WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE

by Bramble, Casey

  “Hold your horses, woman; I’m hurrying as fast as I can.” The sultry blonde pulled on her boots and stepped out in the hallway. An approving whistle met her as she opened the door. Tight black pants and a blue shirt showed off a trim figure.

  “You like?” Sarah struck a pose, modeling the outfit.

  Raven, garbed in her customary purple boots, charcoal gray pants and purple shirt, nodded as they walked down the stairs to the shop, “Don’t wear that around Daniel or I’ll have to wipe drool off his chin.”

  The two girls were just about to head up to the roof when Bekah walked into the living room. Sarah tried changing the locks twice but Bekah kept getting a key. Finally she just accepted there was no separating the two sisters.

  “Where are you going?” Bekah eyed Raven steadily. Since Sarah moved to Valentria, she learned to recognize Raven and Bekah’s constant bickering-- though something to be wary of-- as an expression of their love for each other. Fireballs, fist, and swords on occasion weren’t out of the ordinary with these two. This apparent calm made her uneasy. Doing her best to remain inconspicuous, she edged towards her bedroom. There was a tree just outside it she could use to get to the ground incase of an emergency

  “We’re going to hit The Equinox tonight, after I pick up some Cawley stones. You want to come with us?” Raven rocked back and forth on her heels in a hurry to get started but Bekah closed the door then stood in front of it with her arms crossed. One of the big sister’s eyebrows shot up and she inhaled sharply through her nose.

  Shooting a quick eye at Sarah, as if trying to decide something, Bekah rebuked Raven. “Remember what you told me last night? You said ‘We need to do it very soon.’”

  Raven looked over at Sarah as well. Even after these last few months Sarah couldn’t understand how two women with nothing in common physically could always manage the exact same facial expressions. “I know, but I’ve got it under control. We’re just going to shop and check out the bar. Nothing is going to happen tonight. It’ll be fine if we wait until tomorrow or the day after.”

  Rebekah Chandlish looked for a moment as if she meant to stop them, which Sarah figured she’d be able to since Raven usually wound up losing their fights and she damned sure wasn’t going to get between them. But after another sharp breath, Bekah said in a low tone, “You had better be right, Sis. You know what could happen.” Then the trio walked up the stairs and outside.

  The sun shone brilliantly with the clarity of fall. When the wind blew, you could feel the chilly bite of a quickly approaching winter and the air smelled sharp and clean. It was a beautiful day to travel.

  Bryson stretched and tasted the crisp air with his nose as he strolled through his portal. He asked in his gravely voice where they were headed this fine afternoon.

  While Raven and Bekah held a private discussion a few feet away, Sarah told him they were going to Augusta.

  “Are you sure about this, Sis?” Bekah asked as Raven swung up behind Sarah, “Not even Mandy or Liz know.”

  Raven just grinned happily. “You can still come with us. We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

  Bekah shook her head, telling them she had some work to do at the office since they would be busy the next evening. The fact Raven and Bekah were keeping something a secret didn’t bother Sarah; she had grown accustomed to their world consisting of just the two of them.

  With a lurching jolt, Bryson was airborne as Bekah waved up to them from below. Then they were off, sailing through the air. Not a single cloud hid the passing ground from view. Sarah had learned to enjoy flying and she hugged Raven tighter as the wind whipped into her face. They flew south, judging by the light of the afternoon sun, until a small city came into view.

  “Welcome to Augusta.” Raven said as Bryson touched down in a small pasture.

  The dragon folded his wings as the passengers slid from his back. Raven asked if he wanted to go home. Bryson growled he would be staying overnight, eyeing a large tan cow with thinly disguised hunger. Sarah never thought to ask what dragons ate and decided that she really didn’t want to know when the serpentine head swung to face her. Yellow eyes twice the size of her hand studied her for a long moment.

  “Sarah,” the giant reptile whispered softly, “if anything happens, yell for me alright?”

