There are moments in life that you can pinpoint – seconds between who you were, and who you are meant to become – that change everything. Laina sat in the sunroom in her Freudian slippers, knowing that this was one of those instances. It was as if she could see two very different diverging paths stretching before her, unravelling in alternate directions, illusive, as if her possible futures lived in the place above scalding asphalt where heat waves danced and blurred the road ahead. What she'd been told and what had just been asked of her, had the potential to alter her entire life.
Will you come with me to Htrae? Sky had asked them.
There were now two options, two branches laying before her. She could stay in Huntsville, live her future out the way she'd expected, go to university to become an architect as she'd always dreamed, making sure to visit her mother often. Meanwhile she'd be ignoring the war waging elsewhere and any part she could play in it, ignoring the unlocked magical potential that currently might be lying dormant inside of her. But at the end of that route lay a darkness so bleak it terrified her. She looked away.
The alternative was to go to Htrae, to learn magic, to fight in a war that would be very dangerous. Doing so would mean leaving behind her mother, and Olleander – as he'd admitted he would not leave the Queen, his daughter, alone on Earth – and it meant leaving behind her beloved home in Muskoka, and her dream of becoming an architect. Somehow, though she had no way of truly knowing it, she believed wholeheartedly that one dream would preclude the other. School break had just begun and Will and Laina had had a summer of fun stretching before them just a day ago. Now, if they went, there was a deep-seated feeling in her gut that told her Htrae would rob them of their Earthly endeavors. And at the end of this gleaming path lay ... love and grief, pain and sadness like she had never known.
But this was not her decision alone. And looking at Will, peppering Grandad and Sky with questions about Htrae in the living room, Laina knew he'd already made up his mind. He knew what he wanted to do.
As Laina contemplated her options, she came upon a realization. It struck her as odd that she hadn't considered it before, so obvious was it once the thought rang true in her mind.
She unfurled from her pondering-place and paced on soft-slippered feet over to the living room.
"Cellphones?" Olleander was saying. "No, no, they use rocks etched with runes, rocky-talkies so to speak." He guffawed at his own joke and was about to continue when Laina decided to interrupt him with an urgent inquiry.
"Rowan, our sister ..." Laina began, staring directly into Sky's strange gold-and-green flecked eyes – the Valkyrie was sitting on a ledge under the fireplace munching on goldfish crackers, but became stoically still under Laina's direct gaze – "Is she," Laina hesitated trying to find the words, "platinum blonde, with ice-blue eyes and a scar running down her right side? Does she look a bit like me, but... but different?"
"Yes," Sky answered, not even batting an eyelash.
"How?" Both Will and Ollie asked together, wondering how she could have known what her sister looked like.
"I've dreamt of her since, well, since I was about five."
And all of a sudden there was a girl in that other place who she knew, who she'd watched struggle with loneliness, with war and imprisonment, and who had too much on her shoulders to carry alone. This girl was her sister, her family, and Laina wanted nothing more in all the worlds than to know her and to help her lift whatever burdens she faced. Laina let go then, of her dream to become an architect, of her fanciful drawings of buildings that plastered her bedroom wall, of the idea of finishing high school and attending prom. Sometimes, she decided, dreams changed. Sometimes living out one dream meant sacrificing another. She had a feeling she couldn't have both. But, the scale had now tipped.
"Will," Laina inquired, "You've decided to go?"
He shifted from one foot to the other nervously, not knowing what Laina wanted yet. "Yeah, I mean, hopefully not without you, but I want to do this, Wish. I have to do this."
With or without you was the unvoiced implication. So even had she not wanted to, Laina would have capitulated to his desire and headed off with him on a journey. She and Will were twins and they belonged together. "Do you understand that might mean never returning, that you will be a soldier in a war? That you might not ever graduate?"
Will looked solemn. "I know that could happen, yeah. But I'm sure we'll be back. And they need us, Lains."
"Alright," Laina conceded, and everyone but her looked immediately relieved. "On one condition..." And all of a sudden everyone looked instantly wary again. She'd told them she'd needed to think about it all and now they were waiting. "Before we go traipsing off into the unknown, Will and I have to go say goodbye to Mom. That's non-negotiable."
Sky nodded her consent. "But we'll have to go now and be quick about i–"
"We?" Laina and Will inquired simultaneously, looking at her gigantic, conspicuous wings.
"Umm..., the things is," Will started carefully, "it might be difficult for you to blend in or fit in the car with your... "
Will was looking at Sky's wings regretfully, his wish to have more time with the enchanting woman-angel written overtly in his longing expression.
Laina shot Will 'unimpressed' twin vibes. He ignored her decidedly, continuing to smile at Sky like a drooling looney tune.
Sky smiled, got up and turned her back to them, while unclipping the brown studded-leather armor designed to allow her wings to peak through as it protected her back. It slid down her lithe body and to the ground as she stepped out of it, looked over her right shoulder and wing, and pulled her feathers away from her body: a t-back undershirt displayed a swathe of soft coffee-and-cream coloured skin with an intricate tattoo of her wing, a black-ink masterpiece in its own right, across her shoulder blade.
