by Halle Dean
"Let go of me," she whimpered, trembling in his arms. Warner felt the last of the woman's magic draining as her hair began to fade from black to light brown. Scratches appeared on her skin as it grew pale. Her simple clothes transformed into a torn and dirt-covered satin gown. The woman's voice sounded different when she spoke next. "Please, Warner," she said, still shaking. "Please, let me go."
Warner's confusion lasted only a moment before he realized what was going on. "Sophie?" he said, feeling winded.
What an interesting turn... the voice murmured.
Warner released her and took several steps back until he was against the wall. She turned to him and he saw her fully. He hadn't realized that she could use magic the last time he'd seen her. But there was no mistaking her with her wavy hair falling into her bright green, tear-filled eyes. Warner could hardly believe that she was standing before him.
"Warner," she said, holding her hands up defensively and quivering with fear. "Please, don't hurt me."
No promises, other Warner said.
Warner felt like his heart was being compressed. "No," he said slowly. "I... I wouldn't." She glared at him, though she didn't seem to be able to meet his eyes. "Sophie, please don't look at me that way."
"What way?" she asked, the fear in her voice ebbing away to make room for anger. "The way that reminds you that you were—that you are—" She didn't seem sure of what to accuse him of. "That you betrayed me entirely? That way, Warner?"
"I—yes," he said. "I know I deserve it, but you must listen—"
"I'm not going to listen to what you have to say!" She spun and headed for the door.
I guess there's no choice but to kill her then, other Warner said chipperly.
"Sophie—" Warner leapt forward and grabbed her around the middle again. She yelped, but he didn't let go. He couldn't let her go. "Sophie, stop," he begged. She struggled against him and kicked her legs hard, but he held on tight. Her boots collided with his shins painfully. "Augh, that hurts," he said.
"Don't talk to me about what hurts!" she said, her voice high pitched, her fearful tone still mixed with anger.
"Yes, yes, I know," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm a horrible person. I did terrible things. I deserve death a thousand times over. I know! But I can't die yet! I have to save Melody! Then you can exact revenge on me to your heart's content."
Sophie stopped struggling. "Melody?" she said, voice shaky. "But she's... Isn't she? Didn't you..."
Warner shook his head. "She's alive."
Unfortunately, other Warner grumbled.
"Your uncle has her," Warner said. "I had thought she died too."
Yes, because I killed her, other Warner huffed in annoyance.
Sophie started to wriggle again, but Warner still didn't let go. "Of course you did."
Warner hung his head. "Please, don't—"
"Oh, does it hurt to think about your family dying?" she inquired icily. "Do you know what's worse? When your… your closest friend is the one that killed them! Right before your eyes!"
"I KNOW!" he shouted, holding her tighter. "I know! I deserve everything you say to me and worse but..." He loosened his grip on her somewhat, trying to calm himself. "At this moment," he said, "we have a problem. The persuasion magic will wear off very soon, and Mason and Alex will realize who—"
"Magic?" Sophie interrupted. "You can do magic?"
Warner grimaced guiltily. "Oh… I—yes..."
"What kind of magic?"
Warner tried to avoid the subject. "Does it matter?"
Sophie managed to extract herself from Warner's grasp. She turned to face him, scowling at his shoulder.
"Of course it matters!" she spat. "If you're a magician, then you could have learned magic after I saw you last. If you're a sorcerer, then you have been lying to me for my entire life!"
"Not your entire life," he said sheepishly. "I only found out when I was ten..."
"I can't believe you!" she shouted, pouncing at him. She slammed her palms into his chest, but he stood his ground and caught her wrists in his hands. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she demanded, fury coloring her entire expression.
Warner sighed. "Magic users can't be knights. If I had told anyone about my magic, I wouldn't have been—"
Sophie looked even angrier as he spoke, cutting him off before he could finish. "Oh, and now we know why it was so important for you to be a knight," she said coldly.
