"Melinda Prudence Halliwell!"
The young witch flinched as her mother's voice rang through her, sending a shiver up her spine.
Bianca stood by her side in the middle of their gigantic family, the aunts and cousins all in attendance. This had not been the plan but then again they had been worried about this from the get go. She still prayed that Melinda could find an answer to the curse; while Chris was the best at research and had an eerily keen insight it was Melinda's ability to see that Bianca trusted above anything else. It's why she had agreed to go along with her new sister's plan.
Chris elbowed his brother from his position, leaning against the table. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the second born son was getting a kick out of this show. Wyatt would have smiled if this was any other circumstance.
But it wasn't. This was the core of his life, an event that had occurred throughout time; every time. Every time they had lived and consequently died. High jacking their spell, Wyatt had ensured his death, linking himself to Rae in the most permanent of ways. Then again, Wyatt thought, there had never been a power that could separate them even if the curse had been created to do just that.
They would always be soul mates.
Looking at his ring finger his thumb rubbed circles over his new tattoo; an ornate design that Wyatt knew culminated in the shape of a wedding band. What magic had been performed tonight was really just a renewal of vows that had bound them together for a thousand years. He would make sure there were a thousand more.
As the family continued to argue and yell at her, Melinda had the good grace to feel a glimmer of shame and her eyes met Wyatt.
He could hate her all he wants, she thought. At least he would be alive.
Things were, to say the least, tense. Wyatt and Mel managed their respective bars and anything business related was left to Christopher to relay.
Neither were things good for the newly weds who hadn't talked in nearly a week. A clear line had been drawn; Bianca stood with her sister and Chris with his brother and the rest of his family. It didn't stop the two from meeting in secret, and the family knew that they had hidden Rae from them.
Although Rae had been able to keep herself off of Wyatt's radar these past months, there was no way she would be able to hide from the entire coven of Halliwell witches minus the two current defectors. Not without help.
Melinda Prudence Halliwell was a powerful witch with many splendid gifts, the most powerful one being her sight. There were many things to see; past, present and future and there were many different ways to see them. It wasn't just that she was a powerful witch being the youngest daughter of the most powerful living Charmed One; youngest sister of the Twice Blessed Child as well as the families truest hero.
Mel stood equal in strength to both her siblings. There was no differentiation between the three in terms of power, only destiny. And just as Wyatt would always share the same destiny as his other lives, to lead and be followed as a great king, Melinda had and would always share the destiny of her incarnations.
Time passed, shores eroded. Cities were lost and erected. Yet her destiny stayed the course. Melinda, just as Morgana, would always have a vested interest in the life and death of the king.
"I hate this," Mel fell back on the couch and toasted Bianca, her long neck clinking against her sister's cranberry vodka.
The night was over and morning was creeping up. The two had ostracized themselves from the family to avoid the intense pressure they were applying to get the girls to give up Rae's location.
"The radio silence or the guilt?"
"Neither, the fact that we didn't accomplish our goal. If we had been able to prevent the high jacking then Wyatt would be curse free and we could be working on the next step without my family constantly interrupting the process."
Bianca sat forward, her glass going to the nearest coaster and her eyes scrunching. "You don't feel any guilt over this?"
"Why should I?" the witch put her feet on the table and sipped her beer. "We did what needed to be done."
"And lied to Chris and Wyatt in the process," the phoenix reminded the girl.
"It had to be done," Mel reiterated. "Nothing else to say on that matter."
Scoffing, Bianca stood up and walked across the room before facing her co-conspirator. "I'm not talking to my husband. There is a very good chance that he will not forgive me for this. How about a little shame; humility?"
Mel got to her feet and glared back at her partner. "What do you want from me? Is it to save your cousin and my brother, or lead them to their deaths? Because I'm pretty sure it was you that sent Rhiannon to me to help shield her from my family and find a way to slow down the curse and prevent it to reaching out to my brother, or did you forget about that!"
Bianca felt as if she had been slapped. Steeling herself for what was about to become a monumental fight, Bianca did what she did best and put her guard up. "You're supposed to be all powerful seer; guardian of the King! This was your responsibility from the very creation of magic and you couldn't even get this right, but then again I should have known better," the brunette retorted, "because you never have."
"You want to talk about my failures? You were her protector," Mel yelled from between clenched teeth. "I wouldn't have to find a way to end the curse once and for all if you had managed to do your duty but you were too busy letting your skirt up to protect the queen," she jerked her arm out as she aggressively punctuated her point with her pointer finger.
Bianca stepped back, her stilettos the only sound in the room. Silence permeated the structure as their friendship crumbled. "At least I wasn't the one who created it. Then again, neither did I give it to your brother's mortal enemy."
Melinda's jaw dropped and her eyes narrowed as she felt a pang in her chest. Bianca went for the kill. "You could at least feel some guilt for that," and the witch climbed the stairs to the entrance and made her way to the street.
She had a marriage to repair.
