"You summoned me?"
She furrows her brow, "Not intentionally, no." She spins around in her seat.
"I have assembled my letter of resignation. I think it best for me to move on before I cause anymore grievous harm here."
"That is unnecessary."
"I feel responsible for every bit of this."
"You have no responsibility in this. You didn't chose to enter the world. The choice was thrust upon you."
"My parents are incredible. I have never wanted for anything including love, or a place to belong. Despite that I have never understood the decision to usher me into this world at such an astronomical cost."
"Circumstances aside it was the veracious thing to do."
"It caused you great pain from which you are still recovering."
She purses her lips, "I knew even then that you had a life that deserved to be lived."
"I could have been an utterly wretched excuse for a wizard."
"You have my same resolve to succeed in spite of circumstance."
"I will not argue with that."
"I nearly named you Phoenix, in case you are wondering how Achilles floated to the top of the list. Ada discouraged that former choice because we both nearly died in a fire when you were newly hatched."
"I am happy to hear you confirm I was hatched from an egg like a dinosaur. My parents could never be convinced that I truly was a pterodactyl. At the time of course, I was three, so I was not the most credible source of information."
She smirks, "Why a pterodactyl?"
"Cool name, and they can fly. Three year old logic, you see."
"Have you ever determined what your beast within is?"
"I would rather not say," he answers.
"I have known someone who was a dragon," she reminds him.
"Unfortunately not a pterodactyl. Undoubtedly not a dragon, either."
"I've never had the patience for twenty questions."
He sighs, "Class will be starting soon, so I may as well fess up."
"Indeed."
"I am an owl."
"Dismissed."
She is lying on her bed, uncharacteristically exhausted, despite her near coma-like slumber. A knock on her door prevents her from slipping into a relaxing slumber once again. She shifts herself into a sitting position.
"You may enter."
Mildred Hubble enters the room carrying a tray. She places it on the bed, and offers her directive.
"Eat!"
Hecate stares at the covered dishes in silence. Her stomach betrays her with a supersonic grumble.
"Mabel distracted Miss Tapioca, and I made this myself. It isn't gourmet, but it is totally edible, and reasonably hot."
"What is it?"
"Chicken and stars from a can that I heated in a pot, and a toasted cheese sandwich. I may have located your file in Miss Tapioca's office. Mabel was even able to find the ice cream maker that is hidden away only for picnics, and such. I cut the crust off the sandwich, and dumped a liberal amount of sprinkles into your ice cream."
"That is a quite juvenile menu."
"Apparently the file hasn't been updated since you were a pupil here due to your refusal to quote, 'indulge in such childish matters'."
"Who is teaching potions today? Shouldn't you be in class?"
"Miss Cackles is strictly adhering to your lesson plan, other than giving me a free period to pursue what she deemed as restorative enrichment activities. She thinks I am napping."
"Dismissed!"
She eats the lunch that has been so thoughtfully prepared for her, and she casts the tray onto her desk. She drifts into a slumber before she is able to manage applying appropriate covers.
She stirs from her slumber, coughing violently like a car engine drawing its last ragged breath. The thick acrid smoke fills her room. Inconsolable howls emanate from nearby. Hecate carefully rises from her bed, and scoops the wailing infant from the nearby bassinet. She approaches the door, but finds the smoke to be billowing in from underneath it.
Her glance is drawn towards her third story window. She pushes the window open with a single free hand. There is only one viable option. She secures her son in one arm as she swings onto the branch outside her window. Perched atop a tree with a wailing infant she finds that her sense of panic does not mollify. In an instant she finds herself on the ground. Ada drapes a cloak around her, and they disappear from the courtyard. Ada is able to transfer the party of two to the edge of the wood.
"Are you both okay?"
"I think that we have managed to present physically unharmed," Hecate responds as she scrutinizes the infant who is swaddled in her arms.
"It is clear that Gabriel will stop at nothing to get what he wants."
"Ada," a tear betrays her confidence, and rolls down her face, "You must summon them. This is not a choice that I make lightly, but it is the only way to afford my son any redeemable life worth living. As long as he is here there is no safety to be found for him."
When she rises from her fitful slumber she finds Ada sitting at the end of her bed reading a magazine.
"Can I suggest that the near constant observation is not necessary?"
"The moaning in your sleep tells me otherwise. You have been asleep for hours. You are growing weaker. We must act swiftly if we are to have any hope of restoration."
"Any scheme that has been planned is just that."
"I need you to search yourself, and find a single grain of hope Hecate. Certainly a single fiber of you still believes that this can be remedied."
Hecate's glance affixes to the tray on her desk. "I think that I have been served my last supper."
"You are not a prisoner."
"Aren't I? I have lived with an incredibly dark, burdensome secret for the majority of my adult life. A secret that has been hidden even from myself. Hands of time have moved on, and I find the burden of regret hangs heavily on my heart."
"You made the hardest, most self-less decision that anyone could ever make."
"And at what cost?"
"I can see that it has heavily taxed your soul, Hecate."
"The fact that it was the veracious choice does not diminish, in anyway, the amount of shame that accompanies it."