And that had Lauren sitting up a lot straighter. This wasn't only coming from one child - she was simply their spokesperson.
"It's not true." Hands fisted at her sides, Shay put her entire body behind each word. "She's new and she's careful and she has to do some really hard stuff every day. But she's really strong. And you won't be able to work with her or fix anything until you believe that."
Nobody breathed.
-o0o-
Beth sat on the bottom step of the staircase in a strange house in a foreign land, listening to the words of the people who had pushed their way into her life.
And felt like the little marionette puppet Liri had rescued from the flea market, tears streaming down her cheeks as she cut the strings and freed the poor wooden doll from its days of dancing to someone else's tune.
Beth hadn't understood then, although she'd tucked the doll into a place of honor on their mantel, knowing it mattered to the woman she loved.
She understood now.
And she wasn't so weak she needed defending by a child - even a wondrous one.
With hands no longer shaking, she pulled herself up. Ordered her knees to behave. And on bare feet, walked the five and a half steps to the living-room entryway.
"You should be sleeping." Ginia looked stunned. "I used my best sleep spell on you."
Beth had vague memories of a weird tingling sensation. "Sleep is difficult for me." Maybe that made a difference. Maybe not. She didn't much care right now.
Shay had turned around to face the doorway, eyes huge.
Beth walked over to her diminutive white knight and knelt down on the rug. She reached out a hand and touched Shay's cheek. A gift - just like Liri, Shay liked to touch. "You're a very good friend. Thank you."
Bright blue eyes brimmed with tears, but the smile was a real one.
Willing her fingers not to shake, Beth reached for fisted knuckles. "I have some things I'd like to say. Will you hold my hand while I try to say them?"
Two fists relaxed. And the small fingers that slid into hers didn't feel strange at all.
Slowly, Beth got to her feet, Shay a small, sturdy sentinel at her side.
"I'm not good at arguing." Her first words rang oddly loud in the quiet space. "So please, just let me say my piece. I've listened to yours.
"You're right." She focused on the swirling colors in a painting on the wall. "You don't know what it is to live in my head. You don't know what it is to come here, to a strange place with strange rules. The invitation I got wasn't a gentle one, either time, but I came anyway." She squeezed Shay's hand. "And I'm very glad I did. But it was a choice.
"My choice." She was a grown woman, even if a baby's magic could knock her out cold. Beth looked at Nell. "I came for training. I came here to know the possibilities of my own magic, and I won't run from it."
So many eyes. "But I need to walk the journey in my own way." She could feel the reactions, even without looking. "You see that as selfish, perhaps. But it wasn't me who walked into a coven meeting uninvited. It wasn't me who told two women devoted to the craft that they weren't witches, and untied another from her chosen magic. It wasn't me who did all that and walked away."
The anger bubbled up inside her from places unknown. "You talk of witching community - well, you did damage to mine." Damage they had needed to work long and hard to repair.
"And no one came back." Now, fueled by painful anger, she met eyes. Dark ones, surprised ones, sorrowful ones. "Twenty months, and not one of you ever bothered to see if we were okay. If we needed help or training or a cookie or a hand to hold."
Shay's fingers still rested warm and firm in hers.
The Aspie need to be fair pushed on her soul. "You have a wonderful thing here, with people who love you and magic beyond anything I knew was possible. But you're not everything. And whatever magic