"If one of you would just trace my tattoos with your finger?" She asked, looking hopefully at Laina.
But Will had already stepped forward eagerly, more than willing to volunteer.
"Sure," he said, and his hands shook so slightly that only a twin would be able to recognize the tremor. Sky's feathers brushed his shirt occasionally in the through-breeze.
Will started tracing at the bottom left line, delicately and uncertainly. Underneath his index finger, heavenly light poured out from the outline and he gasped and stepped back.
"It's okay," Sky urged. "That's meant to happen. It means the magic is working."
He began the process again, resolutely this time. A whisper of skin against skin, slow and determined, his touch moved intimately over her tattoo. It was too much for Laina, but at the same time, she was too fascinated by the magic that was occurring to look away. Will's hand stroked Sky's back where the lines were drawn, his thumb grazing her shoulder blade tenderly, pure light leaking out of her body as if she contained the sun. When he finished tracing the first wing, he moved around to her left shoulder, gently moving her feathers aside to start sketching the tattoo there – like he was connecting a constellation of freckles.
Laina looked away until it was done. It felt far too much like she was watching them kiss, like it was a lover's caress. But she peered back when he had finished, waiting to see what would happen next. As Will stepped away, the wings began to glow and shrink to the size of the design. Then, Sky's wings were subsumed by her skin, disappearing into the tattoo as it momentarily held every single etching of every line of every feather. Then it faded and all that was left was the sharp contrast of pen-and-ink on silky skin, the silhouette of two wings, the high arch like a falcon's, and the dancing blobs that came from staring at a brilliant light for too long.
Sky turned and they both looked at her in awe.
"Rune magic," she said, in way of explanation. "It writes spells into surfaces, animates them in a way. There are fewer and fewer Htraeans with Runic aptitudes these days. They are the builders, architects, inventors, weapon smiths of Htrae, but without many of them left, the foundations are crumbling."
"Incredible," Will responded.
"The wizard who drew this is a true artist. He also has three other aptitudes, which is practically unheard of, at least since the Golden Times. Thankfully, Wizard Joel Jorah is on our side."
Laina looked at Will trying to interpret the emotion that had just flashed across his face. Jealousy, perhaps? Or was it his competitive game-face. He sometimes looked like that when they played monopoly or when he was losing at half-time during football.
"Laina, do you think I might be able to borrow an outfit that would be more acceptable to the fashion of the humans in this region of Earth?" she inquired.
"'Course," Laina said, sizing Sky up and moving toward her room.
Sky's legs were far too long to fit into any of Laina's jeans, so she bypassed her drawers and went to her wardrobe, picking out a simple gray, stretchy-cotton Aritzia dress that hung there.
Sky stood outside her bedroom, but Laina motioned for her to come in. Laina tossed the dress onto her bed but Sky plucked it lazily out of the air.
"Try that," Laina suggested, looking at the warrior boots on Sky's feet and peering down at her own neat rows of shoes. Sky's feet would be bigger, so it would be flip-flops or ...
Sky kneeled down. "I like these," she said, her hands hovering over Laina's perfectly white converse sneakers.
"They are much bigger than most of my shoes. Give 'em a try," Laina urged, as she trotted out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her, allowing Sky privacy to change.
Olleander had gone to his own bedroom, likely for a quick laydown before they headed out, since he was going to be missing his mid-morning nap. Will was waiting in the hallway.
Laina let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes at Will. "Really? Could you be any more obvious?"
He blushed furiously. "I just ... I can't explain. It's like I'm in ..."
Laina looked at him skeptically. "A pretty face and a set of great big ... wings and you go all gaga. So utterly predictable, bro. Harbour a crush, but just be careful. I don't think she's telling us everything."
"What do you mean? There's so much to tell. I mean, how could she! I'm sure she'll get around to telling us everything important if you give her chance," he said, defensively.
"No, I mean," Laina whispered, "I'm pretty sure she's actively hiding something from us."
"How the hell would you know that?" Will whispered back, angrily. "Grandad trusts her."
"I just..." Laina shrugged. "Just be careful, ok? She's up to something. My spidey-senses are tingling."
But their covert conversation was cut short as Sky emerged from the bedroom, clad in Laina's dress, the same dress that was loose and below the knees and much more conservative and billowy on Laina's petite figure hugged every single one of Sky's curves and ended above her knee, making her look like a Victoria Secret model. Laina cursed herself and looked over at Will, who was once again gawking, with lust quite obviously written across his face.
Laina elbowed him hard and headed down the hallway to retrieve their Grandfather. It was time to go visit mom.
***
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Do you think Laina made the right decision? Architect or Witch? What would you choose? If you enjoyed it, please vote! Thanks, Emmy