Chapter 16 The Royal Court #2
“You’re being silly. The outfits are the least of our problems,” Sage said.
She was pacing now, determined to regather their focus.
“Did you bump your head? You should be resting. We’ll go straight to my house once we’ve recorded these findings.
Maggie will have some arnica for the bruising.
” She whipped out her papers and noted the time in the margin, then marched towards the pumpkin crash.
“Casimir, you start with the digital camera while we still have at least one modern convenience remaining. Get close-ups of the joinery and see the detail in the upholstery there? Exceptionally fine work.”
“Have you seen this?” Casimir beckoned her over to one of the large wooden wheels and snapped axle, the elegant spokes impossibly decorative.
“There’s even a maker’s mark, as though Lilara crafted the coach herself.
The stamp etched in the wood is the same star as on her grimoire and her cloak. Amazing stuff.”
Sage gasped at the incredible minutia. She should have known that Lilara wouldn’t be one to skimp on the finer detail; they really were one and the same. If you were going to enchant an entire town into a spellbind, then you might as well do it properly.
“Laur, snap off a sample of the pumpkin shell, will you? We should try to preserve some of the specimen as quickly as—”
“Oi! Can I help you? Don’t touch anything! You’ll ruin my claim!” The driver of the coach had spotted their snooping. Sage shoved her papers behind her back and hurried Laurel to hide the segment of pumpkin within her petticoats.
“Dave! Did you catch the match on Saturday? We heard the crash from across town, only wanted to make sure that everything was okay,” Casimir said, his well-rehearsed, charming voice coming out to play.
“Oh, all right, Cas! How are you, mate? That’s kind of you,” Dave said, softening.
“They’re just making sure we’re all right, Ed,” he called back to his colleague, who was still wrestling with two of the horses.
“Something ran out into the road, so I swerved to make sure I didn’t hit it.
A ruddy dog, I think. Maybe a fox.” He tutted.
“You mean, big bad wolf…” Laurel whispered to Sage.
“And how do you feel, sir?” Sage asked, batting her sister away. “Are you feeling any different, unsettled? Any…unusual sensibilities? How’s your mood?” She poised her pen above her notebook.
“Pissed off about my insurance premium, but it is what it is,” Dave grumbled. “As long as you’re okay, madam?”
Laurel nodded an enthusiastic, high-pitched “mm-hmm,” struggling to juggle the fragment of pumpkin discreetly.
It seemed enough to appease Dave, and he wandered back to the horses.
It was only then, as Sage breathed a sigh of relief, that she noticed both of the drivers’ outfits had also begun to change.
Slowly but surely, their old jeans were turning the palest shade of dove grey.
And their scratched-up leather bomber jackets were stretching, transforming into what appeared to be the long tails of formal suits.
Her hand flew to her mouth as Ed’s usual brown flat cap made a loud popping noise and, in a flourish of sparks, became a tricorn hat.
Both driver and footman were entirely oblivious to all this, however, and simply carried on as normal.
“Dapper,” Casimir said, impressed.
“Remarkable magical mechanics at play…But he’s right, we should examine you more closely; you could have been killed.
” Sage turned to her sister. “Is anything aching, Laurel? Your bones, your head, even your corset? Is your heart rate normal? There are so many anomalies to consider, but you’re both ideal case studies.
We need to gain some understanding in the physics of the characters you’re—”
“Oh, give it a rest, will you? I’m fine,” Laurel laughed, snatching the notebook from her sister and batting her over the head with it. “For once in your life, just let go. You’ve got to surrender to it. It’s not like it’s going to last forever, so we might as well enjoy it.”
Sage recalled the spell’s final words. Magic forever, everywhere.
“Come onnn,” Laurel said, stretching out her words in a drawl.
She linked a puffy, satin-covered arm through Sage’s in the sweet, sisterly way that Sage, annoyingly, found irresistible.
“I saw that you and Lilara have turned the hairdresser’s into a fairy godmother salon, and I’ve needed a trim for ages.
I can’t believe your mind is even capable of this sort of imagination.
You’re much more fun with magic, you know. ”
Sage swallowed hard. Something about all this felt…off. The way the spell was brushing a light finger over their skin, breathing a little too closely to their necks. They needed to be more careful.
But she always had to be the one to ruin the fun.
It was practically second nature to her, forever pointing out what could go wrong, the bad news, the things that were important to consider before everybody lost their heads to frivolity…
Even at university, she’d been the one to take on the limited-fun role, making sure everyone got home safely.
It was always her who delivered the reminder of reality.
It wasn’t a job she enjoyed, but someone had to do it.
Casimir threw an arm over Sage’s shoulder while Laurel hung off her other side, and they started to discuss what they might find at the Wheat and Walnut market stall, post-salon.
Sage saw it for what it was: a cheap distraction to pull her out of her own mind with the promise of a sweet treat. They just wanted to enjoy themselves.
She had to admit, it was all very beautiful, and at the helm of this magic was someone she could surely trust. Her lifelong hero trying to show her something important and valuable.
She had to have faith. And, crucially, everybody else seemed to think that it was not just the right decision but the necessary one.
Lilara had permitted her loved ones to be in on the joke so they could enjoy this time together.
As Sage allowed her sister to sweep her away on a garble of whether she needed to cut in a fringe, she cursed herself for being so easily won over, because it was working. Despite herself, she smiled. For the first time since she was a teenager, a hot, sparkly glimmer came to her palms.
Squeezed between two of her most precious souls, Sage couldn’t deny the feeling that her luck might finally be changing. Maybe magic really was on her side after all.