She loves me. She does her best. And she’s done nothing wrong.
“I know that I have the right to present evidence on my own behalf,” I say. “You haven’t spoken to me.”
“We spoke to you,” Lachesis says.
“This very afternoon,” Atropos says.
“
Before
Daddy declared himself an advocate,” I say.
Megan lets out a small breath. Mom reaches for me with her other hand, but I shake her off, disentangling our fingers entirely.
“I love living with Mom,” I say. “I have a good life there. You don’t understand it, any more than you understand cell phones.”
“We knew what they were when you said telephone,” Clotho says.
“No, you didn’t,” I say. “You don’t know the difference between a landline and a cell.”
“It is irrelevant,” Lachesis says.
“Brittany,” Rob says quietly, “you’re not helping.”
“Shut up, hottie,” I say.
“Brit,” Mom says, and I can hear the disapproval in her tone. “Be nice.”
“No!” I turn toward her. “There’s a time for nice, and then there’s a time to stand up for yourself.”
“Do it nicely, honey,” Mom says.
All three Fates are looking at her like she’s lost her mind.
“For me,” Mom says.
Daddy rolls his eyes. “I remember you now. Miss Goody Two-shoes. Boy, were you work to get into bed. But once—”
“
ENOUGH!
” All three Fates shout.
Daddy takes a step backward. He puts up his hands as if the words were flying knives or something.
I step into the spot he vacated. “Knowing the difference between a landline and a cell is not irrelevant. None of it is. You don’t understand modern life. I’m in a
play
, which you do understand, even though you pretend not to. I know, because you lectured Mrs. Schmidt on Helen of Troy, didn’t you?”
The Fates stare at me.
“
Didn’t you?
” I say.
“Well,” Atropos says, “if she’s going to depict Helen of Troy, she should do so properly.”
“We can’t abide errors,” Clotho says.
“Then stop abiding this one.” I’m shaking, I’m so mad. “Daddy’s lying to you. He
always
lies, and you know it. I’m in a closet, yes, because Mom and Karl are building me a brand new bedroom. I opted for the closet because I wanted to be alone. Otherwise, I could have bunked with my sisters Lise and Anna.”
“Is this so?” Lachesis asks Mom.
Mom looks at me. She knows that Lise and Anna didn’t want to room with me either, because of the pets and because I was crying all the time. I wish I had telepathy or magic right now, because I’d let her know not to say anything about that.
“Yes,” Mom says, still looking at me. “Yes, that’s so.”
“You saw the room they’re building,” I say. “Ingrid told me that they showed it to you. Why were you ignoring it?”
“It is not completed yet,” Atropos says. “You need it now. They should finish it.”
“This is
exactly
what I mean,” I say. “The Johnson Family has no magic. Building things takes time.”
“How much time?” Clotho asks.
“Well,” Mom starts.
“Months,” I say over her. I don’t care if I’m wrong. The Fates don’t get to make a decision because Daddy bamboozled them.
“That’s unacceptable,” Daddy says.
The Fates don’t even look at him. They’re still staring at me.
“And my job,” I say. “I’m the one who wanted a job, and frankly, in the Greater World, I’m not qualified for anything else. I only had to lift boxes today. I’m supposed to learn how to work with customers and run the cash register and do stuff that isn’t manual labor, but you’re making sure I can’t. And those are valuable skills.”
“If you’re mortal,” Lachesis says.
“You said I still have my magic,” I say.
“Before your father declared his advocacy, yes, we did,” Atropos says.
“But now we have ruled that you may have your magic back immediately,” Clotho says.
“You want that, right?” Lachesis says, raising her hands. She’s going to give me my magic back at this very moment.
“No,” I say. “I don’t want it.”
The room is suddenly so quiet that I can hear Daddy breathing. He sounds like a bull about to charge.
“Of course you want it,” he says after a moment. “She has no idea what she’s saying. She needs her magic. She is the daughter of a god, after all, and—”
“I’m the daughter of a has-been god,” I say as I turn to him. “You’re not a god any more. You’re a myth.”
“I am not,” he says.
“I can show you book after book after book,” I say, “in dozens of languages, all calling you a
myth
.”
“I’m real,” Daddy says.
“Maybe,” I say, “but no one worships you anymore.”
“Harsh,” Atropos says to Lachesis.
“Indeed,” Clotho says to Atropos.
“In most realms you
are
forgotten,” Lachesis says to Daddy.
“We all are,” Atropos says.
“It is a sad commentary on modern life,” Clotho says.
“Or maybe, that’s just the way the world works,” I say. “Out with the old—”
Megan touches my arm. “Probably not a good idea to finish that,” she says so softly that I can barely hear her.
My cheeks flush.
Lachesis frowns at me. “You do not want your magic.”
“Not until I deserve it,” I say. “I need to be wise enough to use it properly. You know that.”
Mom’s eyes are filled with tears. Daddy’s face is red. Rob has moved to the very back of the room, but Megan stays at my side.
“How do we know that you will be well treated?” Atropos asks me.
I think for a minute. They can’t see past the paint and the falling down house and the boxes in the store. How can they know?
Then a realization hits me. “You guys believe in love, right?”
“We are the guardians of true love,” Clotho says.
“You should know that. Did you and your sisters forget that when you wore our shoes?” Lachesis asks.
“No,” I say. “That’s why Daddy objected to you. Because of true love, right?”
“Right.” Atropos’s head is tilted slightly. “Why do you ask?”
