services."
"Are we getting out of the flipping business then, except for what Corbin does?"
"Until we acquire new help. Will you allow me to trap some?"
I thought about it. "If they are truly guilty, yes."
She smiled. "We have both come a long way."
"Guilty means more than hitting on us in a bar, Arianna."
"I know. That was a mistake, but I thought it safer than how we caught Corbin. It occurred to me we could have snared an entire gang, and they might have overwhelmed the magic. And I would rather not deal with anyone too violent. They are difficult to control."
I nodded. "We'll work on something together."
So we set Dale and Abe free. They had significant bank accounts as well. I think it galled Arianna to give them as much as she did, but she had reserved twenty percent of the profits on the homes they had flipped, too. She didn't pay them anything for the improvements they had done to our property.
Their new vows banished them from Wisconsin. They each had family here and were given permission to visit, but they could not spend more than two weeks a year inside the Wisconsin borders for as long as Arianna and I lived here.
She released them, one at a time, and I watched carefully as she worked the spells. I saw exactly what she did with the magic, but not how she did it.
* * * *
We talked to Dean during my nineteenth year with Arianna.
"I'll stay," he said. "If that's all right with you, Arianna. My life here is a lot better than it was before you found me. I don't have any prospects anywhere else."
"Do you want us to reduce your restrictions?" she asked.
"No," he said. "But I wouldn't mind a week off every November and enough money to go to Florida."
Arianna immediately agreed and made it two weeks.
* * * *
We added to the household other than the agents. One night, it was strictly by accident. Someone tried to steal my purse on the street. He got a step and a half before Arianna snared him with her magic.
I saw what she had done, but again, not how she had done it.
His name was Barry, and he was a drug addict. We gave him to Corbin to train. Six months later, Corbin gave him back. "He's okay with the easy stuff, but that's about it. He'll never be any better than he is, and I don't want to baby-sit him."
By then, we had hunted for and caught Sid and Mack. Mack didn't know anything about home repair, either, but Sid did. We added Barry to their team. The three of them were able to turn over houses at about the same rate Corbin had done alone after his first year with us, but it wasn't expensive to feed them, so we kept them. Arianna gave them all twenty-year sentences, or ten if they showed remorse. All of the sentences were well past the day I would be allowed to ask for my freedom.
* * * *
Lydia became pleasant to have around, but she never apologized for trying to steal from us, and she never showed any appreciation for helping her out. Perhaps she hadn't been on as bad a path as Corbin had been. In any case, she wasn't offered early freedom. She never asked why not, and she actually seemed to settle in and appeared happy.
* * * *
And then, the twentieth anniversary of the day Arianna had bound me as her familiar arrived.
Twenty Years
Arianna seemed out of sorts for the weeks leading up to the anniversary. I understood why, and I didn't try to make it easy for her.
Still, I insisted we maintain our tradition. I had long moved past water goblets and spent months scouring the city for unique cut glass. I wanted just the right piece. Then I found a craftsman that could make custom pieces. I visited his studio and loved his work.
I commissioned a piece.
We went to the bar together for our Meeting day. We played pool and filled up on magic. I watched Arianna draw in the magic.
I saw how she did it.
She pulled me to the bathroom, then shoved me against the wall and gave me three rapid orgasms. I screamed her name during the last one and begged her to stop "Until later".
When we got home, we made love until dawn, then fell asleep in each other’s arms.
For Familiar Day, we spent it together much as we always had. When we got home, I made dinner and afterwards we exchanged presents.
Arianna grew increasingly nervous as the time came to exchange our presents.
"I want to ask something," she said. "It's been twenty years."
"I know."
"I made a promise to you."
"You did."
"I haven't shown you what could happen to you if I release you."
"No, you haven't."
"I won't release you until I am sure you understand what could happen."
"If I ask permission to commit suicide, will you grant it?"
She looked away. "Are you asking?"
"Would you grant it?"
"I would have to," she said very quietly. "I promised. Are you going to ask?"
"Give me my present," I told her. "I want to see what you bought me."
"Is that going to help you decide?"
"No, Arianna," I said. "I've already decided."
"I could make you tell me," she said.
"If you force me to tell you, I will ask you to release me. If you say no, I will ask permission to slit my wrists."
She tightened her lips. "I don't want to give you your present until I know, Moira."
I studied her. "Why not?"
"Because when I give it to you, I want to know what it means."
