𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃

17. 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲!

     "I wasn't born into magic," said Wesley, catching Eszter by surprise. He barely looked at Eszter, but the wizard would smile bitterly whenever he did. Wesley never dwelled back on his past, but here he was. "If anything, I was some poor boy just trying to find money for my family." A stifled snicker tore from his throat, sounding spiteful. "I was never . . . interested in magic because it was always seen as something bad."

     Eszter noted how Wesley's voice clipped at the bitter memory he could never throw away, forever imprinted in his mind like a broken record. She didn't know what to say at that moment; although they had an odd relationship, Eszter wasn't expecting Wesley to suddenly pour his heart out spontaneously. She wondered what the point of his confessions would prove, considering she refused to speak too much about herself.

     However, Eszter didn't stop Wesley from the curiosity; with magic coming into their reality, the witch wondered where it all started, and Wesley was the one who could tell Eszter. She knew Wesley was a mystery just as much as the magic coursing through their bloodstream.

     "One day, when I was around fourteen, I found out my mother was diagnosed with a terminal disease that was killing her rapidly."

     The witch furrowed her brows, her mind running circles. "Agnes?"

     But to Eszter's surprise, Wesley had shaken his head. Now, Eszter was confused.

     "No," answered Wesley. "My mother--my birth mother." Wesley inhaled sharply and exhaled with a shaky breath, finding his composure underneath the tremor fighting his speech. "I, uh . . . when I found out my mother was sick, I was scared. I had two younger siblings who were too young to help, so I had to be the man of the house and find ways to provide money to pay for her medicine."

     Had? noted Eszter mentally.

     Eszter frowned at the confession, a little baffled that Wesley was more than willing to confide in her with something as heartbreaking as this and trust her with something this heavy. Was it Eszter's fault that Wesley felt compelled to tell her about his past? She said that she didn't know him well enough to be friends, nor would she ever bring up traumatizing childhood memories, but Wesley did.

     She wasn't sure if she should be uncomfortable with how comfortable he seemed to talk about something private to her or empathize with his story and let him continue. Eszter did that; she let Wesley go on about his backstory because curiosity was gnawing at her to know more, as much as she hated admitting it.

     Wesley took Eszter's silence as his cue to continue.

     "It wasn't easy to find a job that young, but I managed to get a few here and there; enough to buy the medicine my mother needed just to feel better for a day," continued Wesley with distraught tainting his voice. He fought the emotional baggage that followed him every time he reminisced the memory, but Wesley remained calm. "We didn't make much money, not since my father had died."

     Wesley managed to tell his story without breaking down or screaming at the top of his lungs, feeling the need to shout until his throat felt like it was being ripped out. Eszter was envious of how Wesley managed to control his emotions rather than letting them control him; all her life, Eszter had only ever felt pain and trauma, but it was like everything was coming at her all at once. Unlike Eszter's destructive personality, Wesley seemingly had controlled his emotions and learned to cope with the losses throughout his life; the wizard doesn't let anything cloud his judgment, unlike Eszter.

     "How did your dad die?" wondered Eszter. She immediately wished she could take back those words and swallow them back, regretting it as soon as they slipped past her lips. "I'm sorry. I didn't . . ."