Page 41 of Muse

"Wasn't your great-grandmother the Queen of Lamida?" I asked, remembering. "I wish my family had that kind of pedigree, but according to Adora, we come from a long line of prostitutes and dishwashers."

“Yeah, the emphasis on ‘great.’ My grandma was the youngest child of someone who hasn’t been a ruler in decades, and my mom was only a muse.”

“Wasn’t your mom’s father someone important?” I asked.

“It was her grandfather,” Wrenley corrected me. “He was the famed warlock Crimson Calix, but that’s too far removed, especially since he’s from the magik class instead of the ruling one. Maybe if he was my father, it might be something.”

Xe frowned as if realizing something for the first time. "I have a very mediocre pedigree, and I got middling grades in school, and I've been a run-of-the-mill muse."

“You were amazing at the Dandy Days!” I insisted. “You just have to give it your all more often.”

“I do really love the aerial work, and they have the space here for me to really perform.” Xe smiled again. “I think I would be really happy here with Asmond.”

“So that would mean you’re moving?” I asked, letting a hint of sadness color my words.

"Maybe. Hopefully." Xer lips twitched. "If his family will have me. The plan for now is to return home. He'll talk to his people,and then he'll contact me. And if they approve, I will be moving here."

“Wow,” I said with wide eyes. “I am happy for you, but I think this will all take time for me to process.”

Xe laughed. “Me, too.” Wrenley lay back on her bed, still smiling. “I’m sad about leaving today, and I am very nervous. But I’m also so happy.”

Then xe looked over at me. "Sorry about not telling you sooner. But first, it was only a flirtation, and then I didn't really know what to say."

“No, I understand,” I said. “And I hate to admit it, but I probably would’ve accidentally let something slip to Rowan or Madge.”

“Oh, yeah, Rowan.” Xer eyes sparkled as xe smirked at me. “How did things play out with the two of you? I didn’t feel so bad about ditching you so often because you seemed to be getting on with him so well.”

“We did get on really well,” I agreed. “He’s fantastic, but he lives in New Nottenga, so we’re keeping things friendly. I did tell him to look me up if he comes to Calida.”

“That sounds nice enough,” Wrenley said.

Chapter 27

The long rides back to Calida in Wrenley's gilded carriage gave xer plenty of time to tell me about xer dalliance with Asmond, as xe lovingly called the King of Lamida.

Both of us slept on the last leg of the trip. While the weeks in Lamida had been a wonderful reprieve from the stress of everyday life, it had also been exhausting.

When the carriage finally pulled up to my house, we were both slumped against each other, snoring loudly. Wrenley had been using the polka-dot stuffed horse xe'd taken from Lamida (although, technically, I think it was a gift from xer boyfriend).

It was much later than we'd originally meant to arrive. We'd left late because Wrenley had taken so long to pack, and then we had stopped for lunch. Xe was the direct reason for both delays. Xe ordered three mimosas and dessert as xer mood kept cycling through giddy delight, uncertain terror, and utter sadness at being apart from Asmond.

Still, I didn't mind the delays, and not just because xe paid for the carriage and the extensive lunch.

The last time I saw my mother, we were in the midst of a cold war. Adora had been furious about the way I behaved with the important Warlock Herve Chaunter, and she blamed my recent insolence on my poor placement in Lamida.

I loved Adora dearly and hated to upset or anger her, but she never seemed to believe that. It was as if my every mistake or minor disagreement was a personal attack against her.

The time apart made it easier for me to see how hard it was to relax around her. Throughout my life, I had spent very little time away from her, except for when I was sleeping, taking classes to be a better muse, or practicing.

When I was very young, I never spent any time apart from her. We rented one-room flats and shared a single bed by necessity until I was nearly twelve. She took me to classes and waited for me in the back, or she'd teach me herself, making me practice my letters at the table for hours or reciting sonnets until my throat was raw so I would learn my spelling and diction like a proper lady.

Eventually, Adora was forced to give me more space when enchanters and other muses began loudly commenting on how strange it was for me to be sixteen years old, with my mother following around at my heels.

Still, it wasn't until this year, at the age of twenty, that I traveled without her at all when I went to the Kingdom of Sudamon for the Ashoralida. But I had spent two weeks there and just now three weeks in Lamida. Five weeks, and not only had I not died without her, but I had so much fun and had so many new experiences.

I had missed Adora, but not how I imagined it would be. I still distinctly remember the first time that she had left me alone with a stranger. I was ten years old, and she'd entrusted me with an enchanter who took my magik. She had known he would, and there wasn't anything strange about it.

Starting when I was maybe five or six, she had taken me to meet enchanters, warlocks, and sometimes even other, much older muses. Our clients were often men, but occasionally a woman or enby. When I was small, I would sit on Adora's lap, and the patron would sit close to me and draw my magik from me, pulling it from my body and into theirs, the same way that Herve had done. When I was ten, she began leaving me alone with them, claiming that her chaperoning made our clientele uncomfortable.

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