A Kind of Magic

Thirty-Eight

Fiona entered her room and let the door slip closed behind her, then closed her eyes and leaned against the cool wood lest she would fall. Botheration... The man had such an effect on her; no one had ever made her feel so weak in the knees with a simple look...

Her mother cleared her voice somewhere nearby, the sound reminding Fiona where she was. Goodness, she had duties, she had a son to look after, she had no time for daydreams and fantasies.

"I sent him to take a shower," Alexandra announced as Fiona's eyes swept the room in search of Freddie. "He needs an early night; the journey exhausted him, and we're not even halfway through, at least that's what Leo told me."

"Thanks, Mum," Fiona muttered. Her mother always made her feel like an irresponsible little girl who wasn't able to look after herself, let alone her child.

"You know, this Peregrine... There's something in him that really reminds me of Lagon. If I were you, I'd be careful..."

Fiona wished to wait for Freddie and help him to settle for the night, but she couldn't listen to her mother. She loved her, of course she did, but tomorrow night she will do anything not to have to share a room with her again. Fiona rushed towards the pile of bags in the middle of the room and grabbed a book from her luggage before she returned to the door, Gollum, sensing her intentions, following her before she could call him.

"I need to take Gollum out. You and Freddie go to bed, I'll be back later. But, just that you know, Mum, I don't want to talk about my life with you. I'm old enough to bear the consequences of my own mistakes, I don't want you to worry about me."

With that, she was out, the door closing behind her, putting the end to the undesired conversation.

"Calm and silent," she reminded Gollum before she allowed him to creep down the carpeted stairs in front of her. Upon reaching the ground floor, she preceded the dog towards the door leading to the garden she had noticed before.

She peeked inside the reception, wanting to ask the owner's permission to let Gollum in the garden, but found it empty. Well, hopefully the landlady won't mind, it was raining too much for her to go out in search of a park, she mused, finally opening the door composed of many squares of glass for the impatient dog, even as a bolt of lightning split the black sky overhead, followed closely by a thunder sending the glass panes shuddering in their frames. The overwhelming scent of ozone and petrichor filled her senses with a promise of adventure, heightening her excitement brought on by this unexpected journey into the unknown.

Fiona inhaled deeply, then shivered as a few rain drops landed on her face, sprinkling the lenses of her glasses, and wrapped her cardigan tighter around her body. Her eyes followed Gollum who crept like a ghost from tree to tree in his nighttime exploration of the new place, while she tried to think about everything that had happened in her life in the last few days apart from Peregrine.

It wasn't easy; he seemed to float up the centre front in her thoughts even when she tried to push him to the margins or think around him. Botheration! She was on her way to meet her father who happened to be a king of a fantasy land and saw her as his only heir for the first time, she had learned that her son was a dragon shifter, a Highlander, that maybe another dragon was pursuing them even now, so... why didn't any of it feel quite as significant as meeting Peregrine?

After trying to organise her thoughts and worries into a more appropriate order of importance for a while, she shook her head in resignation when another lightning brightened the dark world momentarily and the ensuing thunder sent Gollum running towards her.

"Slow down!" she told him. "Shake!" Again!"

He obeyed immediately, and Fiona let him inside onto the doormat she was standing on. When she was convinced that his paws were dry and his fur wasn't dripping wet, she held him by the collar and led him towards the breakfast room. They had been told that they could use it anytime, and she was determined to stay there until her mother would have gone to bed.