WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (14 page)

           
Duchess
Chandlish spoke over the crowd, her lips fighting valiantly against the
laughter threatening to burst forth.
 
“Is
this some new fashion from Vestavia, Sarah?”

           
“If
so, no wonder they all want to move here!”
 
Mandy’s words set everyone off again.
 
Even Elspeth, who tried valiantly to maintain her composure, finally
surrendered.
 
She sank into the throne
and laughed so hard the only sound she could muster was a gasping wheeze.
 
Of course Raven, Bekah and Stephen joined in.
 
For a good five minutes Sarah waited until
they had all gotten it out of their systems.

           
Finally
everyone calmed down enough to talk, though Liz and Mandy were actively trying
not to look at each other.
 
“Sarah, do
you care to explain why you’re wearing that dress?”
 
Elspeth asked.

           
Despite
herself, Sarah had to smirk when Bekah answered.
 
“She hangs out with Sis so she probably has
bad taste in clothes too.”

           
“I
was told it was tradition, Your Grace.
 
I
think I was lied to.”
 
Sarah responded
politely.

           
“U
mummg ie.”
 
Raven mumbled.

           
Everyone
in the room stared until Raven swallowed the bite she was working on.
 
Sarah wasn’t surprised to see nearly half the
gallon had been consumed.

           
“Branwyen,
are you eating in the middle of a gathering?”
 
The Duchess tried her best to look stern but in the end a smile won.

           
“Yeah.
 
Want some?”
 
Raven held the container towards Elspeth who politely declined.
 
Mandy attempted to grab some for herself but
Raven slapped her hand.
 
“No!
 
Bad little sister.
 
Mine!”
 
She dove back into the frozen treat, not bothering to offer anybody else
a bite.

           
Elspeth
shook her head, still smiling.
 
“Branwyen, do you mind telling everyone why you lied to your business
partner about that dress.”

           
Another
incoherent mumble was Raven’s answer.
 
Elspeth told her to try swallowing before speaking.

           
“I
said, ‘I never lie’.”

           
“So
why was I told wearing this is a tradition?”
 
Sarah crossed her arms and tapped an annoyed foot in Raven’s direction.

           
Raven
paused with the spoon half way to her mouth-- there was now less than a quarter
of the original gallon left-- and said, “No, I told you that receiving the mark
in front of everybody was tradition.
 
Remember, you said something about the dress and then complained about
having to be here in front of so many people.”

           
Thinking
back on it, Sarah realized Raven was right.
 
She hadn’t technically lied but still.
 
 
“So you embarrassed me for
ice-cream?”
 
She should be really
offended but was starting to find the whole thing pretty funny.

           
“Nope.”
 
Raven swallowed the last of the frozen dairy
goodness.
 
“Sis bet me a gallon of
ice-cream that I couldn’t make you wear it.
 
The embarrassment is mostly just for comedic value. ”

 
          
“I
am going to get you back for this, you know that right?”
 
Sarah set her face into as serious a look as
she could muster.

           
“Oh,
kick her out of the house!
 
Make her live
on the streets.”
 
Bekah suggested
helpfully.

           
“If
she kicks me out, I’m moving in with you.”

           
“Forgive
and forget; that’s my motto Sarah.”

           
Ignoring
their playful banter Elspeth stood and beckoned for Sarah to step forward.
 
An expectant hush filled the room.
 
Almost physically Sarah felt the eyes of
millionaires and aristocrats trained on her.

“Sarah,” The
Duchess explained as she sat a small wooden box covered in intricate runes down
on the table in front of
 
her, “this will
mark you was a member of the Chandlish family.
 
We trust you with our most valuable secrets.
 
Do you understand?”

           
Sarah
nodded and stepped closer.
 
The gossamer
ribbon on the back of the hat tickled her neck as she did so.
 
Everyone in the room including Raven, who had
polished off her ill gotten gains, stood respectfully.
 
Elspeth and Stephen produced matching keys
and slid them into locks.
 
The runes on
top of the chest glowed brightly for a moment and then faded.
 
The top lifted by itself and a small silver
stamp glinted brightly in the black velvet lining.

