Chapter 20
After breakfast, the rest of the morning passed in a haze of rest, whispered reassurances, and the kind of quiet domesticity Marigold had never known. By afternoon, though, Claudia arrived at the house, her presence filling the space like a charged breeze.
Claudia set her satchel down on the dining table, eyes bright as she studied Marigold. “You did something yesterday no one has seen in generations. That kind of power doesn’t just appear. It has roots. And it needs tending if it’s going to grow in a way you can actually use.”
Marigold’s palms prickled, the memory of the white-hot surge still vivid in her mind. “I didn’t control it. It just happened.”
“That’s what I’m here to work on with you,” Claudia said firmly.
“You don’t want it spilling out every time you feel something too strongly.
Not when you live in the middle of a Clan of lions who will do everything in their power to protect you.
They need to know what you can do, and you need to be able to trust yourself with it. ”
Gavin was sprawled in a chair beside Marigold, arms crossed, his gaze steady on her. His presence a constant reassurance in the back of her mind. “I’ll be here,” he said simply. “Every step of the way.”
That steadiness was enough to loosen some of the fear clamping down on her ribs. She nodded and took a deep breath.
Claudia retrieved a small bowl from her bag, filled with smooth river stones etched with faint runes.
She scattered them across the tabletop, then pushed one toward Marigold.
“Start with this. Touch it. Focus on it. See if you can channel just a thread of what you felt yesterday into it. Don’t force it. Invite it.”
Marigold hesitated, then placed her fingertips on the cool stone. At first, nothing happened. Then, like a spark in dry tinder, a tingle ran up her arm. The rune flared faintly gold, not blinding this time but steady.
Her heart skipped. “Did I do that?”
“You did,” Claudia said with a small, satisfied smile. “Controlled. Gentle. Useful.”
Gavin leaned forward, brushing his hand over hers as the glow faded. “See? You’re not dangerous, Goldie. You’re powerful. There’s a difference.”
Her throat tightened, but it wasn’t with fear. Claudia cleared her throat, her tone turning more serious.
“You’ll need that power. The triumvirate is gone, and most of the worst Rollinses went up in dust yesterday. But there are still some left—outliers, cousins, a few opportunists. Without strong leadership, they’ll either scatter or fight for scraps of power. Either way, they’re a threat.”
Marigold’s fingers clenched around Gavin’s. “Then we stop them.” The words came easier than she would have expected. A day ago, she couldn’t imagine standing against her own blood. Now, she couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Gavin’s hand squeezed hers. The glow from the stone faded as Claudia gathered the runestones back into her bowl.
“That’s enough for today,” she said, her tone brisk but approving. “Your magic responded cleanly. That means you’re not blocked anymore, Marigold. The well is open. You just have to learn how to draw from it without overwhelming yourself.”
Marigold exhaled slowly, her hands trembling faintly in her lap. Relief warred with apprehension.
“I’m glad it worked, but…” She shook her head. “What am I supposed to do with it? With all of this?”
Claudia studied her closely, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
Marigold blinked. “I don’t think so.”
“Yes, you do,” Claudia said gently but firmly.
“Yesterday, you burned away the worst of the evil in your bloodline. But the Rollins family isn’t gone.
There are still people carrying that name, still holding power, still needing direction.
And if they don’t get it? If no one steps up?
You’ll end up with a dozen little splinters of trouble, each one dangerous in its own way. ”
Marigold’s stomach knotted. She looked down at her hands, pale against the wood grain. “I don’t want to lead them. I don’t want to be part of the dynasty at all.”
“No one’s asking you to lead,” Claudia said.
Her voice softened. “But you could talk to Robert and Rowan. They’ve already made it clear they’re not cut from the same cloth as Jeremiah, Petunia, Ash, or Fern, but they’re treading carefully.
Not everyone in the family is of the same mind and Robert and Rowan have a way to go before they can truly establish their authority over the group.
