Cloak of War: Michael's Journal Part 3

"... The rebellion's leader Koschei, who had taken his name from the fabled wizard, disappeared never to be seen again." Angela read her paper from the laptop. Angela had been working with private tutors

“It’s…well written.” I shrugged. “But you know that’s not actually what happened in the revolution, right?” 

She sighed and fiddled with her nails. “Well, it’s supposed to be about the revolution and the rise of contrasting government systems like Aurelia and Gorias, not the history.” 

“I told you to let my father help, his teachings were too radical for the university, remember?” I reminded her before explaining how my father had started working with the freedom fighters to win back what we lost. I had gotten so wrapped up in actually feeling proud of who my dad was, I barely noticed Angela was staring through the gaps between window bars. Then she kissed me while i was in the middle of saying something, running her hands through my hair. Being with her was like an illicit affair, the secrecy was what made it so tantalizing to be together. I was running away to hide from the monsters who raised me, searching for a refuge. She was trapped in an ivy tower looking to rebel.

She pulled away from me and her eyes darted back and forth. "Michael, I have something to tell you–”

Three short knocks and a long one rapped from the door, a pattern she and her sisters had made when Mrs. Garland was conducting room breaks. With a hasty  incantation, Performed a transfiguration into a rose perched on her window sill. Within seconds of his transfiguration, Theresa Garland shoved open the door, inspected the room, then left. Before I could return to form, their maid, a former Darini and freedom fighter Broomhilde, came in with a strange bubbly purple concoction.

Broomhilde glanced over her shoulder and whispered. “Here, for your morning sickness.” She fled as quickly and silently as she arrived. 

Once we were along I reformed myself and asked if I heard correctly. “Did she say morning sickness?”

Angela bit my lip. “Yes. I…I’m pregnant.” I don’t remember what I said, but I felt the color drain from my face. She added, “I-it’s yours if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I laughed. “That was…I was never worried about that.”then I sat down beside me on the bed. “I can’t believe we’re having a baby”

“We?” She seemed surprised. “You want this?”

“Of course, I do.” We talked some more and then I had to go. I could feel her maid watching us in the corner.

A few days later I called her to ask what she thought about Gorias as a place to raise a family, “What do you think about Gorias?” It was the opposite of Aurelia and magics and ordinaries were treated the same. The best part of all, we would be free from all of it, my family and hers. I asked her to wait for me and she gave me her word. 

I'm going to be a father, I remembered thinking with glee. How awful it was to keep this a secret and only be able to share it with each other.

I told her we would be together and promised to stay by her side. I had every intention of keeping that promise, but the old masters had other plans.

Two months after she told me Angela started showing and rumors spread that it was mine. Her mother had been furious and forbade her from going outside so people wouldn't talk. The only way we could really talk to each other was with notes because I was not welcome in that house. Her mother had heightened security so I couldn’t visit once the freedom fighters had started hanging out the factories and our old haunts more and more often. I tried to use magic to check on her but their maid Broomhilde, a former recruit, knew all my tricks. She would call me a warlock and banish me. The rumors spiraled about us until they reached the dean and my father lost his job and blamed me for it. He used a curse so I couldn’t leave our apartment for weeks so I never knew how the baby was doing. Whenever I was out of the apartment, I felt this presence following me, like I was being stalked by a creature of the night. 

During the 5th month was  when the news story broke, the press seemed to have caught up with us, with a little help from Mrs. Garland I had no doubt. There was an onslaught of articles about girls who’d had to be hospitalized and outed as witches shortly after. No one knew who did it, but several people remembered seeing them out with some who matched my description, chestnut brown hair, brown eyes, and 5’4’’. Their magic was gone, but their families still had to leave. 

Eventually I heard from Broomhilde Angela was convinced her mother ran me out of town. She even had a doctor put in her records that this was a normal no-mage baby and they didn’t know the father. It was just as well. I knew the freedom fighters were looking for me too. Having a baby with the person I was supposed to spy on was proof I had gotten distracted by her. It was in her best interest and our baby's that I go away. I trusted her mother would be able to keep her safe. Mrs. Garland was already running them out of town and without me around they would keep their distance from her. One day in disguise I went to the house and asked about Angela and her mother told me they had been sent away for some seaside air and would be gone for a while. I thought– or rather hoped– that she wouldn’t come back.

On February 24, I heard the news that we had a baby girl. I never learned her name but she was supposed to be beautiful. I wished I could have seen her. It hadn't been safe for me to go home for months. The heat from the freedom fighters had died down, but Sons of Dawson followers were hunting me. I had slept in the woods outside of town for about months before one of them found me and said my father was demanding I come home.