by Emma Newman
As she dressed in jeans and a top (for the last time?) and dragged a brush through her hair, her thoughts returned to the botched wish. It was the price of being outside Society for so long. She’d got slack and forgotten the first rule of wish-making: be specific.
Then she was thinking about Josh again, as if there were only two topics her head could contain. She felt like a ping-pong ball being batted between them.
She had to think like a member of the Great Families, not a freakish runaway. What could she wish for to help her survive once they’d dragged her back? Would it impress Lord Poppy to go back to Aquae Sulis and dance, sing and play the piano even better than her odiously perfect younger sister? Or would it be better to wish she could speak every language in the world? That had always been a secret wish and one that would be useful if she did find a way to freedom in Mundanus. When she found a way; she had to stay positive.
It was tempting, but Lord Poppy probably didn’t even realise people in Mundanus spoke different languages. She had a vague memory of a lesson in her youth in which she was told the Fae could understand and converse with anyone, universally understood. She couldn’t remember why. Perhaps this is what it’s like to go mad, she thought as she pulled on her boots and grabbed her jacket. To think the most stupid, irrelevant things instead of a way to avoid a terrible fate.
She had to get out and walk.
Manchester sparkled in the dawn’s gentle sunshine, a delicious assortment of deep-red brick and glass and steel. The shops were still closed, the streets relatively empty. She found a greasy-spoon café and ordered a coffee and breakfast, only to push most of it around the plate. She headed further into the city as it woke, finding herself in crowds of people hurrying to work.
The sense of finality lingered. Cathy took in deep lungfuls of the air, appreciating its freshness and the gentle blue of the morning sky. Like all Fae-touched children she had been raised in the mundane nursery wing of the family home. The rest of the house, on the other side of the door she was never allowed to go through without a nanny, was in Aquae Sulis. As she got older she was brought through into the Nether reflection of the house more often and every time she got back to her room she’d open the window as if she’d been forced to hold her breath. In the Nether there was no breeze, no weather as there was in Mundanus, nothing but a silver sky. There wasn’t even day and night.
She passed the red plaque she’d sought out the first day she arrived in the city, before she’d even arranged a place to stay or used the Persuasion Charm on the university admissions tutor. She didn’t need to read the words to know what it said.
“On August 16 1819 a peaceful rally of 60,000 pro-democracy reformers, men, women and children, was attacked by armed cavalry resulting in 15 deaths and over 600 injuries.”
Peterloo. The last lesson Miss Rainer gave to her before her radical education was discovered and punished. The beginning of Cathy’s true rebellion.
As she walked down Peter Street, Cathy thought of the women who had been in that crowd, in their beautifully white Regency dresses, cut down by Hussars who targeted them for being so outrageous as to participate in a political rally. Their world wasn’t much different from the one she was being sucked back into, and yet they were brave enough to take a stand when the majority of society decried them.
What if she were to wish for–
“Cathy!”
Josh bounded up to her in his Labradorish way and scooped her up into a hug, lifting her off the ground. She tried not to breathe in the gorgeous smell of him, studiously looking away from his large brown eyes and messy dark hair. The last thing she wanted to see was his lips and how kissable they were, so she tucked her face into his shoulder and let him squeeze her.
“Hi,” she managed to say, returning the hug and worrying about the lump in her throat. He set her down on the pavement.
“I missed you. How was your aunt?”
“Not so good,” she said, remembering the lie.
“Sorry to hear that. You OK?”
She didn’t let him go, not wanting him to see her face as she struggled to get a grip of herself. “Yeah,” she croaked, and he pulled her back into his embrace.
“You free this morning? Let’s do stuff and then have lunch afterwards,” he suggested. “Forbidden Planet’s got some new stock I want to show you.”
This wasn’t how she’d planned it. Not how she’d expected it to be, anyway. She’d got as far as imagining seeing him at the restaurant and at least saying they had to talk, then there was just a mess of emotion. Uncertain how to handle the inevitable break-up, she nodded, deciding that she couldn’t just split up with him in the middle of the street.
He took her hand, then let go and threw his arm about her shoulders, pulling her against him so they walked with their sides touching. He was wearing a military-style jacket and skinny jeans. The top of her head came to his shoulder. His height usually made her feel safe and was one of the first things that had attracted her to him. That, and the kindness he’d shown her when she’d been struggling to get to grips with real student life.
She remembered his amazement when she’d been confused by a comment he’d made about The Time Machine by HG Wells. Even though the nursery wing had been in Mundanus they were still cut off from everyone else so she’d never watched television and didn’t even know about a cinema until she arrived at Cambridge. Her minder wouldn’t allow her to go or do anything beyond studying for her degree, so she never actually saw a film there.
“You’ve never seen a film? Where the hell did you grow up?”
That was when she told him the biggest lie; that her family was part of a cult that lived separately from society. It was as close to the truth as she could get; they had their own rules and morality, shunned contact with outsiders and considered their way of life superior to those outside.
