by Leanne Leeds
“Maybe it will give her some time to think about the choices she has made in her life.”
“That’s the hope.”
As Leo and Deo were brought to the defense box for sentencing, Mark stood up and asked if he could speak to the jury before they passed sentence. Ari Riddle, who was serving as the judge, nodded. Mark turned and stared into the faces of those that populated our hastily built jury box.
“I realize that these two men have broken the bonds of trust with the circus. I also realize that there must be consequences to those actions and that you have been entrusted in this process to impose those consequences.” The crowd in the gallery quieted to listen to the newly minted lion shifter.
“I ask you to have mercy on these young men. They are young and foolish, and in the end, I was not harmed. They could have hurt me, and I was nothing more than a human at the time. I believe they can be redeemed, taught right from wrong, and become responsible citizens of our world.” Leo and Deo stared at each other in shock as Mark Botsworth spoke elegantly for mercy.
“If Leo cedes, voluntarily, the leadership of the Magical Midway lion pride to me, I will accept them as members of the pride and take responsibility for their moral and ethical correction,” Mark said. Serena sat behind Mark and smiled proudly as her mate showed everyone what she had always seen in him. “In a way, I am indebted to them. I am now who I was always meant to be, and with the person I was always meant to be with. That may never have happened if these two had not done what they had done. I would like to repay that. Thank you.”
“Such mercy from a victim of such treachery, I think everyone here would completely agree,” Ari Riddle said. “Leo and Deo, first, I must ask—would you abide those conditions if given that task?”
Leo nodded, his eyes wide. Deo jerked his head once without looking up.
“Jury, I charge you now in deciding their fate. Will you allow for Mark’s mercy, or jail them with your mandate?” The sphinx stared at the jurors as they whispered to one another and nodded. Brownie Brown stood up.
“We believe these young lions deserve a chance to improve themselves if they can. Our sentence is to entrust them to Mark and Serena.” Leo and Deo broke down weeping as they clasped their hands and thanked the jury.
“As the Judge of the Magical Midway, I say court is adjourned. May you all take lessons from those truths we have learned.” Ari Riddle slammed a gavel I had ringmaster-magicked up, and the crowd clapped as if a play had just concluded.
“Well, apparently, I have lost a lion to you, girl,” Roland Makepeace said as he walked over with Uncle Phil. “I already see the short end of the stick on this deal!”
“I think who we each wind up with may all shake out. Look.” I point to the edge of the clearing where centaurs, goblins, and kelpies from both circuses were gathered, talking. “I suspect some more people may switch circuses.”
“Still…” Roland grumbled.
“That was quite an interesting spectacle, Charlotte,” Uncle Phil said. “A judge, a court, a jury. How did Ari Riddle wind up the judge?”
“A quick show of hands election this morning while you slept. I think eventually, we’ll want to formalize it, but most of the citizens here chose Ari. Then they drew straws to sit on the jury.”
“It was a good choice,” Gunther said. “He seemed to do well.”
“Ari’s a good man,” Uncle Phil agreed.
“Did you outsource your job as lawgiver?” Roland asked.
“I don’t see it that way,” I disagreed as we walked toward the communication yurt. “I see it as helping folks get something in place where they don’t need a lawgiver.”
“Or a ringmaster?” Gunther asked.
“Don’t be silly, boy,” Uncle Phil said. “We couldn’t undo this magic if we tried.”
“Have we ever tried?”
“Well… no…”
“Look, I’m not some anarchist crazy human world witch that wants to tear everything down. I just think a lot of the problems I see in the paranormal world is because everything is locked in some ancient set of rules that no one even knows the reason for anymore.” I walked into the communications yurt where Alexa slumped on the couch in handcuffs, waiting for transport.
“Well, I’m glad you don’t want to tear everything down,” Roland said. “Realize that your motives may not be so clear to others.”
“Nothing good ever came easy,” I told him as I put my arm around Anya. As she stared at her sister, a single tear escaped her eye.
Alexa stared back at her, beaten but defiant.
“I should have known,” Anya said later that night as we gathered around the table. Fiona, Fortuna, Avalon, and Anya had arrived for a girls’ dinner. Serena, a new addition to our group, sat quietly and periodically glanced at the door.
“We all have a blind spot where family is concerned,” Fiona told our sad friend. The normally boisterous, tough Anya looked pale and deflated. “I should not have snapped at you about her. None of us wish to believe those we love could do such things.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Anya snapped, and Avalon squeezed her hand.
“Then let’s talk about boys. Holy hair, did you see Mark when he shifted into a lion?”
“No, and I hope I do not,” Avalon said and shuddered.
“Mark would not eat you, deer-woman,” Serena told her without looking up from the table. “My mate is an honorable man and a true leader. It was fate he come to this place to become what he is. What I think he always was.”
Avalon leaned away from Serena still adjusting to the new predator at our table. Well, the only predator, really. “Does he not hunt?”
“Of course he hunts! We are lions,” Serena said, raising her eyes. “Our yurt has a door to the plains of Africa. We do not hunt paranormals. Though I would have gladly lunched on Leo given a chance.”
