“I love it.” Aria pulled Corvin into a hug that he readily returned.
She unpinned her sapphire hairnet, shaking her dark locks loose with her fingers and doing terrible things to Baron’s heart. Then, after two failed attempts, she managed a tight twist of her hair, using the comb to hold it in place.
“I don’t often do this myself,” she admitted with a touch ofred in her cheeks, tilting her head back and forth. “How does it look?”
Since his brothers were present, Baron resisted the urge to pull the comb right back out and resume what he and Aria had started in the hallway. Instead, he simply said, “Beautiful.”
“Now you can climb the palace easily!” Corvin grinned. “And you won’t get hurt if you fall, at least not from a reasonable distance, like a rooftop.”
“How ... ?” Aria touched the comb again.
“It’s an Artifact, Affiliate-style. Well, the feathers are.” The boy danced one nervous step to the side. “Do you hate it now?”
“Certainly not. Although I can’t promise to go leaping off roofs to test it out.”
“If you wanted, I could actually let you fly. It’s really—”
Baron cleared his throat sternly. “There will be no transforming the princess into a crow, thank you. She has enough magic to deal with as is.”
Still, he couldn’t fault the twins for a bit of excitement. Having someone other than Baron and Silas to be themselves around was a rare treasure.
Ariawas a rare treasure.
She opened the final gift on the table, a bottle of wine from Baron; he’d always been more practical than creative in gift giving. All the same, she kissed his cheek in thanks, and that made any effort worth it.
“We’d best head back,” he said. “I’ve robbed the party of both its host and guest of honor. Even with a three-room maze to lose us in, the absence won’t go unnoticed forever.”
Aria nodded, though she seemed distracted. She touched the back of her hair again. “I never thought to wonder what sort of magic Affiliates could perform.Shapeshift—it seemed self-evident. When I went to Northglen, I thought I was safe so longas I didn’t drink anything Widow Morton had touched. That mistake cost me dearly, and there’s still so much I don’t know.”
“To be fair,” Corvin said, “you’ve only askedBaronabout it. He’s only one half of Casters, and Casters are only one half of magic. We’re here too.”
“What would it take for you to turn me into a crow, like you said?”
Baron tensed.
“Just some blood, like if I scratched you with a talon.”
“At least that’s a common theme I can follow.”
She seemed sorelaxed, standing next to two Affiliates and a Caster. If Baron had carried any doubt about the truth of her feelings from her letter, he couldn’t doubt it now, not while she asked Corvin questions about transforming into a crow as if they were simply discussing the way he trained falcons.
Then Corvin surprised him by saying, “Fluid and Stone Casters used to be called something different, you know. They used to be Blood and Bone Casters.”
Baron frowned. “How do you know that?”
“I read it in one of those books you used to have stashed under your floorboards.”
“I found them first,” Leon said proudly. “Baron thought we didn’t know, but you can’t hide something in a house from a cat.”
In answer to Aria’s questioning expression, Baron gave a sigh. “Family heirlooms, from my birth mother’s side in Patriamere. They contained information about magic that’s been lost in Loegria.”
“May I read them?” Aria asked eagerly.
“I’m afraid they’ve been destroyed. My stepmother burned them when she left, though I still don’t understand why.”
Leon paled at the mention of his mother, and Corvin retook the conversation as if determined to bury any reminder of her.
“Anyway,” he said firmly, “all magic ties to blood and bone,whether you’re changing your own or someone else’s. That’s how Leon and I transform. That’s how Baron makes tea or a Stone Caster makes a statue. When you think about it, rock and water are just the blood and bone of the earth.”
