Tolly asked, “Then, why would they?”
Kel asked softly, “Do you know of wild magic being summoned?”
Tolly shook her head. “No. Absolutely not. Maybe.”
Nessa laughed. “Tolly has a friend who has wild magic. Lots of it. She says it was summoned.”
Kel cocked his head. “When?”
“What?”
“When was it summoned?”
Tolly frowned and tried to remember and work the math back. “Twenty-eight years and ten months, more or less.”
Kel smiled and closed his eyes. He widened them in surprise. “Well, that is interesting.”
Tolly asked, “What?”
“There was a falling star summoned to this world. Her exact nature wasn’t known. It was dormant when her people tried to raise her.”
“What did they do with her then?”
Nen shrugged. “The rituals stopped. She ceased to be important if the star didn’t rise.”
Nessa cleared her throat. “It rose.”
Kel smiled. “Tell me more.”
Tolly explained what she knew. “She was running from an arranged marriage, and they came after her. For years, they have been coming after her. She had someone remove her name from the world.”
Kel nodded.
Tynan asked, “How did they do that? That is a master level spell. Someone would have known about it.”
Tolly paused. “She said she paid for it traditionally.”
Tynan snorted. “Well, that’s one way. Who was the mage who did it?”
Tolly shrugged. “It wasn’t a mage. She was in Japan and was in an ogre settlement. She’s horrible with names, but she said hehad paler skin and horns. Oh, and his name was Buzz or Pez or something.”
Stovos smacked his hand into his forehead. “Lord Rez? She paid Lord Rez for a spell?”
Tolly patted his shoulders. “It was a simple transaction, and then she got out of there.”
Stovos paused. “Simple transaction, and she left immediately. Oh, boy. Rez is not going to like hearing that.”
“She says she was bleeding, so I think he knew.” Tolly shrugged.
Everyone in the room winced.
“She also said that she had to hide from a bunch of hunting ogres, so it sounds like it was him.”
Stovos paused. “I thought he was waiting for Stiila’s little girl to come of age.”
“This was before Stiila and Arthur got together.” Nessa smiled. “Do you think Bethany wants him to know where she is?”
Tolly shrugged. “I don’t think she cares. The transaction is over, and that’s that.”