They’re willing to talk with you and work with you, and whether you like it or not, they’re the only ones inside the dynasty to shift it toward something less toxic. ”
Marigold swallowed hard. “What would I even say to them after doing what I did?”
“You can offer them something no one else can,” Claudia said simply. “The proof that the old ways in the Rollins family are over. That there’s no future for the family in darkness. That you, as the Lightbringer, would stand with them if they commit to rebuilding without corruption.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. She thought of Robert and Rowan. They had never treated her like a tool. They hadn’t beaten her to strip her magic bare. She remembered their drawn faces, their hidden kindness, and the risks they’d taken just by sparing her pain.
“They could have hurt me, but they didn’t,” she whispered.
“Exactly,” Claudia said. “They made a choice, and now, you get to make one too.”
“You don’t have to decide tonight,” Gavin said gently, “but you should think about it. Because like it or not, Goldie, the Rollins name still has power. Better it’s in the hands of people who’ll do right by those who are left.”
Marigold lifted her gaze to his. His eyes held no pressure, only steady faith. She drew strength from that and nodded faintly.
“All right,” she said, her voice quiet but clear. “I’ll talk to them.”
Claudia’s smile was small but triumphant. “That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say. I’ll call them to set up a meeting.”
*
The Kinkaid offices downtown gleamed with steel and glass, a far cry from the shadowed halls of the Rollins estate. The conference room chosen for the meeting was neutral ground, but everyone knew whose house they stood in.
Marigold sat near the head of the table, Gavin at her side, Claudia standing just behind them as a silent pillar of authority. The door opened, and Robert and Rowan Rollins stepped inside.
They didn’t look beaten. Robert’s shoulders were squared, his gaze sharp.
Rowan carried herself with poise, the same quiet grace Marigold remembered from years ago.
Marigold’s breath caught. For a heartbeat, she was no longer the woman who had brought down half the dynasty, but the girl who had been delivered into their home like a lamb to the slaughter, only to find, unexpectedly, a reprieve.
They had never spoken of it. Never acknowledged what it had meant that they’d refused the Patriarch’s orders to use her. But she had never forgotten.
“Marigold,” Rowan said softly, her voice even, though her eyes searched Marigold’s face as if weighing what she saw there. “It’s been a long time.”
“Yes,” Marigold answered, steadying herself. “It has.”
Robert remained silent at first, his expression unreadable. When he finally spoke, his tone was clipped, but not cruel. He was businesslike and cautious. “You’ve changed. I sense you’re a lot stronger now.”
Marigold met his gaze. “I can access my own power now. Nobody’s ever going to use me or my magic again without my permission.”
Robert nodded, saying nothing to her claim but acknowledging it, nonetheless.
Claudia broke the silence. “We’re not here to relive the past. The future of what remains of your family is at stake. Marigold agreed to this meeting because she believes there’s a different path forward for the Rollins family. One not dictated by the old ways.”
Rowan’s gaze lingered on Marigold. “You’ve probably already heard that we agree with you.”
“I’ve heard a bit, but I’m not sure if we’re all on the same page,” Marigold admitted, being as cautious as the siblings were. “But I remember what you didn’t do. You could have hurt me back then, but you didn’t.”
Rowan’s composure cracked, just slightly. There was a quick a flicker of emotion in her eyes. Robert shifted in his chair, a subtle tell that Marigold didn’t miss.
“You think that makes us innocent,” Robert said at last. His voice was quiet but edged. “That one choice absolves us of everything else we’ve had to do over the years as part of the Rollins family.”
“No,” Marigold replied. Her pulse hammered in her throat, but she kept her chin high. “But it makes me hope that you’re truly willing to break from the past. I need to see for myself if you’ll stand with those who want to build something better, or if you’ll carry on Jeremiah’s legacy of evil.”
The room went still. Gavin tensed beside her, ready to step in if needed. But Robert only studied her, his gaze unreadable, while Rowan’s fingers curled slightly against the tabletop as if betraying the pressure of an unspoken decision.
