36. Un-fairy Godmother
THIRTY-SIX
UN-FAIRY GODMOTHER
In the natural world, it’s not uncommon to find birds fostering orphaned chicks or mammals like dolphins and primates adopting unrelated young. Time and again, nature shows us that deep connections can, and often do, extend beyond blood ties.
Non-biological mothers form bonds just as profound and meaningful with their adopted offspring, offering the same protection, nourishment, and love as any biological parent.
These relationships remind us that the magic of nurturing isn’t confined to lineage—it flows from the universal instinct to care for and protect life in all its forms.
–EXCERPT FROM THE MUDPUDDLE MANUAL OF NATURAL MAGIC
Maida and Arthur paced the sheltered atrium of the town hall in silence, walking separately and avoiding eye contact each time they met in the middle.
Will would arrive any moment with Amrita Berman. Zephyr’s remains had remained unchanged. The town’s residents were demanding answers. More than a few had gathered outside the town hall, hoping to get a glimpse of the Director.
But Zephyr was not the only reason Amrita was en route. She was coming to meet Maida.
Maida was inexplicably nervous about this.
“Are you okay?” Arthur asked on their fifth rotation around the enclosed space.
Maida nodded and continued to walk in circles.
She didn’t want to talk about it, and she also didn’t want to talk about the way Arthur had stormed out the other night. She especially didn’t want to talk about Rosie being a dragon shifter. That was Rosie’s secret to share.
Round and round she went.
Finally, the Director arrived.
Maida’s first impression of Amrita Berman was that she was as perfectly polished as river rock, and just as free from artifice. She knew they’d met before, but she had a hard time believing this, because she didn’t remember her. The Director seemed like the type of woman who was unforgettable.
Amrita traded a look with Arthur, and he nodded and turned towards the door. He hesitated before leaving them, turning to address Maida.
“Will and I will be right inside.”
When she looked into his warm eyes, the empathy she saw there overwhelmed her. His gaze was like honey, and it soothed her raw nerves. She felt the urge to run over and embrace him.
“Thank you, Arthur,” the Director said. Arthur turned to address her.
“The council is still gathering. We’ll head over to view Zephyr as soon as you two are ready.”
And then he left her alone in the atrium with her godmother.
Amrita rushed right up to her, smiling proudly.
“Oh my. Let me look at you!” Amrita exclaimed, reaching out to touch Maida’s hair.
She placed a hand under Maida’s chin. “You have your mother’s eyes.
But I can see some of your father in you as well.
His cheekbones…” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.
“And his stubborn streak.” Amrita smiled. “Let’s sit, shall we?”
Amrita pointed to a concrete bench at the center of the atrium and grasped Maida’s hand. The midday sun cast harsh shadows through the trees, giving everything cold, sharp edges. In contrast, Amrita’s hands were warm, her presence comforting. They sat facing each other and Amrita continued.
“Not that your mother wasn’t stubborn. She was just less idealistic. More oppositional. You and your father are more prone to dig your heels in when you feel a sense of conviction, no?” Amrita clarified.
“I can’t argue with that.” Maida smiled a small half smile.
Despite her reserve, she felt instantly at ease with Amrita Berman. Studying the older woman, she spoke plainly. “I have so many questions about my mother. Aside from my father and my aunt, who I’ve just met, I don’t really know anyone who actually knew her.”
“And neither one of them will talk ill of the dead, I take it?” Amrita raised her eyebrows.
“They’re not really willing to talk, period.” Maida shrugged. “For the longest time, I thought there must have been something terribly wrong with her. And possibly me.”
“Oh dear. There’s nothing wrong with you.
” Amrita sighed. “But I will not lie to you about your mother. She was a difficult person. Easy to love, and possibly easier to hate. It’s hard to come clean when your feelings about a person are complicated and just about everyone who knew your mother had complicated feelings about her. ”
“Including you?” Maida asked.
“Especially me. She was my best friend. And she betrayed me, most cruelly.” Amrita pressed her lips together and looked up at the sky, as if seeking answers she knew would never come.
“But you forgave her?” Maida asked.
“Not entirely,” Amrita admitted. “You can forgive the person, but not the act.” She smoothed her skirt and folded her hands on her lap. “In the end, I felt sorry for her. I don’t think she got what she deserved. She paid for her mistakes with her life.”
Amrita leaned forward to pull a faded photo from her bag.
In it, the two young women were sitting on the edge of a bunk bed in a dorm room, not unlike the one she’d shared with Zani.
They were both wearing school uniforms with bulky sweaters.
Their arms were wrapped around each other and they were laughing.
Maida recognized Amrita, immediately. Her mother looked like any other pretty, young, blond college co-ed. She handed the photo to Maida.
