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whitehathexerswriting · 26 days ago

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White Hat Hexers 2: Fallhaven

Written by: @nighttimedaydreams and edited by: Anastasia M. ( @fighterpilotdragon02 / https://www.instagram.com/fighterpilotdragon/ )

Elizabeth found herself lying in the grass looking up at the noontide sun through the sprawling crisscrossing limbs of the trees that grew along the coast near the lake outside her house. The light flickered and swayed with the breeze, and it sounded like the gentle rubbing of fabric on skin. The only thing missing was the babble of a river; her old home had one of those, back when she was a child. She shook her head, dismissing the memories. She wiggled her toes. It was nice to finally be done with the whole mess that was Jacob. Appearing before a court was never fun. The only good parts were Jacob was no longer around to hate her, and she got to see Michael some more. Henry ruled his house now and gave her his patronage. It felt strange to her to no longer struggle for money. The wind played with her red blouse and blue skirt. She wasn’t in uniform; no curses had befallen anyone recently. She heard footsteps approaching. She sat up, twigs falling out of her loose hair. She could tell by their weight the footsteps belonged to Henry.

“Hello, Liz, I thought I would find you here,” he said. He was dressed in common summer clothes – the only mark of his status was his family’s signet ring on his hand. He often dressed like that in the village, especially since he had taken charge. Elizabeth had asked him why once; he had said that if people only respected him because of his clothes, they didn’t respect him at all, just his station.

“Hey, Re, you thought you would find me at my house? What a strange place for me to be.”

He laughed. “Liz, as I think you will notice, we are outside. Your house,” he said, pointing behind them, “is about 40 feet that way.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Alright, alright. What brings you here?”

“A letter,” Henry said, pulling it out of his pocket. “Now, to be clear, it isn’t about a curse, but I do think you’ll still want to know its contents.” Henry handed her the letter. She took it and read it over silently. From King William to the honorable House of the Spider-Boars, On order of the king and his court you are being summoned to Fallhaven to discuss recent events. May magic’s weave be long for you, King William

“I always forget you can do that, reading silently.” Henry said

“Years of practice,” Elizabeth said – mostly to avoid skipping lines, she thought to herself – and waved her hand dismissively at both her thought and at Henry, “but they’re summoning nobles even this distant to Fallhaven? I know what happened with Jacob was a stir, but this seems extreme.”

“Yea, that it does, but also what happened with Jacob, I want a cursebreaker with me.”

“So you’re asking me to come with you. All the way to the capital? But what about the people here, what if something happens, and they need a curse broken, and I’m gone? You know there have been reports of increasing hexer activity throughout the land. Your father had to have been taught by someone, and they couldn’t be too far away from here.”

“Liz, answer me honestly, what do you think is the likelihood of a hexer strike here while we’re away?”

Elizabeth thought for a moment. “Pretty low. After the whole stunt with Jacob, most hexers won’t come this way for at least a half year. Because either they expect we’ll be on high alert or because they heard about what me and Michael did…”

“Which I maintain was quite amazing. It must have been the will of magic that there were two cursebreakers there who could withstand the spell.”

“Perhaps,” Elizabeth said; she never put much stock into that sort of superstition, but Henry was the religious type. “Or maybe it was just luck.”

Henry smiled: this was often a point of debate between the two of them. “You know there is no such thing as luck. All things are the will of magic, excepting, of course, human free will.”

“If that’s so, then how does magic plan for our fickle natures? We shift by whim like the wind.”

Henry chuckled, “Ah, that is the question, but you, Liz, are avoiding the more pressing question. Will you go with me to the capital?”

She thought of the village. The people here had been liking her better since Jacob was removed. She once again thought of the chance a hexer would strike anyone here. She had learned during her training most hexers, while power hungry, usually didn’t attack a place without a reason, and most often that reason was money. Hexers were commonly hired mercenaries of a sort, despite the illegality of their practices. People found it far too tempting to turn their rivals into pigs rather than just kill them. She had kept the village safe for ten years. Somewhere this remote didn’t usually see the power plays of the larger cities, but every now and then an aspiring hexer would try their hand here. That wouldn’t be the case anymore. No aspiring hexer would try the home of Elizabeth the Cursebreaker. The story of that day had grown much from the reality of the events. No, she had painted a target on their backs, but it would take time and planning before any competent hexer attacked.

She sighed. “You know you could force me to go, as my patron.”

“And you know as your friend I never would.”

“How much time do I have to pack?”

“We leave the day after tomorrow at sunrise. Edward is also coming with us, and my house steward Jonathan will watch over things here for us. It’s too bad you don’t have an apprentice to safeguard the village while you’re away.”

“Perhaps one day; more likely than me getting married at least.”

Henry chuckled at that. “Not even Michael is enough for you?” Henry teased with a light smile.

“If I had to marry for tax reasons, he's on the short list, but no. He's a fine gentleman, and I like getting his letters, but as it stands, no.”

“Well then, taking on an apprentice is the much more likely thing. Find yourself a nice young student to train. Maybe someone like yourself, if they ever came along.”

“Maybe, if one ever comes along. For now, Re, we have a capital to get to.”

***

A few days later, they were on the last leg of their journey to the capital. The journey had been much shortened by the means of a transformation that had once been put upon the land: a string of magical threads, with a large carriage that moved quickly on them, connected a handful of major cities. They called it the Spider because the strings formed a sort of web when mapped out, but Elizabeth always thought it looked more like a spoke and wheel. It was from a hexer’s attempt to raid them all quickly with an army he had gathered, but the nobility found it useful, so it was never removed. Henry's ancestors were the ones responsible for holding off the actual invasion.

The section they were in was fairly spacious and had lavish seats and a handful of tables either for dining or consulting documents. The ride was comfortable enough, but Elizabeth could feel the power of the curse – it was so strong she didn’t even call upon magic to feel it, and her own curse was tempted to consume it for power, but she resisted the urge. She had plenty of energy to maintain her curse. If she had been less sloppy when she cursed herself, she might’ve been able to have her transformation last permanently without the need for fuel, but she never properly finished her hexer training from long ago. Still, she was now a renowned cursebreaker; as long as she found curses to break before she ran out of power she’d be fine, and she had years of power stored up.

Henry had run into Thomas while heading to Fallhaven; the two were now engaged in quiet conversation, holding hands under the table that stood between where they were seated and where Elizabeth was. Elizabeth was looking out the window, watching the scenery pass by, listening to the sound the blur made, bouncing her leg restlessly. She had been on the Spider once before, eleven years ago – just after she had left her hexer mentor. She had forgotten how fast it moved. Horses just could not compete.

She got up; she had been sitting in the same spot too long, and the boredom was starting to become agitation. She paced back and forth, with the occasional twirl thrown in because movement always helped ease that feeling. Henry and Edward knew how she could get, so they just ignored her pacing, Thomas glanced at her, but Henry held his attention. The particular section of the Spider they were in was empty, save for the four of them. Eventually, Edward got up to talk to her,

“Elizabeth, remind me, for I seem to have forgotten, have you been to Fallhaven before?”

Elizabeth stopped midtwirl. “Once. Years ago. Didn’t think I’d be back.”

“Oh? Did something happen?”

“Nothing in particular, but it was a different period of my life. I like our village; despite everything, it’s home now.”

“I remember that when you came to the village for the first time, I was scarcely ten. You seemed… much less sure of yourself. From what I remember at least – that was a decade and some years ago.”

“Yes, it was. I was still under my mentor’s tutelage at the time,” Elizabeth said

“What were they like?”

“She was very exacting. Nice, until you didn’t do what she wanted, but she’s no longer involved with me now.”

“I see, that would explain why you didn’t stay long back then, but you came back not too long after.”

“The village seemed nice. It was far away from most of my problems, save your father.”

Edward looked down at the mention of his father. “I do apologize for his… well, behavior doesn’t quite begin to cover it.” Elizabeth looked at Edward and breathed in deeply. “It’s not your place to apologize for his acts. You are not him, nor do you speak for him.”

“I suppose not, but still I don't like seeing you hurt or suffering.”

“That's kind of you, Edward. I'm hoping this trip goes quickly.”

“We’ll see,” Edward said before moving away from her. The two never talked as long as she did with his brother.

Elizabeth once again began pacing; her hands itched to move as well.

I really should take up my various crafts again. Spinning was fun, but so was looming. Knitting didn’t make much sense though, but I have more time and resources now that I have access to Henry's resources, at least until I decide that they don’t actually hold my focus that long again, Elizabeth thought to herself.

***

The train reached its second to last stop. Elizabeth felt a familiar presence board the train. “Michael?” she said aloud.

Henry looked at her. “I haven’t seen him.”

“No, no, I think he just got on board. I’m gonna go look for him.”

“How could you know?”

“Cursebreaker senses!” Elizabeth said, leaving the car, not wanting to explain the whole truth to Henry. She could feel the curse; it was hard to sense beneath the weight of the Spider, but she knew what she was looking for. She saw him. He was in the company of an obviously noble woman.

“Oh, Elizabeth!” Michael said, smiling at her.

“A friend of yours?” the lady asked

“Lady Mary, this is Elizabeth, the other cursebreaker who helped me at the lord’s party.”

“Oh! What a pleasure to make your acquaintance, then.”

“And mine yours, Lady Mary,” Elizabeth said, performing a proper courtesy. “I was wondering why Michael was going on this trip. I suppose it is because you wanted his presence as a cursebreaker while heading to the capital?”

“That is quite right. If you were the one who helped him at the party, then I’m sure with the both of you there is nothing to worry about. I shall go speak with the other nobles aboard. With both of your presence, I am certain you two can freely do… whatever it is you people actually do,” she said, leaving.

“She’s snobbish,” Elizabeth said as soon as Mary was out of earshot. “Not like Henry.”

“Yeah… but she was the only one willing to give me patronage. My family is a bunch of farmers. We needed money, especially since my sister, Abigail, is in poor health. Lady Mary offered to cover the expense and more. As long as I was willing to come at her beck and call.”

“I’m gonna guess that it isn’t a curse on your sister. You’re skilled enough to undo any of those you came across, if you wanted to.”

Michael sighed. “No, it’s Beatrice’s Sleying. A rare disease, which not only affects them physically but their connection to the weave – weakens it. There are herbs that can alleviate the physical symptoms, maybe even cure that part of it, the doctors say, but they’re expensive and from faraway lands. So I put up with Lady Mary because she offered to pay, and I don’t want to see my family suffer. You understand, right?”

Elizabeth looked out the window. “Wish I could say I do.”

Michael turned to look at her at that. Then he turned to look out the window as well. “I hope someday you do,” he said.

“I doubt I ever will. My own family isn’t in the weave of my life.”

“I think you’ll weave one yet.”

“I doubt it. You know most people don’t like us if they know what we’ve done, and the others find us offputting for not doing things in the traditional way.”

“What about Henry?”

“What about him?”

“He seems unbothered by you.”

“He’s different.”

“How?”

“He’s Henry. I’ve only seen that man hate two people. His father and himself. The latter he eventually got over.”

“And his brother that you’ve written me about?”

“Henry’s the older; Edward will follow his lead.”

Michael turned to Elizabeth; he had stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “It seems to me, that you’re looking for reasons to think you’re unwanted.”

“Oh I’m wanted; my skill as a cursebreaker has made me valuable.”

“I didn’t say needed. I said wanted. There’s a difference there, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth waved her hand dismissively. “What is the difference?”

“One makes you a friend, the other a laborer. And from what I’ve managed to glimpse, I think you and Henry are friends.”

Elizabeth didn’t have a response to that. She let the conversation lapse, enjoying the sound of the passing landscape. It wasn’t quite like the wind, although she could hear that too. No, it was the motion of the landscape itself that she heard, almost underneath the other sounds of the Spider. It sounded smooth, like the pages of a book being flipped.

They stayed like that for a while in the silence. Eventually, from his pocket, Michael pulled out a book. Elizabeth glanced at the spine for the title. Detective David and the Case of the Cursed Loom, it read. Elizabeth laughed; she knew that book well.

“Oh?” Michael said, looking up at her sudden bout of laughter

“Sorry, it’s just that I loved those stories – well, what few I could get my hands on. Absolute nonsensical dribble; who would curse an object when you could curse someone directly? It’s so many extra steps. But by shed and bobbin, I read them again and again.”

“They are not the most intellectual stories, are they?”

“Not at all. But they are so very fun, weft and wrap. I remember when I was first learning letters, I read them and would try to make my own adventures for Detective David. I think some of them might still linger around my house.”

Michael chuckled at that; he seemed calm in this moment, like this was much more his natural state than when Elizabeth had met him at the ball. “I should very much like to read those.”

“No, you wouldn’t! It was terrible schlock. I am no storyteller; that is one kind of yarn I do not spin well.”

Michael laughed at that. The silence strayed towards comfortable. They stayed like that for a while.

***

They had reached the capital, although Elizabeth wasn’t granted the luxury of exploring it. She only got to see the shining city on the approach; it sprawled far larger than her village made of many stone and wooden buildings, but she barely had time to change into her proper cursebreaker attire and rebraid her hair, and so she had no time to wander through it. The king had wanted to meet the nobles of their group as soon as they arrived; apparently the others were already waiting. Both Elizabeth’s group and Michael’s entered into the palace which stood majestically looking over the rest of the city upon a large hill. It smelled of rosemary.

Strange, usually that’s reserved for cursebreakers. Is it growing around here? Elizabeth thought to herself. The group soon reached the banquet hall, which hosted the king and all the nobles he had summoned.

Henry and Lady Mary were ushered inside by the doorman, but Elizabeth and Michael were expected to stay where they were. As cursebreakers, they bore many of the privileges of nobility but held no actual rank.

“Do you smell the rosemary?” she asked him

“Yes, it’s strange.”

Then something shifted. It was subtle, but Elizabeth was well attuned to subtle changes in magic.

She began to chant, to feel the magic around her. Everything became as string. She saw how each part connected to each other like sinew and bone. She could see Michael and the curse she suspected he had placed upon himself; it was better set now – he had consumed more power since Elizabeth had met him. It was no longer freshly set: his curse had taken root on him fully now. The palace itself became a massive weave to her. She couldn’t pick out people far away from her in these conditions. The banquet hall seemed perfectly fine and safe.

“Heat from fire, fire from heat,” she said, ending her peering into the realm of magic. “The banquet hall seems safe. You felt it too, right?”

“I did.” His hands were shaking. “Someone is bold enough to strike the palace itself.”

Elizabeth breathed in. “Then we have a job to do. All the nobles are gathered here. It would be easy enough to get them all gone in one fell swoop. So, we aren’t going to let that happen.”

“But where do we even start?”

Barking shattered the nervous silence that had started up as the pair considered what to do. The sound was deep and very loud. It somehow seemed worried.

“I think that’s our answer,” Elizabeth said, following the sound of the dog. Some cawing joined the chorus of barks soon after, and the caws were frantic. It was all coming from the same place. Elizabeth and Michael ran up several flights of stairs. She could see Michael’s hands shaking. Elizabeth was growing short of breath.

They reached a spinning room. Next to the spinning wheel was a large black dog and a couple crows; there were scraps of clothes surrounding them. They seemed incredibly distressed. The way they moved wasn’t natural. They were obviously cursed, to Elizabeth’s eyes.

Elizabeth started chanting, as did Michael. The magic beneath everything revealed itself to Elizabeth. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Michael heading towards the birds, so she focused on the dog. She saw the aberration and absorbed it into herself; they had arrived soon enough where the curse hadn’t fully set yet, but it was close. Pulling it in burned, but she wasn’t just going to not do her job. She heard bones shift from the dog as she drew in the curse. Slowly humanity was restored to them, and she heard screams of pain. It had been too late to apply willow bark. Elizabeth felt a twang of guilt at that, but there was only so much she could do. Eventually the person entirely returned to their human form; Elizabeth could clearly see the person was a woman now that she was no longer a dog. Elizabeth quickly handed the woman a length of fabric from the floor, to preserve her modesty. The woman was still very much in pain, but that would pass. She would need a lot of rest, but that was true of the other two as well. Elizabeth glanced over to see Michael had restored two children to humanity; their clothes had stayed intact because they had become much smaller. Michael’s hands were shaking, but his face showed great relief.

“Heat from fire, fire from heat,” Elizabeth said, ending the chant she had kept the whole time; her throat was parched. “What happened?”

“I, I don’t know. I was just spinning and then-” The woman’s voice was ragged, hoarse, and weak.

“It’s okay, rest now, you’re safe,” Elizabeth said, and then she looked at Michael. He walked over to the spinning wheel.

“Elizabethyousaidcursingobjectswasridiculous,” Michael said, slamming his words together. He was nervous; they were almost too late. Whoever set this curse was very good. “But-” He pointed at the spinning wheel.

Elizabeth waved her hand dismissively. “It can’t be that. A hexer must’ve snuck in and been unnoticed.”

“Andtargeteda-” Michael took a deep breath, “Children and a servant? Not all the nobles drawn together? I thought I saw something when I was breaking the children’s curses.”

The children had huddled around their presumed mother. “I’ll take a look,” Elizabeth said and began to chant. She was so parched. Michael had joined her. His baritone voice was nice to have added onto her own; comforting even, Elizabeth admitted to herself. She focused on the spinning wheel. Quite clearly she could see it had been cursed: one that would linger until activated.

But why? Elizabeth thought to herself. It would have made more sense just to curse these folks directly.

Elizabeth focused on the way the spinning wheel was cursed, Michael slowly unwound the aberrant threads of it. While Elizabeth often acted like a seam ripper to cursed threads, Michael, she could see, treaded with a more careful hand, slowly absorbing the magic into himself. She was certain now about the nature of his curse, as she watched him drink in the magic from the curse. As he unwound it, she saw hidden in the threads of the curse a message.

“I’m waiting.”

Elizabeth felt a chill run down her soul. There was only one person she knew good enough at hexing, at playing with the threads, to weave a message into a curse. Michael finished absorbing the last of the curse.

“You saw it too right?” she asked him.

He nodded. He knew. His hands, which had been steady when dealing with the spinning wheel, were shaking more intensely than normal, like how a flame flickers. To Elizabeth’s eyes, the sound of the shakes was like the sounds of rocks tumbling down a small hill.

“Sheshouldn’t-sheshouldn’tbehere,” Michael hissed out, his mouth barely opening wide enough for the words spilling out of his mouth.

“I know,” Elizabeth said, a hint of terror slipping into her own voice, “but we have to find out what she wants. She's probably nearby. If she wanted the nobles, she would have cursed them already. This was a message for us.” She looked over at the three she and Michael had saved. They would need rest but should otherwise be fine. “You three, get some rest. Unfortunately, Michael and I have quite the unraveled fray to deal with.”

The presumed mother nodded, and, tying the sheet Elizabeth had given her around her bust, left the room with her kids. Elizabeth and Michael moved out as a unit. They left the palace proper; their old teacher wouldn't be there. There was another hill nearby. Elizabeth thought she saw someone standing on top of it. Even from this distance, she could sense the woman bore a curse, and Elizabeth knew what it was, too. She pointed it out to Michael, he nodded, and they both headed that way. Soon they were climbing it, and there they saw her.

“You kept me waiting; you know I hate that,” the woman’s sultry voice cooed. She had a figure that most would die for, either to have or to hold; a thousand ships could be launched for her beauty. The work of a finely crafted curse.

“Circe,” Elizabeth said

“No title? You forget yourself, Hecate – oh wait, no, it’s Elizabeth now isn’t it? Rejected the name of old power I gave you for one of theirs, one of Hers.” Circe looked derisively at Michael. “As did you, Odin; what was it now, Michael? What a pathetic name.”

“What do you want?” Elizabeth asked forcefully, as her voice took on a slow simmer of anger, and she took a step towards Circe.

Circe looked down at Elizabeth. “I’m giving you two one last chance. I heard what you did at that party; did you know I was the one helping out Jacob? You must’ve realized he was not nearly skilled enough for what he was doing. Admirable work, what you two did, undoing it in the moment. So join me now; together we can alter the fate of this country, of this world! Make it how we desire – no one could stop us.” She looked at Michael. “And if that somehow doesn’t interest you, I know about your sister. I could give you the tools to help her.” Circe smiled at him like how a mother might smile upon their child.

Michael closed his eyes a moment. His breath sharp and rapid. He seemed to be considering her offer. He snapped open his eyes. He breathed in deep as he could. His whole arms were shaking.

“N-no,” Michael said. “I. I, le-left you because you want t-to hurt people. Y-you m-might help me, but y-you’d hurt so many. You w-would use me to hurt so many.”

“Hmph,” Circe growled. “Then you are lost to me. Surely you’re not so ungrateful for the training I gave you; after all, you know that those with power get what they want, Elizabeth.” Circe spat out the name. “It’s only because of my teachings that either one of you have a body you don’t despise, and I could take that away. Don’t think you know more than me about the weave of magic, although, I’ll admit, I can’t understand why you two, you, Elizabeth, girl, especially, made yourself so average, when you could have had beauty beyond compare.”

Elizabeth looked Circe dead in the eyes. “I thank you for the lessons you taught me. But I have a duty to do no harm. And I know what you do to those in your way.”

Circe shook her head. “You’re both fools. Unfortunately, you’re very skilled fools. Consider today a warning, then. I’ll be back, and when we next meet face to face,I won’t be so kind. You will lose.” She snapped her fingers. “Now, you might want to check on your charges,” she taunted.

Elizabeth felt something shift. The weave of magic had grown taut; she didn’t even have to vibrate the air to feel it. Elizabeth turned her back to Circe and started running hard. Michael followed.

Faster, Elizabeth thought to herself, pushing herself harder. She knew better than most that Circe could do harm beyond anyone else’s means.

Faster. Faster.

Fast-

She reached the palace; she could only assume Michael had followed. She pushed her way into the banquet hall. The door fought against her as if it was being held tight. She could feel the magic here being pulled taut still. It wasn’t the same as when it tried to crush her at the last banquet, but still the pressure was so intense no one could move. Instead, it was threatening to snap as it strained under the weight, and Elizabeth knew, from having seen Circe do this trick once a long time ago, that when it snapped it would rapidly transform everyone in here, probably into pigs. Circe was fond of that one.

She felt Michael’s shaking hand brush hers. “Th-the m-magic is too tight in here, wecan’triskvibratingittoseeit.”

“I know,” Elizabeth said. Weft and wrap… wait, the rosemary! Elizabeth thought to herself. “Michael, the rosemary!” she shouted, taking off to follow the smell of it. Michael looked at her, shocked, as she ran off. She found the gardens easily. There was a gardener there.

“I need all the rosemary you can give me,” Elizabeth said with all the authority she could muster. The gardener nodded and ran off, and then they came back with a few baskets full of rosemary. Elizabeth took them and sprinted to the banquet hall.

Michael had at some point acquired flint and steel, and, as Elizabeth spread out the rosemary, he lit a spark. They both began chanting outside the room. The weave of magic took shape. She could see it being drawn into the banquet hall, pulled almost to the breaking point.

They had to slacken it all at once somehow; Circe had pulled it so tight that to slacken one would snap the others. It was almost like the weave had been drained of its power and was hanging on only through memory.

Power.

Elizabeth looked at her hands, and realized she herself was a wellspring of power.

She understood now, that only she could restore the weave. Michael wouldn’t have enough power absorbed yet. This was Circe’s attempt to get her to abandon what it means to be a cursebreaker.

No, I can’t. I can’t risk going back to that, she thought to herself. She thought about Henry being transformed into a pig. She couldn’t let that happen, not because he was her patron, but because he was her friend. Elizabeth knew that she couldn’t break a curse Circe didn’t want broken.

She’s a bastard, Elizabeth thought, making her choice, and then she closed her eyes and started feeding magic power like a tributary feeds a river. So much power: all she had to give. She became like a host of those tributaries filling the points all at once. She was a flood. She felt the magic slowly, like rope being pulled through her fingers, return to its default shape.

She was terrified to open her eyes, even though she didn’t feel any different.

She opened her eyes and looked down at herself; she was unchanged. She looked at Michael, the weave still visible around them, and could see the curse he had placed on himself looking much like it had when they first met, drained of so much of its power.

He had to have fed her curse, so hers didn’t run out.

“Oh, you are so on the short list,” Elizabeth said, getting up and hugging Michael.

Henry walked out of the banquet hall, seeing Elizabeth tightly embracing Michael.

“I assume, somehow, our rescue was done by you two’s hands.”

Elizabeth, who slowly and somewhat embarrassedly let go of Michael, turned to Henry. “Yes, I really wish you’d stop getting into these situations.”

“I’ll try. The king has decided both to increase the harshness of the laws for cursing people and increase funding to train more cursebreakers. So hopefully that will do just that. And give you two more free time… to spend however and with whoever you like.” Henry said, looking between the two of them.

Lady Mary appeared from the banquet hall. “Well, this whole thing was simply dreadful. Yes, quite dreadful. Michael, we're going back to my estate,” Lady Mary said, walking briskly past.

Michael looked at Elizabeth and shrugged. “I'll write to you, Elizabeth.”

“You can call me Liz, if you want,” Elizabeth said with a bright smile.

“Alright, then I'll write to you, Liz,” Michael said, an equally bright smile on his face, “Hopefully next time we see each other is under better circumstances.” Michael then turned and quickly followed Lady Mary.

“So, tax purposes, huh?” Henry teased.

“Yes, tax purposes,” Elizabeth said, laughing.

Henry shook his head.

Edward met up with them. “Let's go home.”

The three of them set off for the Spider.

#short story #original writing #creative writing #writers on tumblr #transgender author #transgender main character #Cursebreaker Elizabeth #Cursebreaker Michael #Henry of the Spider-Boar #Edward of the Spider-Boar #Circe the Hexer

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