Unseen, a young girl takes a horse out of the streets of Polis in the early morning light, heading towards Attlesburg. She is going to see him again. Her heart thumps at the thought. She thought to disappear after that night, surely he would not want to see her again. But then why wouldn’t he? They had a magical evening together, and he didn’t know her secret. She made sure of that. But now the web is getting tangled and she’s not sure if she can keep the threads from breaking.

She arrives at the Attlesburg market just as all the stalls are opening. She finds a stable for her horse and a restroom to change into her day clothes. She couldn’t go walking around the market in her riding habit, especially knowing that he was going to be coming. Once in the restroom with the door locked, she drops her pack on the ground and digs out a cute little sundress in a sky blue with a white flower print on it. Quickly changing her clothes in the corner away from the mirror, she drops her riding habit into her pack and stores it in the stall with her horse, taking only a small purse with her.

Now in her day clothes, the girl walks out into the market streets. She stops at a few stalls to look at their wares and chat with the merchants, all the while looking around, hoping to see him, yet terrified at the same time. After an hour of this, she starts to give up hope. Then she sees him talking with a merchant she had just been past a little bit ago. The merchant sees her and points him to her. When he sees her, he calls out, “Laurel!”

Hearing her name come from his lips, Laurel is suddenly too frightened to continue, she turns and runs, her dress flapping around her upper thigh. Looking back she sees him still following and, in a desperate attempt to escape, she recalls the endless nights studying illusion magic, the many failed attempts and the massive headaches, and she uses the thoughts to throw an illusion behind and around her, cloaking her as she disappears down an alley and giving Charles something to follow for the next block.

Having lost her tail, Laurel returns to the stable where she had left her horse, barely holding back her tears. I’m so stupid! She thought to herself. I should have never allowed any of this to happen, someone like him could never love someone like me. Changing back into her riding habit, Laurel takes off on her horse at a slow gallop, taking the long way home.

Charles arrived in Attlesburg with no trouble but finding the elusive Laurel proved more difficult than he had expected. However, after asking around to a couple shopkeepers, he was able to find one who pointed him in the direction that a girl matching Laurels description had just recently gone, and a little farther down the road, he found her.

The moment he saw her, Charles felt a stirring of happiness in his chest. He called her name and, when she saw him, she ran. Doesn’t she recognize me? He asked himself. He ran after her, calling out her name and pushing through the crowded streets. If he could just get her to stop and talk with him, he knew he could work out whatever the problem was. But then he saw something happen, something unexpected. Charles saw the tell-tale shimmer of an illusion around Laurel, just before she disappeared.

Charles stops and looks around, then he remembers a trick his mother had taught him years ago, but he had never had a reason to use it until now. Charles closes his eyes and reaches out with his own magic, poking around at the ether, and when he finds what he’s looking for, his eyes shoot open in shock. He hurries back to where he had left the carriage and the driver, and with a quick command, they are off, hurrying back to Polis.

When Charles arrives back in Polis, the first place he stops is at his best friend’s house. Walking right in, as he always does, he goes straight to Edwin’s room. The first thing he notices upon walking in is that the mirror on the closet door has been replaced. Walking into the closet, he digs through to the very back and that’s where he sees it: a red velvet ball gown of an original design, the likes of which Charles had only seen once before.

Charles collapses onto the ground, the dress falling into his lap. “How?” he asks out loud, not expecting a response. But then from behind him, he hears a voice, a familiar voice, the voice of his best friend. His best friend who had been lying to him for years. “Charles, I can explain.”

“If I turn around now, who will I see?” Charles asks. “My best friend Edwin? Laurel, who I spent an entire evening showing around my garden? Who are you?”

“Charles, I’m just me. I am both Edwin and Laurel. Most importantly, I am your best friend, and you are mine.” Edwin pleads with Charles. “Please just look at me, see me for who I am.”

Charles’ gaze snaps to the person behind him, his gaze running red with anger. “If you were truly my best friend you wouldn’t have lied to me! You betrayed me! You tricked me! I don’t even know you! This is just perverse!” Charles screams at him. “I can’t even bear to look at you right now!”

Charles hurries out of the room and down the stairs, running out to his waiting coach and ordering the driver to take him home. He could barely hear the voice calling out to him as the coach traversed down the drive and onto the street.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter is unusually short and extremely late but it's something of a transition so I hope you can forgive me. I'm reworking my life to accommodate more time for the things I love (which includes writing) so hopefully, I will have longer chapters and a shorter time between chapters.

After posting this chapter, I've been convinced that I need a rewrite to repair the flaws in my characterization and style before I get any farther in and it becomes too late to correct it. The next chapter I post will be in addition to a rework of all previous chapters.