  Sarah felt a chill pass through her body that had nothing to do with the weather. Bryson took to the air once more and Sarah wondered what the dragon meant by those cryptic words. Quickly she shook the thoughts away when she realized Raven had already reached the city. With a shout Sarah chased after her, not wanting to be left alone in a strange place.

  With their arms entwined, Sarah took in the sights and smells. Augusta was bustling, despite its small size. The streets looked cleanly swept and the buildings all seemed to be relatively new. Raven explained, once Sarah mentioned it, that the city was fairly new. A large deposit of Cawley ore had been discovered a few years ago in the mountains that lay just to the west of Augusta’s limits. What was originally a small farming community exploded, almost over night, into the most important center for all things magical in the entire country. That’s when Sarah started noticing that many of the shops catered to people attuned to magic, like Raven. There were, of course, the normal shops and businesses you would expect to find but most of them had a decidedly magical theme. They passed a few bars and restaurants with names like The Caldron and Hocus Pocus. Sarah even spotted a branch office of a law firm she had dealt with back in Vestavia, the firm of Langley and Langley. Easily a quarter of the businesses they passed, though, dealt with the selling or buying of magical equipment. One store, The Grimoire, proudly displayed a sign that informed shoppers that they had the latest book of incantations, direct from the Magistrate Orion’s office.

  Raven, who had been to Augusta dozens of times in the past, was noticing something else. At almost every corner, guards stood wearing matching red uniforms. The Protectorate was, it seemed, policing the city. Raven muttered something under her breath. Elspeth was not going to be happy about this latest development, not in the slightest. With a look of disgust wrinkling her nose, Raven stormed past two guards, up a small set of stone steps that led to Zweifel’s, the largest bank in the country.

  When they reached the counter, a frumpy, middle aged woman asked with a fake smile how she could help.

  Raven turned on her most innocent expression and said she would need a check made out to Goldsmith’s Shoppe plus five hundred gullions in twenties. The asked which account the check should be written on.

  “Rebekah Chandlish.” Raven said with no hesitation.

  Sarah hastily turned her attention to a potted plant in the corner of the room, hoping not to appear suspicious. Sisterly pranks were one thing but this was fraud. If they were busted they would go to jail, at least for a day until Bekah could sort the mess out. Of course, she reminded herself, considering Bekah and Raven’s relationship, the big sister might just think it was funny to let the two of them rot in prison for a few months.

  “Do you have identification?” The teller asked politely.

  Raven reached into her pocket and pulled out Bekah’s wallet. Sarah was sure by now they were going to prison and wasn’t much relishing the prospect. After studying the documentation, the gray haired woman stood and walked to the back. Going to call the guards, Sarah worried to herself, but the woman came back less than a minute later without the police. After counting out the cash and handing it and the check to Raven, the lady asked if she could be of any further assistance. The purple clad thief told her that would be all as she stuffed the check and money in Bekah’s wallet.

  Once they were outside, and out of ear shot of any passersby, Sarah spun on Raven. “What exactly are you doing?” She demanded.

  Raven appeared to be genuinely puzzled. “We’re going to buy some material I need for the shop, of course. I forgot my purse so I had to pick up a counter check.”

  “That’s not what I mean and you damned well
know it!” Anger seeped into Sarah’s voice. “You got that check on Bekah’s account and when she finds out she’s going to kill both of us.”

  The redhead started to argue but a stifled voice interrupted. “Oh you snotty little brat.” Raven’s shirt seemed to be fussing at the person wearing it.

  Pulling on a thin silver chain, Raven smiled at the Congreve crystal. Bekah’s scowling face glared out at them.

  “Howdy Sis.” Raven greeted in her most amiable tone.

  “Don’t ‘Howdy Sis’ me. You stole my wallet, didn’t you?” The Bekah in the crystal demanded.

  “No.”

  “Then where is it?”

  “In my pocket.”

  “So you stole it!”

  “No I didn’t. I’m borrowing it and plan to give it back just as soon as we’re home.” Sarah thought she saw Bekah’s anger fade a little at that one but couldn’t be sure due to the small size of the image.

