14. Chapter 14 #3
“Well, the first escalation was when my lover, Captain Rowan Rangecroft, confronted him. Things got heated pretty quickly. Rowan was aware of my history with Andrew, so he was livid on my behalf, especially upon discovering Andrew had dared follow me all the way to Gravegarde just to get me back. He made it very clear he’d feed Andrew to the Drachifel if he got anywhere near me again. ”
Judge Necket coughed into his hand, which sounded like a disguised chuckle. He clearly enjoyed that tidbit.
“Advocate Bennet Nottle was a witness, and he also warned Andrew off. Not that it took.”
“What happened after the confrontation?”
“It was the next day, late in the afternoon. He caught me unawares as I was working on building the outer ward.”
“I’m sorry, clarify please. The outer ward?”
“When I arrived at Gravegarde, the ward was in horrific shape. Truly deplorable. It’s why I reported it to begin with.
I discussed it with the Rangecroft family and offered to do two wards.
One on the outer ring, connecting the watchtowers, and another ward attached to the fortress itself.
I wanted them—and myself—to have plenty of protection. ”
“So you were, in essence, doing more than your due diligence.”
“You could put it that way. I didn’t think of it along those lines. Those people are very dear to me. In fact, two are now my students, and I wanted a failsafe in place just in case.”
“You said Latimer caught you unawares?”
“Right. I honestly don’t remember the attack.
He used something to sneak up behind me and knock me out.
It was a spell, that much I know for sure, as my personal barrier took quite the beating.
I woke up in a cart, my hands bound, with Andrew driving us back south.
We were a good hour away from Gravegarde when I came to. ”
“So he abducted you.”
“Yes.”
“Did you confront him?”
“I did, immediately. He’d taken my wand, like that would even matter, but I was able to stop him. He tried one more attack, this time a love spell—”
All three judges hissed, sounding like angry vipers. Ooh, that was a good reaction. Rowan liked that reaction a lot. It promised loads of trouble.
“—but my personal barrier was still up, which deflected most of it. The spell didn’t have a chance to land, as I loathe Andrew to his very core.
I threw a paralyze spell at him, then took over the reins, turned the cart around, and headed back to Gravegarde.
Fortunately for me, Rowan had realized I was missing and was coming to my rescue with his family and Advocate Nottle. ”
“In the process of all of this, did Latimer explain why he was so fixated on you?”
“Finally, yeah. He admitted he was on the verge of a demotion because his work had been very subpar since we broke up. His admission made sense to me because he’d gotten the promotion thanks to all the help I’d given him.”
Now, Rowan hadn’t known that little wrinkle. No wonder the man had been so wildly incompetent, then; he was in a position he hadn’t actually earned. He didn’t have the skills for it.
Milo shrugged. “He was desperate to keep his position. He figured if he could make me fall madly in love with him again, I’d go back to helping him at work and he’d be able to pull himself out of all the trouble.”
Except it had only landed him in more trouble, as was often the case with people trying to cheat their way through life.
“One clarifying question, if you will. You said he’d taken your wand, but you could still cast spells? Did you regain the wand at some point?”
“After I’d paralyzed him, I did.” Milo spread his hands in a casual shrug. “What a lot of mages forget is that the wand is a tool. The mage is the one who wields the magic. I don’t need a wand to do spells.”
From the looks on the judges’ faces, this was incredibly impressive.
Milo had explained to Rowan before how not all mages needed wands, and it had impressed him then, but apparently he needed to be more impressed.
If three mages thought casting magic without a wand was amazing? Then it was pretty fucking amazing.
“Thank you, Mage Tobitt. I have no further questions.”
The defending lawyer stood. “May I cross-examine?”
“You may,” Judge Billinghurst allowed.
Counselor Larkin moved to face Milo on the other side. “Mage Tobitt, I’m finding part of this story hard to believe. You can really cast wandless magic?”
Milo turned his head just enough that Rowan could see his amused smile. Then he held out a hand, much like a stage magician in a play. “Paralyze.”
The lawyer froze stiff, nearly falling over. His eyes widened and he made a plaintive noise of protest. There was a gasp from everyone watching, and Judge Billinghurst actually let out a short oath of disbelief.
“Believe me now?” Almost snickering, Milo was clearly enjoying this.
“Uh, yes.” The poor man’s eyes were wide in his face, and his expression, despite being half frozen, looked strained. “Please undo this?”
“Sure.” Milo waved a hand, canceling the magic. Again, without touching his wand.
Damn, that had been arousing. The poise, the confidence. Rowan was ever so thankful all over again this man was his.
Judge Billinghurst cleared her throat. “I thank you for proving the point, Mage Tobitt, but please refrain from doing magic in my courtroom.”
“Apologies, Your Honor.”
“Thank you. Counselor Larkin, any other questions?”
“No further questions.” Latimer’s attorney looked like he didn’t dare ask anything else.
“Thank you, Mage Tobitt, you may be seated.”
Milo nodded and returned to his seat. He had a smug expression, as he should; he’d done a very good job up there.