“You didn’t agree with Mark’s plea for mercy?” Fortuna asked her.
“No, witch, I did not,” Serena answered, and Fortuna blushed with embarrassment and pride at the new designation. “My mate is wiser than I am, however. And he is the leader of the pride.”
“I still don’t get that whole male only leader thing,” Anya said, showing a little bit of her old spunk. “What makes him so much wiser than you?”
“Well, in this case, he grew our pride by two members, ensuring we are stronger. While I would have ripped the throats of Leo and Deo both, making our pride smaller and that much closer to extinction.”
“Fair point,” Anya said. “You know, I kinda like you.”
“You are more tolerable than many,” Serena responded with a nod.
“Do you really think you and Gunther will change the way things are, Charlotte?” Fortuna asked as she passed the carafe of human wine down toward me. It amazed me that with so many incredible magic drinks, my girl group loved everyday old human wine.
“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I talked to my parents before we sent them back home, and my Dad thinks I’m crazy. All these things, the drama, the plots, the rules. That’s some of why he left and went to the human world. He thought it was more civilized.”
“We’re not barbarians!” Anya said. Fiona looked at Anya and raised her eyebrow. “Well, maybe a few barbaric tendencies.”
“No one should be afraid to step out of a protective circle because some ruling group might hit you with a lightning bolt because they don’t like you.” The women around the table looked at each other and nodded. Fiona reached out and touched my arm.
“When’s the next Council meeting?”
“At the quarter, so a few months from now, I think?”
“They will have apoplexy when Gunther walks in.”
I looked at Fiona. “Why?”
“He’s a man,” Anya said. “They don’t allow men on the Council.”
“They can’t not, can they? I mean, he’s a lawgiver.”
“You two may have the only two lawgiver rings left in existence afte
r the Council of old made it a point to destroy as many as they could. I don’t know if they can stop him now that it’s on his finger. But a man hasn’t sat on that Council for nearly a hundred years, and it will raise their hackles.”
“Looking forward to it,” I said, and raised my wine glass. “To raising hackles and shaking things up.”
The six of us clinked our glasses and spent the rest of the night talking about boys as Samson slept peacefully on my bed.
“That’s better,” Gunther said as I hovered the hairbrush in midair. “Now move it slowly—remember, no fire hose. Trickle out just what power you need and remain calm and relaxed, not tense.”
I breathed deeply and tried to keep my muscles relaxed. The hairbrush skittered a quarter inch at a time in fits and stops, but it didn’t fly across the yurt, and nothing got broken.
“Good! Except you’re jerking your fingers, and your energy. You want to smooth the edges and even out the flow. Here.” Gunther stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my body so he could grip my wrists. I could feel his muscled chest pressing into my back and—
The brush shot across the room and shattered the mirror.
“Sorry! Sorry, I got distracted,” I told him, blushing. Gunther waved his hand at the mirror, and the pieces jumped back into place. As Gunther turned toward me with a smirk, Fortuna popped her head in.
“Everything okay in here? I thought I heard something break.”
“Everything’s fine, Charlotte’s just struggling with distractions,” Gunther told her as I continued to hide my red face.
“Oh, okay,” Fortuna said as she continued to stand in the doorway. “Hey, um… would you guys mind if I watch the lessons? I’m super new to this witch thing. I know that it was done just to save my life, but since I have these powers, I’d really like to learn to use them.”
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of that!” I told her as I ran to the door and dragged her in. “Gunther, you don’t mind showing both of us, do you? Fortuna knows even less than I do about all this stuff.”
And maybe adding a third to this mix will put distance between the handsome Gunther and me so I will stop having this heartburn and hyperventilation issue.
Gunther’s face remained steady, but I could feel he wasn’t happy with my suggestion. Competing feelings of obligation and desire wrestled within him. Necessity won, and he smiled at Fortuna. “Of course. The more, the merrier, and you’re right. It’s something you should learn.”
“I don’t want to intrude,” Fortuna said, backing up, as she stared at Gunther. Apparently, Fortuna had gained intuition ability with paranormals now that she was a witch.
“Stay,” I grabbed her arm, refusing to let go. “It will make it much easier for me if I’m not the only one breaking mirrors. And we can practice together in between lessons.”
“Okay, if you’re sure,” Fortuna said, raising an eyebrow. I nodded and hugged her. “Ow, you’re squeezing me really hard, Charlotte.”
“Sorry! Sorry.”
As Gunther held out the hairbrush and explained how to control it to Fortuna, Samson broke into my thoughts.
That will not help, you know.
What?
Just because you added Fortuna to this educational mix doesn’t mean the feelings you two have for each other will just disappear.
We don’t have feelings for each other.
I live in your head, Charlotte. Lie if it makes you feel better, but I feel it my obligation to inform you that it’s a futile gesture.
Fortuna smiled at me as Gunther grabbed her arm to help her with the movements, and I grimaced.
Things are changing, Charlotte. Perhaps a relationship between you both is not as hopeless as you think.
Nothing’s changed.
Something has changed.
Oh, yeah, cat? What?
You.
Go grab Unbearable Magic, the next book in the Magical Midway series right now or keep reading! I’ve included Chapter 1!
