(x) Irregular Magic

chapter 8 - Mattie and Brunhildt Spade

"Mattie, this is a game. When we are out at the market, you can't address Mom by name, okay?"

She stared at Inness, wondering what kind of game this was exactly. Inness' eyes begged her. "Okay, what about the prize?"

"A prize? Erm... alright, how's this? I'll show you the trick."

Mattie glowed, suddenly excited. "The trick where you slow everything down?"

Her brother nodded. "I can do it for three seconds now."

"Okay, deal."

-

It was in moments like this that everything felt so crystal clear. It was an almost painful clarity. It felt like something had been muffling her ears, and now they had suddenly popped and she was hearing everything clearly for the first time.

Inness finally recovered from her revelation, but it was too late. She had divulged to the world what they had kept secret for her entire life.

She stared up at her brother, unabashedly. Her brain whirred with a hundred different thoughts.

Sorry Mom.

Sorry Dad.

Sorry Tara.

And I'm so, so sorry Inness.

I need to save Ren.

You understand that, don't you?

Her three minutes of free, unrestrained speech were up, and Inness silenced the room again, eyes blazing. His magically-enhanced voice boomed through the crowded courtroom.

"The trial of Mattie Ander—" He swallowed and closed his eyes, looking exhausted.

At that moment, Mattie felt something wet fall on her cheek. Mattie reached up and realized they were tears. Despite it all, she was crying.

No matter how hard it had been to be called Zero-Affinity, to be magicless in a family brimming with it, Mattie still loved her brother. She loved Tara, and she even loved her parents who had been too embarrassed of her to acknowledge her as their eldest daughter. It had been so unfair that no one had known who she really was, and that she had lived under the name "Mattie Andersen" for all this time, but suddenly all of that seemed insignificant.

What she had done was irrevocable. And what happened now because of it was on her.

Her insides twisted.

But wasn't she doing this in order to save Ren?

That wasn't entirely true. There was no guarantee that by revealing her true identity in front of all these people she could save her boyfriend from certain death. There was no guarantee that it would even alleviate her own sentence.

Then, it was selfishness that drove her to do this to him, wasn't it? In vain hopes to save her own skin, she had made Inness a liar in front of all these people. A High Wizard disgraced in his own courtroom.

Mattie wiped her eyes quickly, trying to hide her motions. There would be time to cry and mull over everything. That time was not now.

Inness took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes again, and Mattie remembered at that moment that between the three of them, only she and Inness had inherited the unique gray eyes from their mother.

"The trial of Matthia Somerhall will recess until the morn. The court will reconvene tomorrow at precisely nine o'clock. Inquisitor?"

The vulture-like woman stumbled forward, still in complete shock. "Yes, High Wizard?"