We had given her a charcoal cloak meant to help her blend in, though she’d kept her yellow sweater and denim beneath it. Her strawberry-blonde hair was braided neatly down her back, all sunlit gold like our father’s, just as her eyes were his warm brown.
She was more him, whilst I…
I’d been told I was like my mother, from the copper of my hair to the straight line of my nose. I’d been told many things about her, none of which answered the questions we had now.
“The judge will call you when she wishes to,” the owl said, its voice cutting cleanly through my thoughts.
Reagan guided us toward the wall near a cluster of chairs, though none of us sat.
We had gone over this, each of us knowing what to say, when to speak. Still, a restless flutter stirred inside me, a need to ensure we had covered all our bases.
I leaned closer to him. “Will this work? The proof. Do you think it’s enough?”
Reagan bent until his mouth hovered near my ear. “Having jitters?” he murmured, teasing. “Yes, it’ll work. You both belong to Mountheim, and you’ll stay with me. You can relax.”
His power brushed along my back in a slow caress, subtle enough that no one watching would have guessed the Mage Lord was touching me, especially with his hands tucked into his pockets. It was easy to accept reassurance that was so effective at soothing my nerves.
My leg ceased its bouncing.
“What do you think?” I asked Joy.
Her honey-flecked eyes were still on the owl. “This doesn’t make sense,” she murmured.
Over her head, I caught the pinch of Finn’s mouth, though his attention never left the room.
“It takes a bit of getting used to,” I said. “The first time I was here, I was trying not to faint.”
Though it was bland and closed-lipped, I managed a smile, aware of the rhythmic tap of her finger against her leg.
“You looked like it.” Reagan’s voice rolled over me with quiet amusement.
“And you still threatened me.”
He glanced at me sidelong. “You were giving me orders.”
Finn chimed in, “He was just annoyed because you gave him more work.”
Reagan tsked. Joy, predictably, remained unmoved.
“You actually improved his mood,” Finn went on. “Gave him something to complain about for days.”
I hummed. “Interesting, since he ruined mine while I was doing my best to be civil.”
Reagan met my eyes, expression deliberately bored. “That was your best? You were absurdly demanding. Still are, despite the risk in front of you.” His lips twitched with something like amusement.
I lifted a brow, but his gaze was unyielding, as if he were prepared to defend that opinion in detail.
My pulse answered the challenge, speeding mildly. I inched closer, into the pulsing hum of power that radiated from him, the same current that made the rest of the room subtly wary.
It wasn’t that I ignored danger, but I could sense when it was real. And deep down, perhaps I had never felt truly threatened by him.
Somewhere behind me, Finn murmured to Joy, “And this is where we wait while they circle each other.”
But it didn’t feel like circling. It felt like the quiet pause before a dance, when both of us already knew the steps.
“The judge calls the Mage Lord and his companions to her chambers,” the owl called out.
Any eagerness drained from me the moment we crossed the threshold into Malory’s office, and I offered a silent prayer that this meeting would not leave us worse off than before.
