I am interested in scones with jam and cream, so I of course agree.
I am led to a room where there is a fire roaring in a grate, a bed larger than any I’ve ever seen, and all sorts of fancy furniture that I don’t know the purpose of. Storage, maybe? Sitting? Hard to say. In the mountains, furnishings are sparse. There are chests, chairs, and beds. Tables, sometimes, if you’re lucky.
Wesley opens a door inside the room, which leads to a tiled area much like the one in the train except for being better and biggerin every way. He turns the taps on and hot water starts to flow into the big ceramic tub.
“I’ve drawn you a bath,” he says. “If you need anything else, sing out. There is a wardrobe of clothing here. Some of it should fit. You have a similar figure to the mistress.”
“Who is the mistress?”
Wesley smiles. “You have clearly not been educated in the ways of the family.”
“Clearly,” I say. “I was kidnapped and brought here against my will.”
“As is tradition,” Wesley says. “You will fit in quite well. Enjoy your bath.”
Skor
“Skor!”
My little sister comes running at me like a cannonball. She is only six years old, but she’s grown since I last saw her. She almost knocks me off my feet with the force of her glee. Sali is the baby of the family by almost a decade and a half, and she is also the one who knows everything that is going on always.
“Sali,” I say. “You’re getting strong!”
She smiles broadly. “I am so strong. Where’s Thorn and Krall?”
“They’re busy,” I say as I put her down. “Where’s Father?”
“He told me I was on his last nerve.”
“I bet he did,” I say. “Is he in his office?”
She runs ahead of me to act as a herald.
“Dad! Skor’s home and he brought a lady and she’s having a bath!”
She throws my father’s office door open and yells the news inside. I would never have dared done such a thing at her age, but that is how life is between oldest and youngest.
My father is gray now, but no less powerful than he was in my memory. It has been quite some time since I stood in his presence. When I left home, it was to prove myself.
“Thank you, Sali,” he says. “Run along to nurse, now. Tell her to take you to the kitchen and feed you as much ice cream as you want.”
Sali does not look that gift horse in the mouth. She is gone before he finishes the sentence. That leaves me standing just inside the doorway of his office, and him behind his desk, holding a paper of some significance, I am sure.
“Where are your brothers?” He’d rather be talking to Krall, I am sure. Or listening to Thorn’s exploits. The appearance of the black sheep middle child does not please our father all that greatly.
“Busy,” I say simply. “It is good to see you, Father.”
“You’ve brought a mate home,” my father says. He sounds somewhat dubious, and I know why. None of the females in our territory would have me. My powers repulsed them. For me to have found someone is a surprise. Maybe even a shock.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t expect you’d find anybody you could bond with given your… affliction.”
He says the wordafflictionwith a curled upper lip. He has the same disdain for my gifts as Krall has for Tabby’s. It is a tragedy to think how hard our ancestors fought to be able to wield magic, only for it to turn out to be something loathed and feared.
“I am not the only one afflicted, Father. I think I may have found a way to break the curse of these lands.”
“There’s no curse,” he says. “This is just how it is.”
