Page 28 of Ruled By Magic

“I stole a link-up, I don’t have long.”

Sarina’s voice rose. “You stole—fuck, Liv. Do you have a death wish?”

“I mean, I found it. Look, it doesn’t matter. How’s everyone? Does Roland miss me?” An image formed behind my eyes, vivid and bright. My cousin, curled up on her battered blue sofa, with Roland purring in her lap. An icy spike of loneliness pierced my heart.

“He’s fine. Everyone’s fine.” A pause. “I’ve seen the photographs in the circulars.”

Judgment, thick and sour, resonated through every word. I gripped the link-up harder. “It’s not what it looks like. I’m not—” How to express it? “I don’t have a choice.”

“You had a choice.”

Anger incinerated my sorrow. “As if you’d have chosen differently!”

“Of course I would!” Sarina spat out the retort. “You’ve brought shame to our family. Elise came home from the Academy in tears yesterday because the kids are bullying her now. I’ve had pressmen hanging round the shop. You don’t know what you’ve done.”

“So I should’ve just gone to prison? For fifteen fucking years?”

“You commit a crime, you take the punishment. You don’t whore yourself out to escape it. It’s bad enough that you’re a criminal, but this—”

I mashed my finger against the red button and cut off the call. My chest heaved as I stared at the device. Fuck Sarina, doling out judgment from her religious high horse. But guilt crept in at the mention of Elise. The twelve-year-old called me Auntie Liv, despite the inaccuracy of the title. I’d babysat often, keeping her up past bedtime, watching vids and eating soft jawa fruit drenched in syrup. And now the sweet little girl was getting bullied thanks to me.

Tears stung my eyes, but I forced my attention back to the link-up. Who to call next? Susan. The baby would be due any day.

A rustle in the trees froze my hand as I typed. The forest loomed, green merged with thick black shadows. It was stupid to come out here alone.

At age fifteen, I spent three months at a camp in the forest. Part of my Academy’s curriculum, something unusual they took pride in. They employed every safety precaution. The fenced campsite had a mage on duty at all times and wards to warn of encroaching predators. The idea was to teach us survival skills because, as our trip leader kept informing us, Dexia was sixty percent woods.

The grouchy old man had tried his best, but my recollections of the trip were sketchy. Only two things remained clear. Sharing my very first kiss with a skinny boy who held my hand by the campfire, and being warned, repeatedly, never to enter the forest alone.

“You might as well put a pistol to your own head and pull the trigger,” the trip leader had said, miming the action for emphasis.

I shivered. I could walk and talk. Best to get moving. A crack to my left whipped my head around. I pressed against the cold, unyielding barrier. “Hello?”

A figure emerged from the trees, draped in red. Unease crept up from my stomach. The palace priest.

“Hello, my dear. What are you doing out here all alone?”

The priest stepped forward, an unwelcome sight. His gaze crawled over my body. I straightened my shoulders and stared him down.

“I’m out for a jog.”

“Outside the barrier?”

“Yes. I’m just making my way back to the entrance. Good day.”

“Don’t be so hasty.” His red robes dragged on the ground, rustling the leaves. “My shrine is behind the tree line. Zantus appreciates direct communication, unhindered by the barrier.”

His lip curled disapprovingly. “You’re in desperate need of absolution. What that man has done to you, the disgrace he’s visited upon you, is an abomination in the eyes of Zantus. He’s bound for hell and dragging you with him. Come and pray with me.”

“No. Leave me alone.”

I surprised myself with the strong words. I should be scared. All priests were mages. He could overpower me with no effort. My bubbling anger pressed the fear down, though. One man ordering me around was more than enough.

His face twisted, and a brief flash of rage sped across his features.

“Don’t be disrespectful, child. I’m a high priest. You will watch your tongue and accompany me to my—”

“No, she won’t.”

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