Im just a small town shi.., p.2
Combustible Magic, page 2
Preferring to ignore the assigned roles, Rosemary took Athena’s seat and swapped the place cards over.
Athena gave her a mischievous look.
All was silent for a moment and then Elamina shook her head with a little giggle that was so out of character it shocked Rosemary.
“Thank you so much for joining us on such short notice.” Elamina looked at her delicate silver watch. “And only half-an-hour late. I'm very pleased to hear that Athena returned happy and well.” Her voice was almost musical.
“Erm,” Rosemary started, unsure of what to say. Her cousin seemed to be locked in an internal battle between being her normal caustic self and taking on the faux-happy persona of a children’s television presenter.
“Oh, now look,” said Elamina crossly as two young servants approached with trays. “The entrees are arriving before I've even offered you a drink.” She waved them away.
Rosemary felt her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten before the rather long drive to the fancy neighbourhood. Her terrible sense of direction had sent them off on a round-about journey before Athena insisted on using her phone to navigate.
“Now, what would you have to drink?” Elamina asked. “Sherry? Wine? What do people like you drink?”
Athena stifled a giggle. Rosemary pressed her mouth into a thin line to avoid laughing. It was comical how much her snobby cousins were trying desperately to accommodate them, while also clearly having no idea how to be normal people.
“Red wine is fine,” said Rosemary.
“Do you have any lemonade?” Athena asked.
“Certainly.” Elamina smiled at Athena then clapped her hands. Servants stepped forward and she relayed the drink instructions. Moments later they returned with the beverages.
“Excuse me for asking,” said Rosemary, feeling like she should at least attempt to be polite, given the comical situation. “But was there a particular reason for the invitation?”
“Oh, you don't beat around the bush do you?” Elamina batted her eyelids, as if trying to be charming. “I just wanted to see you – my poor dear cousins – after all you've been through. And we wanted to celebrate that Athena is back, safe and well. Isn't that a lot to celebrate, Derse?”
Derse just nodded.
“Thank you,” said Athena. “It is nice to be back.” She took a sip of her lemonade and squinted as if it was far too sour.
Rosemary followed suit and took a gulp of her own wine, which she admitted to herself was delicious and probably incredibly expensive.
“Now we can have the entrees.” Elamina clapped her hands and the servants returned with silver domed trays.
“So, just a celebration?” said Rosemary. “Great. That's...That's lovely.”
“Yes. And how was it?” said Elamina. As if asking about a holiday.
Rosemary gave her a deadpan look. “How was what?” she asked flatly.
“The fae realm, of course,” said Elamina with a little laugh.
“It was...” Athena’s voice trailed off and she stared blankly at the candles.
“I see, it’s complicated,” said Elamina. “I'm so sorry for asking. I've heard such wonderous things. I just...I don't mean to pry. But if you ever do feel like talking about it, let me know. I hear it can really cut to the heart of you...A place like that.”
Rosemary raised her eyebrows as her cousin nattered on.
“I knew someone of fae heritage once,” said Elamina. “Who'd been brought up in the fae realm but had somehow slipped through.”
“Oh...” Athena started, but Rosemary shot her a warning look. This was not the time to talk about Dain’s genetics. In fact, it was a time to withhold as much information as possible.
“That's interesting,” said Athena. “I wonder how they got through. It's quite a hard thing to do, apparently.”
“Indeed. I'm dying to know how you did it,” said Elamina, looking between the two of them.
“It was a stroke of luck really.” Rosemary tried to keep her expression neutral, though it was all she could do to stop herself glaring suspiciously at her cousin. What is she up to?
“Luck,” Elamina repeated, sounding unimpressed.
“Yes, luck and a dash of cream,” said Athena.
Rosemary shot her another warning glance. Too much information, she tried to think loudly, hoping that Athena had dropped her psychic barriers temporarily in honour of the occasion.
“Well, I don't know how we did it,” said Athena. “Maybe...barriers like that tend to ebb and flow, don't they?”
“Indeed,” said Elamina. “I hear it used to be quite an open thing. Quite easy to slip back and forth. If you were magically inclined anyway. Such a shame that the old ways have been forgotten. Things have changed and not always for the better. I hear there is much potent magic there.”
Oh, so that's what it is, Rosemary thought loudly. That's what this is all about. She's hoping you have some fae magical secrets that she can get her hands on.
“I must admit I did manage to slip through the barrier when I was a wild young child, on an equinox or two,” said Elamina. “It’s a pity I had no idea of the true potential of the magic it held.”
“I can't see why you’d want to do that,” said Rosemary. “It's really not all that hospitable over there, despite their obsession with manners.”
“Oh?” said Elamina. “Do tell me more.”
Rosemary bit her tongue to stop from rambling. She'd already shared far too much information.
“Is that what this is all about?” Athena asked, rather more forward than Rosemary was comfortable with. “Are you trying to get back there? Are you trying to get through the veil?”
Elamina gave a little laugh. “Oh, darling girl. I'm afraid that was merely a passing fancy...a childhood phase. I've moved on to much, much bigger things with my ambitions. That's all I'm going to tell you about that.”
