Page 61 of The Shadow Wand

“Do you have any idea, Mage Gardner,” she says, her voice all tight control, “how many young women would have givenanythingto fast to my son?”

My throat goes dry. I’m not sure how to respond. The black enameled clock on the fireplace mantel seems to be waiting for my answer as well, impatiently ticking to break the silence.

Evelyn Grey turns away from the window to peer at me once more. “Yet he chose someone who had to be physically restrained, actuallyheld down, before she could be fasted to him.”

Anger sparks like flint to steel.Yes, well, he forced me. And I’d have struck your wretched son down and escaped if I had control of my magic.

Her frown tightens. “He regrets fasting to you.” She says it calmly enough, but I catch the desperation clawing at the edges of her tone as she glares at me like I’m some evil thing who’s imprisoned her son. “You should see the look that comes over his face when your name is mentioned. Hebitterlyregrets it.”

Nausea rises and burns at the back of my throat as I remember why I’m here.If I don’t secure Lukas’s protection, the Vu Trin will kill me.

“I wasn’t myself at the fasting,” I force out, struggling to keep my anger at bay. “My uncle had just died. It’s taken me a while to get over that, and... I think Lukas will understand.”

Her eyes go wide and she nods with theatrical pleasantry. “Will he, now?” Her lip lifts, her eyes narrowing into verdant shards of ice. “A warm reception he gave you, was it?”

I shrink under her mocking glare.

“Where have you been, Mage Gardner?” Her voice has gone hard as stone.

The question catches like a hook in my throat. She’s watching me, still as a cat.

“I...I just came from the Keltish Province...” I start, remembering to use Keltania’s new name. “I was with Lukas...”

“No,” she cuts in, acid edging her tone. “Youknowwhat I mean.”

My mind whirls into chaos.

“He fasts to you andsealsthe fasting,” she continues, “but you run off and let the Sealing spell go fallow with no consummation.” Her eyes flick down at my unmarked wrists. “I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of my son regarding where you went and why you rejected him in such a brazen manner,” she continues, “so I’m askingyou. This past month. Wherewereyou?”

I will myself to form a coherent thought, scrabbling to unearth the excuse I’ve readied. “I was trying to find a way to contact my brothers,” I lie.

“Ah, yes, the traitors.”

I nod stiffly.

“And did you find a way?” There’s cloying sarcasm in her tone.

I shake my head, grief stabbing at me.No, you witch, I didn’t,I anguish. I don’t know where they are. I don’t even know if they’re still alive.“I thought...if I could find them...” I haltingly offer. “I thought I could get them to stop.”

“Stop what?” she asks, cocking her head.

“Their rebellion.”

“Which you are no stranger to yourself, isn’t that right?” she states as fear shoots down my spine. She stares me down before shaking her head, as if deeply disappointed in me. “What a wretched liar you are, Elloren Gardner.”

I stand frozen, struggling to keep my breathing even as she moves away from the window and begins to circle me.

“I know you were found in bed with a Kelt,” she says. “Do you have any idea of the lengths Vyvian and I had to go to, to try to hide that fact?” She makes a full sweep around my still form then stops directly before me. Her gaze is searing, her tight control breaking around the edges as fury seeps through. “And now, you are fasted tomyLukas. A girl from a family of race traitors who takes every opportunity tospiton her grandmother’s great name, who lacks evenone shredof moral decency.” Her mouth twists into a livid grimace. “Is my son’s reputation to beso polluted?”

“I’m not like my brothers,” I stammer, the lie painful to force out.

She gets right up to my face. “You are not good enough for my son,” she hisses through clenched teeth. “You are not fit to clean the mud from hisboots!” She grabs my hands roughly with hers.

I give a small cry and try to pull away as her nails dig into my skin.

She holds on to me, glaring with furious desperation at the fasting marks. “If there was some way to break this spell,” she says, seeming distraught, “I woulddoit. I’vetriedto find a way.” Her voice grows rough. “In bed with aKelt,” she grieves, then grows silent, fixated on my hands, the wheels of her mind visibly turning. “Do you know what we do now to race traitors, Elloren Gardner?” She’s speaking more to herself than to me, staring hard at my hands. “Weexecutethem.”

“I never slept with the Kelt,” I insist, my desperation to elude this vile woman rising. “It was all a misunderstanding. My hands. They’reproofof it.” No bloody gash marks, like on Sage’s hands. Absolute proof of my chastity.

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