           
“Where
would you like it?”
 
Elspeth asked,
holding the stamp in her hand.

           
Slowly
lowering the dress to expose her right shoulder, Sarah turned.
 
She felt something cool press against her
skin.
 
She expected it to hurt, despite
Raven’s assurances that it wouldn’t, but it was nothing more than a small bit
of pressure.

           
“Let
it be known to all that Sarah Petty, of Valentria, now bears the mark of the
White Rose.”
 
Elspeth spoke clearly as
Sarah faced the gathering.
 
“As such, she
is here by granted the power and prestige associated with this honor.
 
What say the people?”

           
Amazed,
Sarah watched as the richest people in Valentria knelt to one knee and bowed
their heads.
 
She quickly looked to Raven
for an idea of what was expected but there was a solemn tint in her eyes that
seemed out of place on the usually chipper redhead.
 
Sarah noticed the somber expression was also
worn by the other three Chandlish daughters.
 
After an eternity, Brian mouthed instructions with a grin.

 
          
Not
knowing what else to do, Sarah managed to say, “Please rise.”
 
As one, the crowd did so.

           
“So,
you happy Lil’bit?”
 

They were sitting
alone in the library after a huge feast had been devoured.
 
As the guest of honor Sarah was allowed to
invite anybody she wanted but since everybody she knew was already there, she
invited all the servants who didn’t have the night off.
 
The meal had gone on for hours until the
guest had been too tired to stay awake.
 
Even Elspeth had gotten into the mood by telling the help to wait until
the morning to clean up.
 
It was, all in
all, a very good day even if she had to wear a terrible dress.

“Yes, I am.
 
But I’m still going to get you back.”

“Eh, you wouldn’t
have liked it if it were boring would you?
 
More fun to have everybody laughing and enjoying themselves.”

Sarah nodded,
almost in agreement.
 
The dress that was
quickly discarded for blue jeans and a shirt borrowed from Liz made everything
lighter, more friendly.

 
“It really is an honor to have the mark of the
White Rose.”
 
Raven was suddenly being
serious and Sarah glanced at her friend.
   

           
 
“I know, and thank you.”
 
Sarah leaned over to kiss Raven on the
cheek.
 
Raven turned her head on accident
and their lips met.
 
Sarah was surprised,
but the kiss lingered.
 
Soft fingers
caressed her cheek then slid down to her waist as Sarah moved closer.
 
Raven’s tongue pressed against Sarah’s mouth
and her lips parted on their own.
 
Sarah
felt Raven’s hand gently brush against her breast and gave an involuntary
shudder.
 
Raven moved sensuously as
Sarah’s arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

           
The
kiss broke and Raven whispered in a husky voice, “Lil’bit, I…” but Sarah’s
mouth caught the remaining words.
 
How
long they kissed, a minute or a century, Raven couldn’t be sure.
 
What she was sure of was the anger at being
interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

           
Quickly
the two girls jerked back away from each other as Mandy and Bekah turned on the
lights and walked in.

           
“Why
are you sitting in the dark, girl?”
 
Mandy grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her off the couch.
 
“Daniel is looking all over for you to say
good night.”
 
Sarah blushed and with a
glance back allowed herself to be dragged out the door.
 
Raven felt a twinge of jealousy.

           
Bekah
stared at her sister.
 
Something wasn’t
right but she couldn’t place what it was.
 
Raven was a little flushed, making her face look like a tomato but it
wasn’t that.
 
Her hair was a little messy
and her lipstick was smudged but no, Raven never cared a whole lot about her
appearance.
 
Then it dawned on
Bekah.
 
In the two decades they had been
sisters never once had Raven not paid rapt attention to her “big sis”.
 
Now Raven’s eyes stared longingly at the door
Sarah and Mandy had just exited.

           
“Sis!”
 
Bekah barked.
 
Raven spun around, startled to find someone standing there.

           
“Hey
Sis.
 
What’s going on?”

 
          
Bekah
rolled her eyes and stormed out of the library.

           
The
morning sun found Raven and Sarah sitting at the table in their apartment
eating breakfast.
 
