Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

“I’d rather be dead than be your widow!” Penny yelled knocking her chair back as she stood up. She was leaning toward me, her hands gripping the table.

“You will be dead if you don’t undo this ridiculous bond!”

“I’d just as soon beat you to death first! Then we’ll both be free of it!” She was gripping the wood so tightly that the edge of the table broke away under her hands. For a moment it seemed she might try to carry out her threat then and there.

“Dammit calm down!” my father said. “The two of you are fighting like cats and dogs. We’re here to make decisions, not bicker.” Looking down the table I could see everyone agreed with him on that point, though none of the others wanted to get in the middle of our fight.

I took a deep breath, “Fine. You’re right. Let’s adjourn for a while. We can resume after some of us have had a chance for our tempers to cool.” I gave Penny a stern look.

“A break would probably be good,” said Joe, relieved that the tension was easing up.

“For us maybe,” said my father, “these two need to sort out their differences… in private.”

“Now hold on, I’ve got nothing to say…” I started but Penny cut me off.

“Damn right you don’t, coward! You’d rather put families’ lives at stake than take a rational approach to anything,” she declared.

“I have to agree with Royce,” Marcus stood and took everyone in with his eyes. “I think these two need to spend some time alone. Once they’ve sorted themselves out we can see about the rest of this.”

Everyone else began agreeing quickly. A consensus was rapidly reached; Penny and I would be forced to spend the next hour alone. They forced us to retreat to my rooms, “If either of you comes out of there still arguing we’ll lock you both in till you see sense,” my father added.

“What kind of stupid idea is this?” I said as they herded us in through the door.

“Your mother’s, ya fool. I was talking to her last night when she mentioned it,” Royce growled back at me. I believed him; in my mind I could imagine her saying something like that. He shut the door in my face before I could reply.

Trapped I looked around, Penny stood at the other side of the room with her back toward me. A dark sense of foreboding came over me. It was entirely possibly I wouldn’t make it out alive. Perhaps I was being overly dramatic, but that’s how it felt. I walked over and took a seat on the divan. I figured she probably wouldn’t attack me outright if I was sitting down.

The next ten minutes passed in tense silence, before she spoke, “This is stupid. We should just tell them we made up so we can get them to let us out.”

“Sounds like a fine idea to me,” I heartily agreed.

“Of course you would think so. It’s easier than actually trying to talk to me isn’t it?” she said bitterly.

“It would be easier if you weren’t so angry all the time,” I shot back.

“That’s not true. You were the one who snapped on the trip back. You didn’t even give me an opportunity. Just up and cut me off… throwing that stupid ring at me!” she replied.

“I never lied to you Penny. How would you react?”

“Better than that… life happens Mordecai, and people have to work it out. You didn’t even try? Do you think people are perfect, like in one of those story books you used to read?” I could sense a speech coming on. She had always been fond of listening to herself talk, I thought to myself angrily.

“I know better than that Penelope. I just expected honesty from you. Is that so much to ask?”

“And what would you have done if I had told you everything? What other choice could you have made? This is just your excuse. It was a shitty situation but you want someone else to blame. I won’t be your scapegoat.” She was still angry but at least she wasn’t shouting any longer.

“At least I would have had a choice, a real choice. One based on facts, rather than being spoon fed the information you thought would be good for me, like a child,” I retorted.

“And what else could you have chosen? Do you think a thousand years’ worth of wizards are wrong? Would you rather risk madness, just for your stubborn pride?” she answered pointedly.

“Maybe I would have. I still don’t believe I was going mad. If I had had a little more time I might have been able to figure things out,” I said earnestly.

“You wouldn’t Mort. No one has, not in a thousand years. Cyhan told me about the Sundering. The wizards of that time were the greatest the world has ever seen, and they chose this! You’re letting your fear blind you to reason.” She had stepped closer as she said this and now we were only a few feet apart. “Admit it! Your real reason isn’t that you think the bond is wrong, the real reason is you don’t want me to die with you.”

“No!” I said vehemently, but then I amended my statement. “Yes and no, I don’t want you to die, but I think there is more here than we realize. Just because everyone says something doesn’t make it true. I know what I felt! I wasn’t going mad. I needed to adjust.”

“You pompous… stupid… jackass,” she replied quietly. “Cyhan was right about you.”

That got me. Just when I thought I might be able to reason with her she had to bring him into it. Jealousy reared up within me like a demon, “So your boyfriend told you I was crazy and you’d rather believe him than trust me?!”

“Boyfriend?” her eyes were wide with surprised innocence, for some reason that only made me madder.

“Yes your boyfriend… you deranged trollop!” The insult was so ridiculous I almost winced as I said it, but I could think of nothing better.

Her hand caught me squarely across the cheek. It would have been a stinging slap but I still had my shield up. Instead I wound up staggered at the force of the blow. Penelope had stopped moving, her hand held motionless in the air where she had struck me. Tears were starting from her eyes. “Take it back,” she said quietly.

“Which part?” I asked dumbly. Stupid never dies.

“All of it… take it back,” she repeated. The look on her face had me doubting myself suddenly. Anger I could deal with, but now her expression held such anguish I felt ashamed. I had had no idea my words could wound her so deeply.

“I’m sorry Penny, maybe you didn’t deserve that,” I admitted.

“Maybe? Mort, I have never… ever… looked on another man in that way. Do you really think I would… how could you think that? You are the stupidest man I have ever known!”

“That’s as may be, but it’s for the best,” I said changing tactics.

“What do you mean, for the best?” she stared at me in shock.

“We’re done Penny. I know you don’t like that but it’s best if you just let go of it. I’ve been thinking about this and I think I have a solution.” The words were difficult to say but I kept my face calm. If I showed any sign of emotion now it would ruin my chances of convincing her.

“Oh… a solution?” she asked mildly. “I would love to hear it.”

“You’re worried that if we get rid of the bond I’ll go mad right?” I continued. She nodded her head. “I don’t like our current situation but I can understand that concern. According to your vision I will die in a few months, but we do have some options. I don’t want you anymore Penny, hard as that is to admit. There’s no need for you to die with me…”

“I see,” she said.

“Wait let me finish. We can wait, till near the end. When you think the time is close we remove the bond then. At that point it won’t matter if I start hearing voices again. Whatever happens after I die is still uncertain. At the very least you would have a chance to start over, if you can escape the end of the battle.”