03 - Sworn (33 page)

I turned toward a soft noise from the shed.

Aunt Victoria stepped into her garden, and my breath caught in my throat. She stood straight and strong, and her eyes were clear and alert. A gentle smile I hadn’t seen in years broke over her face. “Rowan!”

“Vic, you’re...”

“I’m back, yes.” Her embrace was more gentle than Matthew’s or my mother’s, but longer.

I breathed in the wild garden scent of her long, golden hair that I remembered from my childhood. She’d only smelled like dust and soap when I left.

“We have so much to discuss,” she told me.

The next few minutes were an overwhelming blur of introductions. No one was thrilled to have a dragon visiting. None of them had ever seen one before, but they’d heard stories.

“I give you all my word that she won’t set us all alight tonight and snack on our bones in the morning,” I said jokingly, hoping the exaggeration of their quite reasonable fears would ease the tension. Victoria laughed at that, and Ruby scowled.

“Shameful,” the dragon muttered, “but true.”

Though I hated to abandon Aren with strangers, I wanted to speak to Ashe privately. We sat down on one of the stone benches near the rose garden.

“Where’s father?” I asked. “And Della? What happened to Willow and Laurel?”

I caught his pained expression before he looked away. “Our sisters fled with their families before the magic hunters came,” he said. “Father didn’t join us when mother and I said we were leaving. He denied all knowledge of your situation and turned himself in. Said he had nothing to hide, and no reason to fear the magic hunters.”

My stomach sank. I’d once thought that, too. I hoped he was right. “So he’s as good as disowned me?”

“And me, for not standing with him. And mother for... well, for everything. For using magic to try to protect you when you were a baby, for not telling him about the herbs that healed me.” He looked back at the group. “She’s not here, is she? The potion lady? I’d like to thank her.”

“No, she’s occupied elsewhere. It’s just me and Aren as far as humans go. Ashe, I’m so sorry for all of this.”

He twisted his fingers together between his knees and stared at them. “I’ve come to realize it’s not your fault you are what you are. It was a shock to us when you disappeared, and the things we found out after came as a surprise to everyone but Mother. But I understand, or at least I’m trying to. It’s hard to believe that everything we’ve been taught about magic was a lie, though.”

“I know. I remember how strongly you felt about it.”

He smiled sadly. “I’m still working through it. It’s slow going some days.”

“So Father went to Ardare?”

“And Willow. Laurel’s still holed up with her husband somewhere smaller, keeping her head down. Or she was, last I heard. Mother and I fled before the magic hunters could come for us. We found Stone Ridge like this—or about half-way to being this, I guess.”

“Victoria made it happen?”

He nodded. “Another surprise, to all of us. She’ll be able to explain that better than I can. It’s magic, of course, done to make it seem like there couldn’t possibly be anyone living here. She’s helping me a lot with accepting magic. Her skills have kept us alive.”

I looked around the lush garden and noticed the tempting selection of ripe fruits and vegetables. “I’d say. And what about Uncle Ches and Della?”

His cheeks paled. “Uncle Ches was fine when we last saw him. We decided after we arrived that we’d need to get out of the country. This is a great place to hide, but it’ll become a prison eventually. He went to get valuables he had stored at banks in a few different towns, things we might sell for Tyrean gold over the border.”

“That’s smart.”

“I thought so. We haven’t heard from him since he left, though, and he said he’d be back two days ago. And Della...”

Matthew walked closer, drawing hard at his pipe. “My dear girl is no longer with us.” A tear trickled down his face and caught in his thick mustache. “That was before Ashe and Lucilla came. The hunters showed up. Della stalled them while I took Victoria and hid her in the garden so they wouldn’t see what she was. I don’t know what happened. Della was just supposed to say that the master and mistress were gone out to town. I didn’t hear anything save for one bark from Micah. When I went back, the hunters were gone, and she and the dog were...” He squeezed his eyes shut, and several more tears fell.

“I’m so sorry, Matthew.” My chest filled with a deep, physical ache. She was gone, and again I couldn’t help thinking that it was my fault.