Warner was surprised at her change from simple indignance to harsh contempt. "What?"
"You had to make my parents trust you so you could get close enough to kill us!" she shouted.
"What?" Warner said again, this time with outrage. "No! That is not—What?!"
She was struggling to get her arms free, so he let go of her. "What other reason could you have?" she said bleakly, pulling away and letting her hair obscure her face.
"I wanted to protect you!" he blurted out, unable to stand the anguish in her voice. There was silence for a long moment.
"What?" she asked, her face going through several emotions that Warner couldn't hope to follow.
He crossed his arms and looked away. "You know that. Even after being made Knight Captain, I always wished they would reassign me to you."
Pathetic, other Warner taunted.
"Why?" Sophie asked as Warner looked at her again.
"Do you need to ask that?"
"Yes, I certainly do!" she exclaimed. "You cannot claim to care for me after what you did."
Warner sat down on his bed, face in hands, trying to remove images from his mind that he knew would never fade. "I don't know what I can say," he mumbled. "I'm... sorry."
"Sorry?" she repeated with disgust. "Do you think that's enough? Do you think that I'll trust you now because you claim to be sorry about torture and murder?"
"Of course not," he said. "But you'll have to trust me if you don't want to be caught by the knights. You have my word that I won't harm you again."
Sophie seemed unconvinced. "Is that your word as a traitor or as a murderer?"
He looked up at her, his expression somber. "My word as someone that you once trusted unequivocally."
She continued to scowl at him, still not meeting his gaze. "'Once' being the key word."
This isn't even working, other Warner said. You could so easily kill her now.
"Whatever you think of me," he said, "I'm your best hope at avoiding Mason. I've been managing it for five years. You know he'll find you if you continue on how you are."
"How do you know that I don't have a great plan?" Sophie asked, crossing her arms.
"Because I know you," he said. "If you had planned out your escape, you would have changed into more suitable clothing. And you would have been more careful about using up all of your magic energy."
"I haven't used up all my magic!" she said testily.
"No, not all of it," he agreed. "But almost. You don't have enough left for even a small spell."
"How could you know?" she asked.
He nodded. "You don't have much magic energy to begin with," he said. "That's one of the penalties of royal magic. Perhaps that's why I didn't sense it before..."
"So, sorcerers can sense magic?" She was still very upset, but curiosity, as always, seemed to be getting the better of her.
"Well, I can," he said, hoping he could distract her from her ire. "Most sorcerers cannot. Though, sorcerers can do a lot of things that royal magic users and magicians can't." He looked around for his shirt as he spoke, thinking of how little time he had left before the knights returned. "Of course, there are a few spells we don't have—disguise magic being the most aggravating example."
"You avoided the knights without disguise magic?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
He shrugged and picked his shirt up from the floor. "I told you, relying on me is your best option. I'm adept at remaining hidden." Sophie pursed her lips stubbornly and Warner sighed, pulling the shirt over his head. "The knights will return soon, so I am leaving. You
may accompany me if you wish. I'll make sure they won't find you."
"I don't… trust you," she said.
You're smarter than you once were, other Warner said.
"I know," Warner nodded, walking past her, towards the door. "I'm simply telling you what my plan is." He looked over his shoulder at her, feeling a knot form in his stomach as he spoke. "And if you decide to be part of it, then I'll keep you safe as long as you're with me." He opened the door and walked out. Now, I wait to see if she believes me, he thought.
Other Warner chuckled. If not, we'll have to resort to drastic measures.
Three
The Way It Once Was
Sophie wanted to trust Warner. She wished it could be as it was before—but it wasn't as it was before, and it never would be again. She'd wanted to see him again for so long, despite it all, but nightmares of the last time she'd seen him still plagued her. He was with her once more, but he brought painful memories. Knowing he was a sorcerer explained much. She had wondered how one person could cause so much destruction in a single day.
