Brightly Woven(62)

“Stop right there, Wayland,” Oliver warned. “I won’t have you speak such treason.”

“Let’s go inside,” Hecate said. “This isn’t a conversation for the castle’s many ears.”

“As if that really—” The door to North’s room creaked as it pulled open and shut, the voices disappearing. I traced their path down the hallway, straining my ears.

I stood close, my ear pressed against the wooden door, and listened.

“…will you do when the city is destroyed?” North asked.

“If we keep Auster in the Serpentine Channel, it won’t even come to that,” Oliver said.

“Fine, but even if you hold them there, what will you do about Saldorra marching from the west?” North said. “Dividing the Wizard Guard is a terrible idea—you won’t have anyone left here to defend the city, especially if Dorwan takes it upon himself to pay the queen a visit.”

“If you believe that, then why won’t you stay and fight?” Oliver demanded. “You criticize our methods of leadership, and yet you won’t lift a hand to aid us?”

“I did help you. I brought you everything you needed to stop this war,” North said, “but it obviously meant nothing coming from a dirty, unranked vagrant.”

“Wayland,” Hecate said, her voice hard. “Now is the time for you to come back, don’t you see? Everything will be forgiven.”

“No!” North said. “I didn’t come back here for you, or for this life. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“You’re doing your father a great dishonor,” she said severely.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m the only one doing his memory justice,” North shot back. “He would have done everything in his power to deal peacefully with this threat.”

“Really, Wayland?” Oliver asked, sneering. “Auster is no more of a threat to the people of Palmarta than the girl you’ve brought here.”

I tensed, my heart giving a strange lurch.

“She has nothing to do with this,” North said.

“Don’t think we didn’t realize what she was the moment we both saw her,” Oliver said. “Other wizards may not be powerful enough to sense it, but unfortunately for you, we are.”

“Oh, how foolish of me,” North said. “How could I ever forget how very powerful you are, Ollie?”

“You know what we’ve done with her kind in the past,” Hecate said. “I thought at first that you were bringing her to me to use in the war. That kind of power would devastate Auster’s armies.”

“Sorry to ruin your plans,” North said, “but I’ve been sorting out the threads of her magic since the first day I met her. It’s not as simple as you would think. She radiates magic, yes, but all the different kinds are knotted together, so she can’t necessarily control the effect she’ll have on the world. I’ve closed off most of her ability to use it, willingly or not. She’s no danger or use to you, not anymore.”

My mind, or at least the portion that wasn’t slowly spinning it all together, was telling me to stop listening. To turn and walk back down the stairwell, to leave before I learned the full truth.

“All you’ve done is repress her magic,” Hecate said. “A single wizard can’t strip that type of power, Wayland. She’s not like us. She doesn’t just channel magic; she creates it—is it. You must understand why the Guard has handled things the way they did in the past. The jinxes were detected and put to death before the age of seven, when their magic would have manifested.

“Does she even know?” Hecate continued. “Does she know what she is, or have you kept that from her, too?”

“She doesn’t,” North said. “And I’ll skin the both of you alive if you tell her.”

Oliver laughed. “Oh, this is too good! The dumb thing follows you around like a lovesick puppy, and she’s never put it together?”

I cringed, shrinking away until Hecate’s voice caught me and held me there.

“That’s unfair, Oliver,” she said. “How could she possibly know? Most wizards wouldn’t recognize the magic, let alone a human. I’m assuming that’s what the duel with Genet was about? And the quake that followed?”

“I had to fight,” North’s voice was strained. “She releases so much magic into the world that it draws other magic to her, and there hasn’t been a wizard who’s been able to resist it.”

“I felt I had to touch her,” Hecate said. “Even with the bracelet, I could still sense it, weakened as it was.”

“Yes, and I noticed how well you resisted it, Mother.”

“You touch her all the time,” Oliver snapped. “It’s disgusting how little restraint you have.”

“Because I want to, not because I feel compelled to! There is a difference!”

“Wayland,” Hecate said. “I’ll use her, or I’ll end her life—either way, she will not leave this city until I’ve made my decision.”

North was practically pleading now. “Magister helped me create a lock. I’ve been strengthening it over the past few days, making sure that no one else can sense her power. It’s contained completely. She’s not any danger to Provincia!”