Lucky Charm (Reverse Fairytales Book 2)(22)

I slipped my hand in his, but he barely noticed. He was lost in the past. The best thing I could do was listen, so I did.

“I was shipped from foster family to foster family. Basically, anyone willing to take in a Magi, but I never lasted very long. Most families took away my wand and told me not to use magic as it was against the law. The last family I was with were the opposite. They pretty much made me their slave. I spent every hour of every day cleaning their house with magic. They were important and powerful enough not to have to worry about getting caught by the law. I guess it was good training to become a dishwasher. At fifteen I finally had enough and ran away. Luckily, I was found living on the streets by a Magi family. They lived in a rundown shack, constantly starving because they were not allowed to use their wands. Even then, jobs were incredibly hard to get for people like us.”

I thought back to the magi family I’d met when out with Leo. They’d lived in the most horrific conditions. I could imagine quite well how he lived.

“Many people visited the house,” Cynder continued. “It was always full. At first, I didn’t understand who they all were, but as I got older, I realized they were fighting a war. A war against the MDS... and your father.”





The Cave and the Truth


I could see how hard it was for him to tell me that he was in a group fighting my father although I could hardly blame him after everything my father had done. I squeezed his hand lightly to encourage him to continue. “I thought the Magi weren’t fighters.”

“We aren’t as such. Not that we would stand a chance if we were. There aren’t enough of us to openly fight. If your father had found out about us, we’d all have been locked up years ago.”

“So what did you do if you weren’t fighting?”

“We fought in our own way. Secretly. Our successes were small but undetected. We spent years recruiting new members. There are more Magi in Silverwood than you know, or, at least, there used to be. Most are masquerading as non-Magi and have been for years. We recruited from Laidys and Thalia. It was the beginnings of a group we named the Freedom of Magic.”

“But what have you actually done?” Recruiting people and hiding them in plain sight was one thing, actually doing something was another entirely.

“Actually, the last few years have been wasted somewhat. We’d spent years getting our people into your palace, thinking if we overthrew the king, the MDS wouldn’t have anyone to hide them. A lot of the Magi that worked there were part of our group.”

I stared at him open-mouthed. “You had a part in the riots last year?”

“No,” Cynder assured me. “In the end, your father’s own actions prevented us from having to do anything. I already told you that we didn’t want to use force. The riots happened exactly as you were told. At the time of your wedding, I was still on the run, but I know we had nothing to do with it. A lot of Magi were killed in the riots too. It wasn’t what we wanted at all. We only ever wanted peace. What last year taught us was that our plans and intelligence were severely lacking. We didn’t know about Xavier, and we didn’t know what your father was planning. All that time we’d spent getting access to the palace, and we realized we knew nothing.”

“My father had most of the palace bugged,” I told him. “If there were talks to overthrow my father, he would have known.”

“We were discreet, although there is every chance your father found us out. Not that it really matters now. Your father had already managed to fire all the Magi by the time of the riots.”

My brain was going double time, trying to wrap itself around everything Cynder was telling me. They’d spent so long trying to infiltrate the palace only to all be fired at the same time.

“If you weren’t planning to hurt him, what exactly were you planning to do?”

Cynder laughed without any humor. “Through years of spying on him, we’d managed to find out quite a few things. We planned on telling the media and exposing his secrets. We were almost set to do it before the events of last year unfolded.”

“What secrets?” I asked. I could well imagine my father having a few. He’d managed to keep the fact he had a cousin a secret.

“The fact that he was a member of the MDS, or, at least, he knew about them and actively encouraged their activities. My parents weren’t the only Magi to die at their hands during your father’s reign, but none or the murders were ever investigated.”

I didn’t know what to say. I should have been more surprised, but for a man who thrived on lies, it wasn’t the shock it could have been.

I had so many questions, but I couldn’t decide which to ask first. Eventually, I spoke again.

“So what now? I’ve opened up the palace to the Magi, but no one is interested. If you want to overthrow the monarchy, why are you even telling me this?”

“We don’t want to overthrow the monarchy. Not anymore. We want to work alongside you.” Cynder shifted his position so he was looking right at me instead of the fire. His face was pink with the heat.

“How?” I asked.

“Our main objective at the moment is to keep you safe. We still have a member of staff who has access to the palace. He’s there almost every day watching over you.”

I racked my brain to think who was left. My father had succeeded in emptying the palace of all magi, and despite my best efforts at recruitment, none had come back.