Page 74 of Crossroads Magic
“And why would you expect to have tried a concoction that is medieval, and fell out of favor a century ago?” Juda said.
I cast about for an answer. It was a good question.
“You should shrug off your father’s influence, Anna Crackstone,” Juda added.
“Excuse me?”
“Here we go,” Trevalyan breathed. “Juda, wait until we reach the fire. The voice won’t be as loud when you are warm.”
“Warmth is irrelevant,” Juda replied, without looking at Trevalyan. He was staring at me, I realized, even as we walked. He didn’t seem to care where he was placing his feet. “It is the absence of walls that makes the voice louder.”
I swallowed and glanced at Trevalyan and lifted my brow.What do I do?
Trevalyan shook his head.
“I am not insane, Anna,” Juda said.
I let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t say—”
“You have a brilliant mind and extraordinary power,” Juda added. “Your father did everything he could to diminish both, to mold you to what he thought a daughter should be, over your mother’s private objections. That left you flailing and unsatisfied about everything in life, for nothing you might reach for would please both of them.”
“Son of…” I breathed. For a moment, I wanted to turn away, walk the long way around the block to the back door of the inn, and leave Juda to his babbling.
Only, he wasn’t babbling. He sounded perfectly normal, although didactic in tone. But perhaps that was simply how he was, sometimes.
He hears things. You see things.
I let out a shaky breath. “Well…”
“You married early, as a way to tell your father ‘fuck you’, because he didn’t like the man you had chosen. That choice has been your undoing. Now you face another fork. Time to choose wisely, Anna Crackstone.”
I put my fingers to my throbbing temples. “Enough. Please, enough.”
Trevalyan took Juda’s arm. “Yes, indeed. That’s quite enough. Come along, quick step, Juda. Let’s get you inside.”
“Yes, please.” Juda picked up his pace.
Chapter Twenty-Three
In the bar, Juda and Trevalyan both headed for the table by the fire. Broch was already there with his empty tankard, which he raised a little in greeting to me.
I moved, instead, to the counter, and said to Hirom: “Do you know how to make mulled wine?”
Hirom stroked his beard. “That’s an old recipe, now.”
“So I understand. Do you even have wine to mull?”
“There’re a few bottles of red wine that Thamina bought one year for the solstice, to have with dinner. But no one wanted it. I think it’s in the cupboard by the sink, in the kitchen.”
“Do you know a recipe you…we can use? The day is cold enough. I think people might appreciate a warm drink.”
“They’ve always found my whisky warming enough,” Hirom said. “But…mulledwine.” He grinned. “It kinda fits in with here, doesn’t it?”
“That was what I was thinking.”
“Let me see what I can come up with.”
Benedict came up beside me. “Trevalyan said Juda upset you.”