“Because if you believe in true love, then you believe in familial love too, right?” I ask, hoping that is right, because we never discussed familial love, and my family—my Ancient Greek family—isn’t the best at the familial stuff.
“But of course we believe in familial love,” Clotho says.
“We spend all day every day with each other,” Lachesis says.
“We are sisters, just like you and yours,” Atropos says.
“I have a lot of sisters,” I say. “And I have one I’ve just gotten to know.”
I turn, hoping this will work.
“Rob,” I say, my gaze meeting his. “Can you do a see-spell for me? Can you show them Hilde?”
“She shouldn’t come here,” Mom says, sounding panicked.
“She won’t,” I say, putting my hand on her arm. “She won’t even know she’s being discussed.”
“Just give me some room,” Rob says.
He steps onto the bare spot in front of the rug. Me, Mom, and Megan, we step back. Daddy, of course, won’t budge.
His nostrils have flared, and it looks like tiny wisps of white smoke are actually coming out of his ears.
Rob whirls his fingers, and in front of him, a hole opens in the air. The dining room of the Johnson Family Manse appears, only just a little smaller, like we’re watching through a bubble-shaped TV screen.
Mom gasps.
I put my arm around her, as much to hold her back as to comfort her.
Hilde sits at the table, playing with her Barbies.
I don’t know
, she whispers.
She didn’t say bye or nothing. Did you see her—?
Then my voice,
Are you worried about Mom?
’
Mom jerks beside me as Hilde nods.
Would it make you feel better if I go get her?
The images back up enough that I’m visible now. I am willowy, like Clotho. I had no idea.
I’m so focused on how much I look like both Clotho and Mom, I miss the next bit. Then Hilde runs at me and wraps herself around me. I look like a sturdy tree, but the expression on my face is one of complete shock.
Then I crouch in front of her.
It’s okay. I promise I’ll bring her back safe.
Without the scary ladies?
Hilde asks.
I freeze. Would the Fates know she means them?
I can’t glance at them, but Daddy does, as if he knows what Hilde means.
Without the scary ladies,
I say to Hilde and I sound really calm.
Thank you
, Hilde whispers
,
but the whisper sounds really loud in this quiet library.
You’re welcome
, I say to her.
I love you, Hilde
.
She smiles at me. It’s a serious smile, and I missed it the first time. I missed how lovely it is, how precious.
Love you too, Brit
, she says, and then the entire scene winks out, as if someone shut off the TV.
“Empath.” That single word, uttered by Clotho, echoes in the library.
Megan starts. “Yes?”
“Were you there when that child spoke?” Lachesis asks.
“Yes,” Megan says.
“Is it true?” Atropos asks. “Does that child love Brittany?”
“Yes,” Megan says. “Very much.”
“And does Brittany love her?” Clotho asks, not looking at me.
“Yes,” Megan says.
“And you, Karin Johnson,” Lachesis says. “Do you love Brittany?”
“Oh, my stars, yes,” Mom says. “More than you’ll ever know.”
“Is that true, Empath?” Atropos asks Megan.
“Yes.” Megan stands very straight, as if she realizes now that she’s testifying in some kind of court.
“Do you love Brittany?” Clotho asks Daddy.
“Yes,” he says firmly.
My breath catches. Really? He does?
“Empath,” Lachesis says, “is this true?”
“No,” Megan says.
Daddy takes a step toward her, hand raised. Rob raises his hand to stop Daddy, and the Fates snap their fingers in unison.
“No one shall use magic to harm anyone in this library,” Atropos says. “Is that clear?”
Rob lets his arm drop. “I was protecting my wife.”
“So noted,” Clotho says.
Daddy growls. “That woman—”
“Shut up, Zeus,” Lachesis says. “You had your chance.”
“We have asked a question of the empath,” Atropos says.
“So, Zeus doesn’t love Brittany?” Clotho asks.
There’s a lump in my throat. Mom slides her hand through my arm, as if she can sense my distress.
“I don’t think he loves anyone,” Megan says. “I don’t think he understands it. I’m not even sure he loves himself.”
“You don’t know anything about gods, Empath,” Daddy says.
Megan shrugs. “I may not,” she says. “But I can sense your emotions, and you’re pretty lacking on the love side of the equation.”
“Harsh,” Lachesis says to Clotho.
“Indeed,” Atropos says to Lachesis.
“If you do not love Brittany,” Clotho says to Daddy, “why do you want to save her from this place she lives in now?”
“She’s my daughter,” Daddy says. “No one treats my daughter like that.”
“Except you,” I say.
“Shush, child,” Lachesis says, but not harshly.
“Unfortunately,” Atropos says, “we have already ruled.”
My stomach clenches. Mom’s hand digs into the soft skin of my upper arm.
“But,” Clotho says, “we did not gavel down the ruling.”
“You, Brittany, may choose which life you prefer,” Lachesis says.
I don’t even have to think about it. “I want to go with Mom.”
“You may take your magic with you,” Atropos says. “You have earned it.”
“You mean I can practice magic again?” I ask. “I don’t have to wait for it?”
“That is correct,” Clotho says.
I glance around the library, at the millions of books that I haven’t read yet, and I think about all the rules I don’t understand.
My muscles still ache from lifting those boxes and the area above my left knee is bruised from the force with which Hilde hit it when she hugged me.
I bite my lower lip.
I’ve missed my magic, but in the wrong ways. I only want it to make my life easier or to irritate someone who has irritated me. My mom doesn’t have magic—yet, anyway—and she’s doing okay.