  “One day I’m not going to let you out of there.” Bekah huffed one final time and the crystal went blank.

  Feeling slightly better about her prospects for avoiding a lengthy prison term, Sarah asked where they were going next. Raven thought they should handle the business part of the trip first and then hit the club. A short walk later the two girls were standing in front of a gleaming white building with a sign that read, Goldsmith’s Shoppe.

  Sarah had watched Raven inscribe a few runes and cast some simple spells but that was the extent of her journey into the magical realm. She always pictured magic shops as being dark and filled with bubbling caldrons, indescribable creatures, maybe an old crone with a wart on her nose standing behind a dusty counter glaring balefully out of its one good eye.

  She was more than a little disappointed. Goldsmith’s was clean and brightly lit. Neat, well organized shelves stretched into the back of the shop and a smartly dressed young man stood behind the counter to their right. The young man, Sarah noticed the name on his tag said “Tim”, asked how he could help them today.

  “I need some Cawley Stones.” Raven said. “About five hundred pounds should be enough.” The young man gave the total and asked how they would be paying this afternoon. Raven pulled out the check and filled in the amount.

  “This needs to be delivered to Valentria.” Sarah told him. The young man produced a form from beneath the counter and she bent forward to fill out the necessary lines. She’d grown accustomed to being the one in charge of all paper work for the shop.

  “When can we expect this?” She asked as she handed the completed delivery request back to the clerk.

  “Within a week, ma’am.” The girls nodded and strolled around the store, Sarah asking questions about nearly everything they saw and Raven explaining the uses of each.

  Night had fallen by the time they left the store. Large lamp post were spaced at even intervals along the streets, each circle of light merging with its neighboring ring so it was easy to see where you were going. The businesses that hadn’t closed for the day wore glowing signs declaring them open and ready to receive customers. There were sections of Vestavia like this, but Sarah grew up poor with few opportunities to visit them.

  “You hungry, Lil’bit?”

  A rumbling in her stomach reminded Sarah that she hadn’t eaten since lunch so they stopped at a corner restaurant Raven swore had the best burgers in the world. After finishing their delicious, if greasy, supper the girls headed to the outskirts of town to find the club.

  The music was heard before the lights could be seen. Heavy drum beats thudded in the cool night air and a screaming guitar indicated they were getting closer. Finally they turned a corner and saw it. The club was huge, about two of their shops combined Sarah guessed. A blinking sign in yellow and blue on the roof read, The Equinox. A line of people stretched about 50 yards. Sarah didn’t know how they’d get in but Raven marched right by the queue.

  When they reached the door, the bouncer, a large burley man wearing a black shirt at least two sizes too small for his muscular frame, held up a massive hand. “The line starts at the back you two.” he growled, without looking up from his clipboard.

  Raven thumped the man’s ear. “Lady Branwyen Chandlish, plus one.”

  The guy looked up and smiled in recognition before letting them pass through the doors. Sarah heard the bouncer telling the unhappy people that Raven was aristocracy just before the door closed. The two left their jackets and Raven’s sword at a coat room in the vestibule and headed inside. Not for the first time Sarah wondered how great it would be to be born nobility; able to open any door you wanted with just your name.

  That train of thought derailed as a cacophony of sights and sounds assaulted her senses. The air was thick and pungent, a mixture of tobacco smoke and alcoholic drinks with an underlying reek of sweat. Strobe lights suspended from the ceiling lanced a dizzying array of colors, punctuating the dimness of the interior rather than relieving it. A dance floor, which took up a large portion of the center of the building, was teeming with an undulating mass of shadows that rose and fell with the music. Against the back wall a stage jutted from the floor and a band was playing a rock song, heavy with power chords and a panicky bass line that Sarah could feel in her chest. All in all, she thought, this place seemed like fun. Someone yelled in her ear.

  “What?” She shouted back at Raven, having to raise her voice to be heard above the din.