Snuffles munched
happily on a bowl of scrambled eggs and bacon Raven had given him

           
“Raven,
we should talk about last night.”

           
Raven
stopped a fork full of pancakes dripping with syrup half way to her mouth.
 
“Are you still mad about the dress?”

           
Sarah
sighed.
 
This was going to be harder than
she thought.
 
“Not about that.
 
About when we, you know, kissed.”
 
She watched her roommate but Raven’s eyebrows
just furrowed in a look Sarah recognized as confusion.

           
“What
about it?”

           
“I
was a little drunk and things got out of hand.”

           
Raven
chortled loudly, “You know how much I had to drink?
 
You don’t honestly think you could get in
these pants without me being three sheets to the wind do you?”

           
A
feeling of relief washed over Sarah.
 
This
topic kept her up most of the night, figuring out the best way to broach it. “Yeah,
yeah.
 
If you’re so hot then why am I the
one dating a doctor?”
 
She took the
dishes to the sink and ran water over them.

           
Raven,
who hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol the night before, watched Sarah head down
to the shop, the prairie-thumper shuffling ungainly behind her.
 
When the bottom door slammed, a tear rolled
down an alabaster cheek.
 
Angrily she
wiped it away but another followed, then one from the other eye.
 
Raven got up and went to the bedroom.
 
Pressing her forehead against the glass of
the window pane, she wept; silent sobs wracking her lithe body as she held her
arms around her waist.

           
What
was she thinking, she chided herself; she couldn’t share a future with
Sarah.
 
Branwyen Chandlish didn’t have a
future to share with anyone.
 

CHAPTER
12: A SIMPLE NIGHT OUT

“Come on,
Sarah!”
 
Raven yelled through the
door.
 
Sarah’s business partner was unusually
hyper and that immediately raised warning flags in her mind.
 
When Raven got too worked up situations had a
tendency to get out of hand in a hurry.
 
Still, the enthusiasm was contagious and Sarah couldn’t help but feel
excited.
 
They were going on a short
trip, just thirty minutes by dragon, to pick up a few magical supplies in a
neighboring town.
 
There was also a club
they had talked about visiting weeks and finally the opportunity was here.
 
Sarah figured they were owed a night of
celebration since the shop was doing so well.

           
“Hold
your horses, woman; I’m hurrying as fast as I can.”
 
The sultry blonde pulled on her boots and
stepped out in the hallway.
 
An approving
whistle met her as she opened the door.
 
Tight black pants and a blue shirt showed off a trim figure.

           
“You
like?”
 
Sarah struck a pose, modeling the
outfit.

           
Raven,
garbed in her customary purple boots, charcoal gray pants and purple shirt,
nodded as they walked down the stairs to the shop, “Don’t wear that around
Daniel or I’ll have to wipe drool off his chin.”

           
The
two girls were just about to head up to the roof when Bekah walked into the
living room.
 
Sarah tried changing the
locks twice but Bekah kept getting a key.
 
Finally she just accepted there was no separating the two sisters.

           
“Where
are you going?”
 
Bekah eyed Raven
steadily.
 
Since Sarah moved to
Valentria, she learned to recognize Raven and Bekah’s constant bickering--
though something to be wary of-- as an expression of their love for each other.
 
Fireballs, fist, and swords on occasion
weren’t out of the ordinary with these two.
 
This apparent calm made her uneasy.
 
Doing her best to remain inconspicuous, she edged towards her
bedroom.
 
There was a tree just outside
it she could use to get to the ground incase of an emergency

           
“We’re
going to hit The Equinox tonight, after I pick up some Cawley stones.
 
You want to come with us?”
 
Raven rocked back and forth on her heels in a
hurry to get started but Bekah closed the door then stood in front of it with
her arms crossed.
 
One of the big
sister’s eyebrows shot up and she inhaled sharply through her nose.

           
Shooting
a quick eye at Sarah, as if trying to decide something, Bekah rebuked
Raven.
 
“Remember what you told me last
night?
 
You said ‘We need to do it very
soon.’”

           
Raven
looked over at Sarah as well.
 
Even after
these last few months Sarah couldn’t understand how two women with nothing in
common physically could always manage the exact same facial expressions.
 
