Runaway Magic

four

My eyes bored into Kenna's. What do we do? I asked, fighting to conceal my sheer panic. For once, Kenna didn't know how to react. Despite her calm face, her eyes flickered with doubt. She only shrugged at my silent question, leaving me with no advice to latch onto.

"Stay here, girls. I'll handle this," Mama said sharply, rising from the table. There was no hesitation in her movements as she rested her hand on the doorknob. With a soft, almost inaudible intake of breath, she pulled it open.

"Mr. Kasumova," she greeted, a friendly smile on her face despite the shock of the situation. Meanwhile, I was having enough trouble staying seated. Every instinct in my body screamed for me to grab Kenna and run. But I knew that would only assure Mr. Kasumova of our guilt. So I bit my lip until warmth bubbled up, keeping my gaze straight ahead.

"I'm sorry this isn't a more pleasant visit," Mr. Kasumova said. I didn't hear any remorse in his tone.

Damn Caellan, I thought, vowing to knock my former friend to the ground the next time I saw him. If there had been any remaining shreds of our relationship, they were gone now.

"My daughters and I were just celebrating," Mama said, keeping her tone light. "It was very kind of you to sell me the bakery, and I appreciate all you've done for our family over the years."

Yes, Mama, lay on the guilt, I thought, silently thanking my mother for being so kind yet firm. If she ever punished me again, I promised I wouldn't resent her strictness anymore.

"I am sorry, Miri," Mr. Kasumova said. This time, there was an actual hint of regret in his voice. But any sympathy I had for him quickly faded. "However, my son swears he saw Sera performing magic. It's my duty to see that she receives the punishment she deserves."

"Maybe you should think about giving your son the punishment he deserves," Mama sneered, all semblance of cordiality gone. Before Mr. Kasumova could even utter a word of protest, she continued, "If your boy's so wise and honest, I want to hear his testimony from his own lips. Come back tomorrow morning when you have the courage to hurl more wrongful accusations at my daughters."

With that, she slammed the door shut in his face and locked the door. I watched Mr. Kasumova as he stood on our doorstep, confusion etched across his face. Finally, he stormed away, but I knew he would be back. Mama had practically flayed the man with her words, but powerful men never liked to bow to strong women. Even though Mr. Kasumova was just the - former - bakery owner, he was well-educated and had inherited family money. Compared to him, with our rudimentary educations and measly savings, our family was nothing.

"How dare he talk to me like that!" Mama seethed as she settled back into her seat. Anger flickered in her eyes like one of Kenna's flames. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. Neither of you has a lick of magic. If you did, I would certainly know about it!"

At this, Kenna flinched. Luckily, Mama was too engrossed in her tirade to notice, but I did. After all, I felt the same shame constricting my heart. When I had first discovered Kenna's magic, I promised myself that I would tell Mama...eventually. Well, that "eventually" had turned into forever, but I had never foreseen it leading us here. Now, our lies were finally catching up to us.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Kenna soothed, even though we both knew that wasn't true. "Let's enjoy our celebratory meal and go to sleep. We can deal with the accusation in the morning."

Mama nodded, too weary to protest. Slowly, she started digging into her food, soon followed by Kenna. The two of them had always been that way. In the worst of times, they managed to find ways to keep eating, to keep going. I, on the other hand, felt nauseated at the mere thought of cleaning my plate, my insides too knotted to swallow even a single bite. Even though there was a strong chance this would be my last real meal, I couldn't bring myself to eat. For the rest of the meal, I played with my food, moving it around and around on the plate until Mama and Kenna had bellies swollen with rich pastries.

I offered to do the dishes, escaping into the kitchen as soon as I could. Mama and Kenna's chatter filled the air with a familiar hum as I scrubbed and scrubbed. I only stopped when my hands were raw and chapped from the scratchy soap and water. Maybe if I washed them hard enough, I could scrape away the guilt and fear, leaving behind a gleaming stone statue. But all I saw was the nervous shaking of my fingers and the crack on my lip where I had bitten it bloody. I couldn't be a statue, no matter how hard I tried.

Finally, Kenna found me, laying a knowing hand on my hunched back.

"Let's go to bed," she said, guiding me away from the sink. "There's nothing else we can do right now."

Numbly, I nodded, but I disagreed. I could march over to the Kasumova's house and give Caellan a piece of my mind. I could try to gather evidence to prove my innocence. I could ... with a sigh, I realized Kenna was right. Worrying myself in circles wasn't doing me any good. Besides, confronting Caellan would only escalate the situation, and I knew any evidence I found would easily be discounted. Who would believe a poor girl training to be a librarian over a wealthy boy studying to be a doctor?

So I let Kenna lead me into our bedroom, the door quietly clicking shut behind us.

Silently, Kenna brushed out her hair and changed into her nightclothes. As soon as she was done with her routine, I rolled into my bed and buried myself beneath the covers. I didn't have the energy to pull off my crinkled clothes or neaten my frizzing hair.

The seconds ticked by, then a minute, then an hour. My heart kept racing, even as Kenna's breath slowed and deepened.

"Kenna?" I finally asked, the ceiling blurring from the force of my unfocused stare. For a moment, my voice echoed in the room, and I feared she had already drifted into dreams without me. After a pause, she responded, albeit sleepily.

"What?"

"What's going to happen to us?" I asked, feeling more and more like the younger sister with every childish fear I voiced.

"Nothing's going to happen to us," Kenna replied. "You don't even have magic," she added pointedly.

When I didn't respond, Kenna shifted back underneath her covers. After a few more minutes, her stirring stopped, and the monotonous hum of her breathing filled the air. Even so, my heart still constricted. She was right, but her words didn't assuage my uneasiness one bit.

I didn't have magic, but Kenna did.