Founders

Runaway

Rowena was standing at her night table, her nightgown flowed down to the floor. She had been trying her best all day to master any spell she could with her wand but nothing seemed to stick at all, even if she wasn't putting much effort. She was 17 now and maybe those 6 years without a wand was making her less capable a magic than she thought. She stressfully tried everything to make a simple spell but she couldn't even manage to lift the simplest lightest feather with Wingardium Leviosa which was supposed to lift any type of feathers. So how on earth would she be able to apparate as the elves do?

Her mother had triumphantly passed through the outside halls and watched her practiced with her wand. Each time she passed with a big smile on her face, to Rowena her mother was smiling at her failure even if it wasn't the case. The elf got scared each time Rowena tried to cast a new spell, and that only made her even madder. The stress was getting to her and her mother was no help, the elf tried to console her but it was no use.

Rowena flopped on her bed, her arms extended and still holding on to her wand. The air was starting to feel very stale as if it was now stuck water who was slowly turning green. The elf stayed in his corner and didn't speak as Rowena let out a scream into her pillow. She couldn't even cast a cup of tea. The elf so that maybe this wasn't about being able to cast but rather whether she wanted to.

"-I can't even do the simplest of spells. - Rowena said out loud even if she wasn't talking to the elf who was still standing in the corner. - I am not ready at all for anything, Mother might be right. 

-My lady, - The Elf dared to say out loud. - Is this truly about your spell casting abilities?

Rowena stood up, turning her head to the elf who quickly hid his face behind his hands ready to hit himself on the head in punishment for his insolence. Rowen was curious so she extended her hand, stopping him midway.

-What do you mean? - Rowena asked carefully. - Don't be scared to be truthful, nothing will be held against you.

-Well, I think, if I'm allowed to. - The elf said walking closer to her from his corner. - That you might just be scared to be able to cast some of these spells, my lady.

-What do you mean?

-I mean. - The elf said hesitantly. - If you so manage to do this, use the technique of apparition, you would be officially more important than you actually anticipated. If you ask me, and if I'm allowed to have an opinion, you want to get married because it is the safest way of life for you, my lady. If you manage to make this spell then there is no reason to marry him because it means you can take care of yourself.

Rowena hears the words and they seemed to echo stronger inside of her head. Her mother might be a monster but that doesn't mean she isn't right. Was Rowena taking the way out by not being good at magic and forcing herself to marry someone she didn't like that much. Being good at magic, being able to do things that others couldn't do, meant that her life might be more complicated than she expected. No husband wants a wife that is better than him in magic and yet, what if she is?

- Dingaling should have said that. - The elf told himself, he took the drawers and started hitting its self on those shelves. Rowena stood up from the bed and walked over to him, she dropped to her knees next to the elf. She stopping him from his own punishment.

-That's okay, Dingaling. - Rowena said once the elf stopped. - You may be right after all. The question isn't if I can cast a spell or not but whether I want to or not.

Rowena looked at herself in the mirror again, her long black hair fell on her back, she had blue eyes and pale skin with freckles like nutmeg on dough. But her eyes, they were sad for sure. Dresses, frivolous gossip, and blaming her mother for everything, was merely distractions when she thought about it.

-Do you know I used to want to be an explorer? - Rowena confided to the elf as she sat down next to it and it stood next to her, it barely reached her head. - I wanted to be a Curse-Breaker, a historic magician. I wanted to discover caves and battle monsters, save people, and invent new magic.

-What happened My Lady? 

- I don't know. - Rowena said looking at her self in the mirror. - I grew up, I think. I lost interest and replaced them with things that would make me liked by others. I gave up exploring to be a noblewoman with no brains but with the most intelligent survival skill of all; marrying someone. My mother used to like seeing me explore our family garden, she doesn't like me now.

-Maybe it is because she seen you settle.  - The Elf answered as it carefully carried her hair, making it into pigtails just like it did when he first arrived to the castle. -  No mother likes to see their child lose that spark, especially if life made them lose it before.

-Maybe. - Rowena said even if she wasn't convinced. - But it is too late now to turn back. I got the dress, the guests are here and the wedding is tomorrow. There is no turning back now, I've settled and the ship has sailed. I'm getting married.

- But do you want to? - The elf asked her. Rowena took out her wand and looked at the feather carvings on it. - It's never too late to do anything, there is always a way out of this

Rowena looked at her wand with intensity, she knew what the elf was talking about. She knew she had it in her but like the elf had said; did she really wanted to do it? What if she ran away? Her mother might be proud and cover for her, her father would probably chase her down and she would leave the elf with her parents and that would be awful. Maybe it was just nerves about the whole wedding and those nerves were bringing all of these doubts.

She stood up from the floor even if the pigtails weren't finished. She dismissed the elf and she entered her bedroom. There was a knot in her stomach and she knew it, she wasn't dumb. This was the crossing road of her life. Whatever she would do tomorrow would determine what would happen to her in the future.

And she didn't know if she was ready for it.