Magum Imperatoria, Part Twenty

I was laying on our bed looking at the details in the ceiling while Matteson was at the desk, taking notes and poring over some books he’d snatched from the library on our way inside. I was pretty sure we were both trying to avoid thinking about the same thing, and after a while I decided I couldn’t do it anymore and rolled over to face him.

“I didn’t know,” I said, softly. He set down the pen he was using and turned toward me.

“Didn’t know what?” He asked.

“My family doesn’t know anything about the magic work the Hudsons do. I learned about that since we got here, that it was purposefully hidden from us. That it’s what my grandpa wanted.”

“Why?”

“I…I don’t know.” I sat up and thought about that for a moment. “We never got to discussing why we weren’t supposed to know about our ties to magic.”

“That feels like something you should find out. Did you at least learn about that thing, what was it you said? Jackie found a block?”

“Yeah, there’s something hindering magic in me. Which she thought might be on purpose, and I suppose if I was part of some powerful line or sorcerers it would be necessary to keep us from finding magic on our own.”

“Major success there,” he said with a scoff.

“Yeah, that didn’t pan out.”

“Look, this is all seeming really hard on you. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I think I just need to ask Roderick some more pointed questions. And maybe find some way to get my mind off things until then.”

“You don’t want to just go and ask him now?”

“It is Valentine’s Day, John. I would like to end our night’s outing some other way than talking to a hollow set of armor.”

“You have something in particular in mind?” He asked. I sighed, mentally reminded myself that he doesn’t think about these things quite the way I do, and then patted the bed next to me.

​“Why don’t you come over here and find out?” He looked at me for a second, then chuckled, closed the books, and slipped into the bed.

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