Her silence lingers for a long time. “I didn’t choose to have him as a stepbrother. I look at him, and all I can think is that I lost my mother.”
I recall Renel’s words accusing his stepfather of murder, and take into consideration what I know about this family. “Let me guess; you think his mother killed your mother.”
She looks away and nods. I ask, “Was it Zorwal who put that idea in your head?”
Her eyes widen as she looks at me. “Not… that I remember. People talked. They said she could weave love spells. But it could be that Zorwal was behind those rumors.”
“You might have more in common with Renel than you know, if both of you were influenced by Zorwal.”
“Renel was stubborn, rude. At the time, it felt so good to show him who had the magic, to put him in his place. I look back and see a pathetic little girl who tried to prove her skill on someone who was nowhere close to her level.”
Her lack of remorse for Renel shatters the little sympathy I was feeling for her.
“And you respected Marlak because he had strong magic. Was that it?”
“We trained together, pushed each other. We got along. Maybe we would get along even if he had no magic.”
“Or maybe you’d think he was an inferior weakling.”
“No. The people in the court, they didn’t like him, with his human appearance. They didn’t consider him high fae. I didn’t care. For me he was just my brother.”
“So was Renel.”
“He always hated me.”
“You could apologize, you know? For the times you teased him. It’s not too late to start over. Unless apologizing hurts your pride.”
“Of course it does. And he’ll just rebuff me.”
“I don’t think so. Hating is hard. It’s like carrying a weight in your chest. I don’t think he wants that weight. And I don’t think you want it either.”
She eyes me as if I was saying something more absurd than the most absurd lies, and I add, “And you don’t need to become friends and get along. Just put aside the hate.”
“He’s the one who took away my magic, who came here instead of going to Marlak.”
“Do you blame him? For being suspicious?”
She looks down. “No.”
“Marlak’s probably not home yet. I don’t know how long his trip is going to take. It makes sense for Renel to wait.”
She raises her shoulders and her body trembles. “There’s that, too. Do you think Marlak succeeded?”
“I hope he did.”
She points at the sky. “Does it feel like it? Do you think something changed?”
“I don’t know if it would be that obvious.”
“There’s some foulness in the air, something wrong. I’m worried.”
“Marlak’s very powerful.”
She shakes her head. “But if something disables his magic… I remember it, you know? Horrific glimpses, at least. His magic was gone, he had that table over him, and yet it wasn’t enough.I almost killed him.” Her voice chokes with emotion. “I almost killed my brother.”
“You weren’t yourself.”
“I was. I remember it. I almost killed you. You, who saved my life. Marlak would have killed me if it wasn’t for you, and even then, I attacked you. I killed, and killed, and killed.” She covers her head with her hands. “And I remember. And you know what’s the worst? I miss it. Not the killing. But I miss flying over the ocean, feeling the air below me, the sun above. Peace, freedom. Strange freedom when I was in a prison.”