"Why didn't you kill me?" she asked, following him out of the house. She wore a scowl, hoping it would hide her fear. "Five years ago. You said you were going to, but you stopped and left me alive. Why?"
"It's not easy to explain..." he said. "I was going to kill you. I remember my hand..." His expression darkened as he cut himself off, staring at his hands. Sophie raised her own hand to her throat. "I was going to," he began again, "but then I managed to take control of the other part of me and let you go."
Sophie crossed her arms warily. "The other part?"
He looked at her, seeming a bit lost. "Yes," he said. "I don't know how to explain it to you. But I'm glad that I was able to take control." He looked down at his feet. "I only wish I had managed it sooner."
They were both silent for a long moment. Then Sophie spoke. "Which part of you is in control at this moment?"
Warner blinked and looked down at her, starting to step forward, but then stopping as if he'd thought better of it. She was glad he stayed where he was. She might have run away otherwise, and she knew she didn't have the energy to get very far before collapsing. He scratched the back of his head like he did when he was nervous. She tried to ignore the action; it reminded her too much of the Warner she had once known.
"Well," he said finally, the corner of his mouth twitching into almost a smile. "There's no urge to kill anyone. So, it must be me and not him."
"That's not funny," she said.
"No, I suppose not," he responded. "But it is true." There was another silence between them and they heard shouts coming their way. "Oh," Warner said, looking off, into the trees. "It's worn off already. Time to go."
He waved his arm at the house and Sophie looked over at it. It shimmered for a split second before vanishing into nothingness. Sophie looked back to Warner, surprised. He was waving his hand over his chest. A cloak appeared on him, as well as a pair of boots.
"How did you do that?" Sophie asked as he pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. Warner walked away from the sound of the knights and Sophie followed him. "That house felt so real."
"It is real," Warner said. "I sent it to The Void."
"The Void?" she echoed. "But, isn't that incredibly difficult to control?"
"We should stop talking or we might be heard."
Sophie followed several steps behind Warner. After all the time she'd spent thinking of him, she still couldn't bring herself to be closer than about ten feet. She couldn't look him in the face without recalling the wicked smile he'd worn all those years ago. She remembered the darkness she'd seen in his eyes and the way he'd laughed at the pain he inflicted upon her.
Her heart started beating faster and she stopped walking. She couldn't go with him—she couldn't trust him. No matter how he was acting now—no matter how much she missed him. She had to run away. He paused, turning his head to look at her.
"Why did you stop?" he whispered.
"I have to leave."
He turned to face her. "That's what we're doing, is it not?"
She took a step back, staring at the ground rather than him. "No," she said. "I have to go—away from you." Her voice was barely audible, even to herself.
"Sophie?" he asked. "Are you all right?"
She swallowed nervously. "I—" She blinked away tears. "—I'm scared," she admitted. "I'm afraid that you'll hurt me."
"Oh," he said. The tone of his voice made her look up. He had a pained expression, as though nothing else she could have said would have hurt him worse than that. "I... Yes. Of course you are. I was a fool to think that this would work."
"That what would work?" she asked.
Warner sighed and held his right hand out toward her. Sophie was confused. Did he expect her to take his hand? She was about to speak when he closed the hand into a fist and rotated his arm to his left. He dropped his arm and looked down at his feet.
"What—"
"I have to save Melody," he said. "I'm very sorry, Sophie. I'm so sorry for what I did to you five years ago. And I'm sorry for what I must do now."
Fear flooded Sophie's entire being. She turned to run, but didn't get one step before colliding with a hard surface. Confused, she placed a hand out in front of her to find an invisible wall. She tried all directions, but every side was blocked. Warner watched her with a sad expression as she realized he'd used a trap spell.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, frightened out of her wits.
"I won't hurt you," he assured her. "I told you already, as long as you're with me, I'll protect you. But I must take you to your uncle."