"All right," I said. "At least tell me where it is."
"My office."
"Wrapped?"
"And an envelope."
"Go get them. I'll get yours."
My present to her was in a large box in the basement. Lydia knew what it was and was under orders to leave it alone. I went downstairs and got it; it was heavy. When I got back upstairs, there was a modest box and a colorful envelope waiting for me on the coffee table near the sofa.
I sat down on the sofa ne
xt to Arianna and set her present down. It was wrapped in the best paper I could find. There was no note.
"I hope you like this," I said. "It is for the office, not for home. You go first. You will have my answer after you open this."
She opened it slowly, I think perhaps dreading the moment when I would tell her what I had decided. She unwrapped the box. I had actually wrapped it with the lid upside down.
"Just lift the box off," I said.
So she did. Nestled inside a large amount of protective wrapping she found a large, cut glass witch. It's top came off and could be filled with whatever she wanted. "If you put food in it, it should be wrapped because the lead slowly leaches out of the glass," I said. "But you could put other things in it if you wanted."
"It's beautiful, Moira," she said. She turned it this way and that. "Wherever did you find it?"
"I didn't find it. I designed it and found someone to make it."
"You designed it?"
"Well, I told the artist what I wanted, and he did some drawings, and this is what he produced. I gave him a picture of you."
"It does look like me!" she said. "Oh honey, it's beautiful." She studied it further. Held out in front of the witch in both hands was a large ruby cut in the shape of a heart. "Why is she holding her heart in her hands?"
"Arianna," I said quietly. "You aren't holding your heart. You are cradling mine."
"Oh Moira!" she said. She pulled me into her arms and hugged me with all her strength while she began crying. "You're not going to ask?"
"No, Arianna. I'm not."
She was crying too much to talk, but she spoke in my head. "Never?"
"I won't promise never," I said. "Never is a long time. Not this year."
She held me more tightly. "I won't let you on a whim," she said. "I won't let you because we're fighting. I will only let you if you are permanently miserable. Do you understand?"
"I understand."
She cried herself out then dried her tears. "Open yours. Open the box first."
The box contained a black beret. "Put it on," she said. I let her adjust it for me. Then I opened the envelope.
Inside I found airline tickets for Paris.
"My sentence is over," she said. "I was banished for two decades. Can we have our wedding anniversary in Paris?"
"Yes," I said. "Yes." I kissed her. "Yes."
"It's two weeks," she explained. "One week in Paris, then a second week touring wine country. I made reservations two years ago."
I hugged her as tightly as she had hugged me earlier. "I am happy," I whispered into her ear. "I wish you loved me, but that is my only complaint."
"You don't mind the obedience spell?" she asked.
"No, not anymore. I love you, Arianna."
She held me to her and whispered into my mind, "You have made me so happy, Moira. You are such a gift."
We kissed again and then I pulled away. "You haven't had a cigarette in a while."
"I was afraid to ask."
"Well then, I am offering, if you promise no cigarettes at all on our wedding anniversary."
She laughed. "Remove every stitch of clothing, right now, and then kiss my feet and beg me to take you."
* * * *
France was wonderful. We made love every night. We climbed the Eiffel tower, and she used her magic to give me an orgasm while leaning out to look in each direction. I am sure I looked quite disheveled on our way down.
She took me shopping. "If I buy you clothes, will you wear them for me?"
"I suppose they will be very feminine clothes."
"Yes."
"For you, I will wear them."
The morning of our anniversary, we woke up and made love. Lying together afterwards, I asked her, "You are obligated to show me my risks if I ask you to release me."
She tightened and said nothing.
"How will you do so?"
"I don't know," she said. "Visiting other witches is uncommon and dangerous. Major tourist regions are okay to visit, and I notified the local witches before making reservations. I was given invitations to meet with them, but they were given in language that could be declined if I chose. I declined."
"Are you afraid they will try to steal me."
"They can't," she said. "I am afraid they will try to kill you."
"Could they?"
"The death witches could. I don't know enough about the others to be sure."
"So you do not want to show me."
"No, I do not."
"I will think about this and give you my answer tonight."
"Please, can't we enjoy today? Can we talk about it when we get home?"
"All right," I said. "When we get home. Right now I am very happy, and there is no reason to spoil it."
We spent the day roaming the streets of Paris, acting like tourists. We never stopped holding hands.
