Page 71 of The Black Witch

His face grows hard. I can tell he’s not used to being challenged.

Why is he so touchy about this? And why isn’t he already fasted?

“Who attacked you?” he asks, completely ignoring my last comment.

“A Kelt girl named Iris, and a scary-looking Urisk girl named Bleddyn.” I describe everything that happened in the kitchen.

“That’s easily managed,” he says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Anything else?”

I’m momentarily silenced by how blasé he is, how confident he is that this impossibly disastrous situation can be rectified.

“I was also attacked by two Icarals,” I continue. “Ariel Haven and Wynter Eirllyn. My new lodging mates.”

One of his eyebrows goes up at this. “They placed you with the twoIcarals? After what happened in Valgard?”

I nod my head miserably. “They won’t let me move until I’m fasted.”

He lets out a short laugh, as if amused and impressed by my aunt’s tenacity. “Your auntreallywants you wandfasted to me, doesn’t she?”

“Apparently.”

“You do realize that all of these problems would just disappear if we marched over to Mage Abernathy’s office and agreed to be fasted? You wouldn’t need to work to pay your tithe. And you’d have your choice of lodging.”

The generosity of his offer catches me completely off guard, giving me serious pause. He’s made it to twenty unfasted, yet he’s willing to drop everything and fast to me. The incredible flattery of this fills me with a heady disbelief.

But it’s still much too fast.

“I can’t,” I say, shaking my head. “Believe me, it’s tempting, but I just can’t.”

He gives me the once-over and sighs. “Well, I guess it’s a bit of relief. No offense, but you look truly awful. Is that manure you’re covered with?”

I’m suddenly struck by the sheer outrageousness of this situation. I’m covered in barn refuse, and the most eligible man in Gardneria wants to wandfast to me.

A short laugh escapes me, and I shoot Lukas a resigned look. “Yes, it is.” I let my head fall into my hands. After a moment I’m aware of him taking a seat next to me, his arm warm against mine.

“Did the Icarals hurt you?” he asks.

I look over at him. “I didn’t give them the chance to. I blockaded myself in a storage closet.”

Lukas spits out a laugh. He straightens and fingers the hilt of his sword. “They’re easily managed, as well.”

“Easily managed?”Is he kidding?“They’remonsters!”

“No, they’re not.”

“They havewings! Which means they have theirpowers! They’re even worse than the ones in Valgard!”

“No, they’re not,” he says again.

I’m starting to feel at wits’ end. “How can you say that?”

“Well, for starters, Wynter Eirllyn is the daughter of Elfin royalty—”

“I don’t care if she’s a royal princess,” I vehemently counter. “It doesn’t change the fact that she wants tokillme.”

“Wynter Eirllyn is harmless,” he calmly disagrees. “She has about as many evil powers as I do.” Lukas smirks. “Probably fewer.”

This is just too much. “Don’t you believe in your own religion?”

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