  Raven leaned closer, “I said, ‘Do you want to grab a beer?’”

  Sarah nodded and they snaked their way through a throng of people congregating around a wide bar. The bar top was lit from within and rows of bottles stood like soldiers behind the bartender. A large mirror showed the crowd behind them.

  “Two of your coldest and run a tab with this.” Raven ordered as she handed him two hundred gullions. The man nodded and filled two mugs with an amber liquid.

  “Planning to get snockered, are we?” Sarah grinned as they found an empty table to set their beers on.

  Raven laughed, “Nah, not tonight, but it’s always a good idea to tip heavy the first time you go to a club.” She took a swig, “That way they’ll always remember you.”

  They watched the dancers writhe and swell on the floor as they sipped their drinks. Now that her eyes were accustomed to the lack of light, more details about the club were reveling themselves. At the other end of the dance floor, another bar, identical to the one they were at, seemed to be just as packed. She could barely make out a door with a sign that read VIP above it, just to the left of the other bar. Sarah turned to ask Raven if they could get in there but the redhead had gone to grab another round. They finished that one and then another.

  After the third mug of beer Sarah was feeling very relaxed and cheerful. A few guys had even asked them to dance but neither girl really wanted to. That is, until Raven grabbed her by the hand. Being drug towards the dance floor, Sarah protested that she didn’t know how. Raven just laughed and said neither did she.

  The mixture of alcohol and pulse pounding music was having the expected affect on Sarah. She felt her inhibitions falling off like she was discarding a heavy cloak. Watching as Raven started grinding her hips in time with the music, she followed suit. The two danced with reckless abandon through one song and then the next, which was even faster than the first. Sarah was drenched with sweat and could see beads starting to run down Raven’s pale face when the lead singer informed the crowd that they were going to slow it down and for all the couples to come out and dance.

  Sarah felt herself get spun around as she tried to walk of the dance floor. Raven’s mischievous grin loomed in the semi-darkness. “I ain’t finished dancing yet.”

  She clasped her hands behind Raven’s neck. “I thought this dance was for couples only.”

  Raven’s slender arms encircled her waist. “You’re my date tonight since I got you in, plus one.”

  As they slowly turned in the crowd of people, Sarah studied the face in front of her. She had never done so upclose, but decided it was
very pretty. Raven never wore makeup, she knew, except for a rust colored lipstick that really accentuated her full lips. Alabaster skin that seemed to almost glow in the dimness of the dance floor and a few freckles smattered across the bridge of a pert nose. Sarah could just make out tiny flecks of amber in the green of Raven’s eyes when she looked hard enough. There was something else in there, behind the emerald and gold, something she couldn’t quite place.

  Then those eyes were coming closer and Sarah’s lips opened. Her eyes shut as the world seemed to fall away; the music became muffled and the other dancers melted into obscurity. All that existed were the arms holding her tight and a yearning. The second stretched into eternity and Sarah felt Raven’s grip on her tighten.

  “You don’t mind if we cut in?’ A slurred voice brought Sarah crashing back into reality. She opened her eyes and a man who obviously had way too much to drink was pulling her away from Raven. Someone-- she guessed a friend of the drunk’s-- had moved in front of Raven and tried to grab her as well but the redhead deftly avoided his grasp, took Sarah’s hand and tried to leave the dance floor. The two men were having none of it and tried to block them.

  “Guys, you really don’t want to do this.” Raven warned. Her voice carried in the crowded bar now that everybody, including the band, stopped to watch.

  The two drunks sneered and then one, a large man with black hair, lunged at Raven. Sarah saw that much at least. Why the man was suddenly holding a bloody nose and stumbling backwards into the ring of people was a matter of some debate. She didn’t have time to ponder what happened as the burly bouncer stepped onto the dance floor, grabbed both jerks and escorted them away. The band started playing again and the two girls wandered back to the bar.

  When they got their drinks, Sarah asked if Raven had broken the guy’s nose.

  “Yeah.” Raven responded slowly.