But all Matthew seemed to take from my “sorry” was sorrow, not the apology I intended. He squeezed between me and Ashe on the broad bench, and Ashe shifted to accommodate him.

“I am too,” Matthew said. “We miss her. I miss her. And it’ll be hard for us to leave. She’s buried with your cousins out beyond the wall. Suppose your aunt and I will say our goodbyes there when we go collect the horses. We should leave soon, whether your uncle returns or not.”

I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. I buried my face in my hands and sobbed until empty exhaustion displaced the throbbing misery inside of me.

When I looked up, Aren was there. I expected a comment about me always crying in this garden, but none came. Instead, he offered me a sympathetic glance, then turned to Matthew. “I’m sad to hear of your loss,” he said. “Rowan told me so much about you and your wife. All good things. I’d have liked to have known her.”

Matthew nodded and sucked at his pipe.

“We should see about getting something to eat,” Ashe said, and went into the house through the kitchen door.

Aren took his place, and Matthew muttered something about finding spots for everyone to sleep. When he’d left, I said, “This must be awkward for you.”

“It’s fine,” Aren said quietly. “Things are bound to be tense between me and your family. No doubt they’ve been thinking of me as their worst enemy, on a personal level as well as national. And there’s the magic. It’s easier for them to accept yours now that they see you’re still you, and because they’ve seen Victoria embrace hers. She’s fantastic, by the way, and more talented than I’d dreamed.”

“She is amazing.”

“But it’s different with me. I’m the monster who invaded your life and stole you away, revealed what you are. Stirred everything up. I’m sure they blame me for this, at least in part.”

“Funny, I was just blaming myself.”

He rested a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault that your people are what they are. At least some of your family is trying to do better now, right?”

I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “They are. And they’ll come around when they get to know you, I promise.”

Half of his mouth turned up in a shallow smile. “It doesn’t matter. As long as you still like me, I’ll be fine. For now.”

My mother called to us and we followed her into the house. Matthew and Victoria sat at the kitchen table chopping vegetables. I still couldn’t believe how bright her eyes were. She smiled at us as we passed by on our way to the back staircase, which wasn’t nearly as dusty as the front.

“You can’t stay in your old rooms,” Mother said as we reached the second floor. “The hole in the roof makes a convincing argument for the place being abandoned, but it didn’t do much for your mattress. There are still plenty of empty rooms down here. We’ll get a few set up for you two.”

The firm tone of her voice made it clear that we were not to argue about having separate rooms. It grated on me. If things were different, if I were still her normal daughter and it was Callum staying over before our wedding, there would have been no problem with us sharing a bed. But Aren was no respectable prospective son-in-law, and though he’d saved my life as he’d promised her, it was clear that my mother still couldn’t stomach our relationship.

Remembering that it might not matter in the end brought another dark cloud over a joyful day.

At least our rooms were next to each other, the only two in the north wing that had intact windows and walls. After Mother went back to the kitchen, Aren slipped into my room. He sat on the bed and tapped the headboard. “Mine’s right on the other side.”

I smiled. “I’ll knock if I need you.” I flopped on the bed, and he did the same. “Did anyone say when we’re leaving?”

“Your aunt said tomorrow. Apparently Ches made them promise to leave if he didn’t make it back, but they waited. Now that we’re here to help them leave the country, she agrees that it’s best to go. Still hoping for his return, though.” He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow. “Did you notice the magic here?”

“Not especially. But now that you mention it, it feels a lot stronger than it did in Ardare, or even outside of it.”

“I think so, too. I noticed it the first time I was here, when I was able to keep transforming without overly depleting my power. It was still thin, and I was relieved to get back to Tyrea where things are normal, but it is better here than elsewhere. And I think it’s stronger now than it was before.”

“Victoria.”

He grinned. “Her presence preserved the magic on this land.”

My thoughts raced to catch up. “After the boys died, she hid it. I don’t think she wanted to acknowledge that it was in her, that it had caused their deaths.”

“Right, but it still lingered in the garden, and that’s what I was able to channel. Now that she’s using it again, it’s becoming stronger.”

I grinned, as much at his enthusiasm as at the discovery. “That’s interesting.”

