by Sheena Bandy
But his snoring that night went uninterrupted.
***
Maji slept soundly until the sound of the door closing shook her awake. This time, she did not need reminding of her place. She'd been there long enough to know the routine.
Morpheus came in every day, sometimes with food and water, and would talk to her, or hold her, or bathe her, or just sit and look at her. As long as he wasn't punishing her, she was fine with whatever he wanted to give her.
Just because it wasn't punishment.
"Pet." He said. He rarely greeted her and he only initiated speech if he wanted her reply.
"Yes, Master?" She answered like a good Pet. Maybe she would get a pillow tonight. She liked the pillows. She dreamt of smothering him with them. But she never dared approach the bed without his lead.
Morpheus sat down on the bed and she crawled across the floor to his feet. She had long ago earned the right to see, and the right to leave her rug. She still had to sleep on it, but she could leave it during the day.
Morpheus patted his lap.
'Master?'
'It's alright.' His mind voice sounded softer than usual.
Maji climbed onto Morpheus’ lap and strong hands guided her to lean against his chest.
She had lost quite a bit of weight since he'd captured her. More weight than she'd ever really had to lose. She was light and skinny; fragile, now. Morpheus liked her that way.
It made her too weak to get away.
"You've been a very good Pet." Morpheus said.
"Yes, Master." When in doubt, she always went back to the template.
'Do you miss your Magic?'
One of the rare moments she wouldn't have to lie. "Yes, Master."
Those strong hands that held her on some days, and held her down on others. Today, they started to pull apart the silver collar that kept her magic away from her. She gasped as she felt herself filling up, finally complete again. She had tried many simple spells in the beginning; heating charms, conjured clothes, and healing spells. None of them had worked. She felt her fingertips tingling with the power she'd been denied for months on end.
And something else. Feelings and thoughts she'd thought were fading away, pain she'd thought she'd gotten used to. She wanted to scream and break things. Break his face wide open and dye herself red with his blood.
She looked at Morpheus. Her Master.
But he wasn't her Master.
And she was not a Pet.
She pulled away from him. He let her stand on her own.
"Months of this sick game." She said. "Conditioning and mind numbing?"
He didn't answer.
"You make me act like your pet for months and now you give me my magic back?" She felt her wings burst from her back. Her nails grew long and thick with rage.
She swung at him. He stopped her with sturdy grasp.
"I did not give you magic to fight me." He said.
"It wasn't your magic to give!" She swung with the other arm.
Again, he grabbed it.
"Do not forget who is in charge here, Marjorie." he said, "I can always bring the collar back."
Maji stopped fighting but her hate was sharper than ever.
"Good girl." He said, letting go of her hands. "I am in need of an assistant. Mine has been, well, let's say disposed of."
Maji held her tongue.
"You will run his errands for me and occasionally assist me with my own errands."
Maji wondered how hard it would be to disappear on one of these errands.
"Say yes sir."
At least it wasn't Master. And at least she could actually feel her disgust. "Yes, Sir."
***
"Maji?" Morpheus called from behind her. She'd been spending quite a bit of time in the library lately. She couldn't deny what favors Morpheus asked of her, but the rest of the time could be spent doing whatever she wanted. And she never wanted his company on her own time.
"Sir?"
"Do you remember when I used to feed you?"
Maji turned around in her chair, marking her place in the book she'd been reading. She looked at the dish in his hand and noticed that it was filled with all the things she'd liked in her time as his Pet.
"I remember, Sir." She said, without enthusiasm.
She saw Morpheus’ face fall as he waited for her to initiate some kind of contact. She'd spent months learning to be a good Pet, to be content with being nothing more than that.
She'd spent months with a collar that numbed her emotions and altered her thoughts.
And for two years, she'd been his assistant. Seen him banish monsters and devils and keep all the witches under his control.
In all that time, he'd never been interested in her. At least, not like she'd been interested in him.
She looked at the plate in his hands and wondered if she was still interested or if it was just an echo of his mind games. Everything was a mind game with him.
And he wanted her to act like a Pet again.
"Just for play, right?" She asked. "And no collar?"
"Yes, Pet." He said. "Do you want me to feed you?"
She didn't know what she was doing. She shouldn't still want this. But something was aching inside her at the name.
"Yes, Master." She said as she fell into the smile in his eyes.
Chapter 6
Maji woke up next to Morpheus. She placed a light kiss on his cheek. He stirred a bit, but kept sleeping.
She untangled herself from his arms and got up to take a shower. She stepped into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She was still skinnier than when she'd first started out, but she'd filled out some since her days as a Pet. Her hair had grown out and was now long enough to braid. She didn't have much to her, really. She'd always had blue eyes, though they'd become darker in the last year, and the hair on her head had been red once, but now looked like more of a dull brown color. To her, she wasn't much to look at.
But at least she had Morpheus. He had to see something in her to keep coming back.
Though it was probably the lure of power.
She was very powerful.
