Part 14
Katie was sitting at her table, warming her hands on the cup of tea in front of her. She glanced outside at the crowd marching home or to their cars after work, or hurrying to the shops before closing time. She was in a coffee shop her family often went to when shopping in town. They did a home-made chocolate muffin that was to die for. But Katie didn't feel too hungry. She heard a tingling sound as the door opened. Looking up, she smiled gratefully as Gideon came forwards, his long dark blue dapper coat showing his white turtle-neck and jeans, his dark hair slightly ruffled by the wind outside. She got to her feet as he approached.
"Hey," she greeted him.
"Hey," he replied, hugging her.
Katie hugged him back, though slightly more tightly than she'd intended.
"Thanks for coming..."
"Of course, I always said I'd be there for you," Gideon said.
That was true. Katie had always been able to count on her older brother, and did her best to offer him the same unwavering support.
"What's wrong?" he asked, inviting her to sit down. "You sounded weird on the phone."
That was Gideon; always getting straight to the point. Usually Katie liked that about him, but right now, it didn't feel as appreciable. But she supposed it was pointless to beat about the bush.
"I might be in trouble..."
Gideon frowned slightly in confusion.
"What kind of trouble?" he inquired.
Katie hesitated a few seconds.
"... Madge Council trouble..." she finally confessed.
Gideon's confusion turned to concern.
"The Council? What do you mean?"
Katie took a deep breath.
"I... used magic in the street to prevent an accident and from what I can tell, they could either just give me a "don't do it again" speech... or they could Dispell me."
Shock didn't begin to describe Gideon's expression.
"What?!" he exclaimed. "They can't do that!"
"I endangered the secrecy..." she pointed out.
She went on to explain what had happened, though paying attention to not let anyone hear them.
"You manipulated the wind, how could anyone notice that?"
"... Well... the thing is I think maybe someone saw me."
"Who?"
Before Katie could answer, a waitress came over.
"What can I get you?"
"Uh, coffee, please," Gideon said.
She nodded and walked away.
"... A boy in school."
"Has he asked you about it?"
"No... It was a busy street and I left at once..."
Gideon was silent a moment.
"Why wouldn't they have told me about this?" he asked.
"... They weren't sure how to react themselves... I suppose they wanted to see what the Council intends to do and then they'd have told you. They're up there now."
The waitress returned with the coffee and set it on the table before marching off in her vivid red heels. Gideon squeezed Katie's hand.
"We won't let them Dispell you. They can't. Not a seventeen year old who just took the pledge."
"... They could if they wanted to set an example..." Katie countered carefully, trying not to let her voice betray her. "I don't remember Grandma telling me anything about a young pledged using magic in the Unspelled world, and every other case I heard ended with a Dispelling."
"I'll hide you," Gideon said fiercely. "They are not doing that to you."
"Gideon, you can't..." she said gently, touching his arm.. "I love you for saying that, but it would only put you at odds with the Council too. I couldn't stand it if they punished you too."
Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
"... It's Dad..." she said in a hollow voice.
Gideon took the phone and picked up.
"Hello? Yeah, hi Dad. No, she's fine, she's with me. Are you back from the Council?... Yeah, she told me, though I would have expected you to be the ones to tell me. She's my sister, I should know about things like this!"
There was a pause.
"Okay, never mind that now. What did the Council say?"
There was a new pause.
"Okay. Yeah. We'll be right there. Yeah. Bye."
He hung up and handed the phone back to Katie.
"He wants us to get home to discuss it," he said.
He dropped a few coins on the table, downed his coffee and set the now empty cup down before shrugging on his long coat.
"Come on," he said and set a hand on his sister's shoulder as they walked out.
Soon, Gideon and Katie parked outside the Thomas household. It could easily have been another chilly November afternoon in London, but Katie couldn't help feeling that the sky was greyer than was natural, the wind colder and sharper. If she looked upwards, she could almost see the Damocles sword hanging above her head. Gideon squeezed her shoulder as they walked to the front door. Their parents were sitting in the living room. Hazel was probably in her room.
"Oh, there you are," Heleana said as Katie and Gideon ambled in.
The siblings sat down opposite their parents.
"So..." Katie began nervously. "How bad is it?"
Her parents didn't look too worried, but then, knowing them that didn't mean much, since they could have been concealing their feelings.
"Well, it took a certain amount of convincing, but the Council decided that based on your age, the intentions and actual risk involved... they'll let you off with an official warning."
"So they're not pressing charges?"
"No, but the incident will be noted on your record, and they insisted that this should never happen again," Kendall said.
Katie leaned back into the sofa with a sigh of relief. She felt Gideon relax next to her. Just a little.
"So she's okay? They'll leave her in peace?"
"Unless she uses her magic again, yes," Heleana said.
"I won't," Katie said quickly. "I didn't really intend to that time, it just... happened."
"We know that," Kendall said. "But rules are rules, we can't bypass them because we're the leading family of the clan."
"I know," Katie nodded.
Then a horrible thought occurred to her.
"Hey... I can still practice, can't I? I can still use my magic here?"
"Yes," her father reassured her. "They do know you need it."
Katie exhaled.
"What were they actually planning on doing?" Gideon asked.
Unlike Katie, he was still tense. He had never much liked the Council. Katie couldn't blame him. She wasn't their biggest fan either. It dated back to when Hazel was just a baby. Gideon had been eight and Katie had just turned five. Her father had just been elected leader of the clan. So he was under close scrutiny from the Council. And he had been caught in a similar situation. A fire had broken out in a school in a neighbouring town and he had been close by. He hadn't hesitated when he'd heard a child was still inside. He had rushed inside while the fire-fighters were still working on getting through to the little boy. He had used a spell to keep the flames from harming him, and another to walk through the walls rather than clamber through the unstable doorways. He'd found and saved the boy and hurried back out, calling to the firemen that the building was clear. They'd all called him a hero, and insanely lucky. And Katie was immensely proud of his actions that night, as were Gideon and their mother. The Council, however, had been less than impressed. They had considered his actions rash and dangerous for the secrecy of their world. It was all the worse because unlike Katie the day before, he had known full well his magic might be seen. Katie approved him and would have done the same, but of course, the Council were not standing for it. It had taken all her mother's determination to keep them from Dispelling him. He had been forbidden to use magic for a year and had very nearly lost his leading position. And while the Thomases did respect and obey the Council as much as possible, they had never forgotten how easily they had been willing to punish Kendall for saving a life.
"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Gideon verified.
"Yes, but Katie, we must insist. They were crystal clear-"
"I know, no magic outside these walls," Katie finished. "Don't worry."
Satisfied, Heleana nodded.
"I'd better get going," Gideon said.
He got to his feet. Katie stood up as well to walk him to the door. They'd just taken a few steps when Gideon turned to his parents again.
"You said they would only let her be if she didn't use magic in public, right?"
"Yes," Kendall agreed. "That's right."
Gideon waited a beat, then asked:
"What would happen if she did, even by accident?"
Kendall looked uncomfortable, as though he didn't want to be asked that question.
"They wouldn't have a choice, they'd have to Dispell her."
********
- Gulp - that doesn't sound good, am I right?
What will happen next? Let's find out next time!
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