Anthromagic ~ Chapter 24

“If-sa-lynn.” I said slowly, hoping I had pronounced her name correctly. “May I ask you something?”

“M’am.” She said kindly, turning her head around again. “You need not ask my permission for anything you do. On the contrary, it is I who should ask permission to speak with you. May I?”

“Speak with me? Sure.” I asked, confused. Concluding that this exchange meant that we could talk now, I proceeded with my questions. “Why does his lordship want to ensure my safety?”

“He does not wish anything to happen to you miss.” She said smiling.

“But, what am I to him?” I persisted.

“You? Miss?” She asked, her eyes glazed over and a blush rose to her cheeks. “You are his everything.”

“What?” I asked with a sharp intake of breath. “Exactly what is it that you mean by his everything?”

“Surely, her ladyship knows what is meant by these words. Surely.” She repeated.

For the next fifteen minutes, Iphsalin repeated these words over and over again: “His everything. Surely.” I didn’t understand her incessant rambling but I didn’t interrupt her either. She sounded worried and upset. When she stopped her chatter, I tried to console her.

“Are you okay? I’m sure it isn’t too bad.” I told her quietly.

“Oh, her ladyship is not mad?” She smiled and sounded relieved. “I began saying things which were not meant to be said yet and I feared that you would be maddened by your confusion.”

“No.” I said, lifting my eyebrows and raising one end of my mouth. “Not mad. Perfectly content.”
“This I am glad to know.” She said, stopping at another crossroads. I assumed we were at another transit and that I would be getting another guide. “Here I stop. It is best if you keep moving. Mytal will find you as you go. He wishes you not to be frightened when you see him.”



Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Night's Final Hour: A Mother's Day Special

The following is a special post for Mother's Day. The next chapter of Night's Final Hour will still be published today. This is just a letter from Ivy to Benjamin giving you a glimpse into other characters of the story. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day.

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Dear Benjamin,

You asked me to tell you about my family. I have a feeling that you may know more about them than I do, but I’ll do my best anyways to satisfy your curiosity. You’ll have to be patient though, as it may take several letters to tell you about them all.

I’ll start with my mother since she is the most immediate family still living. As for her birth, all I can tell you is that she was born many, many years ago (she would yell at me if I shared her age) in Nashville, TN. Unlike my father, she is not a native of Nuitville and would not have come here if it weren’t for my father. Why she remains in town now is beyond me.

My earliest memory of my mother is of her in the kitchen. I couldn’t have been more than three or four at the time. I was walking and talking, but not yet in school. It was a hot, spring day and my mother was preparing a snack in the kitchen – strawberries, I believe. She was chopping the greens off and cutting the juicy parts. I was waiting at the kitchen for my snack.

The knife missed the berry and sliced her finger instead. It wasn’t a large cut, but it was deeper enough to send red oozing out. My mother started to say something, but bit her lip instead when her eyes met mine. She quietly walked to the sink and washed her finger, crinkling her nose as she did. I remember thinking that my mother must be quite a woman to withstand such a cut and not cry. I was young – any cut warranted tears.

Beyond this memory, I’m not sure what to share. My mother is a brave and caring individual who is stuck in her ways and doesn’t like change. She’ll back you in all that you do, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she approves of all that you do. She’s an individual who knows what she wants and goes after it. I’d like to think I’m a lot like my mother, but deep down, I know that I’m barely a thing like her.

Your friend,
Ivy

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Night's Final Hour by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Anthromagic ~ Chapter 23

When I was awakened by Joshua, he had a tall slender woman beside him with silver hair. She smiled slowly as I blinked and tried to regain focus in my eyes. I sat up and spun my legs off of the daybed. She extended one hand before me and I shook it hesitantly.

“I am called Iphsalin.” She said. Her voice was rough and scratchy. From her looks, I had expected an elegant and silk tone to escape from her lips. “From this point until the next transit, if it should please our ladyship, I will guide you.”

“Thank you.” I told her, blushing at the title they kept using incessantly. I was neither pretty enough or graceful enough to be anyone’s ladyship, but, earlier, when I had asked Joshua to quit using the term he became frightened so I did not dare to ask Iphsalin. She bowed slightly and spread out her arm in the direction of the tunnel on the right.

“This is the way that our journey requires us to take.”

She began moving toward the tunnel and I followed. At the mouth of the tunnel, I glanced back to wave at Joshua who I expected to see shrinking with the distance, but he was not there. Joshua, the chair, and the daybed had already disappeared. When I turned back around, I was met with Iphsalin’s face smiling at me. Her body was still facing forward, but her head had turned one hundred and eighty degrees in my direction.

“He’s gone back to check on the gateway. Being newly constructed, his lordship wants the protective force tested regularly to ensure your safety.” She offered the information freely and her head slid back around to the front.

I shuddered at the flexibility of her neck and then stopped in the tracks. Wondering if Sikal’s poison had altered my molecular make-up, I twisted my head to the left in an attempt to see if I could now look directly behind me. My neck cracked sharply and I winced in pain; my face would still be looking in the same direction that my body was facing. Iphsalin had provided me with another piece to the puzzle however. Wherever I was, or wherever I was going, there was a lordship and he had the power to hand out orders. I had already began to plot different ways that I could trick him into ordering me home, when a thought came to me: I needed to know why his lordship would want to ensure my safety, someone he’d never even met.



Anthromagic by Crystal and Pamela MacLean is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.