Page 42 of Magic Claimed
I didn’t know what hurt more. That Jarom had said nothing to contradict me, that Eike stood dumbstruck or that Alerick finally nodded, stood, and made room for Anise.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Try again, Serafine.” Anise said.
We’d been at it for hours. Alerick had ignored me in favour of office work. He’d sat at his desk and stoically gone through stacks of paper, signing, calling Sedric in, conferring with Jarom or Eike and hanging around like a black cloud in the room.
Eike had fretted and gone from pacing to then sitting in one of the armchairs in front of the fire. Jarom had simply slouched silently in the other arm chair, one leg slung over the armrest, the other leg jumping up and down. At one stage they’d spoken, their voices muted and hushed low enough that I couldn’t make anything out. Sedric had come and gone with trays of food, but all I managed was water. I didn’t have an appetite, especially when erotic images of the morning kept resurfacing in my mind; Eike’s touch and words, the way Alerick had held me with irreverence, how they’d both brought me to climax without expecting theirs, the explosion of bathwater that soaked the room.
I was exhausted and yet I wasn’t going to stop. I needed this magic as much as they did. The first to control my magic would be the one to claim it. They wanted Esoti, a being who could never be killed, no matter about this conclave or meeting of The Six. I wanted my freedom.
I meant what I’d told them. I would set them free with my power. I could only hope if I was able to help them, they would still offer me my freedom once the bond was broken.
“Can you see the golden bubbles?” Anise asked, bringing me back to the moment.
“Yes.” Now I could see more of them, brighter than before. They floated from the fire, through the window, under the gap in the door, congregating in the corners of the room and along the ceiling.
“Good. Now concentrate on them and ask them to light the candle. Direct them with your thoughts,” Anise said.
What she said made sense, and it wasn’t as though the bubbles hadn’t rushed into my hands to do my bidding. I could have lit the candle hours ago, but with the wolves watching every move I made I wouldn’t show them how easy it was for me to direct the magic.
I only had to wait until Esoti constricted my collar and then they would have no choice but to take me back to the castle. There, I could at least practice in peace.
“I’m sorry, Anise. I can’t seem to do it,” I said. I hated I had to lie to her. She was nothing if not friendly and concerned about me, but she lived with the wolves. She seemed to be very close to them.
Anise nodded. She looked as tired as I felt and yet she worked tirelessly for the wolves. It was clear without her, they didn’t know how to control magic. Anise was dedicated and they protected her despite being magical—an offense punishable by death.
“Anise…how did you end up living with the wolves?”
Anise glanced at the wolves, but they were still deep in conversation. She sighed and sat next to me on the couch. “It is a sad story, Serafine.”
“Stories often are, Anise.”
A faint smile crossed her lips. “Indeed.” She stared into the fire, her eyes losing focus. I thought perhaps she wasn’t going to tell me when she began to talk. “I’m one of the magical lost, Serafine.”
I gasped. The magical lost were orphans who were abandoned when they first showed signs of magic. It was usually at about age five or six. They usually didn’t last long after that. If a child was magical, it was the law to take them to one of The Six, where they were usually exterminated or kept as a slave like me, their magic hobbled. They lived with the other children sold to the castle like Gilda.
There was only one possible reason she wasn’t a slave at the stronghold of one of The Six. “The wolves took you in.”
She nodded. “I was found wandering in wolf Territory. My mother or father abandoned me. Like you, I can’t remember who they were or why I was there. I only know that I’m so grateful for the wolves for taking me in. They are good people, Serafine.”
They might be good people, but she wasn’t tethered to three of the most powerful wolves in the Territory. Their motivations weren’t altruistic. “Anise, they took you in for your magical abilities. It wasn’t all through the goodness of their heart.”
Anise turned her head away from me, her shoulders in a tense line. “I would have died if they hadn’t taken me in. They continue to protect me.”
I huffed a humourless sound, “They use you for your magic like they want to use me.”
She spun towards me, fire in her eyes. “Yes, they do. But they don’t want to use it for themselves. They want to take down Esoti with it. That’s why you’re so important, Anise.”
“I’m not important, Anise.” I never was. “Themagicinside me is important. Don’t mix the two things up.”
“That’s not true. They adore you. They are honourable men. The best Alphas. They look after everyone here despite what Esoti does to them. Over the years it has become harder and harder. Esoti demands more from them every year and still they keep everyone here safe.”
“Esoti keeps them safe. If he wanted to wipe out all the wolves out, he would. He only keeps them for the crops they grow and the labour they provide because it’s easier to keep humans happy that way. A happy human population is easier to manage.” Couldn’t they see that? Esoti was only using them.
“That’s why anyone with magical abilities needs to be found and trained, if there is any hope. We can’t keep on living like this, Serafine,” Anise said.
Nobody could keep living like this. Like Esoti, the others of The Six were slowly and surely losing their minds. Perhaps living for a millennium wasn’t such a good idea. Then again, I didn’t think they were necessarily the best people to be chosen for the Prophecy. Once a bad seed, always a bad seed.
