Guardians Book One - Magic Rising

Chapter Six

Lady's house turned out to be a the ground-floor flat of a renovated Victorian terrace building opposite the Lion's Gate at Kew Gardens. Kath didn't entirely remember stumbling off the bus, over the road and through the stained-glass panelled front door, into Lady's minimally furnished front room, but with a mug of tea in her hands she was more able to pull herself together. Lady had changed her tights and apparently, while making the tea, cleaned off the scrapes. She looked, once again, completely normal.

Lady's front room was clean, high-ceiling'd and largely empty. There was the sofa on which Kath was currently sat, an armchair and coffee table with a laptop on, opposite, and a small aquarium with a number of brightly coloured fish on a table at the far end of the room. A small bookshelf housed a handful of books with titles like 'Beyond Our Galaxy' and 'Schrodinger's Cat: What Follows', a couple of trophies, and one single photo in a slim silver frame; Kath could make out Lady's face, but the man beside her - there was something odd about him, but she couldn't focus. Other than that - nothing. There wasn't even a TV. The stark white paint on the undecorated walls only stood to highlight the bareness. Kath was reminded of a showhome; all crisp and unlived in.

Lady sat herself in the armchair, looking everywhere but at Kath's face, studying her fish as though she'd never seen them before. Kath leaned forward to put the mug on the coffee table and settled for, "OK. What the hell?"

Lady exhaled, long and slow, finally raising her eyes to Kath's. "Are you...you do not understand. I cannot explain - I would only wish you never hear of this again."

Kath snorted. "A. Bit late now. And B..." I already knew. "Look, I grew up...hearing stuff," she blurted. "Not like...in my head! I mean...I heard things in the trees and the water no-one else did. Just me, and gran. My parents thought I was crazy. My brother couldn't hear them." He couldn't hear much outside the compliments... She stifled the uncharitable thought that always arose when she thought in tandem, like that, of her parents and her brother. It's not his fault. "But...and then...couple of weeks back...I saw...by the river. I saw - you. It was you, wasn't it? On the beer hut. You fought something and threw it in the river."

Lady's lips tightened. "Ah. I...yes. I am afraid it was. The time is coming, you see. They sense life here - even though that life cannot sense them...but you, we, are all born of the same source. If your race falls, if the world falls...the spark that bears life, will be theirs alone."

Kath stiffened. "If the world falls? What is this? Who are 'they'?"

"It is a long story," said Lady, apparently unaware of the tweeness of the phrase.

"I ain't going anywhere," said Kath, although she did glance at her watch. Half midnight, sheesh! I'm not tired at all...although that was a bit of a lie; she could feel it edging up on her, behind the hyped confusion and the thrill of knowing she wasn't mad. I'll pay for this tomorrow. I mean, later today. But I have to know. I must, now. Even when I first saw her, I knew something wasn't normal. None of the others could see it. Her heart leapt; unbidden the image of her gran's calm, knowing brown eyes rose in her mind, willing her on. "I want to know," she finished. "I need to. I deserve to, don't I? Whatever it is I can - I'm a part of it...I know it."

Lady leaned back into her chair. "No." Her eyes narrowed. "Be aware I would not normally offer anyone any explanation; it is against all I have to do, all I stand for, all security...all logic. But I have never needed to. And you are one of those rare few...who can See. I have never met one before, although Father has met a handful. They rarely fare well." Her lips pursed again.

"...oh. Great...thanks..." Kath felt the need to pick up and hug the mug again. Lady shook her head.

"I...forgive me. I would not wish this for anyone, least of all you..." She tossed her head, her cheeks pinking a little. Kath blinked.

"You barely know me!"

"You are...kind," said Lady, at length. "So very...alive. You reach out. Why were you not afraid of me, as the others were?"

"Oh, them? Don't mind them! They're just..." Kath waved one hand. "You know." Lady looked puzzled.

"I'm afraid I do not," she said.

"They're...people," Kath finished, not entirely sure what she was even groping at herself. "I mean...most people are talkative, or they smile, and it's easy."

"Is that not a lie? It is hard to talk with people whom you do not know...who you have already decided you do or do not like, most likely..." Lady frowned. "This is...what I mean. When you greeted me, you meant it; you were honest. When they said hello, I could see they were already judging me. I have little to say to beings like that, even if I...knew how."

Kath shrugged. "They...they just like things...easy, I guess. They find it hard to talk to people who...I dunno, aren't like them, like the way they live?" Kath sighed. "They're not bad people. They're just...a bit...straightforward. They haven't..." Grown up hearing magic. "Been outside the box," she concluded. And...you are a bit scary. I kind of know what they meant.

"Ah," said Lady. "I know...little of people." Her eyes dropped.

Kath opened her mouth to reply, but out of nowhere, a phone ring chimed into the air. "I apologise," said Lady, rising to fetch her bag from the hall where she'd dropped it. When she returned she had her mobile pressed to her ear, and her voice was the gentlest Kath had heard it.

"Thank you...thank you for calling. I miss you. You felt it? Ah...yes...yes. I dealt with it, but...someone was caught up in it all..." She threw a glance to Kath; Kath could hear the vice at the other end of the line raised in distress.

"No, no!" Lady assured the speaker. "Everything is fine. But...she can See." Once again Kath heard the pronounced capital, and Lady's conversation partner was silent.

"She's here now," Lady added. "She...she wants to know. What can I do?" The caller clearly suggested something, and Lady nodded. Kath was strangely amused to see even the composed Lady nod at someone who couldn't see her.

"If you could it would be...lovely. Please. Thank you. I shall see you tomorrow...soon. Goodbye." And she hung up.

"Dare I ask?" Kath finished her tea and placed the mug down; she was feeling every so slightly more balanced and the exhaustion was beginning to seep in.

"My...friend," said Lady, her thumb tip smoothing over the phone's screen once or twice. "He is coming tomorrow...I think he will be able to help, better than I could alone." She paused, and said, "Forgive me, and I have little capacity of hosting, but...I feel it would be easier - and safer - if you remain here tonight." She rolled her shoulders back, straightening up. "I fear they may have your scent."

Kath yawned. "Who? I need to...to know..." She rubbed her eyes. "I've known...all my life. I'm not a kid, I'm not new, it's...I want to know. I won't forget..." Her fists balled a little, tucked under her thighs. "This has been all my life, you know. I shoved it away but it was always there. When I left home, nobody would'a guessed, and I couldn't hear things, so much, up here, but...I knew. I tried to forget and I couldn't. You can't just leave me in the dark. Those other people who...See...maybe they didn't do so well but did anyone ever explain to them what happened? Or did your dad only find them after they'd spent their whole lives wondering and it just took them over, huh?"

Lady shifted her weight from one foot to the other, silent; Kath wondered if anyone had ever argued with her before. At length she said, "My friend will know how to conclude this more than I. Please. We need to sleep after...this evening. I would hope we can rise early...there is much to do."

Kath stared at her, and for the moment, deflated, conceding the point. "Well, OK. Sure. Slept on enough sofas in my time." She leaned back. "But I'm not...I won't give up. Got a spare toothbrush?"