~~~~~~~~~~
Greta walked around the house and met Victor whom she was partially looking for. He was in one of the numerous rooms within the house. What he was doing, Greta couldn't figure out.
`Master Raymond,' she started and Victor looked at her expectantly. `Do you want any food to be brought to you?'
`No, thank you Greta.'
Greta turned to walk away but stopped. `Forgive me for speaking out of place and maybe out of context but I think you being a bit unfair to Wendy.'
`Why is that?'
Greta couldn't tell whether he was genuinely interested or feigning it but she answered, `She did nothing to be ungrateful to Amber. On the contrary she did what she was told and you had to come in and defend Amber. You probably don't expect me to say this because of my son, but every time that you ignore her, turn her away or undermine her, her heart gets broken. She becomes even sadder than she is at the moment.' She left after that because she was not expecting a comment.
She did not know it but what she said did touch Victor and made him decide that maybe he should find out if she was alright. He therefore climbed up the stairs and after establishing that the lights in her room were still on, he knocked on the door.
`Come in,' said Wendy from inside. He walked in and found her sitting in her bed reading a book. She didn't seem as sad as Greta had suggested. `Victor,' she said. Her voice had an unusual calmness in it. `I thought you would be busy doing something important.'
`I came to check in on you.'
`I haven't eaten if you want to know and I probably won't eat tonight anyway.'
Victor walked across the room. `You are mad at me!'
`Would it be more obvious if I threw something at you?'
`So you are mad.' He turned to her when he didn't get an answer. She was staring at him.
`Why are you mad at me?'
`Why didn't you tell me that Madison is your mother?'
`This has nothing to do with Madison.'
`On the contrary, it has everything to do with her,' she pulled away the covers and stepped on the carpeted floor. She walked briskly to him. `You could have told me that I was intending to kill your mother, for instance. You could have told me that she is the woman who gave birth to you. You could have told me...'
But Victor put his hands on the sides of her head and made her look at him. `I didn't think it would have mattered whether you knew or didn't know.'
`And that was what you chose for me?' Wendy's eyes were on his.
`I didn't make a choice for you. I just wanted you to know her as a stranger just like I see her.'
`But she can never stop being your mother. You pointed that out yourself.' Victor turned away but Wendy stopped him. `You see me differently just like the others.'
`You are one of us Wendy and we treat you differently because you are the person we are trying to protect.'
`Is- is that what you tell yourself?' she searched his eyes. `That you want to protect me?' No answer came from Victor. `Because if you wanted to do that, you wouldn't keep things like that to yourself. You wouldn't push me away.'
`I didn't push you away, you did that.'
`And then you retaliated the same way,' she took a few deep breathes. `Answer me this. Why didn't you give Andrew the answer to the question he asked?'
Victor smiled. She was getting slyer every day. Instead of asking if he loved her, she was asking it indirectly. `Because it was inappropriate.'
`Why would your mother be interested in that aspect of your life if she was going to kill you anyway?'
`Because my mother is crazy!'
Wendy stepped back. `She didn't seem crazy when she was teaching me.'
`You really want to know why?' He moved closer to her. It was like a dance. She steps back and he goes after her. He steps back and she follows him. He placed his left hand on her right cheek. His fingers slowly traced her face and then her lips. He looked at her in a strange way. `My mother is concerned because I'm of age.' his hand went to her neck and then at the nape of her neck. His thumb tilted her face to his. `She is concerned because she knows I may be consciously or unconsciously be looking for a mate.'
`A mate?' she asked but her voice came out in a whisper.
`Yes, someone that gets to have my child or children. Someone I get to have a family with.' Victor lowered his head to hers.
`And she thought that I may be that person?'
Their lips were barely an inch apart. `I don't know,' he said then raised his head slowly. He kissed her forehead gently. `Goodnight Wendy!' He walked away before she could answer.
She almost cursed him when the full realization dawned on her. Why he was always doing that she didn't know. But he couldn't hide the fact that he is indeed attracted to her. She needed someone to talk to though she couldn't imagine having this sort of conversation with Amber. But then Greta could also not understand the complexities that lay ahead. The only person left that she could talk to on a woman's level is Diane's spirit. She hadn't contacted her ever since the first day that she had put the necklace on. She had been mad at her and didn't think that she was ready to apologize to her. Unfortunately she needed advice which only her mother would be able to provide.
She went and lay down on the bed. Began concentrating on where she wanted to be. The good thing about Madison was that she was a very good teacher and she had been taught how to take herself to a trance and how to wake up from it by herself. Within a few minutes she was standing before her mother's spirit. She explained what was going on and what she wanted from her.
After she was done her mother's spirit smiled. `There's nothing that you can do.'
`What do you mean by there's nothing that I can do?'
`Because there is nothing you can do,' Wendy looked at her warily. `Don't get me wrong when I say you can't try but your efforts will probably be wasted. He knows what he feels about you but may have some compelling reasons to stay away from you.'
`What reasons?'
`Reason's such as you breaking his heart for instance.'
`But I love him.'
`Are you sure about that? Because if you are not then I may suggest that you take a step back and reevaluate your feelings.' Diane went and sat down under a tree which to Wendy was pointless because the sun was being controlled by them. `You see, for Victor this is not like a crush that one has when they
are teenagers. When wizards fall for someone genuinely, they fall hard and if it doesn't work out, it may potentially destroy them. He may be afraid of that.'
`But I know what I feel about him.'
`I told you there are probably many reasons he keeps leaving you.'
`What is the most likely one?'
`Patience. He's probably waiting for the right time.'
`And this is not the right time because...'
`You are still training and let's be honest, you get distracted when he walks into the same room with you.' There was a slight nod from Wendy. `Stop worrying about him because as you know he isn't getting older and certainly isn't going anywhere.' Wendy smiled and walked over to where Diane was seated. `How about we now talk about your Izanami training!'