“I know, but I’ve got it under control.
 
We’re just going to shop and check out the
bar.
 
Nothing is going to happen
tonight.
 
It’ll be fine if we wait until
tomorrow or the day after.”

           
Rebekah
Chandlish looked for a moment as if she meant to stop them, which Sarah figured
she’d be able to since Raven usually wound up losing their fights and she
damned sure wasn’t going to get between them.
 
But after another sharp breath, Bekah said in a low tone, “You had
better be right, Sis.
 
You know what
could happen.”
 
Then the trio walked up
the stairs and outside.

           
The
sun shone brilliantly with the clarity of fall.
 
When the wind blew, you could feel the chilly bite of a quickly
approaching winter and the air smelled sharp and clean.
 
It was a beautiful day to travel.

Bryson stretched
and tasted the crisp air with his nose as he strolled through his portal.
 
He asked in his gravely voice where they were
headed this fine afternoon.

While Raven and
Bekah held a private discussion a few feet away, Sarah told him they were going
to Augusta.

“Are you sure
about this, Sis?”
 
Bekah asked as Raven
swung up behind Sarah, “Not even Mandy or Liz know.”

Raven just grinned
happily.
 
“You can still come with
us.
 
We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon at
the latest.”

Bekah shook her
head, telling them she had some work to do at the office since they would be
busy the next evening.
 
The fact Raven
and Bekah were keeping something a secret didn’t bother Sarah; she had grown
accustomed to their world consisting of just the two of them.

With a lurching
jolt, Bryson was airborne as Bekah waved up to them from below.
 
Then they were off, sailing through the
air.
 
Not a single cloud hid the passing
ground from view.
 
Sarah had learned to
enjoy flying and she hugged Raven tighter as the wind whipped into her
face.
 
They flew south, judging by the
light of the afternoon sun, until a small city came into view.
 

“Welcome to Augusta.”
 
Raven said as Bryson touched down in a small
pasture.
 

The dragon folded
his wings as the passengers slid from his back.
 
Raven asked if he wanted to go home.
 
Bryson growled he would be staying overnight, eyeing a large tan cow
with thinly disguised hunger.
 
Sarah
never thought to ask what dragons ate and decided that she really didn’t want
to know when the serpentine head swung to face her.
 
Yellow eyes twice the size of her hand
studied her for a long moment.

“Sarah,” the giant
reptile whispered softly, “if anything happens, yell for me alright?”

Sarah felt a chill
pass through her body that had nothing to do with the weather.
 
Bryson took to the air once more and Sarah wondered
what the dragon meant by those cryptic words.
 
Quickly she shook the thoughts away when she realized Raven had already
reached the city.
 
With a shout Sarah
chased after her, not wanting to be left alone in a strange place.

With their arms
entwined, Sarah took in the sights and smells.
 
Augusta
was bustling, despite its small size.
 
The streets looked cleanly swept and the buildings all seemed to be
relatively new.
 
Raven explained, once
Sarah mentioned it, that the city was fairly new.
 
A large deposit of Cawley ore had been discovered
a few years ago in the mountains that lay just to the west of Augusta’s limits.
 
What was originally a small farming community
exploded, almost over night, into the most important center for all things
magical in the entire country.
 
That’s
when Sarah started noticing that many of the shops catered to people attuned to
magic, like Raven.
 
There were, of
course, the normal shops and businesses you would expect to find but most of
them had a decidedly magical theme.
 
They
passed a few bars and restaurants with names like
The Caldron
and
Hocus Pocus.
 
Sarah even spotted a branch office of a law
firm she had dealt with back in Vestavia, the firm of
Langley and Langley.
 
Easily
a quarter of the businesses they passed, though, dealt with the selling or
buying of magical equipment.
 
One store,
The Grimoire,
proudly displayed a sign
that informed shoppers that they had the latest book of incantations, direct
from the Magistrate Orion’s office.

Raven, who had
been to Augusta
dozens of times in the past, was noticing something else.
 
At almost every corner, guards stood wearing
matching red uniforms.
 
The Protectorate
was, it seemed, policing the city.
 
Raven
muttered something under her breath.
 
