Chapter 17 – Consequences

“Jonah,” Ethan’s voice rudely interrupted his narrative “you can’t seriously believe that hogwash.”

“It’s not hogwash,” Jonah sat back, stunned. “It’s our heritage. Our history. How can I not believe it?”

“Pssh,” Ethan leaned back, arms crossed “Jonah I knew you were gullible but I didn’t realize just how much. I’ll admit those kids sound similar to our kids but Jolene would never hurt anyone much less kill an entire village. It’s just not in her.”

“You don’t think she would even in defense of her family,” Jonah asked. He knew from the expression on Ethan’s face that he didn’t.

“That girl, Orla, was unhinged. She had to be, to do what she did.” Ethan slapped a hand on the table “snap out of it Jonah. That was the past. This is now. Don’t get the two mixed up.

“The past is there for us to learn from,” Jonah ran a hand through his hair “we can learn from past mistakes….”

“By sending our daughter away,” Ethan’s voice thundered in the room, “that’s not gonna happen.”

“Cecil and I …” 

“I don’t care what Cecil has to say,” he leaned across the table, his face mere inches from Jonah’s. “She’s my daughter. Not his. I’m her father. No freak is gonna convince me to send her away. Open your eyes Jonah. Can’t you see haw that blind freak is destroying your family? He’s already destroyed our marriage, don’t let him destroy the kids too.”

Jonah pounded his hands onto the table surface. “That’s enough. Cecil did not ruin our family. We did that ourselves.” With visible effort he reigned in his anger “we’re here to discuss the best course of action to help our daughter.”

“Sounds more like you want to get rid of her,” Ethan sneered, sitting back.

“So says the man who doesn’t even want her to live with him,” Jonah shot back and immediately wished he could get them back.

“Don’t blame me for this,” Ethan shot back like they were playing some kind of ping pong of words.

Taking a deep breath Jonah held it, counting softly below releasing it “Fine. No going away to magical school,” Jonah said, his voice strained with the effort. “Will you at least agree to allow her more one on one lessons with the sages?”

“Yes,” Ethan sat back “as long as she doesn’t spend the night there. She must come home and you must go with her. I don’t want that freak…”

“He’s not a freak,” Jonah abruptly stood, chair toppling behind him. “His name is Cecil and he’d never hurt her.”

Standing as well Ethan bunched his muscles “those are my conditions or I might have to reconsider custody.”

Gasping “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just what it sounds like,” Ethan said “I’m worried about you. All this magic stuff is crazy. Are you crazy Jonah? I could make a pretty good case if we went to court.”

Jonah’s mind went back to the years of therapy and drugs that Ethan had manipulated him into taking. He knew that the doctor would back Ethan’s claim if it came to court. “I’m not crazy Ethan. There’s nothing wrong in wanting to give my children the right education to use their magic in the most responsible way possible. I’ll agree to your terms.”

“Good,” Ethan walked around the table, stopping beside Jonah. “Just remember what I said. Those are my kids and I’ll do what I think is necessary to protect them.”

Jonah nodded “please go now.” His jaw was tense from clenching it. He wished he could believe it was a hollow threat but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

***

“Why’s the house so dark?” Ephy asked as they all piled in the entryway looking around them like they had entered the wrong house.

“Where’s Dad?” Ezekial asked, turning to Cecil as if he had the answer.

Eli looked towards Cecil too, his green eyes worried instead of the surprise that was in his younger siblings’ questions. “He’s probably resting. He’s been working a lot on his new record.”

“Well I’m hungry,” Jolene announced. “I thought he would have had dinner ready and waiting for us when we got home. I guess Cecil will just have to grill us something to eat.”

Setting Cai on the floor Cecil nodded. “Let me check on your dad first then I’ll grill us all some hot dogs.”

“Hot dogs,” Jolene cried “those are so gross. Do you know what they put in hot dogs?”

“No,” Eli said “and we don’t care. We all like them.” His three younger brothers all nodded in agreement.

“Well I don’t,” Jolene said as if that settled things.

“Then eat leftovers,” Eli asserted “there’s plenty in the fridge to choose from.”

“Leftovers are so yesterday,” Jolene whined.

“Hence the name,” Eli said, taking Cai’s hand as he turned towards Cecil. “I’ll get things started while you check on dad.”

“Can we help,” Ephy and Ezekial asked together.

“Sure can,” Eli said, leading the way to the kitchen.

Jolene stood immobile for a moment then followed her brothers, mumbling something about supervising them.

Cecil sighed letting his smile slip and fade away thankful for Eli’s help in diverting the children’s attention. He knew the moment they walked into the dark and silent house that things had not gone well with Ethan. Turning he made his way to his and Jonah’s room. He could hear low sniffles and soft sobs from inside. Yes it did not go well.

Jonah looked up at the sound of the door knob turning, not surprised to find Cecil silhouetted against the light from the other room. “I suppose the children are hungry,” he said in a dead flat tone “I’ll go and get dinner started.” 

Cecil closed the door behind him “I’ll grill them some hot dogs later.”

“But,” Jonah half protested as he slumped back onto his pillow.

Cecil moved towards him, lightly touching his arm. “I know things did not go well with Ethan. If you wish, I can eat him for you.” 

“Don’t,” Jonah let out a shocked chuckle “but that would solve things nicely wouldn’t it?” 