So that's what it is, Athena’s voice projected into Rosemary’s head. She's trying to get to the fae realm and she's trying to get information out of us.
I knew it was something like that, Rosemary replied. And we are not going to help her. It's far too dangerous.
Rosemary thought the appetisers were overly complex in terms of flavour profile, and not terribly enjoyable, while the main was bland.
Athena seem to be enjoying it well enough. They ate mostly in silence aside from the odd question about the fae realm or the family magic posed by Elamina. Derse, in his typical style, hardly said a word.
“Now, Athena, you're growing very powerful, aren’t you?” said Elamina. She gave a flourish of her hand as she gestured for the staff to clear away the meals. “Now tell me about your magic, my dear cousin. How does it work for you?”
“I’m just figuring it out, really,” Athena demurred.
Rosemary wanted to ask why Elamina was so curious about Athena, rather than about her. She didn't want to bring up the subject of her daughter’s father's heritage in case it was revealing her hand too much in a game she didn't know how to play.
“Wouldn't you love to train with some real magical experts?” she asked Athena.
“Oh,” Athena started. “I don't know.” She paused for a moment.
“Actually, Athena has come a long way recently,” said Rosemary. “We’re both quickly learning to master our magic without any help from you.”
She didn't mean it to come out sounding so bitter.
Elamina’s smile never faltered. “I know!” she said, with a little clap. “How about you come and stay with us regularly, my darling little cousin.”
The term of endearment made Athena wince. Clearly Elamina was not used to spending time with the teen folk.
“Uhh...That's okay,” said Athena.
“As I said, we're perfectly fine with our magical training,” said Rosemary.
“Come now, I have no children of my own,” said Elamina.
Probably because you didn't want to risk losing your figure, Rosemary thought inside her head, wondering if Athena was still listening, and sure enough, the teen reached for her mouth as if to stifle a giggle.
She wants to keep you as a pet, Rosemary continued as a fluffy pink dessert course was placed in front of them.
“I can understand your hesitation,” said Elamina. “After all, we've never been a very close family now, have we? I must admit, I was always jealous that you and Granny got on so well.” She gave Rosemary a meaningful look.
Rosemary was startled by that revelation. It wasn't like Elamina to let her guard down.
“I know, I'm not the most friendly and well-liked person around,” said Elamina.
You can say that again, said Athena's voice in Rosemary's head.
“I can't help the way I am,” said Elamina. “But I'd like to make amends.”
“I thought you brought us here because I owed you something,” said Rosemary. “After you helped with that spell.”
“Oh, nonsense,” said Elamina. “What's a favour among family? Besides, it helped you get your daughter back...my dear cousin.”
“I don't know what you're trying to bargain for here,” said Rosemary. “Athena's not some kind of pawn. She's a human being, not a play thing. You helped me when I needed it and as you made clear in your letter, I do owe you one, but I don't owe you her.” She gestured to Athena.
Elamina’s smile dropped away from her face. “Very well,” she said coolly, putting down her tiny dessert fork. “You've made your hostility perfectly clear, Rosemary.” There was an edge to her voice that made Rosemary feel tense.
“I won't bother you,” said Elamina. “Just know that I'm acting with goodwill. I'm trying to make amends for not being the best cousin or the best...person. And I may well have a lot more work to do on that score. But I'm trying and that's all I can do.”
Rosemary nodded, feeling slightly ashamed of herself. “Okay. Thank you. I guess.” She took the last bite of her overly sweet dessert.
“It’s getting late. I think we’d better leave,” said Athena. “It’s a school night.”
Elamina sniffed a little. “I'll have Charles fetch your coats.” She clicked her fingers, summoning another servant.
On the way back to the car Athena gave Rosemary a very concerned look. “What was all that about?” she asked.
“Beats me,” said Rosemary. “Perhaps our dearest darling cousin is finally losing the plot.”
Three
Athena sat in class, feeling unfocused as she often had recently. She’d been unable to sleep the night before and was sure she’d heard strange sounds coming from the forest, though it could have just been her mind playing tricks on her in a half-dreaming state.
Mr Spruce waffled on about automancy, which was apparently the art of magically getting something to work for itself.
Instead of focusing on the topic at hand, Athena was miles away. Her eyes closed, just slightly, and she could almost picture it.
The fae realm...
Those purple trees and pearlescent cobblestone paths.
...that feeling like a fish being dropped back into water, at home again.
She'd wanted to come back home to escape the countess. And, of course, because after Finnigan's betrayal everyone she knew and cared about was in the Earth realm. But coming back seemed to take a toll on her body.
Everything felt so heavy.
“At least attempt to pay attention,” Elise whispered, next to her.
Athena opened her eyes again and looked around the classroom. Mr Spruce hadn't noticed that she'd been daydreaming and almost napping in class, but Beryl certainly had and shot Athena a smug smile.
Beryl had been bragging about how it was only because of her that Athena had come back from the fae realm. The nasty girl had been lapping it up...How disengaged Athena had been...How poorly she'd performed at school recently. But it was hard to focus around things that seemed so grey and lifeless compared to the other world she’d briefly inhabited.