Unbearable Magic
Published by Badchen Publishing
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Portland, OR 97220
www.leanneleeds.com
©2018 Leanne Leeds
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
For permissions contact: [email protected]
1
“The Werebear Jamboree, ma’am,” Aldo Forest responded as he sat down across from me. It was Friday, and I was receiving complaints, petitions, and conversing with anybody that requested to speak with me. I had introduced our new, formalized open door policy at the Magical Midway. I hoped it would encourage our citizens to see themselves as active participants in the circus’s future.
Aldo had come with a request.
“Every ten years, all bear shifters gather on the top of Big Bear Mesa to celebrate our culture. Everyone at the Magical Midway is invited to attend, of course. Our festival is known worldwide for our Salmon Cook-off competition,” he said proudly.
“Oh! Sorry, I’d never heard of it.”
“Of course not. You’re not a werebear, and you settled in the human world,” Aldo informed me and cleared his throat. “It’s why I informed you about what it was.”
At some point, I would be here long enough to not have my sordid human past recounted in every conversation by paranormals that still seemed slightly miffed I didn’t pop out of the womb in a circus costume.
“I appreciate you educating me, Aldo,” I smiled. “Are you letting me know all the bears will go, or…?”
“Actually, ma’am, Brenda, Billy, Honey and I had a family meeting, and we wondered if you would consider relocating the Magical Midway to the Werebear Jamboree during the festival,” Aldo said as he leaned forward. “There are a lot of children at the festival, and I’m sure many of them don’t even know what a circus is considering so many grow up in paranormal towns these days.”
“Are you sure? Don’t all the townie paranormals think we’re all a little strange with our teleporting nomadic selves and human visitors? I’d presume that would include werebears.”
“Perhaps some do. It seems to me that you aspire to change that, ma’am,” Aldo pointed out and held up his hands.
I nodded.
“I think this would be a tremendous opportunity to do it with one part of the public. Every werebear in the world aspires to attend, and most do.”
He has a point, Charlotte, Samson said as he rolled over on the shelf and stretched his head upside down off the side. You and Gunther can snuggle in a room and plan for the world to change all you like. At some point, you must go out to shake hands and kiss babies. May as well start with paws and cubs. They’re cute. From a distance.
We don't snuggle.
You might be in a better mood if you did.
“Let me talk to Uncle Phil about the schedule, and make sure we’re not blowing off any important commitments. If we’re not, I think it’s a great idea.”
“Splendid!” Aldo pushed himself up and held out his hands. “Now, I wish to hug you, as you have made me feel festive and delighted.” He beamed at me with his big, bulky arms stretched wide.
I had also encouraged each paranormal group to share their uniqueness with others, to feel more comfortable bringing their natures out into the open (as long as it could hurt no one else).
Apparently, bears like to hug. Who would have thought?
“The Werebear Jamboree is reputed to be quite the celebration,” Uncle Phil said once I located him in Jeannie’s Snack Shack.
“I would love to go, Phil! I would discover so many new things to make for the shack! Their Salmon Cook-off is supposed to be transcendent,” Jeannie told Uncle Phil as she cleaned up her counter. “The start of the festival is a salmon catching contest, and all the salmon caught fresh is used in the cook-off.”
“That’s a bunch of bears jumping in
a river,” I said as I snatched a pink pickle off my uncle’s plate.
“Only the biggest and strongest bears compete, so not as crazy as you would think. They also have a children’s event for the cubs.” Uncle Phil took his plate from the counter and swatted my hand. “You leave my pickles alone. Jeannie can grant you your own.”
“I’m good. I just wanted that one.”
“It might be a good break for us. At least at the Jamboree, we won’t need to worry about the Witches’ Council,” Jeannie said. Uncle Phil nodded. “They tend to avoid those big paranormal gatherings.”
“Why?”
“Too much concentrated other power in one place. Remember, it’s just the three of them that poof all over making trouble for everyone with magic. Mostly, they control the paranormal world by the laws, and by targeting anyone that becomes a threat to their power.”
“You mean by fiat, not laws,” I grumbled.
“Isn’t that a sports car?” Jeannie asked as she leaned against the counter. “A Fiat? I think I granted one of those once…”
“It’s an arbitrary order. The word, I mean. Fiat the car’s name came from an acronym for the car company.”
“Superb, Charlotte!” Uncle Phil said as he beamed. “I’m very impressed that you knew that.”
“Girls like cars, too, Uncle Phil.”
“One day you should have Jeannie grant you a vehicle. You and Gunther could go on a drive through the countryside. Get away from here for a bit. I think it would do you both some good.”
“Yeah, it might be nice to get out of the yurt for a change.”
“You two have been working very hard,” Jeannie said. “Have you come up with a plan for the next Witches’ Council meeting?”
“We’re still working on it.”
Working on it wasn’t really the word for it.
When Gunther and I became lawgivers, it seemed like the most brilliant idea in the world. We would become part of the legislative process. We would right the wrongs of the paranormal world. We would serve as a check on Mina’s arrogant leadership, helping the paranormal world take its first steps toward more freedom. We would create a kinder and gentler society for supernaturals everywhere.