“I ran away,” she told him and immediately regretted it. Would he think badly of her?
“Why?”
“Because they don’t believe girls or women have the same rights as men. They’d marry me off and make me do what they want. I just don’t…I just didn’t fit in there.”
“That sucks,” he finally said. And that was it.
He made it his personal mission to educate her about sci-fi’s transition from paper to film. Somewhere between This Island Earth and Forbidden Planet they’d started to hold hands. They kissed halfway through Journey to the Centre of the Earth and by Fantastic Voyage they were almost inseparable. He’d lovingly introduced her to Star Wars in the original film release order, and she realised she loved him at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. By Back to the Future III he’d confessed he felt the same, inspired by the scene between Clara and Doc Brown stargazing together.
It would have been perfect if it hadn’t been for the curse, but in a way that only deepened her trust. He didn’t mind waiting, thinking that her reluctance to do more than kiss was a wound from a childhood with religious extremists.
As they walked, he told her about what he’d been doing while she’d been away, but all she could think about was how and where to tell him. Did she spend one last morning with him and tell him over lunch? Did she do it now, before it got too difficult?
Then they were in the shop, greeted warmly by the bloke behind the counter, and Josh was bouncing about the latest reboot.
“I need a cup of tea,” she said and he put the comic down.
“Are you feeling poorly?”
“I didn’t sleep well.”
“How come?”
“I really need some tea,” she said, and hurried out of the shop.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, following her out and catching hold of her hand. “Is it your aunt? Is she really sick?”
“No.” Her voice wobbled and she looked up at the bright shop sign, avoiding his eyes.
“You can tell me, Cathy, come on.”
“I’m leaving Manchester.”
There was a long pause. “When?”
/> She shrugged. “In the next couple of days…by next week I think.”
“But what about your course?”
“I can’t do it any more.”
“Have you talked to your tutor?”
“No, I mean, I…it’s not too hard, I mean…I can’t.”
He frowned, standing directly in front of her, drawing her eyes, and she immediately regretted it. She hadn’t realised how much she’d planned ahead until it was all over. She’d finish her degree, they’d get a place together and see if it worked out. She’d find a way to unravel the curse, they’d–
“Has this got something to do with your weird family?”
“I can’t talk to you about it.”
“Shit. Are they putting pressure on you?”
“I said–”
“Because they can’t make you leave, you know. They don’t pay for your course, you’re in control.”
She frowned at his chest, trying to work out how to end it cleanly, with respect and love. This was heading in the wrong direction.
“It’s not that simple,” she said, pulling away from him, feeling sick. “We have to split up.”
She felt like she’d just kicked a puppy. His eyes widened and for a few moments he just looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because they won’t let me see anyone.”
“What, they’re going to lock you away and tell you who you see and who you don’t?”
Hearing the truth, she started to walk away, fearing she’d make it worse if she said any more.
“Cathy! Are you really dumping me?”
She stopped and turned around slowly. “Yeah.”
“What the fuck?”
“It isn’t anything to do with you, it’s my family! You just have to accept it. OK?”
“No, it’s not fucking OK! We’ve been going out with each other for over a year. I’ve tried to understand all that baggage you’ve got from them. I’ve been patient, I never pushed it with you, and you’re just–”
“What, you waited all that time to get into bed with me and now you’re pissed off because you didn’t get what you wanted?”
“No, I’m just saying that–”
“Because I thought you were with me because you wanted to be with me, not just waiting around until we could have sex.”
“Jesus, Cathy, what is wrong with you? You’re sounding like some mad woman. What the hell happened in London? Did they put the fear of God in you again?”
She closed her eyes, put her hands over her face as she tried to string her tiny beaded thoughts into something useful. “I’m so sorry. I love you, but it’s best for both of us if we just split up now and be done with it.”
“How can that be the best thing?” He reached towards her, but she stepped away. “Why let them carry on ruining your life?”
“They’re not just weirdoes, they’re dangerous!” she blurted, and then swore under her breath. He just looked even more confused. “I just need you to let me go. And to forget we were together.”
“Bollocks. Not when you say something like that. We’re going to the police.”
“No, we’re not!”
“You know they have people who specialise in this kind of stuff? Just because your family are religious weirdoes it doesn’t mean they have to ruin your life too. You got away from them once, don’t let them suck you back in.”
This was getting out of hand. The gentle approach wasn’t working, and she could see him escalating it into something horrific. If her family found out about him, they’d…
“Cathy?”
She remembered Elizabeth. How many times had her spiteful sister broken hearts and laughed at the consequences? “I just don’t want to be with you anymore. OK? It’s nothing to do with my family.” She thought back to her mother, how cold she could be. “I just made that stuff up, I just can’t face the thought of…being with you like that.”
He was turning a horrible grey colour. “So you weren’t screwed up at all. You just wanted to string me along?”
“Yes.” She wanted to chew out her own heart.
“Why?”
