The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 34: Incensed Encounters

In all the time she'd known him, Charlie Morningstar had never seen the Radio Demon frown, regardless of what he felt. Oh, she had seen a range of emotions behind his expressions in the time she had known him - he could smile because something genuinely amused him, or because he was annoyed, or contemplative. Sometimes he'd even been wistful, as though hiding some kind of pain.

"Why? Why would you risk that?" he'd asked as he'd lost his smile, for the first time she'd ever seen.

Somehow, that simple gesture seemed worse than all of Vaggie's screaming.

There wasn't any grand mystery to his question. Her soul for her magic... they were the only things of equal value to her that she would have been willing to risk. He'd not bothered to make her wager the Hotel's fate, tying it to their game. She would never have considered that, and they both knew it.

He had trusted her with his secrets, and she had let him down. Charlie's stomach twisted through her tears, remembering his expression from yesterday.

Even Alastor had lost faith in her.

She was asking him to trust her, but did she really deserve it still?

That thought in itself made the princess want to quit. Was she worthy of his trust, after giving away his secrets, after nearly corrupting his will?

She was Alastor's apprentice, and if she quit now, she'd lose that. She'd lose all of her magic.

She'd lose him, just like she'd lost Vaggie.

Because regardless of whatever they became as a result of her losing her magic, they would not be the same.

She was who she was, because of her magic. It had drawn them together, in its own way. If she'd not dared to sing that day at the station, would he have even come?

He'd sang her own song back to her, albeit a parody suited to his humor, but it was the most hope she'd ever had that someone might believe in her.

Her parents had thought of the Hotel as some kind of naive daydream, the same as Seviathan - their support only given as a means of letting her fail gently, with hands held out to fall back into when she inevitably failed.

Vaggie supported her, of course - but it was always in a steady, quiet way, as though she too knew this was a doomed effort.

Alastor the Radio Demon had danced in with a song, renovated the whole building, brought in support staff, and then stayed to watch the show. He lingered wherever he pleased - dependable in his own strange way, equal parts bombastic and reserved. He spoke a lot, but said even less, smiling at his own unspoken knowledge. He expected the hotel to fail, but not because of her.

Her ex-girlfriend had often suspected he'd cast a spell on her the day he'd knocked on the Hotel door, and it had always been one of the quickest routes to an argument. But Charlie knew he wasn't that kind of person, and she knew her own soul besides.

She would have sensed him manipulating her, because she knew how to manipulate.

It was strange to think she'd never shared that with her girlfriend, even after all the years they'd been together. They had always been learning about each other as they grew closer, throughout their relationship, but Charlie had kept that piece of her to herself.

She had during her other relationships, as well. Seviathan was the only one who had known (at least she suspected) about the Royal Authority, considering his family's ties to nobility, but he had never engaged with her magic, having other things about her which interested him far more.

Alastor was one of the only people in her life who understood Authority. She'd explained it to him, alongside Dominion, back when they'd begun this whole affair. How strange to think he knew such an intimate detail about her without ever having kissed her.