Elspeth was not going to be happy about this latest development, not in
the slightest.
 
With a look of disgust
wrinkling her nose, Raven stormed past two guards, up a small set of stone
steps that led to Zweifel’s, the largest bank in the country.
 

When they reached
the counter, a frumpy, middle aged woman asked with a fake smile how she could
help.

Raven turned on
her most innocent expression and said she would need a check made out to
Goldsmith’s Shoppe plus five hundred gullions in twenties.
 
The asked which account the check should be written
on.

“Rebekah
Chandlish.”
 
Raven said with no
hesitation.
 

Sarah hastily
turned her attention to a potted plant in the corner of the room, hoping not to
appear suspicious.
 
Sisterly pranks were
one thing but this was fraud.
 
If they
were busted they would go to jail, at least for a day until Bekah could sort
the mess out.
 
Of course, she reminded
herself, considering Bekah and Raven’s relationship, the big sister might just
think it was funny to let the two of them rot in prison for a few months.

“Do you have
identification?”
 
The teller asked
politely.
 

Raven reached into
her pocket and pulled out Bekah’s wallet.
 
Sarah was sure by now they were going to prison and wasn’t much
relishing the prospect.
 
After studying
the documentation, the gray haired woman stood and walked to the back.
 
Going to call the guards, Sarah worried to
herself, but the woman came back less than a minute later without the
police.
 
After counting out the cash and
handing it and the check to Raven, the lady asked if she could be of any
further assistance.
 
The purple clad
thief told her that would be all as she stuffed the check and money in Bekah’s
wallet.

Once they were
outside, and out of ear shot of any passersby, Sarah spun on Raven.
 
“What exactly are you doing?”
 
She demanded.

Raven appeared to
be genuinely puzzled.
 
“We’re going to
buy some material I need for the shop, of course.
 
I forgot my purse so I had to pick up a
counter check.”

“That’s not what I
mean and you damned well know it!”
 
Anger
seeped into Sarah’s voice.
 
“You got that
check on Bekah’s account and when she finds out she’s going to kill both of
us.”

The redhead
started to argue but a stifled voice interrupted.
 
“Oh you snotty little brat.”
 
Raven’s shirt seemed to be fussing at the
person wearing it.

Pulling on a thin
silver chain, Raven smiled at the Congreve crystal.
 
Bekah’s scowling face glared out at
them.
 

“Howdy Sis.”
 
Raven greeted in her most amiable tone.

“Don’t ‘Howdy Sis’
me.
 
You stole my wallet, didn’t
you?”
 
The Bekah in the crystal demanded.

“No.”

“Then where is
it?”

“In my pocket.”

“So you stole it!”

“No I didn’t.
 
I’m borrowing it and plan to give it back
just as soon as we’re home.”
 
Sarah
thought she saw Bekah’s anger fade a little at that one but couldn’t be sure
due to the small size of the image.
 

“One day I’m not
going to let you out of there.”
 
Bekah
huffed one final time and the crystal went blank.

Feeling slightly
better about her prospects for avoiding a lengthy prison term, Sarah asked
where they were going next.
 
Raven thought
they should handle the business part of the trip first and then hit the
club.
 
A short walk later the two girls
were standing in front of a gleaming white building with a sign that read,
Goldsmith’s Shoppe.

Sarah had watched
Raven inscribe a few runes and cast some simple spells but that was the extent
of her journey into the magical realm.
 
She always pictured magic shops as being dark and filled with bubbling
caldrons, indescribable creatures, maybe an old crone with a wart on her nose
standing behind a dusty counter glaring balefully out of its one good eye.
 

She was more than
a little disappointed.
 
Goldsmith’s was
clean and brightly lit.
 
Neat, well
organized shelves stretched into the back of the shop and a smartly dressed
young man stood behind the counter to their right.
 
The young man, Sarah noticed the name on his
tag said “Tim”, asked how he could help them today.

“I need some
Cawley Stones.”
 
Raven said.
 
“About five hundred pounds should be
enough.”
 
The young man gave the total
and asked how they would be paying this afternoon.
 
Raven pulled out the check and filled in the
amount.