“Ah,” he said lightly. “A very reasonable response.”
We stepped onto the Luminaris and I held onto Caelan’s arm. Luckily, the descent was quick. Thanks to his magic powder, I felt steadier by the time we entered the temple, though it was powerless against the blush still scorching my cheeks.
I could already hear voices from the library, and they weren’t happy ones.
“She has absolutely no experience if a little magic can make her lose control like that,” a male voice shouted. I didn’t recognize it, but assumed that it was coming from the Abbot. I couldn’t catch Theo’s response, his voice remained calm as ever, but the Abbot’s reply was forceful: “And how does that make it any better, Auretheos? She is a child, a mortal, a nobody. She has never practiced magic before, and we have a war upon us. Instead of trying to get her ready for battle, we should find the fuck out how we can harness her power for you and be done with her!”
We had reached the door. I saw Theo getting up from his chair and walking towards the Abbot, only stopping an inch away from him.
“Don’t talk about her like she is only some kind of vessel for her magic. She deserves the chance to learn about her potential and she needs to do so under our guidance. I will not tolerate you speaking badly about the one person who can help us fulfill this prophecy. I have been waiting for too long for her,wehave been waiting too long to lose faith in her after only a few weeks.”
The Abbot backed down and took a swig of his drink.
“Are you ready?” Caelan asked.
I nodded.
He knocked and put an encouraging hand on my back when we walked through the doors. All eyes turned to me, but it was the Abbot who nearly choked on his drink when he saw what I was wearing. I hadn’t even noticed it before, but I was wearing one of Theo’s tunics. It was way too large for me, but someone had rolled up the sleeves and tied a belt around my waist to hold it in place. I probably looked awful and yet, there was something unsettlingly intimate about it. The faint scent of Theo lingered on the fabric, even though it had been freshly washed, and it made my chest flutter in a way I didn’t entirely understand.
Theo’s eyes flicked to me, only for a moment, and a hint of something—approval, amusement, or perhaps surprise—passed over his otherwise calm expression before he quickly masked it.
“I am sorry you had to hear that,” Lydia said, “emotions are running a little high with everyone today. How are you feeling?”
I walked closer towards the sofas and chairs and took notice of who else was here. There was the Abbot, who I recognized as the man I had briefly met in the hallway. Malek and Lythandra were also there, the latter giving me a small wave and a smile.
I returned his smile.
“It’s quite all right, I understand that you are all disappointed in me. I tried to move that tree and I don’t know why it came flying towards me or what happened after that. I only remember Lydia stopping time so I could escape and after that everything is a huge black hole.”
The Abbot raised an eyebrow. “Girl, are you mad? Lydia may be powerful, but she does not have the power to stop time. Somehow you managed to access Auretheos’ powers and stopped time yourself.”
The breath left my lungs.
I looked over to Theo, a smile playing on his lips.
“We don’t know that, Abbot,” he said while turning towards the man clad in dark purple robes. “I have never heard of a wordsmith, let alone a mortal, being able to access the magic of Gods,” he continued.
Lydia quipped. “There is another, much simpler, explanation for her powers.”
All eyes turned towards her.
“I think we have underestimated her in every sense of the word. Maybe she is your consort.”
And with that, she looked at Theo, who blanched.
Chapter 17
The silence around me was deafening and I had no idea why. His consort? What in the Fates was that supposed to mean?
It was the Abbot who spoke out first, huffing and getting up from his chair.
“Nonsense, consorts are a thing of legends. There is no proof that there ever has been a consort to any God,” he said.
I looked around from one person to another, hoping that someone would explain to me what they were talking about.
“It would make sense,” Lythandra got involved in the conversation. “We know the Fates chose her for a reason and we know now that her powers are much stronger than anything we have seen from a wordsmith before. She shares Theo’s magic and she appeared in his dreams long before she even existed.”
My head whipped around to Theo, but his face remained a stoic mask, as if he hadn’t even heard what Lythandra had said.
