Beauty and the Magician (Tales of the Red Witch Book 1)

Chapter 30 - Reunited

Time always has a way of jumping forward at an alarming rate in a terrible situation and yet feels as though it isn't moving at all. At least that's how it appeared to Eben. He had no concept of what time it was and how much of it had passed since the moment he had shoved Rose through the portal to Other. It could have been minutes, hours, or days. But time was not important right now.

He raced through the streets of Hafenstadt as fast as he could with a slightly turned ankle, a cracked rib and a large array of patchy bumps and fresh bruises. He was dripping wet, he was out of breath, his heart was racing and yet he knew he would not stop until he found them.

He knew his Tante was out there and likely so was his bunch of annoying strays. He just needed to know that they were all safe. He had never felt this way before. He had never cared or worried about anyone so much before. He had only ever had to worry about himself. He let out a breath under the crushing weight of responsibility.

He had no idea where to start looking. He only ran as he scanned the crowds of milling about people. He should be helping the injured, he should be heading towards his tante's building. But all thoughts were of a certain cat. Maybe he was wrong and she had stayed at Other. It was a hopeful and completely absurd notion, he knew. She was here somewhere, he could feel it.

He ran dodging piles of bricks and crowds of dusty battered people. He would help them... later.

He sighed in relief and yet his hopes of her remaining at Other were dashed when he spotted a certain skinny boy in an dirty oversized purple robe accompanied by a dusty pig. He knew that his highly capable street-smart apprentice would be fine and would be here helping. The boy was perfectly able to take care of himself. Eben should throttle him for throwing himself into danger. He could have gotten himself killed. But a bigger realization dawned on him. If he was here, then he had made another portal door and let Rose out. But where was she if not with him?

Toby and Mr. Pig were crouched over a fallen man who was quite loudly and profusely voicing his complaints about dragons. The man had a particularly nasty wound on his shoulder to match the chip on the other.

"Where is she?" Eben panted out next to Toby. He doubled over with a hand on his knee. His other hand remained wrapped around his battered ribs.

"Who?" Toby asked as he spread a salve on the wound.

"The queen of Cerulia, Who do you think?" Eben grew impatient. He didn't have time for this.

"Rose? She went that way to find you but that was a while ago." Toby pointed roughly back towards the pier.

He took off. So lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize where he was going until he saw the collapsed building. It was a very familiar tenement or at least it had been. Now it was little more than a pile of bricks. It was Tante Gertie's home, his old home. He stared in disbelief for a moment struggling to catch his breath and process the sight before him. His mouth hanging open as he rubbed a weary hand over his damp hair.

He just stood there and panted until a tap on his shoulder caused him to startle and turn him around.

His Tante stood behind him with a squirming toddler in her arms. Eben could have cried in relief but he was too busy shrugging off the toddlers grasping arms as the little girl wiggled in his tante's grasp. He extracted the girls fingers from the collar of his ragged filthy waistcoat and turned his eyes to his tante.

"I'm sorry Tante. This is all my fault... I'll fix it." He cried. His Tante looked at him skeptically as she cooed to the little girl.

"Mmm... If I remember correctly, this was all a dragon's fault." She hefted the toddler up and bounced her gently making her laugh.

"Yes, but in a round about sort of way... it was brought here because of me." Eben said. Why wasn't his tante mad at him? Her house was gone. All of these people, her friends, could have been hurt. She could have been hurt.

"Well, if you put it that way. The missing prince is my fault because I didn't apply to be a palace governess." Tante Gertie smiled at the little girl and tickled her behind her ear causing a loud sharp little squeal of delight.

"What?" Now Eben was really confused.

"Well if I was that boy's governess, I would have tanned his hide if he even thought about running away."

Eben still wasn't sure he understood what she was saying. He rubbed his aching head. His tante looked at him and sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Eben, my boy. You could blame yourself for all of the world's problems if you tried hard enough. But what is the point? Will it change what happened? I will expect you to rebuild my house though and I want a bigger apartment."

Of course he would fix her home. He would build her a palace. Eben looked around at the wonton destruction that surrounded him. He would rebuild everything. And he would build it back better. No more leaned over structure with boarded up windows. No more rickety staircase. No more thin walls...

Another thought occurred to him.

"How did you get out? Did everyone get out? Is everyone alright?" He looked around spotting the familiar families of the building as they huddled out on the street hugging each other and helping with minor injuries.

"Yes, everyone made it out. Would you believe a cat beast ran in and practically carried us all out?" She said raising an eyebrow.

Eben's stomach fluttered. She had been here? She had saved his tante. She had met his tante. This line of thinking was simultaneously the best and worst news he could have gotten at the moment.

"Is Rose still here?... I mean the cat beast... so I might thank her?" Eben cleared his throat and cringed at his tante's smug smile. He couldn't help but feel like he had been tricked somehow. What did she know? Oh stars, had she been talking to Rose?

"Rose is over there seeing to this one's mother. Shall we go see your friend?" Eben was shaking. He was unbelievably relieved that everyone was alive. Slowly emotions, pain, and exhaustion caught up to him.

He saw the back of her head first as she finished tying a bandage around a young woman's leg. From the state of her badly torn up dress, the bandages were obviously made from it. Her wet fur stuck up in all directions and she was covered in dirt and ash. Locks of her wet grey hair fell from it's pink ribbon, and he thought he spotted burns on her exposed feet.

When she stood and turned, her startled wide eyes met his. He felt a wave of happiness and relief. He felt like he had been holding his breath from the moment he realized she would come back to Hafenstadt from Other until just now. He let the air out and smiled. He wanted to touch her, make sure she was alive and well and not some sort of dream. But he didn't know how.

She paused for a moment staring at him before running up to him.

And then she hit him right across the shoulder. He cringed and hugged his cracked rib. It wasn't exactly the greeting he was expecting. He had somehow expected a thanks for saving her or at least some sign of happiness that he was also still alive.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, you foolish, selfless, stubborn..." She was shaking and her eyes were watering.

Eben was not thinking straight, he just reacted. He reached out and wrapped his arms around the cat beast pulling her close. She stiffened and then nestled in as she buried her face in his wet waist coat. Her falling tears adding to it's dampness. Her claws dug into the fabric briefly before moving to encircle his waist.

Eben felt the crushing hug of responsibility and for the first time ever; he didn't cringe away from it. He gladly took the comfort she offered and he gave what little comfort he had to give in return.

"I'm glad you're alright too, Kitten." He said.

He made a point to not look at his Tante's knowing smile as he rested his chin on top of Rose's head.