“That’s yours. Keep it.”
“Thank you.” Maida took the photo.
“I’m sorry. I should have started by asking what you already knew,” Amrita apologized. “Rather than lobbing all my random thoughts at you. I’ve just waited such a long time to meet you. It’s a little like meeting a celebrity you’ve stalked for years.”
This made Maida smile. “I think that’s how my friend Zani feels about you, actually.” She held up the photo and studied it some more. “So what I know…I know you and my mother were roommates. And I know that she was unhappy about your relationship with my father.”
“Then you know quite a bit, actually.” Amrita nodded.
“Your mother was raised in a strict household. Mingling with other types of folk was not tolerated. To be fair, that was most households, at the time. My parents were unusually liberal. But even they had their limits. I didn’t tell them I was seeing a shifter.
I didn’t think there was any reason to tell them. ”
“So my mother didn’t approve of your relationship with my dad?”
“Your mother was jealous. My attention was less focused on our friendship. Meanwhile, she was desperate to rebel against her strict upbringing. We stole her thunder. Buffalo and I broke all the rules. We weren’t doing it for attention.
We genuinely cared about each other. But attention was what we got.
Good and bad.” Amrita closed her eyes for a moment, remembering.
“Your mother was used to being the center of attention. She thrived on it. But suddenly she found herself alone, standing in the shadows. So she took a bit of my hair from my hairbrush and used it to work a glamor.”
“My father thought she was you,” Maida whispered.
“That was his claim. Your mother had a different story, of course. It’s not for me to say what actually happened behind closed doors, except to say a child was conceived.”
“Me.” Maida laid a hand on her own chest, and Amrita covered it with her own.
“Yes, you blessed woman.” She clasped her hands to her own chest. “I will never fail to give thanks that so much beauty and kindness could come from such a deception. No matter how devious of an act your mother’s glamor spell was, her ill intentions didn’t take root in your soul.
Her entire pregnancy defied the odds. You shouldn’t even be here.
And yet here you are. You came into this world with your own unique endowments, a manifester and a miracle. ”
Maida dragged the toe of her shoe through the pebbled soil. “That all sounds so wonderful. But truthfully, I have always felt like more of a disappointment—like I was too ordinary, even before I knew the real meaning of the word.”
“Please don’t be too hard on your father, Maida.
He tried to do right by you. Particularly after seeing what synthetic magic did to your mother.
It’s obvious why he wanted to raise you in a different world.
I think he was relieved when they pronounced you Ordinary.
Even though there were those that had their doubts, he considered your Ordinaryness a blessing.
He loves you so much. All he ever wanted to do was to keep you safe. ”
“What about you?” Maida asked Amrita. “Where do you fit in?”
“Magic is my whole world.” Amrita smiled enigmatically. “There’s not a lot of room for much else when you’re the Director of the Society.”
“No relationships?” Maida arched a brow.
“No time.” Amrita shook her head. “And no inclination, to be honest.”
“So you have no children of your own.”
“I think of you like a daughter,” Amrita admitted.
“Even though you’re not mine. I’ve always been there in the background, checking in on you, watching over you.
I like to think of myself as your fairy godmother.
Although, Goddess help me if Granny Luna were to hear me use that term. She’d shove a stone in my ear.”
Maida smiled at the thought of this. “I can picture that.”
“I know you have probably felt alone?,” Amrita continued, “but you had a lot of folk watching over you, including me. I always suspected you had a bit of Papa Lathrop in you. I saw some glimmers of manifestation magic in you from the time you were four years old. Just nothing profound enough to put you through the enlightenment.”
“Papa Lathrop was a manifester?” Maida asked, touching her locket gently.
“He was.” Amrita nodded. “And a talented inventor as well. I see you still have the gearheart locket.”
“I do.” Maida held the locket in her hand. She was hoping to learn more about it, and more about Papa Lathrop. “What does it mean to be a manifester?”
“It means what it sounds like. You have the ability to speak things into existence.” Amrita reached for her hand again, turning it over to expose the tattoo on Maida’s wrist. “It’s this. Except in your case, I think you may draw things into existence as well.”
The conversation was cut short by the sound of approaching footsteps and the creak of a door.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Arthur apologized, “but they’re ready for us at the morgue. The council is anxious for the Director to help them make a decision about what they should do with Zephyr.”
“Right,” said Amrita, rising gracefully.
“We’ll chat more about this later. I’ve got to get back to Los Angeles tonight, but I would love to spend some more time in Primrose Court next week.
It wouldn’t hurt for you and I to have a look around the Archives together, would it?
” She pointed to Maida’s chest where the locket still hung from its chain.
“If the house trusts you with that locket, I don’t think you’ll even need a key. ”