Page 138 of The Black Witch

For a moment we’re both silent as I digest all this new information.

“So...the next Black Witch,” I venture. “What if it’s true? What if she comes?”

He grows quiet, his eyes grave with foreboding. “The Gardnerians have built the most powerful army they have ever had, with more dragons at their command than ever before. If another Black Witch rises, it is likely that the Gardnerians will succeed in taking over every land that exists on our maps, crushing the Resistance and making everyone who is not a Mage into a slave, with the exception, perhaps, of the Lupines.” He leans toward me, his voice low. “Is that what you want, Elloren Gardner?”

I think of Fern and her bubbles. I swallow hard, feeling off-kilter and troubled. “I’m a Level One Mage,” I say, struggling to keep my tone light. “It hardly matters what I want.”

“Perhaps, but I’m still curious.”

“I don’t know,” I say, my worldview like shifting sand unsteady beneath my feet. “Lukas Grey told me that you have to dominate or be dominated. That all of history is like this.”

He considers this, nodding with a look of sad resignation. “Much of historyislike that,” he agrees. “But perhaps there is another way.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, Elloren Gardner. I don’t know,” he says sadly, shaking his head. “But for me, life would not be worth living without at least having faith in that one thing—that there is another way, a path of justice, if you will. And that there is at least a very small sliver of hope that this path will one day be discovered.”

“So you think there’s hope for something better than all of this fighting? Some other future that’s possible?”

“A future of fairness? A future of justice? A future where resources are shared by all peoples instead of fought over? Yes, I think it’s possible, but I think it will all come down to the choices of individuals.”

“Even powerless individuals?”

“I like to think so, yes.”

I sigh and slump down. “It all seems very confusing.” I eye him piercingly. “And I’m not sure if I even believe everything you say.”

Unexpectedly, Professor Kristian stands up and pulls several books from the shelves lining his small office. I read the front covers as he hands them to me one by one.

The Annotated History of Keltania, by the Keltic historian Mikael Noallan

A History of the Alfsigr Realm, translated from High Elvish by Ital’lyr Ciarnyllir

A Comprehensive History of the Faekin, translated from Asrai Fae by Elfhollen historian Connor Haldash

The Amazakaran Worldview, by the Keltic historian Mikael Noallan

Lupine Societies: A History, by Lupine historian Dolf Boarg

“But these will all be from different points of view,” I say as he once again takes his seat. “I’ll be even more confused than I already am.”

He smiles slightly. “Who said confusion is a bad thing? I have found that confusion can be a very good thing. Often you have to fall into the blackness of utter confusion before you can emerge to see even the smallest glimmer of the truth. My heartfelt wish is that you read these books and are thrown into a complete tailspin of befuddlement.”

I frown at him. “I came here for answers.”

He laughs at this, pushing up his spectacles. “Good history professors have only questions. You will have to find your own answers, Elloren Gardner.”

I stand up, my arms wrapped around the heavy volumes. “Thank you,” I say to him, my voice uncertain as I look down at the thick books he’s given me.

“Don’t thank me,” he says, all amusement gone. “Real education doesn’t make your life easy. It complicates things and makes everything messy and disturbing. But the alternative, Elloren Gardner, is to live your life based on injustice and lies.”

I bite at my lower lip, not liking what he’s saying. Hating some of it.

He abruptly glances back down at the papers on his desk and begins to write on them, making it clear that it’s time for me to leave.

I hug the heavy books tight under both arms and walk out.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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