Anthromagic ~ Chapter 32

“I know.” Katie told me quietly.

“What exactly is it that you know, Katie?”

“I know that you don’t know and we don’t know why.” She looked up at me as the sounds of leather on marble filled the air. The man known as his lordship came down the hall, approaching us. Katie stood and he looked at her before quickening his pace.

“Katie, dear, I didn’t expect to find you here.” His tone was insincere.

“Actually sir, I was just leaving. Her ladyship has found a rip in her dress. I tried to mend it, but I have no talent with sewing it seems.” From her pocket, I watch as Katie pulls out a needle and thread. It seems she was prepared for an intrusion. I wondered silently whether she would have ripped my dress if it wasn’t already. Out of everyone here, she’s been the most honest with me and I’m disappointed to see her go. A sense of déjà vu overwhelms my mind and I think of the other Katie; what have I forgotten about her already?

“Whatever are you daydreaming about?” His voice protruded and I realized that Katie is gone once again.

“Quite simply? Who I am, or rather, who I am supposed to be.” I informed him, honestly.

“In due time, I promise to tell you all I know.”

“Why in due time? Why not now? And what is due time? How long is that?” My questions become a string of run-ons, finally voicing out loud and revealing my fears.

“Due time meaning when you’ve all but forgotten the other place. Meaning I don’t know how long, it varies. And why? Because I’m not ready to lose you yet. I’m not ready to see you disappear again. I’ve done too much to get you back and I can’t see you vanish. I won’t.”

His honesty was frightening; he’d gone from a tough lord to a startled and scared child or, worse still, lover. Was it possible to forget someone who loved you? What if you didn’t remember loving them?

“Why would you lose me by being honest? That’s what I’m asking you to do. Tell me the truth, I won’t vanish.” It was the truth; I would not vanish. I would listen, think it through and make a rational decision before I decided whether to go back to where I’d been – what little I could remember of it.

“Because you always do. You can’t help it, the leaving. It’s not something you have control over. Every time I tell you what I know, which, mind you, isn’t all the answers you want or need, but every time I tell you, you disappear. That’s just how it seems to go.” He watched the floor, intent on counting its specks and avoiding eye contact with me.

“Have I ever asked you to tell me before?” It was curiosity, but became strategy.

He looked up and met my eyes. “No.”

“Have I ever said that I’ll stay before? Promised not to immediately disappear?”

“No.” A smile crept onto his face.

“So maybe this time’s different?” I had to know what he knew.

“So maybe this time’s it.” His smile grew.

“It?” I asked, confused for a new reason.

“The time when you have to decided; have to pick.”



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

Updates Being Made

We're currently in the process of updating the layout, navigation, and information present on Two to Write. Please bear with our mess during this process. Night's Final Hour will continue to be published every Sunday and Anthromagic will return to its weekly Tuesday appearances.

As always, thanks for reading and enjoying our fiction!

Anthromagic ~ Chapter 31

Preparing for my so-called journey seemed to drag on as those the hand on the clock refused to turn, refused to let time pass as it should. I eagerly anticipated and dreaded what was going on with my life and the two worlds I’d been plummeted into; the two emotions conflicted within me. My clothier dressed me in one outfit after another, only to tell me that my attire didn’t seem appropriate and ask me to dress in something new.

“This is the one. The proper attire for your outing.” She said at last.

“Are you kidding me?” Turning to face the mirror, I realized what she had me dressed in. How was I supposed to go on a journey to explore the lands in a floor length gown?

“No miss, I would never kid you. It would be most foolish for me to treat her ladyship in any sort of childish way; you are very clearly not a kid.”

“What I meant by asking that was whether or not you were serious. Do you really think that this dress is appropriate for travelling across the lands?” I gestured toward the mirror and up and down the length of my gown, trying to make my point. “This will be impossible to walk around in. Especially if we run into any rocky patches.”

“Oh.” Her face bore an expression of confusion. “It did not occur to me, Miss, that her ladyship would actually be walking on her journey. I assumed you to be taking the carriage or perhaps some other mode of transportation.”

“It would please me more to walk and actually learn the land.” It was difficult to keep my voice even and not let it show how aggravating it was to continually be called ‘ladyship’ in a land I had never known.

“Let me see what I can do to correct my mistaken.” She turned to walk to her basket of cloth and thread amongst an array of other materials. Stopping just steps from the basket, she turned back to me and looked down. “If it pleases her ladyship.”

“Aren’t there any jeans that I can wear?” I asked her, growing weary of the formalities associated with this place.

“None that I know of, Miss, and I know this land.” She never looked up from the floor.

“Very well. This will just have to do. I’ve grown tired of putting on new outfits and would rather just proceed with the tour.” Without any hesitation, I strode from the room before she had time to insist upon yet another outfit without any improvement. I had two explicit goals in mind that I wanted to accomplish. I need to try and locate the young girl, Katie, and see what truths I could get out of her and I wanted to do so before I went out to explore the lands, which just happened to be my second major goal.

It turned out that I didn’t have to go far to find Katie. When the clothier had rudely dismissed her from my room, she had gone just beyond the door and into a small enclave. Apparently, she was awaiting my departure because she poked her head around when the door clicked shut. Seeing that it was me, she jumped out into the middle of the hall, grinning.

“I was waiting for you.” She said softly, noticing that I was looking at her.

“That much I can see.” I smiled. “In truth, I was actually on my way to find you.”

“Me? Why would you try to find me? Aren’t you leaving?” Her tone was bitter, leaving me confused.

“Honestly, Katie, I’m not sure what my plans are. The world that I know, the place that I’m from, is not this one. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.” Sighing, I slide to the floor and the side seam of my gown rips.

“But you do know. Or you will. In just a few days, you’ll remember here and you’ll want to stay and you’ll forget there and we’ll keep you this time, I promise.” She rambled on; it seemed as though she was on the verge of tears.

“None of that makes sense.” To me, it seemed as though a very confused seven year old girl stood before me, possibly searching for answers just like me.



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