For most of the others in her small circle of new friends who’d gone over to rescue her, the fae realm had the opposite effect. It had felt unnerving and confusing and unpleasant. They were relieved to get back to the solid reality they were used to.
But Elise understood.
Athena reasoned it was because she was naiad on her mother’s side, and they were beings from the fae realm. Elise felt the connection and the glorious joy of being there, that sense of finally fitting in and being comfortable.
Mr Spruce cleared his throat. “Now for something practical!”
He rummaged in the pile of odd implements behind his desk and brought out a box containing some old brass instruments. He handed them around to the class.
“Are they some sort of magical contraptions?” Felix asked.
Beryl laughed. “These are obviously just torches of a regular kind.”
“Torches?” asked Deron. “This don't look like no torch to me. We've got a lot of plastic torches at home.”
Beryl shot him a disgusted look.
“These are indeed dynamo torches,” said Mr Spruce. “And we've been using them to teach this class for many decades. So while they might be dated I can assure you they work perfectly well. The point is that for automancy you must use your mind, not to influence the kinetic energy around the device in order to move it, but to connect with the device itself. The idea is to get the device to turn on, in its natural essence, and therefore move itself. Let me demonstrate.”
He sat down at his desk, placing one of the brass windup torches in front of him. Then he put his hands on his temples and kind of zoned out, going cross-eyed as he looked at the device.
Felix laughed at the face Mr Spruce was making, and Elise elbowed him. It was clearly still her job to keep everyone in line. Athena gave her a supportive smile.
Mr Spruce hummed a little, and the handle of the dynamo began to turn, just slightly at first, and then a little faster. And faster still, until a light began to shine out of the front of the torch.
“There you have it!” said Mr Spruce proudly, lowering his hands as the handle stopped moving. “Now, you will practice. And don't even think about using kinetic energy to move the handles. They've been especially charmed so they'll only work with automancy.”
The class began practicing. Athena didn't feel interested enough to engage in the task. She looked around to see Beryl, focusing in frustration as she stared cross-eyed at the device. Athena would have laughed, only none of the torches in the classroom were moving at all.
Felix looked like he’d given up and was shooting magic shaped like tiny paper planes back and forth with Deron who had abandoned his dynamo too.
“Ugh, it’s no use,” said Beryl, screwing up her face. “Why bother with automancy when kinetic energy is perfectly sufficient?”
Mr Spruce bellowed a laugh. “Miss Flarguan, surely you know that automancy is far more than just getting a torch to light up. It’s a whole magical speciality. We are starting small because it’s challenging to master.”
Athena tried to stop herself from smirking at the obvious discomfort of her nemesis, but Beryl was right, there was hardly any point in trying. She folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. If none of the other students could get the thing to work she had a fat chance of succeeding.
“Not even going to try?” Mr Spruce asked.
“Err,” said Athena. “I’m having trouble concentrating today.”
“Go ahead,” said Mr Spruce. “I have it on good authority that the Thorn family are experts in automancy.”
“That might have been the case a long time ago,” said Athena, thinking of the way their magical manor house liked to do things automatically as if it was a sentient being. “Unfortunately, my mother and I don't quite yet know what we’re doing with magic.”
“Now, now, this speciality is complex. It takes most people many years of studying, even just to get the basics. You hear that class?” Mr Spruce said, scratching his long, white, frizzy beard as he addressed the room. “You're not expected to move mountains today. I'd be delighted if any one of you got even an inch of movement from the contraption in front of you. I expect it will take you some weeks to get it to turn on at all.”
Beryl had an expression of ardent determination on her face as she continued to stare at the dynamo, clearly hoping to prove herself.
Athena sighed and stared at the torch in front of her, but it wasn't long before her eyelids began to droop again, revealing some sort of imprint of the purple light shining through the fae realm at night and that feeling of connectedness.
Every time she thought back to that place, it came with the sting of betrayal.
Finnigan.
She’d trusted him. And yet, all he did was hand her over to his mistress, the Countess of West Eloria. The memory made her surge in anger, followed by sadness. But the worst part was that she still had feelings for him.
She couldn't escape from her own emotions. There was something that felt good about being with Finnigan, and about the fae realm in its entirety, which is why she'd stuck close to Elise when she was at school. Elise understood.
It was the same with the young foundling children who were temporarily housed at Thorn Manor. Being around them reminded her a little of that unearthly place. They, having lived there for so long, glowed with some of its essence. This was also perhaps why she didn't mind all the time she was spending with her fae father, despite not completely forgiving him for how he'd behaved when she was a child.
Dain was fae and she was fae. And as much as part of her wanted to cut herself off from all of that, along with the pain of betrayal, another part of her delighted in it so much that she simply couldn't. In the fae realm things worked for her. Her magic came easily. Her mind was clear. Even being there a short amount of time had helped her hone her powers in a lasting way, far more than months of practice in the Earth realm had before. It was like she was made for that place. She fitted there. It worked.
She glanced back down at the brass object in front of her, still half in a restless daydream. It was like she could see through the layers of metal. It had been created for a purpose. It belonged...Just like Athena felt she fitted when she was at home in the fae realm.
