The Deceiver | The Magicians

Chapter 10

Ten | Legacy

Lilly shivered as she made her way down the frigid street. She had become accustomed to the perpetual warmth within Brakebills wards and the cool spring air was quite a shock. Her heels clicked against the pavement, she had dressed up for the occasion, knowing that her mother was always styled to perfection. Evelyn Cole knew the power of a good pair of heels and a Gucci bag better than anyone. 

Lilly, after about an hour of deliberation and an emergency call to Margo, had decided on wearing a black and white striped blazer and matching pants. A white button down showed from underneath and a bright orange bag gave a pop of color to the ensemble. According to Margo, it was a 'power suit' and just what she needed to face her mother. Lilly loved her mother, but she had high expectations for her only daughter. Expectations that Lilly often couldn't meet. 

She nearly tripped on her sky-high heels in the process of stepping over the threshold and into the fancy Italian restaurant that her mother picked. Lilly had decided to let her pick rather than suffer through her mother's comments about eating at lower class restaurant. Lilly would have been perfectly happy eating at the hole-in-the-wall pizzeria she loved, but Evelyn had standards that must always be met. 

Her eyes scanned the many, perfectly set tables, searching for her Mother's familiar blonde hair. Each table was covered in a white cloth and given a small candle in the middle to set the mood. Lilly didn't really see the point of having candles lit at twelve o'clock in the afternoon, but it fit the vibe of the prestigious restaurant. Almost all of the customers were dressed in business clothes, probably Wall Street employees on a lunch break. 

"Lilly!" A familiar British accent called and she watched as her mother stood from her chair to wave her over. Lilly made her way to the table, pulling her mom into a tight, much overdue embrace. She hadn't realized until now how long it had really been since she saw her mother in person. It had been at least eight months.

"Hi mom." The smile on her face was genuine as she slid into the seat across from Evelyn. She had chosen a table by the window and already ordered a glass of red wine for herself and a mimosa for me. 

"Oh, sweetheart it is so good to see you! You look so beautiful and professional in that outfit." Lilly knew that she and Margo had chosen well the minute she saw Evelyn's outfit. True to form she wore a grey, tweed, dress and blazer set. Her pink kitten heels matched the Prada bag that was hung over the back of her chair. Appearance was everything to her mother and she was the epitome of perfection. 

"Thank you, my friend Margo helped me pick it out."

"Well, you must tell her thank you from me, it is much better than what you usually wear." There it was, a backhanded compliment, something that Evelyn had a never-ending supply of. Lilly ignored it, shifting slightly in her chair and glancing at the extensive menu. 

"How's work? We didn't really have much time to talk on the phone when I called you last." Her mother reached out, lifting the wine glass to her lips, showcasing her perfectly manicured, French nails in the process. 

"Oh, it is really wonderful! I've been working on a collection of art pieces by a man named Burton Armil, he did impressionist work that is absolutely exquisite. You will have to go see it once it's done, words could never do it justice. If only I could bring him back to life and pick his brain about some of these pieces. They are setting it up at the Guggenheim as we speak, I just barely squeezed you into my schedule. I almost had to cancel after someone accidentally misplaced the centerpiece. Honestly, I can't trust anyone to do their job." 

Lilly nodded along as Evelyn spoke, sipping her mimosa and skimming the menu. Lilly was interested in what her mother did for work, after all, she was raised to be an art lover, but it was hard to be supportive when Evelyn constantly chose work over her own daughter. 

Growing up with a workaholic mother, Lilly was often left in their Upper East Side apartment with the nanny, Louise. She was practically raised by Louise and the woman still called her every year on her birthday, something her real mother had forgotten to do multiple times. Her mother was still talking about her work life and Lilly listened intently as she explained the different artists she had worked with since they last spoke. 

They were interrupted by the waiter coming over to take their order. Lilly got a Pasta dish while her mother got a salad, claiming that she was watching her weight. Lilly had no Idea why; her mother was the same size as she was and looked like a model even in her late forties. "Enough about me," Evelyn began just as Lilly raised her glass for another drink. "How are you liking Brakebills." Lilly choked on her drink from shock, drawing a few heads in their direction. It took her a moment to recover, though her eyes were still bulging out of her head. 

"Wh-" another cough, "What are you talking about?" Evelyn casually rolled her eyes like she hadn't just dropped a huge truth bomb on her daughter. 

"Oh, you know, the school for Magicians" Lilly was completely baffled by her mother's knowledge of the school she had spent the past few months at. Did the mind tricks Dean Fogg promised to do, not work? How could she possibly know about this? It took her a few moments for her to run through the possibilities and she blurted out the most logical answer.