“To put it mildly.” He sat up, then stood, unable to stay still. “This means that even if Severn is right, it shouldn’t be too difficult to bring magic back to this land. Even before the plants re-grow and before the magical creatures return, we could try to have Sorcerers settle here.”

“Right. And the king here will be fine with that.”

He shrugged, but that grin didn’t leave his face. “We’ll get there. If there are pockets of magic around...”

Someone knocked at the door and Aren answered, pulling the door open with a bit more enthusiasm than he’d probably intended. “Victoria,” he said, and stepped back.

“Soup’s ready, darlings.” I’d forgotten how musical her voice was. “I wish I could offer you a hot bath after, but we’ve been having some trouble with the well water.”

Aren stepped out into the hall. “You should have Rowan look into that,” he said. “She has a gift.”

I glared after him, but he disappeared from sight.

Victoria and I linked arms and walked down to the kitchen. “He seems nice,” she said.

“That’s one word for him.”

She smiled. “It’s good to see you happy.”

“You, too. Or if not happy, at least to have you back.”

She took a deep breath and pulled her hair forward over one shoulder. Last time I’d seen her, she looked twenty years older. Now, we could have passed for sisters.

“It hurt so much to be present,” she said. “I built a world in my mind where my life could carry on as I thought it was meant to. But it wasn’t real. With your disappearance and everything that was happening around us, the real world crashed in on me no matter how I struggled to shut it out. Then Della died, and I found that the world still needed me. I found purpose. Life was still painful, but not as unendurable as I’d thought it to be. I missed so much, didn’t I? I should have been there for you.”

She stopped me before we entered the kitchen. “I should have told you, Rowan. I knew what you were. Your mother wasn’t open about it, but I guessed what had happened. I asked her about it once, and she made me promise not to say anything, as the binding couldn’t be reversed. And you were always happy enough.”

“You did what you thought was best.” She always had, for me.

“I did. And at the time, I thought...”

“What?”

“I thought that I had accidentally invited the magic into myself. I felt guilty about it, and eventually convinced myself that I was just a talented gardener when the apple trees bore fruit almost year-round. I forced myself to become ignorant of my power. And I ignored it in the children until it was too late to save them from the people who saw it better than I did.”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one feeling guilty.

“After they passed, I shut it out,” she continued. “The magic was still there, but I didn’t feel it in me. I felt less alive, but I could ignore the guilt.” She sighed. “It’s so good to have it back. To be myself again.”

We stepped into the kitchen, where everyone else waited. I wondered whether Victoria spoke so openly about her magic with any of them.

Matthew served bowls of steaming stew, thick with carrots, potatoes, squash and herbs.

“This is fantastic,” Aren said. “Quite amazing for this early in the season.”

My mother’s lips tightened, and Matthew laughed. “Victoria has always had a way with plants.”

“If only the well would cooperate,” Victoria said.

Aren looked at me expectantly.

I sighed. “What’s the problem?”

“Dried up,” Ashe said. “We’ve got plenty of drinking and cooking water stored away, but nothing extra.”

I ignored the anxiety that gnawed at my stomach. “I’ll see what I can do.”

My mother forced a smile. “Here’s hoping you can do something. I think we could all use a good wash. Our clothes, too.”

“Thank you, Mother.” It had to be hard for her to encourage me to use magic. At least she was willing to try.

I slipped out to the garden alone after supper. The sun hung low in the sky, and a chilly breeze blew in from the forest. Florizel approached from the wild tangles of the trees at the back of the yard.

“Where’s Ruby?” I asked.

Florizel nodded toward the forest. “Hunting. She promised not to eat any horses she found, but I don’t like anyone else’s odds.” One ear twitched apprehensively. “What are you doing?”

“Just checking something. I might need to do it alone, though, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, of course. Please tell your aunt that this garden is delicious.”

I laughed. Though Florizel’s plant-only diet was more restricted than those of the horses I had grown accustomed to in Tyrea and Belleisle, she ate a far wider variety of things than local horses did. My aunt might be surprised to discover what had been consumed from her flower bed.