After her shower, she came back into the bedroom to find her lover missing. This was hardly abnormal. She looked at the freshly made bed. Not even wrinkled bed sheets were there as a reminder of her activities the night before. It shouldn't bother her, and normally it wouldn't, but this was turning out to be a strange morning.
She felt sorry for Morpheus. He had no clue.
Yet.
Maji sat down on the bed with a sigh. She was more tired than usual this morning and she was much more emotional, too.
'What's wrong with me?'
Maji looked at the clock on the wall. It was still far too early to go out on the errands. She rolled back under the covers and let herself have a little nap.
And then slept till noon.
The afternoon sun found her rushing through her morning abrasions. When she had woken up, her stomach was trying to escape through her throat. She finally stopped vomiting, brushed her teeth, and went to the library. If she had an assignment or an appointment, Morpheus would leave it there. Just like he always did.
The table had an old looking book on it and a plate of strawberries. They were magically preserved. She wondered how late Morpheus had expected her to be. He normally only did so when she was going to be out later than usual and he wanted her dinner to stay hot.
Something was up with her, and it seemed that he knew it.
'And he still had to leave this morning!' She grumbled, taking a strawberry off the plate and putting it in her mouth.
She bit down and felt the juices explode in her mouth before she looked at the book that was sitting next to the plate.
And saw that she needed something Hard.
She conjured a glass and summoned the scotch from the cabinet above the study table as she stared at the torn cover of the book. She poured the amber liquid into a tumbler and lifted it to her lips. She tipp
ed the glass and felt cool, clean water wash down her throat.
'The Hell?'
'I would rather you not be drinking, Pet.'
Something was wrong. She tried to shoot him a mental glare, but ended up shooting specks of her arousal at him. She could feel the amusement coming back at her and she downed the rest of the alcohol-turned-water from the tumbler. She put the Scotch away and sat down in front of the study table.
Her stomach turned and she pushed the strawberries away.
'God, what is wrong with me?'
She could feel sympathy coming from her lover.
'I'm coming home, now.' Morpheus’ mind speech was the only way he could get through her psychic defenses; especially from a distance.
Maji wanted to tell him no, that she didn't need him here, but she couldn't do it.
The house was too quiet. And she was sitting in her room, thinking about the rougher times with her and how he'd been responsible for all of them. When he finally showed up, which took him longer than it should have since she knew damn well that he could have Gated, she was fuming at him.
Morpheus approached cautiously, well aware of the dangers of an angry witch. He'd had to deal with her wrath once or twice in the past year and she had never been this angry before. She'd never been this emotional before. Something was definitely wrong.
He mind touched hers softly. Suddenly, her previous arousal was back at levels she couldn't ignore. She jumped towards him and took his lips in a violent kiss.
Morpheus started to kiss her back when she tugged on his shirt. She wanted him out of it.
She took her lips from his and started to take off her own clothes.
He dropped his trousers and stood in nothing but his boxers and the silver chain he always wore around his neck. She had examined it curiously the first time, back when she had been a Pet. It was a simple knot, like any Celt would wear, but this one was different.
She had sensed the spells within since the beginning, like she had sensed the spells around her own old collar. She bypassed examining it this time, though she felt something more than the usual shielding and empowering spells, and went straight for the tight dark nipple next to it.
A strong hand took her by the hair and pulled her lips away. She hadn't expected him to resist her advances, like he had the first day. She looked questioningly into his eyes and saw strong resolve and steeled will power. He would not be playing games with her today.
'You shouldn't be coming on to me right now.' His mind spoke.
'Why not?'
'There are more important things now.'
Maji backed away and examined him cautiously. He hadn't treated her this way since removing her collar. He stared her down and she returned to the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest. She didn't know why his refusal hurt her so much, or why she was taking it so personally.
"You're in a fragile state, right now," He said, looking at the ceiling rather than at her, "you can't afford to be reckless with yourself."
Maji knew what that meant. Forced celibacy. Her eyes started to wet. She looked at him and he finally met her eye.
And he was frowning.
Though she was upset with him, she wouldn't refuse a comforting touch. It was always her favorite thing. Lying in bed, holding each other. Her hair brushed against his chest as he reached down to caress her stomach. She pushed all her questions into his mind and he pushed some of the answers back.
Answers she didn't like one bit.
'Surprise.' He mind spoke.
She was furious. She wasn't ready and he hadn't asked her. And now, she would have to carry his child? Maji conjured clothes to herself and stormed out. She couldn't stay away. She could never stay away. But she could get a break, at least. Before she broke his face open.
She Gated herself into the city. She needed to walk around in the anonymity of normal people. Think about things.
The streets were less crowded than on the weekends when she usually went into the city. Housewives shuffled their young children down the street and tourists walked past, lost.
She lingered on Morpheus’ betrayal. There were no accidental pregnancies. If they'd wanted a child, fertility magic had to be cast. She'd always expected someone to bring it up or a discussion to be had before that happened. She didn't know how he'd cast a fertility spell on her without her noticing. But he had.
