Chapter 10: Do You Believe in Magic?

Perry

I awoke in a bed. Someone was dabbing my head with a wet cloth. She was humming… and had the most beautiful turquoise fur… I jerked awake. "Penelope!" I immediately regretted moving so quickly.

"Easy, Mr. King. You took quite a bump to the head," she replied.

"What happened?"

She hesitated and stopped moving for a moment. Then, she got the rag wet again and rung out the water. She dabbed my head and laid it on my forehead. I held it there with one hand and slowly opened my eyes. I smiled at the sight: she was currently trying, in vain, to remove the fur from in front of her eyes.

"What are you looking at, Mr. King?" she asked, adding some contempt to my name.

"Pardon me, Miss Australis, but have I offended you in some way?" I asked. When she did not answer, I sat up and grabbed her hand. "Penelope?" She looked at me with sadness in her eyes.

"I wish it were easier."

"What do you mean?"

"I wish it were simply that one side is clearly right and one side is clearly wrong. If I am to go up against the princes with this, they will have me publicly executed."

I knew this to be true. Even if we took this matter to the queen, she would not believe us. We had to take a chance, a chance to risk it all for everyone to be safe. I was going to say something, but Penelope's men came in before I had a chance.

"Ah, the little monotreme is awake. Now, perhaps we may be rid of him," said Baljeet.

"Yeah, that little guy has been more trouble than he's been worth. Penelope, we have to turn him in," said Buford.

"Pardon me, gentlemen, but I am right here, you realize?" I asked.

Penelope looked at me a moment before turning her attention to her men again. "I know what we must do. Buford, Baljeet, I want you two to flee to America, on separate boats. I will not have you paying for my mistakes," she said.

"Penelope, with your magic, they will call you a witch and have you hanged or burned-" said Baljeet.

Penelope interrupted with: "I will be hung." She said it with such… finality. She said it as if she knew that it was true and she was… all right with it.

"I will not let that happen," I said, grabbing her hand. "No matter what anyone says, know that I will be by your side."

She pulled away. "I cannot let you do that. I shall be putting you, Heinz, and these two on ships out of the country. Perhaps we shall see each other again in another life," she said, smiling wistfully at this.

"Please, do not do this," I said.

"What are you going to do about it, Mr. King?" A challenge.

"You were right before. I have been running for too long. It is time I face what I have been avoiding for so long." I paused. "I will not have you die for my mistakes."

"And I shall not let you die senselessly. You did nothing wrong, ultimately."

"I have stolen and lied and cheated, Penelope. I deserve my fate. You, who have done nothing, do not deserve yours."

"You did not see what I did to those men. You did not see what I have done when my emotions have clouded my judgement. My magic is unpredictable and, when I am imbalanced, I cannot control it. I- I nearly killed those men and for what? A primal need to protect something that is not even mine? Please, Perry, just leave." She fell to the floor, feet-first, and turned her back to me. I also noticed she turned her back to the doorway. She had her back to everyone and… in that moment, it felt like one of my greatest sorrows.

I got up from the bed and moved to the door. I looked back, for a moment, but she did not look back at me. She had her arms crossed. Her decision was made. I moved past her men and into the hall where I saw Heinz leaning against the wall. He indicated to me to follow him and we went into the study. We were alone.

"Well, that could have gone better," he said.

"I agree," I replied. I felt sorrow stinging my eyes and I could not understand why… well, I understood, but I did not want to believe it to be true. It felt like… it felt too natural to feel this way, in this moment. "Heinz, I cannot do this anymore. I cannot keep endangering them. They are innocent. I am the one that should be facing this."

"Well, you certainly aren't going to do it without me, partner." He smiled. "After all, you're the reason I have all those wanted posters in the first place."

I wanted to smile, but it was secondary to my desire to cry. I cleared my throat and said, "Heinz, this is something I need to do alone. I need to face the princes and take care of this threat the way I should have from the beginning. I only pray I am not too late."

"Perry, you can't-"

"I will do this alone, Heinz, because I need you to take Penelope and her men to America. None of you are wanted there. You shall be safe."

"You won't be." I gave a regretful smile. Heinz gasped. "You're- you're not coming."

"If I live through my plan, I die. If I fail at my plan, I die. Just promise me, old friend, promise me that Penelope shall be safe so that I may do this peacefully."

"I refuse to stand by and let you do this."

I sighed and ran a hand across my features. My emotions were not staying in check very well. Any more sentiment and I would definitely cry. "Just please make sure Miss Australis is safe."

"You- you love her."

"I-" I could not finish my thought, for suddenly men in uniform ran into the room and, despite Heinz and I putting our best into it, I was caught. The men were soon taking me outside, but, before they could put me in their carriage, I was taken by other men… or animals, I should say. I was carried off and I realized who they were. These animals were part of the U.W.C.A. Underground Without a Cool Acronym. They were dangerous… and they would take me far from where I needed to be. Before I could fight back, they put a cloth before my nostrils and I was knocked out.

Well, this is a different turn in the road. Let's see where this takes us. Please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :)