Page 109 of Magdalene Nox

“No, I don’t know, love. But I do know that you’ve had your hands full. And not only this year. For years. And she was your only friend. I think some slack must be cut here.”

Magdalene burrowed her face in the fragrant warmth of Sam’s neck and sighed.

“I don’t know if I can, Sam. I don’t know if I should. Someone should pay for all of this. Someone should grieve for it, too.” She pointed with her chin, since she was reluctant to let go of Sam.

Sam turned her head slowly, her heart beating a steady tattoo under Magdalene’s fingertips. A rhythm that had come to mean life itself to Magdalene. When Sam spoke, her voice was hoarse, breaking slightly at inflection points.

“I see destruction wrought by fire, set off by an arsonist’s hand, love. I see bare walls, brick and granite and marble, cracked and broken. I see wood and glass and shingles torn apart and scattered. And I know that maybe you’ve been torturing yourself by leaving up this ruin, untouched, in order to pay for a sin you haven’t committed.”

Magdalene froze in Sam’s arms, but her fiancée simply hugged her tighter. And after a while, she was no longer able to keep the tears at bay. She sobbed, pain and betrayal racking her body, and Sam just held her, absorbing all the hurt, taking it away from her, even if Magdalene desperately tried not to let it touch her beloved.

“Twenty years, Sam…” Tears still streaming down her cheeks, Magdalene took a step back and looked around, Sam letting her go with the ease of someone who knew their partner’s moods, their needs, and understood the desire to not be touched for a moment. “I saw nothing. And she destroyed what I held dear. While almost succeeding to take away everything I cherish most. Because you are everything, Sam.”

She turned away from Sam, shoulders shaking under the onslaught of memories and horrifying scenarios.

It didn’t happen, she’s here, she’s right here…

“She took neither, love. Look around you.” Magdalene faced Sam once again, and raised an eyebrow. They were standing in the middle of a charred disaster. Sam did not rise to the bait, but instead moved towards a gaping hole in the brick wall that once had been a dazzling stained glass window. “Look beyond. The school is reborn. It persevered. It thrived. Like a phoenix from the ashes.’

She extended her hand, and Magdalene went to her, intertwining their fingers. Sam kissed her knuckles and looked into her eyes. “You did this. Dragons was crumbling long before George set it on fire. And your arrival heralded rebirth. Some things cannot go on until they are razed to the ground and built back up. I believe that was the case here.” She planted another kiss on Magdalene’s wrist, before pulling her even closer. The last light of the day poured into the gutted chapel behind them.

“So tell me, is the reason for not signing off on those magnificent chapel rebuild plans that you needed a permanent reminder for self-flagellation?”

Magdalene started.

“Ouch.” She bit her lip and once again wanted to escape the confines of the strong arms holding her close.

“Ouch, nothing. I didn’t mean to ambush you at the board meeting, but something had to give, and I know coddling you only makes you slide deeper into the maudlin and the morbid. All gothic maiden-like. God, you kept nursing emotionally draining wounds on your body for decades because nobody told you it’s okay to let go, love.” Sam took a deep breath and gave Magdalene a long look, filled with warmth and affection and understanding. “It’s okay. Let go.”

Magdalene stared into the shining bright eyes of the woman who was her whole world, and as the sun was setting, framing her in the orange and gold, pink and purple inks of dusk, she felt the weight begin to lift. Sam had healed the wound she’d teased her about, and Sam had freed her once again from the regrets of the past.

Magdalene had smiled. And then she’d laughed. A full, carefree laugh shook her shoulders this time, and she’d thrown her arms around Sam’s neck, knowing she’d be held, she’d be safe, she’d be loved.

* * *

And here she was now,two years after the conversation among the ruins of the burnt-down chapel. Two years after she had signed off on the plans. Two years after she and Sam had decided that if they were to marry, it would be here. Amidst the renewed ivories of marble and the ambers of oak.

Next to her, Reverend Lavalle waited silently, a smile playing on her handsome features. Magdalene could see her mother in the front pew, already crying, drying her eyes with an Hermes scarf. Well, Candace wasn’t the center of attention today, so that was probably why she was shedding tears. And honestly, who needed a handkerchief when you could show the world that abusing a two thousand dollar accessory was a feasible option for you?

Funnily enough, despite being polar opposites, Candace and Sam had hit it off like two peas in a pod. That is, once her mother had stopped teasing Sam and both of them decided that focusing on Magdalene was a more worthwhile pursuit. Magdalene didn’t mind. Sam mellowed some of the more mercantile and cutting edges when she and Candace were together, and Magdalene began to enjoy her mother’s company exponentially. There was even talk about attending another one of Candace’s weddings, with Sam mentioning she really wanted to experience the spectacle.

Except, Magdalene knew that despite her mother’s outward shallowness, Sam loved the woman, and wanted to be there for her.

And wasn’t it a wonder that Candace had finally gotten to enjoy a daughter—in-law—who genuinely liked her and with whom she had been given a clean slate–something she’d never been able to achieve with Magdalene.

Next to Candace, Alden looked even thinner and paler. He’d had another heart attack in the past year, but bounced back rather well. Ironically, it was his connection with Magdalene that was the more meaningful one these days. Sam had remained neutral and distant with him. They had a civil but thoroughly uninvolved relationship, and Magdalene sensed that Sam was happiest that way, while Alden would have fetched the stars from the sky if that meant his daughter would be content. So he kept his distance from her with an abundance of respect, if with an equal amount of regret.

But since his loss of the Governor’s race, he had become more involved in the school business, and that put Magdalene and him into sometimes daily contact. And Magdalene, who never had a father figure to speak off, begrudgingly ended up appreciating the old jackass. After everything he had done, all the years she had hated him… She wanted to laugh at how the tables had turned and how time played jokes on all of them. And his money still paid for everything. The fund he and Sam had set up for the school using his millions would ensure its permanence for decades to come.

Timothy remarried and was on his honeymoon, though Magdalene suspected he would not have attended today’s event regardless. They had finally drifted apart in the last few years, their unhealthy closeness dissipating. And she was genuinely happy that he’d found someone. Even if that someone was a redhead with mile-long legs and a smart mouth. Magdalene had kept her thoughts on the matter to herself.

Well, mostly to herself since the one other being she could and regularly did share her thoughts with was currently sitting next to her, tail around his paws, neat and chubby and ginger. As if sensing that she was thinking about him, the tom raised his head and meowed, his voice still creaky and rather hilarious for such a rotund cat.

He was wearing a tuxedo and Magdalene leaned down and straightened his bow tie that had the little pouch containing the rings attached to it. His face was the epitome of stoic endurance under supreme torture, and just before they’d exited the dressing room, she’d caught him trying to tear his tux to shreds. Willoughby‘s expression when caught was one of pure contrition, but she sensed it was not because he was genuinely sorry.

And that was okay. Sam had bought the tuxedo and she really should have known better. Magdalene, always the one spoiling her pet rotten, decided that she would absolutely let him destroy the offending garment just as soon as his ring-bearing duties were over. She bent down, gave him a quick pat and whispered, “Not long now.” He rubbed against her gown as if sealing their deal.

The music started. Her ears were ringing, so she could barely process that it was time. For the love of her life to step into the sunlit chapel, clad in satin and lace and holding a bouquet of jasmine and lily of the valley. For Sam to start walking towards Magdalene, towards the rest of their lives; where they would both be safe and loved.

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