Page 70 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Please be someone I know.There are other castle magicians I’ve not yet met, older ones who spend most of their time studying.Don’t let it be Pierre,I plead quickly, amending my previous statement, only imagining his expression of quiet delight.

“Clarissa?”

Wilson. Relief floods through my system as I hear the familiar voice.Thank the Mother. His magic pulses again, and the priests are suddenly blasted back a couple of feet, falling to the ground. I watch in shock, my mouth open as the priests lie on the ground, unmoving for a couple of seconds. I hear one of them groan but can’t see anymore as Wilson runs over and kneels in front of me, brushing his hand over my hair andcupping my cheek. Moving his hands to my shoulders, he helps me stand, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“How dare you harm a priest,” one of them rasps, and as we turn to face them, I see the pure hatred in his eyes as he glares at Wilson.

“You harmed a woman who is Goddess blessed,” my friend growls, and I can feel his magic swirling around him with his anger. I’ve never seen Wilson like this before. He takes a step in front of me, as if to protect me from the priests. I’m worried he’s about to go into euisa, so I place a hand on the small of his back.

“Wilson, I’m okay. Let’s go,” I say quietly. I’m concerned they’re going to try and pick a fight with us, so I just want to get away from these two as soon as possible.

“The king will hear about this,” the mouthy one snarls as they hurry past us, and even as they leave, I can feel their eyes still boring into my back.

“Are you okay?” Wilson asks, as he starts to lead me towards Grayson’s rooms. Seeing my nod, he shakes his head and glances over his shoulder as if he expects the priests to be following us. “Maybe it would be best if you don’t walk around on your own for now,” he suggests, and I quickly nod my head in agreement.

I’m still in shock over what happened, it was so unprovoked. As a slave, I learned to expect pain and violence all the time, but as Clarissa I discovered I had some protection from random acts of violence. Not anymore, at least not while the priests are in control and patrolling the castle. I don’t even know why they were in this part of the palace anyway. A thought suddenly occurs to me and my blood runs cold.

Were they waiting there for me?I shake my head,No, that can’t be right, they wouldn’t have known when I was going to return to Grayson’s rooms.Wilson throws me a questioning smile, which I just return, shaking my head again. I won’t sharemy suspicions with anyone until I have more to go on than just a feeling.

Worry gnaws at me and I look up at him. “Will you get into trouble for attacking the priests?”

He glances at me quickly before looking away and shrugging, but I don’t miss his concern before he is able to hide it.

“I doubt it, and if I do, Grayson will help me. He won’t let anything happen to me, especially because I was protecting you.” He flashes me a bright smile and I chuckle slightly, but inside I’m still uneasy about his flippant attitude. If priests were attacking ladies in the corridors, what’s to stop them from trying to get him punished for humiliating them?

We turn the last corner and finally reach Grayson’s rooms, and I enter with Wilson close behind me.

“I’ve told you already. I’m not leaving!” Grayson’s frustrated voice reaches us from the living room, and Wilson and I frown at each other. Following the voices, we enter the room and see the three visiting higher magicians sitting on the couches while Grayson is up and pacing.

“It’s the only way, Grayson. You need to think beyond the girl!” Pierre growls, his gaze shooting to me as we stand in the doorway. His eyes narrow and he shakes his head in exasperation. “Oh, perfect,” he mutters, and the others follow his gaze.

“Clarissa, now isn’t—” Whatever he was going to say cuts off as he looks at us and notices Wilson’s arm around my waist. I don’t know what he sees on my face, but concern overtakes his frustration. “What’s wrong?”

“The priests attacked Clarissa,” Wilson answers, and I shoot him a dirty look as the room fills with exclamations, their voices all merging into one as they speak over each other, barraging me with questions. Grayson is the first to reach my side, with Merrin and Ellis not far behind, concern lining their features. Surprise,surprise, Pierre doesn’t move from his seat. Frustration rises within me. They didn’t need to know priests had stopped me, it serves no purpose other than upsetting Grayson. Two can play at that game.

“Wilson attacked the priests,” I declare, trying to take some of the heat off me. Pierre rolls his eyes from the other side of the room, and Merrin mutters something under his breath as he shakes his head, pulling the younger magician aside.

“That was probably not a very sensible thing to do,” he scolds with a frown.

“I was protecting her!” he argues defensively, his expression one of total disbelief. Pierre suddenly laughs from his seat, clapping slowly as he leans forward when everyone turns to face him. With a tilt of his head, he studies me, as if waiting for me to do something. When nothing happens, he looks to the men in the room, his eyes going from one to the next.

“What is it about this woman that has people doing stupid things for her?” His tone is light, disbelieving, but I can see the simmering anger in his eyes.

“Pierre…” Ellis warns, his expression serious as he shakes his head slightly. I get the feeling this has been brought up before. My suspicions are confirmed when Grayson freezes, fury burning in his gaze.

“Get out.” I’ve never heard Grayson’s voice so icy before. In fact, he sounds like a different person, not the kind, compassionate magician I know.

“What?” Pierre doesn’t move, simply raising an eyebrow in disbelief. “You invited me here, remember?”

“I said, get out. Now,” he orders, his voice hard before he turns his back completely on his fellow magician and faces me. He reaches my side, his voice suddenly much softer when he questions, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Grayson…” His expression tells me not to argue, so I just shake my head, trying to ignore Pierre as he stalks past me. I feel like we might be burning our bridges, and I make a note to talk to Grayson about this later, but I know now is not the time. Not while he is so worked up and in front of his peers.

“Fine. I was walking back and two priests asked me what I was doing. I told them I was returning to my rooms and they decided I wasn’t paying them enough respect, so one of them punched me in the stomach. I fell to the ground, shocked, and that’s when Wilson found me.” I keep my explanation simple and as brief as possible, wanting to get this over with. Glancing around the room, I see the other magicians are just as furious as Grayson appears to be, and I take a small step back. None of them seem to notice, too caught up in their rage.

“You should’ve seen the looks on their faces, they were getting off on her pain. It was disgusting,” Wilson spits, and I re-evaluate my friend. I thought he was softer than the ‘regular’ magician, but I’m starting to realise he’s powerful in a different way that has nothing to do with the strength of his magic. He is fiercely protective of his friends. “They’re lucky I just knocked them off their feet and didn’t put any more power behind my attack.”

“Wilson,” Merrin interjects, placing his hand on my friend’s shoulder. “We need to speak with Clarissa. Thank you for escorting her back, would you mind leaving us?” he asks politely. His signature, soft smile is in place, but I get the impression Wilson doesn’t have a choice in this.

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