A/N: Wooo! Nice long chapter! By the way, I just want to thank everyone who reads this story. You guys are the best, and I'm glad you are enjoying it so much!

Chapter 10

Cersei threw the dishes into the dishwasher with a slam. She couldn't forget the conversation between them earlier at dinner. "Why now?" she asked her reflection in the window above the sink. "Why is he asking questions now?" Well, he was bound to, sooner or later. She had hoped the spell had fogged his mind as well, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore. The boy was asking questions, dangerous questions, and she had turned on defensive mode.

She could have kicked herself now, thinking about her responses. "I shouldn't have snapped at him," she muttered, wiping the counter down. "Now he's bound to be suspicious of my actions." If Nathan was already asking questions about magic, that meant that he had been studying his surroundings for a while, trying to find an explanation. That was what worried her most, and she had let that worry take over her better judgment and give her son the wrong answers.

But now, Cersei wasn't sure what to do. If Nathan continued investigating the magic concept, and if he discovered that they were in fact under a spell, he could try to bring other people from the outside world in. He could try to run away. Or he could try to convince everyone what was happening to them.

That last option she quickly discarded. No one would believe Nathan if he went around spreading a story about magic. The spell had them blinded, and not even the truth would set them free, because it would be against their capacity to understand it. But she still didn't want her son causing a ruckus in the town. They had dreamed peacefully for years, and she wasn't ready to face this kind of commotion.

With a sigh, Cersei turned off the light in the kitchen and headed up the stairs to the second story, suddenly feeling tired. As she passed Nathan's room, she paused, wondering if she should speak to him about it. She shook her head, knocked on the door, and opened it a crack. "Nathan?" "Yea, Mom?" "Goodnight, honey." "Night, Mom." "I love you." So much. There was a pause. "Love you too." Satisfied that he didn't seem angry about earlier, Cersei closed the door and headed for her own room. And at the moment she knew what she needed to do. Who she needed to see. Him. So far, Cersei hadn't required any contact with Him. Everything had run smoothly until now. But Nathan…she just couldn't allow the possibility of this curiosity about magic to go any further. "I love you, Nathan," she whispered as she leaned against her door. "It's what's best for you." Resolved, she began to ready herself for bed. She would pay a visit to Him tomorrow.

Sansa was mad at her. Arya normally shrugged this off, knowing Sansa would get over it, but now that her own anger ad faded, she realized how she had acted had been a bit childish. The reprimand Catelyn had given her in the office had lasted about twenty minutes. Arya had tuned out most of it, nodding her head and keeping her eyes down. Sansa had not spoken a word to her the whole walk home until they were in their room. "Really, Arya?" she had said. "Why did you have to act like that?" "What? He made me mad." Arya had defended herself. She had had a rough night at the diner, there was that stupid sauce staing that wouldn't come up, and she had not had a chance to learn about magic. The Hunter laughing at her had only fueled the flames to Arya's already short temper.

Sansa rolled her eyes and huffed off to the bathroom to shower. As soon as Arya heard the water running, she grabbed Nathan's book out of her back-pack. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, she opened the cover and began to flip through the pages. Most of it was pretty heavy stuff. About half-way through she saw a little piece of paper sticking out. She turned to that page and found the chapter Are You Under a Spell? She snickered. How convenient. But Nathan, or somebody, had obviously marked it, so she began reading. Slowly her eyes began to widen as the words jumped off the page at her. "What…." It was just as Nathan said! "But does this mean….we really are under a curse?"

The bathroom door opened. "Who are you talking to?" Sansa asked, wrapped in a towel, her long red hair hanging wet down her back as she walked to the dresser to pull out pj's. "Myself. I'm very interesting." Arya quickly shoved the book back in her bag. "What's that?" "Nothing, just something for school." She took a shower next, pondering the words in the book and what Nathan had explained to her. A strange tingle ran down her spine. Come to think of it….she had felt like she had been 12 for a long time. But she'd never questioned it before. Why should she? But if Nathan was aging, and no one else was…the only explanation could be magic, right? And since no one seemed to realize this phenomenon, it tied in with what the book said, about being under the influence of a spell and not knowing it. She gulped. Who would do such a thing?

Cersei pulled the car up to the school and looked at Nathan. He hadn't said much all morning, but she had seen his hesitance about being driven to school. "Have a good day, Nathan," she tried to say brightly. "Yea…you too." He gave her an absent-minded smile and climbed out of the car. Cersei watched him walk through the double doors before pulling away. She drove down the main street of town, nodding and waving to passersby who saw her. She couldn't really give two cents about those people, but it was important to keep a good image. It was expected of her, as mayor.

She pulled up to a shop on the corner, near the library. The sign above it read Pawn and Antique Shop in faded gold letters. Taking a deep breath, she got of the car and pushed the door open. A little bell tinkled somewhere, and Cersei dug her hands down in her coat pockets, glancing around the store. It was filled with the usual odds and ends one might find in such a shop, but scattered here and there were objects from Westeros. Swords hung on a wall to her right. Under some of the glass cases she saw a couple trinkets she recognized from King's Landing. Shuddering, she turned away, focusing instead on the counter at the back of the store. No one else would recognize these objects, but she still felt uncomfortable.

A curtain behind the counter parted, and a man stepped out. Cersei had not really seen his face when he had given her the curse, or the times they had met before, but she saw him around town, and she knew who he was. He was a man of average height, with shoulder-length dark hair. He had a scar that ran from his forehead sideways to his chin, and his green eyes searched her face with a coolness. He was dressed in a dark, casual suit.

"Madam Mayor, it's been a long time," he spoke in a soft voice. Cersei walked forward and placed her hands on the counter. "Yes. It has." She paused. "Mr. Steel, something has…happened." The man regarded her with an unsurprised expression. "You already know why I'm here, don't you?" Cersei felt irritated. "I do." Mr. Steel drummed his fingers on the counter. "Your son has found out about magic, hasn't he?" "He thinks he has. I guess I should have seen it coming…what with him being adopted from the outside world and all." Cersei studied the man before her. "I need you to give me a spell to put on him. So he will stop asking questions. So he will be like everyone else." Mr. Steel's lips twitched. "That I cannot do, my dear." "But…why?" Cersei spluttered angrily. She leaned forward. "He can't find out! He can't! Don't you realize it?" "As much as I would like to help," Mr. Steel said, "My magic only works on people from our own world. Nathan, as you said, is from this world. Therefore…" "Therefore," Cersei interrupted, "there's nothing you can do." She paced nervously.

Mr. Steel watched her, seemingly unconcerned. "He asked you questions, yes?" She nodded. "And I told him never to speak of it. I know it was wrong answer, but now I don't know what to do." "Explain to him that magic isn't real," Mr. Steel shrugged. "Mother him, and he will forget about it. And even if he did tell someone else…well," he chuckled, "no one will believe him, right?" Cersei nodded again. "Right…" She straightened, feeling better about the situation. "Thank you Mr. Steel. I trust I can count on you again for advice?" "Of course, my dear. Just remember," he said as she turned to leave, "Magic comes at a price."

A/N: Yay for new characters! I promise more are on the way! Who in the world could Mr. Steel be? I wonder...mwuhahahahha