Page 2 of The Darkness in the Magi

Why take risks when it comes to magic?

The tribunal continues, but my attention is wholly focused elsewhere. If I could somehow plead my case to the maven mother, she might take pity on me. I could even be useful.

When I see the other magi rush past, I know it’s time for the tethering, but as I move to follow, a hand halts me.

“Not so fast.”

I look over to see the maven mother standing with her warden.

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” I blurt.

“I never said you did.”

I watch as the other girls file into the other room, desperate for someone to save me.

But why would they give me a second glance when they’re getting exactly what they want?

Freedom.

“Please don’t render me! I promise I’ll stay away from forbidden practices!”

“You need not fear rendering from me, stygian. Now let us make haste.”

The maven mother may be harsh, but she doesn’t lie, so I follow her to a corridor that belongs to the litterateurs. Along the way, we pass statues and portraits of notable magi and their wardens. There must be hundreds, but only one belongs to a stygian, and it’s placed there as a reminder.

Because a stygian’s fate is rarely kind.

We stop in front of a door and I wait nervously as the maven mother knocks.

If she’s not going to render me and I’m not being tethered, what exactly does she intend to do with me?

The door swings open, and I’m nearly blinded by how bright it is inside the room.

Blinking, a figure comes into focus. Tall, broad, clad in white. It takes me a moment to realize who I’m looking at.

Lucius, the head warden, fills the doorframe.

Inwardly, I recoil, as there’s never been a more arrogant being to walk the earth, and he’s the very last person I wish to consort with when my life has just been turned on its head.

The maven mother steps aside and gestures for me to enter.

“What am I doing here?” I ask, confused.

The maven mother exhales an annoyed breath. “Haven’t you guessed? You’re about to be tethered.”

Chapter 2

SOPHIE

When I finally regain my senses, I enter the room and look around to see whom I’m to be tethered to.

But aside from me, the only people inside the room are the maven mother, her warden, and Lucius.

“I don’t understand. Who am I to be bonded to?”

The maven mother chuckles. “The only other person in this room still capable of forming a bond.”

I look around again, my eyes falling on Lucius, whose face reveals his fury.

---