Finally, Rowan spoke. “Perhaps it’s time for the truth.”
Robert’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t contradict her as Rowan’s words hung in the air. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and for a moment, Marigold thought he would shut his sister down. But then, with a sharp exhale, he sank back in his chair.
“She knows—or suspects, at the very least,” Rowan said softly, her eyes never leaving Marigold’s. “That much is clear. You know what we didn’t do. Perhaps you should also know why.”
Marigold’s pulse hammered in her throat. She forced herself to nod. “I’ve wondered for years.”
“Yet you never gave us away to Jeremiah or anyone else,” Rowan said softly, giving her brother a lingering look.
Robert’s gaze flicked to Gavin, then to Claudia, as if weighing the risk of speaking aloud in front of them.
At last, he said, “You know the Patriarch sent you to us as a tool to be used. We were told to torture you to get your power to come forth. We were supposed to drain your magic and bend it to our wills until the task he set us was complete. As you know, we didn’t do that. ”
Rowan leaned forward, her voice low and precise.
“We couldn’t. Not because it wasn’t possible, but because we didn’t want to hurt you.
We were both sickened when Jeremiah revealed what the family had been doing to you all that time.
I almost puked on his carpet, I’m not ashamed to confess.
Robby wanted to kill Jeremiah right then and there, but we had to hide our reactions.
It was too dangerous, and we had no need to force your magic from you.
Between the two of us, we carried more power than he ever suspected. ”
A chill slid down Marigold’s spine. She remembered the quiet weeks she’d spent in Robert and Rowan’s house, and the odd, restrained tension that had hung in the air.
The way Robert had barely spoken, and Rowan had hovered at the edges, always watchful but never hurtful.
Marigold had thought they were simply biding their time.
Now she realized they’d been hiding something else entirely.
“You completed the task without me,” she whispered the truth she had known all along and always wondered about.
Robert’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. And we let Jeremiah believe otherwise. We let him think that you’d been useful. We dragged out the task as long as we could, both to ration our own power draw and to give you a short break from being under his thumb.”
Rowan’s lips thinned, a flicker of disgust shadowing her expression.
“I wish we could have kept you forever and protected you. As it was, all we could do was offer a short respite from Jeremiah’s vile ways.
For the short term, we could help you, but we couldn’t keep it up or he’d have turned his attention on us. ”
Marigold’s breath came shallow. “All those years, I thought nobody in the family cared about what they were doing to me.”
Robert’s tone sharpened, though his eyes betrayed a flash of something more.
“Caring was dangerous. To you, and to us. Though, of course, we wished it had been otherwise. We struggled to think of a way to free you, but in the end, we couldn’t come up with anything that would work against Jeremiah and his regime.
They were too addicted to having your power at their beck and call. ”
Silence stretched for a moment as she thought over what they’d said. Gavin shifted in his chair beside her, his posture taut, but he didn’t say anything.
Claudia, however, studied the siblings with new scrutiny. “So, you’ve been playing a deeper game all along.”
Rowan met her gaze levelly. “We did what was required. We kept our heads down, and we survived.”
Robert added, his voice quiet but edged with steel, “Don’t mistake restraint for loyalty.
The Patriarch demanded obedience, but we never gave him more than the absolute minimum.
We let them all believe that we were less powerful than we really are.
What we believed in our hearts,” his gaze flicked to Rowan, then back, “was never his concern.”
Marigold’s chest tightened. She began to see them not as distant, untouchable Rollins heirs, but as something more complicated. More human and, maybe, as potential allies.
The weight of their words pressed hard against Marigold’s chest. For years, she had carried the memory of her time with Robert and Rowan like a shadowed scar. One she had thought meant indifference at best. Now, the truth lay bare between them, reshaping everything she thought she knew.
Her throat felt tight, but before she could gather her thoughts, Gavin leaned forward, his voice steady and direct. “That’s all well and good,” he said, “but it doesn’t answer the real question. What do you intend for the Rollins dynasty now?”