Sitting on the edge of the bed he gathered Jonah into his arms. “It would and the offer stands.”

Letting out a shaky breath Jonah said “I appreciate the offer but no matter how I wish he was gone I can’t let you eat him. He’d give you such an awful stomach ache.”

Cecil ran his fingers through Jonah’s hair, “A little stomach ache might be worth it.”

After another long moment of silence of Cecil just holding Jonah in the semi dark room, Jonah sighed “Ethan wouldn’t agree to let Jolene go away to ROM to be trained. We knew he wouldn’t but,” he shivered in Cecil’s arms.

“But, what,” Cecil prompted.

“He threatened to seek custody of the kids. Said he could prove I was crazy because of my past.” He let out a sob, clutching Cecil’s shirt in his fist “I can’t let that happen.”

“That won’t happen,” Cecil assured him. Cecil would do what was necessary to keep his children safe and free from harm. 

“I don’t think he really wants them. Not really.” Jonah sat up, wiping his eyes. “He agreed to extra one-on-one lessons with the sages but I have to be there with her. I agreed. I just don’t know how. Not with my recording schedule.”

“We’ll make it happen,” Cecil assured him.

“You always make it sound so easy,” Jonah sighed.

“We’ll talk to your manager. Work something out,” Cecil said “I’ll be close by. We’ll arrange for the other kids to get extra training as well.”

“And it wouldn’t hurt for me to get extra training too,” Jonah admitted “this will work.” And for the first time since Ethan left Jonah could see how they can turn this into an advantage for the entire family. “I have a meeting with my manager tomorrow. I’ll arrange it with him then we’ll set things up with the sages and the kids.”

The return of Jonah’s confidence was a relief. Cecil squeezed him tight before getting up “I better go and start the grill.”

Standing with him, Jonah tugged on his hand “thank you for always helping me see the light when all I see is darkness.”

“Let’s go out tomorrow night,” Cecil suggested, “just the two of us. Eli can watch the kids.”

“”Where’s this coming from all of a sudden?” Jonah asked, chuckling with excitement.

“You need a break and we haven’t been out on a date for a while,” Cecil said “so? What do you say?”

“Yes,” Jonah laughed. He knew it wouldn’t solve his concerns over the kids but sometimes he just had to let fate take care of itself. “I’m going to take a bath. Save me a hot dog though.”

***

Jonah closed his eyes letting the steam relax his tense muscles, the overall body ache rolled over and slept. His mind drifted. Orla stood bound before three sages and the mother of magic, the expression upon her face one of unrepentant hatred.

“How dare you bind me,” her voice rang loud and clear, “I demand you release me.”

The four stood as if frozen or deaf to her demands. One of the sages stepped forward, his eyes like shards of ice “you are hereby sentenced for your crimes against humanity…”

“What crimes,” she scoffed. “it’s not a crime to rid your home of vermin, do you? What I did was no more and no less than that.”

Another of the sages stepped forward “for her unrepentant attitude we therefore sentenced her to the same death she visited upon the village.”

Rolling her eyes “I’ll just heal myself.” 

The remaining sage stepped forward with something to Jonah’s eyes that looked like a glass jar. “We strip you of all your magical abilities and bind them until such time as another can be found to wield them right.”

Struggling to free herself Orla shouted “you can do this to me. I demand a retrial.”

The mother of magic stepped forward “you were warned, now you must face the consequences of your actions.”

“You didn’t say what the consequences would be,” she shouted. “This isn’t fair.” She looked around the faces of stone, and the truth of her situation began to sink in. “I only did this because of my brother. You would have done the same if someone you loved died.”

“We might have been able to overlook the digression of resurrecting one individual and dealt with the imbalance but you didn’t stop there. You caused an imbalance that will take generations to heal and cannot be overlooked.”

“Why not just resurrect them,” she shrugged as if it were as easy as winking.

“We cannot interfere with death,” the mother of magic explained. With a wave of her hand she released the magical coils that bound the girl. “Your sentence has been carried out. You may leave.”

“But I’m not dead,” Orla rubbed her arms up and down. “Your punishment didn’t work.” She turned and stormed from the room.

By the time she returned home, she was on fire with a fever she’d never felt before. “Mother,” she cried, stumbling into the house. 

“Orla,” her brother knelt beside her “mother and father died this morning. I couldn’t heal them.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t heal them?” her voice dripping with scorn despite her illness. “You have rainbow magic. Of course you could heal them. You have to heal me.”

“No sister I cannot,” Calem shook his head “you healed my body not my magic. I used too much of it to heal the villagers. That’s why I got sick. I had nothing left to protect me.”

Grabbing his tunic she demanded “you owe me your life. You must heal me.”

“Even if I could. I would not,” Calem said, prying her clutching hands from his tunic. “I cannot interfere with death. I healed those that could be saved.”

Coughing she fought for breath “I came home to be healed. You owe me brother.” Even as she strugged to breathe she appeared to be surprised that her brother still dared to defy her. With her last breath she gasped “I should have let you die.”

She expired in Calem’s arms. “yes you should have and now I have to live with what you did,” he murmured to himself.

Sighing Jonah reached for a towel and stepped from the tub. “We must have descended from Calem, the only living member of the family. His magic must never have resurfaced after that. Now it’s returned.” He wondered what fate had in store for them now.