"Are you a Magician?" Evelyn smiled at her before responding.

"Yes." there was a pause in conversation as Lilly took a moment to process this new information. "Well, technically yes, though I never graduated from Brakebills and sort of swore off magic. But, yes, I am a Magician." 

"Hold on." Lilly took a deep breath, steadying herself. If her mother was a Magician, then this meant that Evelyn had kept the fact that Lilly was a Magician a secret, her whole life. "All those years, you were lying to me?" She couldn't keep the anger from seeping through, no matter how hard she tried. 

"I didn't l-" The server had returned, placing their food between them. Lilly thought that was good, it would keep her from crawling across the table to strangle her mother. Evelyn waited until the waiter was clearly out of earshot before picking up where they left off. "I didn't lie to you. I just withheld the truth." Lilly scoffed, sitting back in her chair. The tension was so thick that they could've cut it with a knife. 

"Cause that's so much better."

"I didn't want that kind of life for you. Magic is more trouble than it's worth and I learned that first hand."

"And you didn't think of letting me decide for myself whether or not I wanted magic in my life?"

"I don't want to fight with you-" Evelyn's voice was soft and she became increasingly aware of the attention they were drawing.

"Well, you should've thought of that before you decided to keep this from me my whole life!" Lilly pushed her chair back, abruptly standing and heading quickly for the door. The anger in her chest was painful and she could sense the beginning of tears building up. 

"Lil-"

"Save it Mother." The sharp edge to her voice was unmistakable and Evelyn took a step back. A restaurant full of eyes followed her out the door and past the windows as she headed down the street and back towards the entrance to Brakebills. She couldn't believe that her mother kept such a giant secret from her. The betrayal stung and all she wanted to do was go back to her room in the Illusionist castle and have margaritas with Margo and Eliot while she cried her eyes out. Her wish was not granted and a few moments later she heard the door to the restaurant swing open and the sharp tap of heels hurrying after her.

"Lilly!" Evelyn called, trying to catch up with her daughter who just ignored her and kept walking. "Lilly!" She managed to get a grip on Lilly's jacket, forcing her to stop and turn. Lilly's eyes were full of hurt, the anger having diffused from her dramatic walk out. "Please... listen to me."

"So now you want to talk?" Lilly's words were ice slicing through the air, but her mother didn't flinch, instead standing her ground.

"I'm sorry, I handled this poorly." Lilly scoffed, attempting to turn away, only to be yanked back to face Evelyn. Her mother was obviously done with her sass and Lilly knew better than to fight with her at this point. "Would you give me a chance to explain? That's all I want. Let me explain and then you can choose to hate me for the rest of your life. Ok?" Lilly hesitated, but nodded, however reluctantly. Evelyn motioned for her to continue walking, anywhere but back in that restaurant.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lilly asked quietly as they passed by the shop windows. Her voice had lost its sharp edge and she was almost resigned at that point. Her mother sighed, running a hand through her uniform curls.

"Magic and I have a bit of a rough past. I went to Brakebills actually." Lilly's head whipped towards her mother. If her mother had gone to Brakebills then why hadn't anyone said anything? "But I dropped out in my third year. There was an accident... something really awful happened. It made me want to give up magic, so I did. Brakebills has an office where they set you up in the in between time, it isn't easy to give up magic and it takes a while to reintegrate into the regular world. I worked there for a few years before getting a job in the art industry. It's been pretty uphill from there and I never looked back." Curiosity itched at the back of her mind, she wondered what exactly happened to her mother that was bad enough for her to give up magic. 

"Just because something happened to you, doesn't mean it will happen to me."

"You-" She started, a bit of irritation seeping between her teeth, but she calmed herself before continuing. "You should know by now that magic doesn't come from unicorns and rainbows Lilly. It's only a matter of time before you end up on the wrong side of a spell." 

"Don't you think that is something I should decide for myself?" Lilly asked, more hurt than angry that her mother kept her entire life a secret.

"Yes, but if I give you the freedom to choose... you will choose wrong." 

"I can handle it mum." the two stayed silent, walking alongside each other, thought they couldn't be further apart. There was a bridge between them and at some point, they would have to cross it. Her mother's purposeful strides slowed, giving Lilly a chance to take in their surroundings. They had turned into a little side street with nothing much going on, to their left was a small apartment building with many plants dangling from the fire escape. Lilly would have thought they were lost, but she recognized the little restaurant immediately. Her mother had taken her straight to Lilly's favorite pizzeria. A small sign hung above the narrow door, which read Francesco's. 

