Chapter 14 #2
Desperation rose to the forefront of David’s emotions, dim behind the ice.
In her mind’s eye, a skinny blond boy was crying over things he didn’t understand, and her heart pinched.
He pushed away from the shelf, his gaze planted firmly on hers. “If the things they say about me are true, then I’m a monster. Fair warning. But the truth is I don’t know if they’re true, and I just—I want the answer.”
So do I.
All she had wanted for five years was answers.
“I saw you, and something told me to stop. My intuition is rarely wrong.” He shrugged and motioned toward the door. “But leave if you want to leave.”
And that was all it took—the slightest show of vulnerability. She wondered why he’d let her witness it, but it made her decision easy. “I’ll stay.”
Expressionless, he blinked three times before a razor-sharp smile spread over his face. “Then why don’t you start by telling me everything you know about Morgan’s magic.”
She took a deep breath. “That could take a very long time.”
Faceted green eyes locked on hers. “We can go slow. It isn’t a race.”
“And then I told him everything I know,” Anna said, pacing the small quarters she shared with Madlyn. “Well, not everything. We were only there for a couple hours before Autumn Farraday took him away, and there are dozens of books to go over, but—”
“Anna,” Maddy said from the sofa, hugging a pillow to her stomach. “He’s going to figure out your secret.”
“I know!” She stopped and covered her face with her hands. “What else was I supposed to do? You know how badly I want to know where I come from. I was so curious about him, and you didn’t hear him talking about prisons and how his whole life is a lie and asking me for help.”
Maddy raised delicate eyebrows and grinned.
Assigned as Anna’s guardian the moment she’d stumbled through the mist, Maddy had practically been forced to become her best friend.
Back then, the whispers of the pixie with mortal blood, who’d arrived knowing nothing about her magical history, had captivated the realm.
At first, they’d wondered whether she was part of the Sidera line, but that rumor was quickly put to rest by Kywyn.
No, she was just some random pixie-mortal hybrid unlike anything the realm had ever seen.
Cathaire had taken her under his wing at once, and although most didn’t receive a personally assigned guardian, he’d felt her case was special and demanded “one of the best” watch over her.
Luckily “one of the best” was also the warmest, most supportive woman Anna had ever met.
Madlyn Vaelora, like most Luxorians, had lived in the realm from birth.
Twenty years the guardian’s junior, Anna had first assumed they’d have nothing in common.
She was quickly proven wrong. They clicked like puzzle pieces, and Anna now trusted this woman more than she trusted herself.
Maddy’s dark blond hair was wet from her post-training shower, dyeing the cloud blue of her dress to navy around her shoulders. She hadn’t been to the infirmary yet, so her wrist was wrapped. As a guardian, she took a lot of injuries.
“No, I didn’t see him whining,” Maddy said, “but I have seen him. Scary magic notwithstanding, he’s the kind of pretty that makes a girl question her morals.”
Anna ignored that—rather standard comment as far as Madlyn went. “He’s the heir of Manae. Was I allowed to say no?”
Maddy shrugged. “So now you’re stuck training with the light-shadow twins and have private study lessons with heir of Manae in your spare time?”
Anna fell facedown onto the opposite couch, groaning. “I just want to live in anonymity. It’s bad enough that I’m the pixie with mortal blood. Now I’m in the path of two uncrowned Sovereigns, which means extended amounts of time with Autumn Farraday.”
Her friend sucked in a breath. “Yikes.”
Anna popped up to her elbows. “She can read minds!”
“I know. What do you think they’ll call you when word gets out you’re a pixie and a child of Morgan?”
“Exiled,” Anna said. “They’ll call me exiled.”
“Psh. Cathaire won’t let them exile you. He’s too proud of his favorite Apprentice.”
“His only Apprentice.”
“Not anymore. Besides, if you get in good with Caden Sidera, he can keep the Council from doing something crazy.”
“Like exiling me.”
Maddy moved to Anna’s sofa and forced her upright. “Look at the bright side. Our four noble families just casually entered your world. You could become friends with them, Anna. They serve in the Seelie Court. Think about the influence you could have, the protections you could get.”
“If people find out I have Morgan’s magic, that’s exactly what they’ll fear. My influence.”
“Maybe they won’t find out.”
Anna thought of the jagged edges of David’s intuitive green eyes, the only part of him that wasn’t gold. Those eyes could see straight through her. Even without magically compelling it out of her, she feared he’d deduce the truth by instinct alone.
Or maybe she hoped for it.
“Yeah,” she said on a long exhale. “Maybe they won’t.”
But they would.
They definitely would.