The Magician's Witch

Behind the Scenes

A few weeks after Dawn and Dane's reunion, Eilis, Aria, and Ronan were on the road again, this time to New York City. Of all the cities they had visited in the last few years, the Big Apple always held a fascination for Aria and Ronan. There was always something else to explore, another facet of the city they hadn't encountered before. Eilis always made sure to schedule some time for site seeing.

This particular event was a competition set among young singers. Aria and Ronan had sung for the public before, but they had begun to venture more into the world of vocals. Either separately or as a set, they often blew their audiences away with their performances.

For this competition, the kids were divided between boys and girls; Aria was going to sing I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady. Ronan was singing Stars from Les Miserables. Eilis worried that the range might be too much for him, since his voice had started to change (which Aria teased him mercilessly about), but he insisted that was the song he wanted to showcase.

Eilis had begun to notice that some of the girls hung around to watch Ronan perform; one or two boys hung back to watch Aria. Eilis had to chuckle to herself. The one thing teenagers were terrible at was being subtle. She kept an eye on her kids to make sure nothing harmful happened.

One of the consequences of Aria and Ronan receiving such attention was of course jealousy from the other contestants. Amanda, who Aria was friendly with, was a mean girl behind Aria's back, making fun of her. If Aria knew that was happening, she either ignored it or it didn't bother her. Eilis had caught a few of the girls whispering about Aria—Amanda was the centerpiece of the knot of kids. They all went deathly silent when they saw Eilis standing there, her arms crossed.

"Oh, don't stop talking on my account," she told them lightly. "I like talking about my daughter, too."

Amanda looked down, acting penitent. All the other girls scattered.

"My daughter thinks that you are her friend," Eilis told Amanda in a low voice. "If you truly don't like hanging out with her, I suggest you be honest and tell her. That would be the mature thing to do. No one likes a gossip."

After that, Amanda avoided Aria and Eilis like the plague. Aria had been frustrated by her "friend's" sudden cold shoulder, but Eilis encouraged her to give Amanda some space.

"She might come back. Sometimes friends just need a break," Eilis told her.

During Aria's and Ronan's performances, Eilis hung around backstage, watching from the wings. She watched enraptured as both her children blew the audience away. Each of them received a standing ovation. Both Aria and Ronan walked off the stage as though they were walking on clouds.

"You must be so proud of them," Tiffany said in that sickly sweet voice, coming up behind Eilis.

Eilis turned toward Tiffany, noticing how she scrunched up her face with a fake smile.

Eilis smiled politely. "I am proud of them," she replied.

Tiffany smiled again. "Oh, if only I could get Amanda to practice more. She has such a talent, too. But she just doesn't apply herself, not the way your kids seem to. They make it seem effortless. Were you ever musical as a child?"

Eilis shook her head. "Not me. Their father was. Erik was a genius when it came to music." And pretty much everything else, she thought privately.

Tiffany looked as though she was a cat who had caught a mouse.

"Oh! Their father? You hardly ever mention him. Are you divorced?"

Eilis shook her head. "He is missing in action," she informed Tiffany frankly. It was the closest thing to the truth. "I met him while I was traveling overseas in my twenties. We got married. But we got separated from each other—it's a long story. Suffice to say, I haven't seen him since."