“He wouldn’t try to
destroy my magic, would he?”
“If he finds out you
have any. I’d suggest pretending to be far less than you are, until this whole
ridiculous inquiry is over.”
“Could you take me as
your servant? Take me to the warrior maidens?” Ash sighed and spread her arms.
“I’m not exactly built to be a warrior, but … isn’t there something I could do
to be useful?”
“I will confer with
Aunt Charlotte. Right now, Granny Phlox wants to see you. She might have some
words of wisdom to help you through this. And it’s only common sense to get you
away from the castle, from the curious and those who are angry you fooled them
so easily.”
Leena squeezed Ash’s
shoulder, then gave her a gentle shove forward. She stumbled a few steps and
looked back once. The older girl nodded to her and stepped back, clearly not
going the rest of the way with her. This reluctance to return to the only
childhood home she remembered was ridiculous, Ash knew, but she couldn’t help
it. Her legs wobbled for a few steps before she silently scolded herself to
stop being a ninny. Granny Phlox was stern, but she was never cruel, and more
than once she had turned into a whirling fury to defend the children given into
her charge. If they were her pups, then she was a she-wolf, unhindered by her
blindness.
Ash took several deep
breaths and focused on the muffled thud of her heart in her ears as she
approached the door of the cottage. She wished now she had come back more often
to visit Granny Phlox, especially after nearly all the boys who had been
brought here with her had gone away, either adopted or apprenticed. Three boys
who had been infants when Lady Charlotte brought them here still lived in the
cottage and spent their days tending the cows and chickens and pigs in the
nearby fields and byres. That was no excuse for neglecting the old woman who
was the only mother she could remember.
No comments:
Post a Comment