Page 46 of Degradation

“Yell at her one more time, and I will forget how much you meant to Henry,” Brandle said lowly.

“Stop yelling,” I rasped as I gripped Garron’s wrist and gulped the vile healing tea.

I felt the spell take hold and breathed a sigh of relief as my stomach settled despite the awful taste. It spread outward, easing the aches in my joints and finally removing the dull throbbing in my head.

Letting out a relieved sigh, I opened my eyes.

“I am not a simpleton. I took a calculated risk, Pogwid. And you shouldn’t yell at Pogwid, Brandle. She now has the ability to turn you into a toad if she wishes. I refuse to kiss you if you’re a toad.”

Brandle fell to his knees beside me and wrapped his hands around mine.

“You promised,” he said. “You swore you wouldn’t cast.”

I blinked at him, at a loss since I had, in fact, made that promise.

“Pogwid asked me to cast. I thought it was okay.” Never mind the countless spells I cast before that while learning. I wasn’t about to bring those to his attention as well.

“She asked you to remove her memory of you. To protect you.”

“Yes, well, casting is casting, isn’t it?”

Brandle released me and rubbed his hands over his face. I could feel him gearing up for a lecture and looked at Pogwid.

“I think I would prefer him as a toad, actually.”

Her angry glare conveyed her unamused stance.

Sighing, I looked at Brandle. “What am I?”

His anger and fear faded a bit as he looked at me.

“You’re ours.”

“And what else?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m a danger, Brandle. To all of you because of all the things I don’t yet know. My limits. My capacity. My potential. How to stay hidden. How to help. But Pogwid knows all those things about herself. She just lacked the power. I fixed that to protect us all, even myself, despite knowing my efforts could cause everyone’s disapproval and another stern lecture from one of the men who loves me unconditionally.”

With a shaky exhale, he took my hands again and kissed the backs of them. He was thinking dangerous thoughts that would end with both of us angry if he acted upon them.

I looked at Pogwid. “If I allow you to touch my well, do you promise not to look into my thoughts and only check my well for damage to reassure the men who will otherwise try to lock me away for the rest of my life?”

Pogwid stared at me for a moment then nodded. I felt her energy touch me, and I lifted the lid on my well—not all the way, just to the point where I would not yet be detected. Her eyes went wide, and her gaze searched mine for a moment before I felt her withdraw.

“And have I damaged myself?”

“You should have. I don’t understand why you didn’t when I could see your strain. Something other than your own limitations was preventing you from completing the spell.”

“What did you feel?” Garron asked. “How deep is her well?”

She turned away without answering and dug around on one of her shelves for a stone. It was as large as Edmund’s fist and glinted with green and gold veins.

“Do you know what this is?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“A casting stone,” Garron said.

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