Chapter 5
Stephen nervously tapped on the door that was slightly open. In the time before, it was an invitation, now, though, he wasn’t sure if he shouldn’t leave her to get settled, or if he should follow his instincts, which were inline with Mina’s impatient twitching and tugging.
“Enter,” came her voice.
He peeked inside the room, and breathed out a sigh of relief. She had unpacked all of her boxes and trunks and was brushing out her hair, which he noted with a start, was just as dark as it had been the moment he’d laid eyes on her.
“Settled, then?” He asked quietly, then bit his lip as he realized how ridiculous he sounded. More the awkward teen he had once been instead of the all-powerful sorcerer he had become.
“I am.” She glanced at his reflection, and as always, she knew everything, he never could hide from her, even now. Her smile reached her glowing violet eyes as she set her brush down and quickly arranged her hair before she turned to face him. “You didn’t sleep.”
“I was on my way to get tea and breakfast so I can attempt to function this morning, I was wondering if you’d like to join me. I know I mentioned lunch, but I thought -”
She took pity on him and offered him her hand, “Breakfast sounds lovely. It’s a beautiful day, perhaps we might walk the grounds afterwards, I’d like to get reacclimated, and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind serving as my guide?”
He felt his face heat up, but he placed his hand into hers as another memory ambushed him. He had made himself forget what it meant when her powers were at full force as they were now.
“Do you feel safe here, yet?” It had been a full month since his arrival, and he was still mostly hiding in the library or in his room.
“No.”
“Nightmares.”
“When I allow myself to fall asleep, the crash plays over and over in slow-motion, and when I wake up, the pain is the same as it was when I woke up that morning and realized my life was over.”
“Do you still feel that way?”
“I left what little was left of my old life in a last attempt to rescue it.”
She waited for him to continue.
“I know now that life is over. I can’t go back, and I can’t figure out how to get the magic to work yet.”
She smiled and sat him down on the bench, then seated herself and reached out one hand towards him. She had changed the bandages for him for the first few days after his arrival, but he had learned how to do it himself so she wouldn’t have to see them. “They are still beautiful, Stephen. Yes, they are scarred, but they are still beautiful. The magic is within you, it always has been, it isn’t a question of figuring it out, it is a question of faith in yourself and your gifts. It will take time for you to find that faith again, but it is there.” He laid his hand in hers and closed his eyes as for the first time, it stopped trembling, and he let out a sob as she lifted her other hand to touch his face.
He sat down on the bench and studied her closely. She had aged as he had over the years, and he hoped one day she would finally trust him enough to tell him her story.
“One day, Stephen, one day when I’m ready.” She sat down next to him, and they breathed in the scent of a perfect spring morning.