I know I said the last story of mine was the last before August. But I'm posting this in complete and utter celebration at the early return of the Internet in my house! I mean, come on! I can't pack and clean my house when I've got Internet back! I have to write Dresden fic! Who cares that I'm going overseas the day after tomorrow??!!
Margaret was in the midst of trying to decide between wearing her locket or her pentagram necklace when there was a cursory knock at her door before it swung open.
"Justin, there's little point in knocking if you're not going to wait for me to answer," she said, annoyed.
"You're not ready," her brother replied instead, giving her outfit of jeans and sweater a once over. "They'll be here in ten minutes."
Still irritated by her brother's abrupt intrusion, the dark-haired woman returned to face her vanity mirror, deciding on the locket. "Is that tonight?" she asked, casually. She watched Justin pull up a chair and sit beside her out of the corner of her eye as she looped the silver jewelry around her neck.
"You know very well it's tonight," said her brother, equally irritated. "Key members of the High Council will be attending."
"I'm afraid I can't come," she said, lightly. Seeing the look her brother was giving her, Margaret sighed. "Justin, really. It'll actually be better if I'm not there. You'll have the entire floor to yourself. And besides," she continued, putting the last touches to her make up. "Ancient Mai doesn't like me."
"Ancient Mai doesn't like any of us," Justin pointed out.
In her mirror, Margaret could see the slightly amused, privately shared smile on her brother's face and felt her own earlier irritation dissipate. "Very true," she agreed.
"Margaret, if we hope to make any headway, I need you to be there with me," Justin reasoned. He reflexively straightened a cufflink that was perfectly aligned to begin with. "It's about showing unity."
The sorceress felt a small pang of guilt at so quickly deciding to skip the party tonight. She knew her brother had been counting on her to make an appearance and act as a second advocate to the reform s they'd been working on. But she'd been sincere when she felt it was better that she not be there. Her brother wanted unity and Margaret wasn't exactly sure if her thoughts for the reform coincided quite as closely to Justin's as she'd originally thought.
"Where are you going?" asked Justin.
Margaret hesitated for a brief moment before answering. As much as she knew her brother wouldn't approve, she didn't believe in flat out lying to him. "Malcolm is playing a show tonight. I'm going to see him." She kept her eyes resolutely on her own reflection in the mirror, but still felt the frown deepen on Justin's face.
"How long do you intend on associating with that man?"
"Until I get tired of him, I suppose," she replied, knowing already somewhere in her heart that she would never tire of Malcolm.
"Margaret, the man's livelihood is to make a mockery of who we are."
Since the first time he entered, the female Morningway turned to face her brother directly. "That is not what he is doing," she defended, hotly. "You haven't even seen him perform."
"Perform what?" scoffed Justin. "His parlor tricks?"
"He creates illusions. He mystifies his audience. It's a skill," said Margaret. The haughty look on Justin's face lingered. Of course Margaret knew she had it well within her own power to mystify and most likely frighten to death half of Malcolm's audience if she so wished. It was a power she had been born with and had carefully nurtured. But the stage magician, who had been born without a scrap of magic in his blood, had been able to baffle Margaret with his sleight of hand. Yes, the high born Morningway sister could pull endless cards out of thin air if she wanted to. But she couldn't do it the way Malcolm did. She wasn't even sure exactly how he did that trick.
Other than his unique sort of talent, Malcolm possessed an uncanny ability to guess correctly a person's true nature. And his assessments were always clear of any kind of nepotism or self-interest, another refreshing difference to the kind of company Margaret was so used to keeping. The two had only spent a few evenings together and with each parting, Margaret found herself counting away the time until she could see him again.
As she ran a brush through her thick hair, Justin picked up a book that had been sitting on her vanity table. It was a well worn biography of Harry Houdini that Malcolm had lent her, which she'd finished before getting ready to see him. While the frown remained on his face, Justin did seem to be actually reading the pages instead of skimming dismissively through. Without wanting to look too apparent, Margaret carefully studied her brother.
As always, he looked as neat as a pin. Even as a child when they'd played endlessly in their gardens, Justin had always managed to keep his clothes spotless while Margaret almost always added new tears or holes to her dresses. But as fastidious as he'd been, Justin had still been a child and Margaret missed the openness with which he greeted the world back then. What had happened to her brother who'd shared everything with her and inspired her to share everything with him in return? They still counseled each other from time to time and remained close as the only two members of the Morningway family left. But the sorceress felt a rift opening between them and knew she was as much to blame for that as her brother.
She'd thought working on the reform plan with him would help their relationship, but if anything, it was causing greater problems. Margaret was in full agreement with Justin that if the magical community hoped to survive the new era, this rule of remaining a secret to the rest of the human world had to be amended. She'd never been shy in telling the High Council that their arrogance of remaining isolated would only bring about their own destruction. But while Margaret thought to share knowledge and form alliances as she so often told the High Council, her brother often spoke in a way that made her suspect he was only looking to exploit what the regular human world had to offer. And this one, but very significant difference in their intentions was a point of great concern for Margaret. It worried her where Justin was going, for she wasn't sure she wanted to follow him.