“Because I thought it was funny.”
His mouth was hanging open. With horror she realised his eyes were glistening. “How could I have been so wrong about you?”
“Probably because you were only thinking about one thing.” She smothered her own thoughts and feelings as she took on the necessary role. “That’s what men are like, isn’t it? Any hole’s a goal?”
“Not me!” he yelled. “Fuck. I wasted a year on you?”
“See? I told you! If it wasn’t what you wanted, it wouldn’t have been a waste!”
“That’s not what I meant!” He ran his hands through his hair. “Why are you being like this? This isn’t you.”
“This is what I’m really like. I…I wanted to see what it was like to go out with a total loser. I’m not going back to a cult.” The words gushed, her brain didn’t engage. “I’m going back to a bloody rich family and they don’t want me to waste my time on sad bastards like you.”
“I’m not a…I could’ve gone out with anyone I wanted!” he yelled.
“Yeah, right! Mr Geek thinks he’s God’s gift to women, now that’s funny!”
“Why are you being such a bitch?”
“Why aren’t you getting it, Josh? You’re not the one who wasted a year, I was. So go on, find all those women desperate to go out with you instead!”
“I bloody well will!”
He didn’t move. He was making this so much harder. Cathy felt a rush of pure fury at the way he just wouldn’t let go. “Well, go on then! I wish you would find them, then I wouldn’t have to look at your sorry face any more!”
Her skin tingled, the sparkling ripple she’d seen in the flat the night before raced out from a spot behind a nearby waste-paper bin, snapped her out of the brutal desire to push him out of her life for his own good.
“Josh–”
“Just…fuck off, Cathy.”
He staggered into the road. She could hear the faerie laughing, tuned into its high pitch. Cathy burst into tears at the sight of his distress, hating herself more than she thought possible, fear and guilt rushing in to replace the anger. But she couldn’t take back what she’d said, and even though she wanted to gouge her own eyes out for hurting him so, it was still better than her family getting hold of him.
She headed for the faerie, hoping to grab it and throttle it until it took back the magic. The evil thing must have been spying on her and there was no way anything the spiteful creature had cast would be good for Josh. A screeching of tyres and a nauseating thud made her spin around to see Josh rolling along the ground in front of a black Lamborghini. She wanted to scream and run to him, but the air around her felt soupy, her body frozen in shock.
The driver’s door opened and a redhead who was seventy per cent legs, thirty per cent Gucci, jumped out and ran to her victim. Josh rolled over and stared at the redhead but Cathy still couldn’t move. It was like a film playing out in front of her, one in which she’d once been the lead.
The redhead gushed an apology and then an introduction; Josh mumbled his name back, still groggy. Cathy watched in disbelief as she helped him to his feet, white with shock, a gash on his forehead bleeding impressively, and got him into the passenger seat. The woman gave her the briefest glance, said “I’m taking him to the hospital, all right?” and got back in.
The car sped off, leaving Cathy in a momentary stupor before she remembered the faerie. It was hovering behind the litter bin, clutching its sides as it squeaked with laughter.
She glanced up and down the street, fearful of being spotted by an Arbiter. She’d never seen one before, but if there was ever going to be an occasion that precipitated the first time, this was it.
“You stupid, evil little–” Cathy swiped at it, hoping to grab hold of the tiny creature and crush it.
“Do you mean me or you?” it said, dodging her effortlessly. �
�If only complete idiocy would impress Lord Poppy, you’d be his favourite by far.”
“I didn’t mean to wish that! It wasn’t one of my three wishes!”
The faerie made a pretence of yawning. “Oh, how many times have we heard a mortal say that? Too late, Miss Plain, your favourite mundane is now as irresistible to women as you wished.”
“I never wished that!” she yelled.
“You wished he would find all the women who were desperate to be his girlfriend. Well, what better way than to bring one straight to him? My Lord’s magic is too powerful for you to cope with.”
“What about the answer to my first wish?” Cathy wasn’t certain she could handle this much longer.
It waved a tiny finger at her. “I told you, you didn’t express an exact time.”
“And Josh, what about him? Will the wish last forever?”
“He’s only a smelly mundane. Lord Poppy didn’t place any limits on the wishes. He’ll never be short of female company until the day he dies.”
“You’re telling me that his life is going to be changed forever because I didn’t specify an absolute?” Cathy kicked the bin. “God, you sound like a bloody lawyer!”
The faerie flew back in disgust. “How dare you! I’ll tell my master!”
“Come back here, you little elf-dropping, tell me how to fix it.”
The faerie floated back slowly. “You could use your third wish…” It pretended to look shocked. “Oh, but then you’d have run out of chances to impress my Lord. What. A. Shame.”
How could she have messed it up so catastrophically twice? Once was bad enough. She could still see Josh’s face and the hurt she’d caused. Cathy wiped the tears from her cheeks, feeling a pressure in her sinuses that distracted her from wanting to smear the faerie across the pavement.
