Morag Macdougal (wao_macdougal) wrote in wandsandorder, @ 2008-02-09 07:06:00 |
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Current mood: | nervous |
Current music: | "Nowhere Warm" - Kate Havnevik |
Entry tags: | morag macdougal |
...i go nowhere - i go nowhere warm...
Who: Morag & Isaac Macdougal
What: Discussion of recent events
When: Friday, February 8, 2005 - early evening
Where: Morag's flat in London
Rating: G
Status: Closed, complete (narrative).
“This is stupid,” Isaac said. If they’d been anywhere other than her flat, Morag had no doubt that his words would have echoed.
“Do you think I don’t know that? Merlin, Isaac – it’s my life they’ve decided to ruin.” She was pacing. It was a nervous habit and she wasn’t sure where she’d picked it up, but it was worse than if she’d been fidgeting or ripping up paper. Her skirts swished about her ankles as she picked up a book. A moment later and she’d put the book back down only to raise a bauble from Greece so she could look at it more closely.
“Well – just don’t do it. They can’t make you – ”
“Isaac.” Her voice was calm despite the frenetic energy she could feel thrumming through her muscles. She stopped pacing, put the trinket down, walked toward the large fish tank on the back wall of her living room. “You know it’s not that simple. We live in a modern age, yes – but the laws? They are as antiquated as ever. And given what Papa has agreed to… well. Chillingworth would be will within his rights to simply take me if it becomes known that I – ”
“He wouldn’t dare – ”
“Isaac.” Morag looked at her brother, frowning. He was being even less rational about this than she had been. Than I am. Merlin, what am I doing?
“This is – Morag…” There was strain there, in his voice.
“Don’t worry, Isaac – everything will be alright…” She trailed one fingertip along the glass, watched as one of her Butterflyfish moved with it.
“How can you say that?”
“Another offer has been made.”
“The engagement has been challenged?”
“Not precisely, no. I’ve been assured by Boyd that Papa won’t even entertain the notion. He’s set in his course.” Morag watched the peaceful scene inside her nano reef for another moment, then turned to face her brother again. His expression, when she met his eyes, was wary. “I’m eloping.”
Isaac’s jaw clenched. He wasn’t any happier with this solution than he had been with the initial situation. “With whom?”
She kept her features steady. “Theodore Nott.”
“What?”
“Isaac, don’t be dense – ”
“Mum and Dad are going to kill you.”
“They won’t be able to! Don’t you see, that’s the whole point.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Why Nott?”
“Because he offered and I’m not wholly repulsed by him? He’s assisted me with Chillingworth in the past.” Morag remembered the glamour he’d put in place for her after delivering that scathing set-down at the Yule Ball.
“What? When?”
“At the Ball in December. The one you conveniently forgot to attend? The one I was trapped in for five days with Chillingworth lurking around every corner.” The look she sent him might have melted a hole in a metal pan if one had been placed in front of Isaac’s face.
“Oh – and he… helped you?”
“Indeed. And he’s been nothing if not a gentleman ever since. Aside from which, he’s made a very good point – if it turns out we really can’t stand one another, we can be divorced.”
“Divorced?”
“Well, yes. It’s simple enough, really.”
“You’re marrying him with that assurance hanging over your head?”
Morag sighed. “It’s not an assurance. It’s a for both of us to get out of it if we end up wanting to kill one another – or if he finds someone he wishes to marry for better reasons than chivalry and honour.”
Isaac frowned. “So what, then? You’re just… hieing off to Gretna Green or something? That’s… that’s overdone, isn’t it?”
“We’re not going to Gretna Green, Isaac. Honestly.” She paused for a moment, then quirked a smile. “We’re going to Lima.”
“Lima?”
“Peru.”
“I know where Lima is. For Merlin’s sake – ”
“And you’re invited,” she added sweetly, looking back toward the aquarium for a moment, just in time to catch one of her clownfish darting out of the anemone near the front.
“Well I should hope so.” Isaac looked indignant at the thought of not being invited.
“There now. It’s settled. Theodore Nott is going to save me from Chillingworth, you and Daphne will witness the ceremony so it’s perfectly legal, and I’ll get to look at those Incan texts I was telling you about last month.”
“Incan texts?” Her brother’s brows rose a bit – she’d succeeded in distracting him, at least temporarily.
“Indeed – I’ll bring translations back for you, I promise.”
Morag watched him sigh. Then Isaac rubbed at the back of his neck and she gave him another small smile. “You’re determined?” He sounded almost hopeful as he asked, as though there was some other option for her to choose if only she’d look hard enough.
“I am. Don’t look so glum.” Really, she sounded a fair bit calmer than she actually felt about the whole thing. Given the way he looked at her, eyes narrowed, she was certain he knew.
Isaac walked toward the aquarium, then stood facing it for a moment before letting his arm slide around Morag’s shoulders. He gave her a one-armed hug and she allowed it because he was her brother and he knew her better than anyone, so if someone was going to see through her façade, it might as well be him. “Just be careful.”
“I’m always careful – you know that.”
“I don’t think there’s really a way to be quite so careful as you usually are in this situation. Just keep your eyes open.”
She tried not to think about what he’d said. “I will.” He had a point. There were other dangers and pitfalls she would have to be careful of now. Merlin help me.