But then Nora whispers, “His father did it.”
“Nora!” Jax and I snap at the same time.
Nora looks affronted. “It’s true! He’s horrible to Jax and everyone knows it. You yourself said—”
“Hush!” I reach out to pinch her again. “That’s not your business.”
“It was an accident,” Jax says again, and his voice is tight. “An argument. I lost my footing. That’s all.” He draws a shuddering breath. “So have a good look, my lord.”
He’s being flippant, but Lord Tycho reaches out and takes hold of his wrist anyway. Jax jolts as if stung.
“Steady,” Lord Tycho says, and his voice is low and quiet. “I won’t hurt you.” When Jax doesn’t pull away, he reaches out his free hand to uncurl the blistered fingers. Jax’s breath catches.
“It’s fine,” Jax says, but the tiniest tremor in his voice says it’snotfine. “Cal will wrap it.” A fresh bloom of sweat has broken out on his forehead.
“It will take weeks to heal,” Lord Tycho says. “Can you afford to not work for weeks?”
Jax bristles. “I’ll make do as I can,” he says. “We’re not all from a Royal House in the Crystal City, my lord.”
I feel like I need to pinchhim, but Lord Tycho doesn’t look offended. The corner of his mouth turns up in half a smile. “Well, neither am I. Do you fear magic here?”
I automatically press a hand to the pendant hanging under my blouse. “Everyone fears magic,” I whisper.
Lord Tycho glances between me and Jax. “Would you fear it if I said I could heal your hand?”
He says it offhandedly, but I freeze in place. I don’t know if I should laugh in his face or drag Nora away from him.
Jax scoffs. “What difference does it make? There’s no magic here.”
I can’t tell if it’s bravado or belligerence in his tone, but a light sparks in Lord Tycho’s eyes like he’s been offered a dare. “Well,” he says. “There’s a little.”
Then he presses his fingers right into the center of the burn.
Jax swears and throws himself back, but the lord holds fast. Jax isn’t big, but working in the forge has clearly paid off in muscle. He nearly drags them both into the pastry table.
“Just wait,” Lord Tycho says, and his voice is tight with strain. “Just—give it—a moment—”
“Stop!” I shout. I don’t know if this is magic or assault, but I grab a knife from the block with one hand and a heavy steel pan with the other. “Let him go!”
Nora shrieks. “Cally-cal!”
Almost as suddenly, Jax stops fighting. “Stop, Cal. Stop.” He’s breathing hard, his eyes wide and panicked like a spooked horse, but Lord Tycho lets him go and steps back. Jax grips tight to the edge of my pastry table.
It leaves me standing there with a knife in one hand and a skillet in the other. I’m not ready to put them down. Not until I know what just happened. I look warily from Lord Tycho to Jax. “Are you all right?” I say roughly.
“Yes.” His voice is rough and wary, too. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
Lord Tycho is wearing enough weapons to eviscerate all three of us, but his hands lift. “Callyn,” he says evenly. “I didn’t hurt him.”
Nora darts forward to grab Jax’s wrist, examining the skin across his palm. “It’s gone!” she says, and there’s wild awe in her tone. “Jax, it’s gone.”
I glance over. I can’t help it. The injuryisgone.
Magic. I feel like I can’t catch my breath.
“What else can you do?” says Nora, and her eyes are so wide and her voice so hushed that I can’t tell if she’s fascinated—or terrified. Maybe both. She lets go of Jax’s hand and takes a step forward. “Can you melt the skin off someone’s bones? Can you start a fire with your eyes? Can you—”
“Nora.” I need to stop my sister before she can get closer. “You’re amagesmith,” I snap at him.
