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“In the end, I had no choice but to accept an apprenticeship with a builder, which was not what we’d planned. The experience I gained wouldn’t be much use on the farm, but at least I would be activated and could return home once I graduated. Except after I was activated, I discovered my new master had misled me about his strength. The potential of my seed became meaningless once my power was capped at the strength of my influencer.”
“Did you report him?” I asked, outraged.
He sighed. “He hadn’t made any concrete promises or assurances I could point to—certainly nothing in writing. I was young, naïve, and desperate, without parents or community to guide me, so I was easily fooled. I had already used all my coin by that stage while searching for an apprenticeship, so I had to find a master quickly.”
“How awful,” I said softly, imagining what it must have been like for him alone in this big city. “But you were only bound to him for two years. Why didn’t you go home as soon as you graduated?”
He grimaced. “That had been my plan. But unfortunately my master was a poor businessman as well as weak. He could barely afford to keep an apprentice, and there was certainly no coin left over to share with me. I needed to save enough to cover the journey home, but I couldn’t start doing that until I graduated and found proper employment. It took me a while to accomplish that, and by then I’d met my wife.”
“After that I suppose it was the twins,” I said quietly. “You had more mouths to feed, which would have made it even harder to save. And the journey itself would have become more difficult and expensive as well. I suppose I can see how it happened. But why did you never write to my father, at least? He had no idea what had happened to you—he still doesn’t!”
“Yes, I can see I should…ahem…I should have done that.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and I could read the truth on his face. He had been the strong one—the one with the promise of a great future. But that future had failed to materialize, and he had been too embarrassed to own up to his true situation. Better for his brother to think him dead or absconded with their money than for him to know the truth.
I shook my head at the breathtaking selfishness of that attitude. I wanted to let go of my restraint and understanding and spew out a torrent of recrimination. His useless pride had nearly destroyed my life.
But I kept my mouth closed. This man might be related to me by blood, but we were currently strangers. I wasn’t ready to tell him the most painful details of my past—perhaps I never would be. And there was nothing to be gained from recriminations. It might make me feel better in the moment, but the effect would be short. Nothing I could say now would change the past or the effect it had wreaked in my life.
I looked around the room again. My uncle hadn’t traded his and my father’s youthful dreams for a better life. He was already living the consequences of his choices every day. He didn’t need punishment from me.
My uncle’s eyes finally settled back on me. “Is your master good to you? You said she’s a traveling master—where does that leave you when you graduate?” The concern in his eyes seemed genuine, burning away some of my earlier anger.
“My life is proof that a strong ability doesn’t always lead to success,” he continued. “You need to make decisions about your future carefully. I know it’s too late to change masters, but you should make some connections while you’re here in the capital, if you can.”
A small smile tugged at my mouth as I thought of Hayes, Clay, Anka, and Luna—and then of Gia and finally Nik. Little did my uncle realize, but Amara’s traveling lifestyle had allowed me to make many high-ranking connections already.
But imagining his reaction if I told him about my traveling companions kept my mouth shut. It would only complicate matters to tell him about my connection with the royals.
“Thank you,” I said instead. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He nodded, relaxing a little.
“And…is he well?” he asked tentatively. “Your father, I mean?”
“He was when I left. I haven’t seen him in a year, though.”
An unexpected surge of nostalgia caught me off guard. After everything that had happened, I actually wanted to see my father again.
From the wistful look on my uncle’s face, I guessed he felt the same.
“I have a little coin of my own,” I said slowly. “Not with me, but I could bring some to you later. You could send him a message—even go to see him yourself. I don’t know if he would welcome you at first, but I think he would want to see you.”
My uncle winced, clearly unsure about his potential reception.
“Go to Tarin? To our family’s farm?” Patti gripped her father’s arm with both hands. “Oh could we, Da? Could we? Please let us go!”
I watched her with bemusement. She was a number of years away from activation, but on a whim I reached out to test her. She had a plants seed of medium non-mage strength. Had she lived her whole life in this row of buildings? No wonder the idea of a farm was so appealing to her.
“Do all three of your sons have plants seeds like Patti?” I asked.
Both of them turned to me with expressions of mild surprise.
“Oh, I don’t think I said, I’m a healer.”
“A mage level healer?” My uncle’s eyebrows shot up. “That must have been a surprise for my brother.”
“It was a great shock for all of us,” I said dryly.