Her wandering took her into the art district. If Morpheus went out to pass the time, she was unlikely to run into him here. She went into a gallery to escape the heated summer air. She walked quietly past all the other visitors, past the Dali copies, and into an unoccupied area of the gallery.
She sat down on the cool tile floor and buried her head in her hands. She was surrounded by portraits of babies and small children. Bright blue eyes, uncolored by time and human growth, looked out at her from the pictures. They were cute, but she was not ready for a child.
She heard footsteps coming and got up. She didn't want to be kicked out for squatting in the gallery. She looked up, expecting to see the owner of the gallery, but watched Morpheus approach.
"Pet, you should not have run out on me." he said.
"I had every right."
"You cannot go out on your own, now. You are carrying something of mine with you."
She was itching to curse him. She could feel her magic gathering. In her uterus to be precise.
Maji strode past her lover and out of the gallery. She found an empty alleyway and Gated back to their house. The bathroom always had special locks on it to keep him out. She closed the door and set up the energy locks.
She turned on the shower and stepped in. Water scalded down her back. Her hair fell over her face and she watched the drips fall to the floor until the water got cold.
"Maji?" Morpheus called from the bedroom. She didn't answer. Her hands and feet looked like prunes and her back and arms were covered in gooseflesh from the cold.
He'd trapped her. She'd only ever heard of girls doing that. She turned off the shower and pulled a towel around herself.
Maji went back to the bedroom where Morpheus was waiting for her on the bed. He wasn't looking at her. He was reading the book he'd left in the library for her. She sat down and looked at the cover.
Your Magical Pregnancy.
Morpheus looked at her over the book.
"You're cold." He said.
He lifted the covers up to let her under. She scooted under the covers and looked at the book. "I want an abortion."
Morpheus frowned. "Rest. We can discuss this later."
***
Maji woke up and glared at the arm stretched across her stomach. Her protruding stomach. When had that happened? She couldn't remember anything from the last few months. She looked around. There was a pram sitting in the corner of the room. Elliana was written in pink paint on the frame.
Elliana found Maji's bladder and pressed on it. Maji pushed Morpheus away and got up.
When she got back into the bedroom, Morpheus was watching her from the bed.
"What happened last night?" She asked. "I can't remember anything. And how am I so big?"
"You're a normal size for third trimester." He said.
"Last I remember was deciding to get an Abortion."
"You changed your mind." He said, "And it's too late now."
Morpheus put his arm possessively around her and almost immediately fell back asleep. She stayed awake.
She didn't remember months of her pregnancy. The baby kicked and she touched the stretched skin. It was smooth and tight. Like she'd been using lotion on it. But that wasn't like her at all.
She could feel the air changing, the cold front hitting outside. It always seemed to whistle when it got colder. The front would come in and they would have the sounds of a bean sidhe's shrieks all around their house.
She wondered if the baby would be born with magic. Would she ever hear the bean sidhe shriek, like her mother and father had. Would she feel the burn of the mourning lad
ies' acid tears, like her mother and father had.
The sunshine greeted her sore and tired eyes. She pulled the covers up to shield her from the light. Morpheus rolled over and spelled the blinds shut. Why hadn't Maji done that? She tried to summon the bottle of water on the nightstand. It didn't move.
Her magic was all protecting the baby.
Without the sunlight to bother her eyes, she was perfectly happy to crawl out of the blankets and feel the cool air on her partially clothed skin.
"We have to see the Healer today..." Morpheus mumbled, shifting some and starting to work his way out of bed.
Maji decided not to move.
He spelled the bottle of water of to the bedside and handed it to Maji.
'Do we have to?'
'Yes. Get up.'
Maji felt the weight leave Morpheus’ side of the bed and finally, with extra effort, followed.
"We could do it ourselves." She said.
"You wouldn't let me." Morpheus went into the bathroom and started to spell everything she would need to get ready. She waited until he left to get ready.
How much easier life had been with magic.
Maji climbed into the tub. Morpheus must have transformed the shower into a large tub. She let herself sink into the shoulder deep water. She appreciated how the water held her stomach up, releasing the pressure on her back and shoulders. She relaxed into the jet behind her and stretched her feet out to let the opposite jets caress her ankles.
She would be happy to see the back of this pregnancy business.
Bubbles started filling the tub. They smelled like lavender. She rinsed them along her arms and scrubbed with the loofa until her skin tingled. She pulled the plug and climbed out of the tub.
The appointment with the Healer was probably a good thing if she'd forgotten the last two trimesters.
"Almost ready?" Morpheus asked.
Maji found nothing but maternity clothes in the closet. They looked like they'd never been worn. She put them on and stretched the material over her stomach.
"You have some tests this morning." Morpheus reminded her.
Tests Maji hadn't even known about before. She slipped on her sandals and slowly made her way down the stairs. She was a little hungry, but it was more wanting something specific. Hard to tell what. She felt like eating chocolate pudding and sushi, and pickle juice popsicles.
Morpheus opened the door for her and went out to the car and held the door to that. He was more helpful than she could ever remember him being. She knew it wasn't for her as much as for his unborn child.
