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

Chapter 43 - Love conquers all

Eben stumbled through the Grune Stadt door and into Other. Gasping and sputtering as he tried to catch his breath. He had never run so fast. Why had he run? He could have flown, but Annika and Rose consumed his thoughts. His brain had turned to pudding because of her yet again. He couldn't explain it, except that she made him happy. He loved that she made him happy. He loved arguing with her, He loved her strength, he loved her cooking, her incessant need to always be moving. He loved how she cared about everyone else including him and Toby. He loved her determination and her bravery. He loved...

He loved her, he finally realized. He had been a fool. He had spent so much time hiding and keeping everyone at a distance, that he didn't realize how lonely he had grown and how miserable he had become. She had somehow pinpointed his jaded melancholy view of the world and made him realize that he was missing the bigger picture. She had brought light and kindness back into his miserable life. She had somehow made him realize what it was that he had loved about being a magician in the first place. He had saved the prince, fought an evil witch, faced the council and stopped a dragon all because she had made him feel like he could.

Love. A thought. A vague idea came to him. Rojiera's words replayed in his mind.

He spotted Toby cleaning up around the work table. Why did he look so sad? He would think on it later, he had a cat to find. He ran through the room and up the stairs, but her room was empty. Her things were gone. What had happened? No. She had to still be here. Maybe she was out back in the garden. Where else would she have gone?

He came running downstairs "Where is she?" he gasped out. There was no questioning who he was talking about. There was no sarcasm or joke. There was only an emptiness spread out between them.

"She went home." Toby said sadly.

Eben froze. He was too late. She had left him. He should have known that she would. How could he expect her to love him back. He had nothing to offer her. He was a mediocre magician with a modest income. She had turned down proposals from lords and princes. She had said that she didn't want to marry. That probably applied to him too. And then there was that ridiculous edict... He wasn't sure he would be able to marry her even if he was finding out how badly he wanted to.

He stumbled over to the sofa and leaned heavily against it. He didn't know what to do. He wished Rose was here. She would have known what to do. She would have told him to go to Wohnort and tell Annika how he feels. It was an absurd thought considering they were one in the same. What if she laughed in his face? What if she had changed her mind about marrying Andri or the toad? Surely, they were both better prospects than him.

His feet felt glued to the floor. His knuckles white as they gripped the back of the sofa.

A glass bottle on the work table in front of Toby smashed to the floor. Had Toby done that? One look at him confirmed that he did, indeed, smash it.

"Quit actin' as useless as a wart on a toe and go after her!" Toby suddenly cried as he waved his arms out to the side.

It shook Eben out of his frozen state. He wouldn't know how she felt until he asked. And he suddenly felt that he had to know. He had to know if he had a chance. He had to know if what Rojiera said was true.

He turned towards his wide-eyed smudgy apprentice who was practically vibrating with energy and a smile stretched out across his face. He had to go to her. It was reckless and foolish and he was likely to get his heart summarily plucked out of his chest and smashed to the floor like Toby's glass bottle but he had to see her again. He could just walk away from her again like he had done that day in the flower shop.