Page 2 of The Journal of a Thousand Years
“As I see it, I have two choices. If I want to speak to my parents ever again, I must stop seeing Alex. And if I want to be with Alex, I’ll lose them. The choice is simple, really. Alex is my future. I’d do anything to be with him and make him happy. If Mother and Father can’t accept him, I won’t return to their home.”
She said it with such conviction that I believed her. I also believed she’d fallen deeply in love with Alex, and he with her. She would protect that love with every fiber of her being.
We arrived at Petra’s shop a few minutes before she was due to close for the day. To my surprise, her one and only customer was Huon Barratt. The graphite magician and ink magician didnot get along. Their magic disciplines were in competition with one another, not to mention that their personalities clashed. Where Petra, the graphite magician, was sensible, Huon treated each day as if it would be his last. He threw wild parties that continued past dawn. He drank until he forgot where he was, and cared little about finding work, earning money, and settling down. While the carefree and careless attitude had been in evidence before the war, apparently his wartime experiences, coupled with the loss of his beloved uncle, had plunged him into a downward spiral that seemed to have no end.
Huon’s story was typical of many men who’d come back from the war. It had altered them, but the changes manifested in different ways. Some couldn’t cope in society and had to be hospitalized, others turned inward and serious, like Gabe, while some preferred to drown their awful memories in alcohol and excess, like Huon. I couldn’t blame Huon for his recklessness, after what he’d been through. I only hoped he could find a way to climb out of the pit he’d fallen into.
Indeed, I suspected he’d discovered a way out recently. He’d begun a business where he used his magic to write and read invisible messages for anyone who hired him. We had been his first client after he’d transcribed some ledgers for us that had been written in invisible ink. His skill had helped solve a decades-old mystery.
Although the new business venture had certainly helped focus Huon, there was a part of me that suspected reconnecting with Petra had made himwantto change. Not that either of them would admit it.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
He slouched against the shop counter, his ankles crossed and one elbow resting on the countertop near the cash register. Despite the casual pose, he looked like every other gentleman in the city with his neatly pressed clothes, polished shoes andsmooth jawline. It was a far cry from the unwashed, unshaven man I’d first met months ago.
Huon jerked his head at Petra, standing behind the counter with a stiff back and a rumpled brow. “I’ve come to warn her.”
Petra rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He’s being obnoxious, as usual.” She gave his shoulder a shove. “He was just leaving.”
Huon straightened but didn’t walk off. Although his lips didn’t so much as twitch with a smile, his eyes twinkled. Huon in a mischievous mood could lead to all sorts of mayhem. No wonder Petra looked worried.
“Warn her about what?” Daisy asked.
“I’m going to call on her mother and tell her we’re in love.”
“We are not in love!” Petra exploded.
Huon took her rebuttal in his stride. “First of all, you can’t speak for me. I am in love with you, Petra, and there’s nothing to be done about it except follow my heart and declare myself. Secondly, you think you don’t love me, but you do. You just don’t want to admit it because you’re worried what people will think.”
“They will think I’m doolally, and I quite agree. It’s the only explanation for what happened between us.”
My interest piqued even further. “What happened? Did you kiss again?” Last time they’d kissed, Petra claimed it had been a drunken mistake. This time, she flushed scarlet and wouldn’t look at anyone. Nor did she deny it.
Huon winked at Daisy and me. “A gentleman never tells. Suffice it to say, Petra wants to be with me as much as I want to be with her, only she doesn’t like to admit it because of the graphite and ink rivalry.”
“Oooh,” Daisy cooed. “Your love story is as intriguing asRomeo and Juliet.” She wrinkled her nose. “Hopefully the ending won’t be as tragic.”
Huon clicked his fingers. “Yes! We are the magical equivalent of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers. Don’t worry, fair Daisy. Our story won’t be a tragedy. It will see the uniting of the two feuding households and an end of the ancient grudge. Love will conquer all.”
Petra made a sound of disgust in her throat. “Do shut up, Huon, or I’ll throw up my lunch.”
He simply smiled at her, revealing dimples that made him even more handsome. “I’ll shut up when you agree that you like being with me, that I fulfill your life as much as you fulfill mine, and that I complement you in ways you never realized needed complementing.” He turned to face her fully and lowered his voice to a seductive rumble. “I see your face when I close my eyes, and you’re the first thought I have when I wake up. Every decision I make, I ask myself what would you do. The change you’ve seen in me these last few weeks is because of you. You bring out the best in me, Petra, and if I want to continue to be the best version of myself, Imusthave you in my life. So, I won’t give up easily. If I give up on you, it’ll be like giving up on myself.” He leaned across the counter and touched her chin. It had dropped a little further with every sentence he uttered, parting her lips until her mouth formed an O. “You are very beautiful, especially when you’re not trying to be.”
She snapped her mouth shut and moved out of his reach. “You are quite simply the mostimpossibleman I have ever met. Do not call on my mother, Huon. It’s far too soon.”
Huon’s smile teased wider. “You’re right. It is too soon in our relationship. But at least you’re acknowledging that we have a relationship.”
She bristled. “I am not!”
He looked at Daisy and me for confirmation. I shrugged, not wanting to get involved.
Daisy gave Petra a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid that’s how it came across. Don’t feel horrid. Any woman would find him hard to resist after that speech.”
Petra crossed her arms but seemed to have run out of steam. She stayed silent.
Huon picked up his hat from the countertop. “She found me hard to resist before the speech. She just doesn’t want to admit it.” He slapped the hat on his head. “Good day, ladies. Enjoy your evening. I will be home tonight, just in case you’d like to call on me to discuss anything.” This last sentence he said to Petra.
She was having none of it. “If I do call on you, it will only be to tell you that I think you’re an arrogant idiot.”