"I thought I could bribe you a bit?" Lilly's smile was instant, this sort of gesture meant a lot to Lilly. It was more meaningful than her mother buying her a designer bag to say sorry. It showed that she truly did care, even if it was just to bring her to her favorite restaurant. 

"You would be correct." the two laughed, despite the heaviness of their previous conversation. They grabbed a table in the corner, as far away from the other customers as possible. Lilly ordered a large Hawaiian pizza and had every intention of eating her feelings till every slice was gone. 

To Lilly's surprise, Evelyn opted to share with her daughter. Lilly had a hard time picturing her mother eating the greasy food without making at least one comment about its unhealthiness. The two stood out like a pair of Jimmy Choo's in a Payless. Their clothes may have been appropriate for the high-end restaurant, but they looked ridiculous in the small pizza shop. When the food finally arrived, her mother made no snide remarks and simply enjoyed the comfort food for what it was... comfort food.

"So," Her mother said, daintily dabbing at her mouth with a paper napkin. "Which discipline did you get placed in?" It was going to take some getting used to, Lilly talking about magic like it was normal dinner conversation. She supposed it was for them, a new normal. 

"Illusions." Evelyn smiled proudly at her daughter.

"Me too! Did you get the tower room?" 

"Yeah, Was that your room?" Evelyn nodded and a bright smile made its way onto Lilly's face. It was crazy to think that her mother had occupied the same room during her time at Brakebills.

"I'm not surprised you are in that room, they always give the best ones to the legacy's. I only got it because there weren't any legacy's in Illusions that year and we picked out of a hat. I felt so bad for the guy who got the dungeon room." She chuckled, knowing the truth of that statement. A girl named Margaret had pulled the short stick on that room this year. "That castle is definitely the coolest clubhouse, I mean all those secret passageways? No one can top that." 

The secret passageways were new to Lilly. No one had mentioned them, but she wasn't surprised, after all, it was the Illusionist's clubhouse.

"Mom," Lilly's voice took on a more serious tone, "do you know anything about Shifters?" Evelyn furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Where did that come from?" 

"Well... when I was being sorted they did some tests and they told me I was a Shifter." Her mother leaned forward across the table, intrigued by this new information. 

"I think I read about them once when I was studying, but let's be honest, I didn't do much of that." 

"Apparently you have to have one in the family to gain their abilities, they're shape shifters. That's all I really know, none of the professors had an Idea of what to do." Lilly held her breath, expecting her mother to come out with a confession that she, or someone in the family was one, but she was sorely disappointed.

"I'm not a Shifter if that's what you're thinking. Your father wasn't one either, though I suspect he was some sort of demon from hell..." 

"What about your parents? or his?" All Lilly wanted was an answer to why she was the way she was. The lack of explanation was eating her up inside. She wanted the truth; however painful it might be. 

"I never knew my parent's, you know that." Did she? Evelyn had kept a whole world from her, what was another secret? "His either, though it's possible they were." Evelyn had grown up in the foster care system, in London, her whole childhood, never knowing who her parents were. This was hard for Lilly as well, especially on grandparent's day in elementary school, she always ended up sitting with the assistant teacher while the other children were showered with love. Lilly had never even known her father, though she never really wanted to in the first place. He left her and her mother when she was only a few months old.

"Oh... well, there is a woman working with me, her name is Eliza. Apparently, she's some sort of expert on Shifters. Hopefully she can help me."

"I'm sorry I can't help more," Evelyn consoled her daughter, reaching out to clasp their hands together. "But, I did get you a little gift." Her voice went from sympathetic to singsong in half a second and she reached down into her pink bag to pull out a small package. She passed it to Lilly, watching expectantly as her daughter undid the paper. Lilly knew what it was, but still felt a bit of excitement as she opened the gift. 

She beamed at the leather-bound book in her hands. The words Fillory and Further popped out at her from the front cover. A fancy design was imprinted on the cover, a giant oak tree with a clock embedded in the center, three children gathered around the base. It was almost the exact same design as the door on her first dorm room at Brakebills. The edges of the book were slightly worn, making Lilly suspect that it was much older than she initially thought.

"Mom, thank you. It's perfect!" 

"I thought you would like it. You always did have an attachment to those books. Found it in a used book store in London. First edition." Lilly's eyes widened at this. She couldn't believe her mother found this. "I just want you to know that I love you and I hope you can forgive me for what I did." Tears had sprung up in Lilly's eyes, threatening to spill over. She stood from her seat, moving over to embrace her mother.

"There's nothing to forgive."