If it had been anyone else, she would have left them to do as they pleased or strong arm them into agreeing with her viewpoint. Whichever worked best for her. But this was Justin and she hated fighting with him.
"Something bothering you?" asked her brother, lifting his eyes from the pages he'd been reading.
Margaret decisively shook her head. "Would you like to borrow the book?" she inquired, laughing when Justin made a face and put the book down. "You should do that more often," she suggested.
"Do what? Read?"
"No, pull faces. It makes you look less serious."
"I like looking serious," said Justin, but he gave her an amiable smile, his bad mood alleviating a little at his sister's laughter. He pulled off his glasses to wipe the lenses with his silk handkerchief and Margaret noticed the slightly tired look around his eyes for the first time.
"Are you ready for the party yourself?" she asked, nonchalantly.
"I was up late," Justin replied, answering the question for what it was. He replaced his spectacles and Margaret saw a spark of familiar enthusiasm light up on his face. "The ghost knows how to do a Gravias spell. The first part of it anyway. I was having him work with me to try and complete it."
It was Margaret's turn to pull a face. "Honestly, Justin. I can never understand why you were so eager to bring that into the house." The sorceress had been adamantly against her brother taking possession of the cursed skull and the spirit that went along with it. After seeing the long list of previous owners who'd all had met with a gruesome end, she more than believed that the thing only brought bad luck. But Justin had looked upon the skull with a grown up version of the eagerness he'd shown when receiving a new toy from their parents.
"The ghost is incredibly useful. You'd know it if you'd take the time to utilize him. I brought him here for both of us."
"No, thank you," said Margaret, primly. "You can go and curse yourself if you'd like. I'm fine as I am."
"You haven't even seen him perform," Justin parroted, slyly.
Caught in her own words, Margaret gave him an amused grin. "Very nice. If you weren't a wizard, I'd say you could have been a very good lawyer."
"Speaking of not being wizards, how much longer is that stage hack staying in town?"
"His name is Malcolm Dresden," Margaret snapped, her good mood evaporating. "And he's in town until the end of the month and I intend on seeing every one of his shows." She left out the part where Malcolm had asked her to come with him when he moved onto New York. It had been such a sweetly presented idea that Margaret had forced herself to bite back her immediate, instinctual answer to tell Malcolm she'd have to think about it. Though it was far more likely to say she had to think about how to tell her brother.
Gazing in the mirror, she could see the coldly suspicious look on Justin's face beside her and before he could voice his question, Margaret turned to him with a sigh. "Justin, let's not argue tonight. You have guests coming and I only want to see Malcolm before he leaves."
The glittering wariness in her brother's eyes softened at her plaintive request and he gave her a nod. "Alright, let's not argue," he agreed. "I don't enjoy being at odds with you."
"Nor do I," said Margaret.
"I only want what's best for you, Margaret. You're a Morningway. You deserve the very best."
"I know."
"I want to make sure the man who has the honor of being with you can also protect you. Keep you safe."
A haughty expression of her own twinkled in Margaret's dark eyes as shot her brother a look. "I can take care of myself, as you very well know. Don't talk down to me, Justin."
"Yes, I apologize. I'd forgotten who I was speaking to," Justin chuckled. "Listen, why don't you bring Malcolm to the house before he goes?" he offered. "We can all have dinner."
Despite herself, Margaret narrowed her eyes. "Really?"
"If he impresses you so much, there must be good reason," replied Justin. "I'd like to meet him."
"This isn't some trick to belittle him to his face, is it?"
"I thought you didn't want to argue," said Justin, his own frown returning.
Margaret shook her head as if to clear it. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. I'll ask him tonight. I'm sure he'll say yes."
Downstairs, the doorbell rang, indicating Justin's evening was about to begin. "Guests are here. I better go," he said, rising to his feet.
"Good luck." Reaching up, she needlessly straightened his tie. "You won't need it, though."
"Thank you." He lingered briefly as Margaret smoothed down a stray lock of hair. Standing behind his sister, he gently squeezed her shoulder, staring at her reflection. "Have a nice time tonight." Seeing the often missed warmth in her brother's eyes, Margaret gave him a brilliant smile.
As he turned to exit her room, she called after him. "Justin, I won't be out late. When I get home, you can introduce me to your ghost. I want to see this Gravias spell you're doing."
Justin nodded, returning her smile. "I'll see you later then."
After he left, Margaret gathered her purse to make her own exit. Her fingers rested briefly on Malcolm's book, recalling his offer. She could still feel the way he'd held her hand as he asked her to come with him. And while Margaret had seen more of the world than Malcolm ever would, the notion of seeing familiar cities with him by her side gave her an unexpected rush of excitement. But even as her heart thumped joyfully in her chest at the thought of being with him, Margaret noticed in the mirror that her face was set in a worried frown.
THE END