The Mating School

Chapter 38

"I didn't think they would take it that far," said Anne, picking at her smallest fingernail. They were in a study room on the fourth floor. It was a plan room with a wooden finish, and a large plain work table at one end. 

It seemed an ironic thing to Lily at the moment.. to think about students working here. Sitting and finishing an essay before their next class. It seemed a world away somehow now. After talking to government officials.

..After they attempted to use magic to bind her freewill.

"Yeah, well they did," she said to Lily. "Tried to trick me into it. That's one heck of a way to try to establish trust with a new alliance."

"I didn't think they would take it that far," said Anne again. "Honestly, I thought that it was the best option."

"I don't understand though," said Lily. "The prophecy made it seem like it was the best option. It made it seem like my going there was the only option. And now... now-" She didn't know how to finish the thought. Now what? What exactly were the consequences of the contract? 

"Prophecies are like that though," said Anne. "Generally they never work out the way we expect. Maybe you needed the binding magic in order to see.... that..."

"That the governing body is not someone I can trust or work with?" Lily finished for her.

"How could this have gone so wrong," said Anne, turning to look at the wall, as if the organic pattern of the woodgrain would help to anchor her mind enough to make sense of the situation. "I'm sorry Lily. I didn't think they'd do that. I wouldn't have gone through with their plan if I had known."

"What plan?" said Lily.

"The plan that... I'm not allowed to talk about," said Anne. She looked down at the stone floor as if to hide her shame.

"That's useful," said Lily. She didn't mean to say it unkindly, but it did come out in a less than kind way. She couldn't help it. It seemed like things had gone from bad to worse. It was hard enough working to try to control all the new powers. And now.. now what? She had a government to take down? If she couldn't be free, what choice did she have?

"Wait no," said Anne, sounding worried. "I'm on your side. You know that right?"

"You mean when you're not doing the government's bidding?"

"I mean, I made a mistake," said Anne. "I thought... I thought they were right to do what was in the best interest of the greater good. But they made a mistake. And I made a mistake in trusting them. For having faith that they would know what was in the best interest of the community at large."

Lily looked at her. She'd wondered for a long time now how much she should trust Anne. And now.. was this a ruse?

"I can prove my loyalty to you, Lily," said Anne as if reading her mind. "I can't tell you of the plan, but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways to potentially communicate the information. That information and more."

"You want to play charades at a time like this?" said Lily.

"Hopefully we don't have to resort to that," said Anne. "I'm not any good at it. But maybe with some clues, you can guess correctly."

"Ok," said Lily, turning to a blank page in her notebook, where she'd been trying to figure out the information Anne was trying to share. They'd gone through several systems in hopes of conveying the information including many coded messaging systems in an attempt to find a way that Anne could pass the information. "So you're saying there are two prophecies."

"Technically..." said Anne.

"Technically?" said Lily, wondering what that could mean. 

"Maybe...," said Anne with a finger on her temple in thought. The light from the windows had gotten dark with the approach of night, and only the artificial ceiling lights illuminated the practice room. They were surely out after curfew, but neither seemed to care. "Have you ever gotten a diamond? And then.. what might you think?"

"I'd think..." said Lily. "I'd think this is weird." 

Anne giggled. She couldn't help it. They'd been at it for hours. "It would be pretty weird. Maybe if you had an amazing dream, and it seemed so real, then you might think.."

"Is it real?!" said Lily.

"Yes!" said Anne.

"So.. are the prophecies real?" said Lily, her blood seemed to run cold. "But you mentioned one on our way to school. So one must be real."

"That's right!" said Anne. "You see my mistake then? What I agreed to do."

"The prophecy we went to get was fake?" Anne only nodded, as if encouraging Lily to continue. "So... I didn't need to meet with the officials. They .. wanted me to. Because... because they didn't trust me, or my disinterest in politics."

"Which means.." said Anne.

"I'm not sure really," said Lily. "I guess it means there's a second prophecy, and as such... it might not pertain to me at all" She should feel such relief at the thought.

Anne bit her lip. 

"You know the real prophecy?" Lily said. 

"I don't think you'll like it, Lily."

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