Page 124 of The Gilded Cage

“And how does it do that?” Delora asked, leaning more heavily on her cane. “You manipulate the human body. Your magic promotes the accelerated regrowth of cells, the banishment of toxins, making changes to blood and tissue and organs and gods know what else. But that manipulation works both ways. With a single thought, you can stop a heart. Burst an artery. Cause a brain bleed. Collapse a lung. The list is endless, the power of life and death in your very hands. Your mother knew that. And ten years ago, when she came out of hiding, she was angry enough to use it that way. She grew in power and strength, reaching a point where she didn’t even have to be touching someone to hurt them, to kill them. Last I heard, she could walk by a group of people and wave her hand, snapping all the bones in their necks. Just like that, they were dead.”

Bile rose in Kiva’s throat. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie? That’s my daughter — you think I’m proud of what she became?” Delora looked away, staring out at the brown, murky swamp water. “There is good news, though. That kind of magic takes a toll, which means the damage she caused was limited, even with dedicated practice. That, and she wasn’t nearly as strong as Torvin. She could harm a few people at time, but him? He could lay waste to entire villages. Why do you think Sarana Vallentis tried to kill him? Once his power turned corrupt, he was a danger to the entire kingdom. To the entireworld. Husband or not, she had to put her people first.”

“No,” Kiva said, raising her hand in a stop motion. “That’s not —That’s not—”

“I’m guessing your mama told you a different history, didn’t she? One where poor little Torvin was the victim of mean old Sarana’s jealousy?” A mocking sound left Delora. “Of course she did. Make no mistake, girl, Torvin might have started out good and kind and a healer of the people, but he became the worst kind of evil there is. And every Corentine since him, at least the ones born with magic in our blood, have had to decide whether or not to follow in his footsteps.” She held Kiva’s horrified gaze. “Your mother chose wrong. And you —” She shook her head. “With how long you’ve repressed your power, I fear it’s only a matter of time before you head down the same dark path. There’s no potion in the world that can stop you from your own bad choices.”

Trembling all over, Kiva didn’t know what to say, what tothink.

If Torvin’s magic had corrupted him, if he’d been killing people —villages,as Delora had claimed — then Sarana had been justified in trying to end him. But that meant ... the entire rebel movement was founded on a lie. Their whole purpose was to reclaim the throne of Evalon for its supposedly rightful ruler, someone who had been unfairly exiled and stripped of his title. But if Delora was to be believed, then Torvin had lost all rights to his crown when he’d stopped serving his people, when he’d startedhurtingthem.

Kiva felt sick.

She was related to a monster.

And her mother —

Her mother had turned into him.

Unable to stomach such damning revelations, Kiva pushed away from Bluebell and ran straight to the water’s edge, vomiting up a foul mix of chocabuns, vegetables, and gravy.

“You’re a good little actress, I’ll give you that much,” Delora called, not moving from her porch.

Kiva wiped her hand across her mouth and staggered back toward her grandmother, tripping over creeping vines and sidestepping a snake that slithered right past her into the swamp. “I didn’t know,” she rasped. “None of this —I didn’t know.”

“Well, now you do,” Delora said in a no-nonsense voice, indifferent to Kiva’s inner turmoil. “And you can consider it a warning. It’s what awaits you if you’re not careful.”

“I wouldnever—”

“You can’t tell the future, girl,” Delora interrupted. “Tilda hid her magic for most of her life, determined never to use it for evil. And then —” Delora snapped her gnarled fingers. “One day she just didn’t care anymore. One day shewantedto hurt people. You can’t tell me with absolute certainty that you’d never do the same.”

“But that’s the thing — Ican,” Kiva said, strength returning to her voice. She moved closer, stopping at the foot of the porch steps. “I’ve spent my life helping people, learning to heal them not with magic, but with medicine. My father —” Her voice broke. “My father taught me to love people, to feel what they feel, to care for them, even the worst of them. And I did. For ten years, I helped the worst people in this world. Not once did I consider wanting to harm them. Even those I hated. I just —” She shook her head. “I don’t have it in me. I know I don’t.”

Delora eyed her for a long moment. Kiva held her gaze, unwavering in her self-confidence. She wouldn’t become like Torvin, like her mother. She was her own person, and she decided her own path. And while, yes, she’d done awful things in her life, she wasn’t like them.

She wasn’t a monster.

“I can see you believe that,” Delora finally relented. “And I hope you’re right, girl, I really do.”

Kiva took a step up the porch. “Then will you help me? That potion is all that’s keeping my magic in check. If you can give me just a little more —”

Delora’s face was set. “I told you, it’s not a permanent solution. You need to learn to control your magic. That’s the only way you can be sure to use it in the right way, by actively choosing to do so. You can’t keep on repressing it — that’s just a disaster waiting to happen.”

“But —” Kiva flailed, desperate. “You’ve repressed yours. You told me so when we first met.”

“I said nothing of the sort.”

“You said you don’t take the potion, but you don’t practice, either. So there must besomeway you keep from —”

Delora laughed, a harsh, grating sound. “You really don’t know, do you?”

Kiva threw out her arms, wincing when one went straight through a large spiderweb. “Knowwhat?”

Delora laughed again, but there was no humor in it. “If she didn’t tell you, I’m certainly not going to.” She jabbed her cane toward Kiva’s horse. “You need to leave. There’s nothing for you here.”

Turning on her heel, she began hobbling slowly toward her open door.

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