WORK IN PROGRESS: Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 17 (Magnolia): The Balance

Magnus hadn't appeared on my doorstep in a week, and I hoped that meant he'd had time to re-think his claim that he was going to participate in the trials. Maybe when he really thought it through, he'd realized that it wasn't worth it if there was no guaranteed payoff in the form of me accepting him back into my life. Why risk your life when it wouldn't make any difference in the end to the woman you'd betrayed? The safe option seemed to be bowing out of the trials and wishing the witch a good life.

At the same time, contrarily, it pissed me off because...typical Magnus. Saying one thing and not meaning it in the slightest. To think I'd actually been worried about him dying and he'd never really intended to go through with the trials. Maybe he'd just said that to make me feel sorry for him, and he'd been hoping it would soften my heart toward him. Get his foot in the door so he could work his charm on me once again.

Fuck this man and him taking up my headspace. It was too early for conflicting thoughts without some coffee. I got into my car and was headed toward my favorite coffee shop. I'd just turned left onto Main Street when I hit the brakes, grateful no one was behind me. Quickly swerving into a parking spot, I looked at the For Sale sign in the window of an empty shop.

"You need a place to help others, your base in the community," Rosemary had told me.

"I'm going to school. I've already taken two semesters off; I don't plan on opening a witch shop."

She'd smiled at me. "You can still finish your master's if you want to. But you're a witch, Magnolia. Your true calling has been released. I want you to think about school. I want you to think about how your priorities may have shifted  since your powers were released."

So I had, and I realized she'd been right. My desire to finish my master's just wasn't there any longer. It didn't surprise me; I'd been pursuing it not for any noble reason, not for any great love of higher learning but simply because it would allow me to advance in my career more easily.

I still needed to have that I'm no longer pursuing my master's conversation with my mother. The list of things I needed to tell her was growing, and I'm sure she had a lot of questions about the last six months of my life when I'd basically fallen off the face of the earth except for a short call to her every few days. But Mom would have to wait a little longer because that conversation needed to take place in person and first I needed to Facetime Rosemary with my exciting news.

"I was just thinking about you!" she said cheerily the second she answered my call.

"I think I found my place," I told her right away. "You told me I'd just know! Well, I was driving down the street today, and there was a For Sale sign in a building on the main street in town and I knew that it was meant to be mine."

"How wonderful! And have you figured out yet what kind of store you'll have?"

Rosemary ran a coffee and tea shop, where she sold many varieties of coffee beans and loose teas. You could get a cup of whatever and enjoy it in the shop or get some bags of your favorite flavors and take it home to brew there. Whatever the customer wanted, but no matter what, everyone who entered the shop went home with a little magic that Rosemary personalized to the individual customer's needs. 

"Not quite yet," I admitted, "but I have some ideas I'm sorting through."

"That will come in time and you'll figure it out," she promised. "Has there been any word from Magnus about the trials? His week is almost up."

"No," I said. "I haven't heard a peep out of him, and I think -- I hope -- that means he's decided not to take part in them."

She made a face.

"What?"

"Don't assume that, Magnolia. In fact, I'd be quite surprised if he's given up."

"Why?"

Taking a deep breath, she filled me in. "It's rare. In fact, it's so rare I don't think I've ever heard of it happening more than once. Unless Magnus is a complete coward, I don't think he'll back down."

"Why? Why would a man who cheated on me, who clearly didn't love me, want to risk his life when I told him I don't want him back?"

"Always so quick with the assumptions, witch."

"He didn't love me. Or at least not enough to be faithful to me."

"OK."

"I hate it when you agree so easily! It means you really don't agree with me."

She smiled sadly. "Everything you're saying is what I was saying forty years ago about Boone. I learned never to speak for the man who broke your heart. He could surprise you."

"Did Boone surprise you?"

"He did, in many unexpected ways. There are things the fae don't reveal to the witches because they would upset the balance. We have to make our decisions without knowing everything."

"Can you tell me?" I already knew the answer, though, and she didn't surprise me.

"No. There's only one thing I can reveal to you about Magnus if you haven't already figured it out. It's the one thing my mentor would have revealed to me if I hadn't figured it out, and it's the one thing you'll reveal to the witches who come to you someday if necessary."

"And that is...what?"

"It relates to the reason why I doubt he'll take back his claim to you and why I'm so sure he'll take part in the Three Trials."

"Well, I haven't put anything together yet, so..."

"Listen to me. You need to know that there's a great deal to talk about once you figure it out. It isn't as simple and as straightforward as it sounds. There's much more to it than what it seems like on the surface. We can dissect it, and I'll break it down for you and tell you the rules surrounding it."

"I thought you said you could reveal it to me."

"Magnolia, I can and we'll get there, but I would have thought you'd put it together by now. I want you to try to puzzle it out because you need to start thinking like a witch in the fae realm. Try. Your heart broke."

She looked at me meaningfully but maybe my mind was too distracted by Magnus...and the trials...and him not showing up for a week...and my new store...and my new direction in life...and desperately needing to talk with my mother...

"Yes, I know my heart broke. I was there."

"Magnolia," she chided me.

"Rosemary," I snapped. 

I was getting snappy because I wasn't getting it, and she seemed to think it was glaringly obvious. All I wanted was an answer.

"Balance, Magnolia. You heart broke, so..."

"So I became a witch with powers?"

She shook her head at me like I was an incredibly difficult student. Which, to be fair, I was since I wasn't connecting the dots.

 "Your heart broke. What would the balance require?"

Her words hit me like a punch to the face. With spiked brass knuckles. It had been staring me in the face for months, ever since I'd learned about the fae and their need for an equal and opposite reaction to every action.

My heart had broken.

That meant Magnus's heart had healed.