"No!" she shouted. Warner raised his eyebrows and looked into the forest in the direction of the knights. "I can't—"
Warner raised his right hand again and made a strange gesture, like turning an invisible key. Sophie tried to keep yelling, but found that she couldn't make a sound. Her mouth opened and closed, but her voice wasn't doing its job. Was it magic? It had to be, though she'd never learned about anything that could stop someone's voice.
"Don't worry," Warner said. "It's not permanent. I stilled your voice box."
Stilling magic? she thought. He can't do that to such a specific place, especially after vanishing an entire house into The Void. His magic energy must be exhausted by now.
"We must go," he said. "If you won't follow me then I'll carry you, and I'm sure you would rather I not touch you." Sophie crossed her arms and glared over his shoulder. Warner stared at her, unfazed. "Will you come with me? The knights will catch you if you don't."
She was still angry and definitely still afraid, but she nodded once. Warner smiled apologetically and raised a closed fist towards her. He splayed his fingers out, releasing the trap spell. Her voice still wasn't working, but at least she could walk. Not that she wanted to walk—her legs hurt from her three weeks of fleeing.
I won't allow him to carry me, she thought. I'll hold on until he is tired enough to stop. Then I'll escape.
"We have to hurry," he murmured. "They're getting closer. They must have heard you yelling."
Sophie reluctantly followed. She wouldn't let herself be caught by the knights. She knew what their orders were, and they didn't involve her being alive. As much as she was afraid of Warner, she did believe that he would protect her. She thought that she must be foolish for believing that, but part of her still trusted what he said.
He had said that he had to save Melody, which seemed to involve Sophie, so he had a reason to keep her alive. Either way, Sophie knew the knights would harm her and she only feared that Warner would. She wished there was an option that didn't involve running through the forest. She was barely managing to stay upright.
She stumbled over a tree root and almost fell. She was very tired and wondered how she had managed to hold onto consciousness for so long. Her vision blurred and she tried to make her eyes stay open as she continued walking, but she wasn't up to the task. A few steps later, her legs gave out. She
was asleep before she hit the ground.
"Sophie!" Warner's voice called. "Hurry! Don't let them catch up to us!"
He sounded like he was laughing. She smiled as she opened her eyes to her eleventh birthday. Thirteen year-old Warner was running through the forest, just ahead. It was a different forest, and it wasn't the dead of night. Sophie could see the sun through the trees.
"Warner," she laughed, hurrying after him. "Wait for me!" He stopped and turned around, grinning at her. She leaned back against a tree to catch her breath. "I don't even know—" She panted as Warner approached her. "—who I should be running from?"
Warner smiled, leaning in so close it made her gasp in surprise. "Me," he breathed. Then he kissed her, full on the lips. "Got you!" he said gleefully, zipping off to climb a tree.
Why would he do that? Sophie thought, her face feeling very hot.
"You can't catch me now!" he crowed from one of the low branches of a tall tree. She could see that he was blushing almost as much as she was, but he was also grinning widely.
"W-Warner!" she protested, trying to wipe the smile off of her own face. "You can't do that!"
"What?" he asked. "Kiss you?"
Her face reddened further as she walked up to the tree he was in. "You can't climb trees," she said. "I'm not allowed to in my dress."
"You kissed the princess?" fourteen year-old Mason's voice asked through the foliage.
"Ooooh," eight year-old Melody said as she and Mason ran into view. "You are going to be in soooo much trouble, Warner."
Warner, still flushed, grinned down at Sophie as she put her hands on her hips. "Get down here," she demanded. "Or I'll come up there!"
"You can't," he said. "You'll hurt yourself trying to get up here in that gown."
"Then it will be your fault for not coming down," she said, starting to climb up.
"Sophie, stop," Warner said, worry tainting his previously playful tone. "You'll fall."
"Not until I get you back!" she insisted, attempting to rearrange her dress so she could get a good foothold.
"Very well," Warner conceded. "You win."
