Epilogue

We sat at our old dining room table. It was quiet, in the dream world, just the two of us in our oasis of peace. “I didn’t think that magic could be resisted like that,” I said, not sure how else to break the silence. “That mother could refuse the Hector.”

“Me neither,” Rose replied.

“You mean…?” I trailed off, not quite sure how to word my thoughts.

“That I can’t stop you? No, I have absolutely no will over what magic you do with me,” she elaborated. “I don’t think that mages would really work the way they do if I did have the ability to just stop you.”

I mulled that over; it made sense. “Then mother was really that strong.”

“Exceptionally,” Rose agreed with a nod.

There was another silence. We were working through our own thoughts of everything that had happened over the past week. Even if we didn’t say anything, sensations of concern, regret, speculation, and calm washed over us from each other.

“Do you think we can trust him?” I asked.

“Who?”

“Andor. He really came to help us out.”

Rose pondered that for a moment. “Or to get Hector dealt with. I wouldn’t be too quick to cast my vote either way.” She took another sip of her tea. “But… I don’t really know how to say this, but I talked to mother.”

I jumped up from my seat, disrupting the calm, leaning in as the chair tipped and clattered behind me. “You talked to her!? How? What happened?”

“Woah woah!” Rose held up her hands, startled by my burst of movement in the otherwise tranquil environment. “It was when you threw me at him. That was dangerous to me, you know! But, it did work. He tried to… cut me, I don’t really know how to explain it. And I pushed back. His own magic fought him. Mother fought him. And in that moment, we communicated. It wasn’t like we talked like the two of us are now, just a feeling, a sort of sensation like we sometimes get, but stronger, clearer. And as she disappeared, she showed me something.” Rose took a deep breath and I could feel the anxiety coming off of her as she figured out the right words to explain. I almost told her to just say whatever she felt but held myself back and waited.

Finally, she spoke. “I think I know why we have our past memories.”