August Redux
532 Words
August Redux
August 10
After the official ceremony dissolving my marriage, Renée and I met to talk. She asked me how I felt, and I told her that I was tired and drained. I needed rest but first needed to talk with her about the future. We talked for a good while, and I learned more about how the witches had positioned themselves in places to learn about world events and, when necessary, they helped to shift power in a different direction. Such a time had come now.
We talked yet could not agree. I wanted to go to America, but Renée wanted to escape the king and head back to France to fight against Napoleon. She clearly saw that the First Consul would rise to power, and his continuing reach would engulf many countries, putting all at risk.
But Napoleon did not concern me. I feared when the Silver Fox would return, as I knew he would. I just did not know when.
When we talked, Renée laughed sarcastically and covered her mouth with her hand. “It is all the same.”
“I do not understand.” I wanted to better understand her, but her reasons for helping to fight were unclear to me.
“You are so much like your mother that I am amazed.”
I sat back and drank more tea, waiting for her to continue.
“Your mother and I had a disagreement before you were born. She wanted to leave my homeland and go across the Channel, marry and raise a family.”
She avoided eye contact with me and I watched the lines around her eyes. I waited and just absorbed what she was truly trying to tell me.
“We argued for weeks and our time turned stale.” She looked up and opened up to me. “I loved her and wanted our life to remain the same. We lived in such peace, but she saw trouble ahead. And she was unsettled. She wanted a family. I could not give her that.”
She had said some of these words before, but her frankness surprised me. I had many questions I wanted to ask. I sat still and wondered aloud, “What did my mother do?”
“Your mother packed her things and left the home we had built. I refused to see her off because of how angry I was at her. She chose to sacrifice all we had.”
I took Renée’s hand and asked, “Why did she really go?”
“I learned later that she had used her magic and saw the spirit of War descending across all of Europe. She saw an opportunity to stop its spirit from taking hold.”
I listened to her, and memories started flooding back to me. All those years ago, all that had happened, and I could see the connections now. The stories of the Silver Fox that my mother used to tell me and her bringing me into the forest time and time again had meaning now. With clarity, I began to understand my mother’s motives.
Renée laughed. “And now, many years later, my position is similar to hers. I want to stop War and you want to go live a quiet and peaceful life.”
“I do not want to run and hide. I want to take the Faerie Lord away from those I love.”
- Writer