She asked me to wear red for dinner. She wore a deep purple. We took a taxi the short distance to an elegant restaurant. Arianna ordered for us, as I spoke very little French, and the waiter acted as if she were a native French speaker.
"I lived here a long time," she said after he was gone.
"I had forgotten," I said. "You haven't shown me your favorite places."
"I wanted to see the city through your eyes. We will visit a vineyard where I lived for two decades."
"Oh honey," I said, clasping her hand. "This is a lovely trip."
When dessert came, I slid a small envelope across the table to her. "Your gift."
Arianna raised her hand and spoke in French, and a minute later, the restaurant owner stopped by the table. He spoke to Arianna in French and gave her a box. She gave the box to me.
"I didn't want you to see it early," she said. "Who goes first?"
"Mine requires conversation," I said. "You may not want to open it until later."
"Will I like it?"
"If not, then I will offer an alternative present."
"Open the box first then," she said.
I opened it slowly, and nestled inside I found a beautiful necklace, far too fine to wear very often, but centered playfully as a pendant was a black cat. I laughed.
"I have the original pendant for it," she said. "But I thought you would be amused."
"Put it on me, Arianna."
She stood up and settled it around my neck. I touched it. "It's lovely. Thank you. When will I wear it?"
"We will have ample opportunities," she said. Then her face clouded.
"We will have ample opportunities," I told her. "Promise."
She smiled. "I promise, too."
Then she opened the envelope I had given her. I had a sweet card that I had brought with me, one pledging my love. And I had included a note.
My love,
If you agree to this entire letter, then I release you from your obligation to show me what could happen to me if another witch were to find me. Instead, you will explain to me what is likely, and if you promise to tell me the entire truth, I will believe you.
In exchange for this compromise, you will teach me your magic.
With all my love,
Moira
She read it twice and then looked at me with the saddest eyes. "Honey, I would if I could. But you are a familiar. I can't teach you."
"If you try, that is enough. I can see your magic. Teach me as best you can, even if I can never do any of it myself. If you do not wish to do that, then all I have to offer you is my body tonight."
"If I agree to this," she said, waving the letter at me, "may I still have your body tonight?"
I smiled. "Yes."
"Then I will start your lessons right now. There are three couples in the restaurant experiencing such passion that they are shedding magic. Can you see them?"
I looked around the room. "Them," I said, nodding. "The couple in the corner."
She glanced in that direction. "Can you tell the type of passion they are sharing?"
The magic surrounding them looked harsh. "I don
't know. It's ugly."
"Yes," she said. "They are breaking up."
"They came here to break up?"
"I do not believe he knew. He is devastated. She is very sad. Can you see it?"
I looked at the colors. "Yes."
"I would give you some of their magic to taste, but it would spoil this lovely dessert we have just shared."
"Then please don't."
"No. Who else?"
I glanced around. "The couple by the window."
She smiled. "Here is their magic." I watched her collect magic from across the room. She held onto it for just the briefest moment before feeding it to me. I was immediately filled with renewed joy on top of what I already felt.
"Joy?"
"Yes. Isn't it lovely?"
I basked in it. "More?"
"Only a little. Only what they are leaking. I don't want to diminish their joy." She gave me just a little more. I closed my eyes and enjoyed it.
"Thank you," I said.
"One more couple," she said after I basked for a moment.
I looked around, but all I saw was a waiter radiating magic; it was practically dripping off of him. Then I saw the hostess was doing the same thing.
I laughed. "The waiter and the hostess."
"Very good," she said.
"They're in love."
"No. Lust. It tastes spicier." She paused. "I will give you only a little." And then she did, just a tiny taste.
"Wow. Intense."
"Lust is the easiest to collect. It drips all over, and I don't mind taking enough to dampen people. But again, too much would spoil this dessert, and the lust I want from you later is to be our lust, not borrowed."
I smiled.
"Thank you for the lesson."
"You are welcome. Thank you for the gift. It means a lot. I will not start telling you about the other witches during this trip."
"I don't want you to. Wait until we're home."
Later, back at the hotel, I told her, "I wish to hear you say my name, over and over. Will you allow me this gift?"
"Yes."
"And I want you to speak only in French until morning. Even my name should be in a French accent."
She laughed. "Your name is Irish in origin."
"Then it will sound especially exotic."
She began speaking to me, but it didn't sound French. The only word I recognized was my name.
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