Meaning their father was in Magos, so he had not sensed her magic but news of it would reach him no doubt.
Lucien searched her face worriedly. “Lu, you mustn’t continue to tamper with time. You cannot change the past—”
“That wasn’t my intention this time.”
“Then what happened? You cast more than one spell.”
Lucenna fidgeted with her medallion, recalling her encounter in the market. “I met a sorceress.”
His eyes widened. “There should be no other sorceress in Azure or the rest of Urn for that matter.”
She had thought the same thing when she met Dyna.
The Liberation smuggled women and children out of the Magos Empire, but they ceased to release them in Urn as the Enforcers caught most. Because of this, they resorted to sending refugees on ships across the sea to the free nation of Carthage instead.
“She’s most likely of the Sun Guild. She has red hair. But her Essence was diminutive, hardly worth anything, and she spoke with a native Azure accent.”
“Ah, I see,” Lucien said excitedly. “She must be free-born, a descendant of one of the many sorceresses The Liberation has freed. Low Essence indicates mixed bloodlines. She’s not a citizen of Magos.”
“That would explain why she was sauntering about without a care. She’s already been discovered. When I touched her, I sensed another mage tracking her Essence with a location spell.”
Lucien grew alarmed. “By touching her, the location spell can lead the mage to you.”
“I know, but you needn’t worry. I cloaked her and severed his spell.”
“Good. Yet that doesn’t explain why you meddled with the Time Gate.”
Lucenna balanced the glass Orb between her palms, contemplating how to explain herself. She might have been too harsh with Dyna, but she had to take precautions. “The girl discovered what I was. I stopped time to deliver a warning.”
“You threatened her?”
“A little …”
“Hmm, and did you check to see if she was not in a dire situation herself?”
That was the first thing she had checked. Dyna didn’t appear abused or downtrodden, and her companions cared for her well-being. They weren’t mages, but they weren’t human either.
The robust man contained magic in him. Dyna had called him Zev. Lucenna couldn’t help staring at him. Rough, brawny men were not seen in Magos. But there was something dangerous about him and it had convulsed her magic in warning. She’d only dared to touch him with a fingertip. It was enough to get a glimpse of a terrifying wolf-like beast snarling back at her.
As for the striking young man, that one was a Celestial. When she took his hand, her Essence collided with the magic from his concealed wings and the divine blood coursing through his veins. How could that be? Celestials no longer roamed the Mortal Realm, and their characteristics were described to look much different.
“Was she all right?” Lucien asked when she took too long to answer.
“Yes, I believe so.”
Her twin brother sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Lu, while I’m elated to hear of other sorceresses living free, you cannot risk yourself so carelessly. Cease to disguise yourself as a fortune teller for a meager pittance.”
She couldn’t read fortunes, but it was easy to fool those searching for promises of wealth and love for a russet. “There is only so much I can scrounge.”
“I’ll send you gold.”
She shook her head. “No. You’ll need to open a portal to do that and Father would sense it.”
“Through the bank then.”
“He would notice the missing funds, Lucien. Leave it be or he will quickly discover that you’re helping me, and have you convicted for treason. I won’t have anyone else die for me.”
His brow pinched, and he looked away. “You do me an injustice to carry all the blame when it belongs solely to me. I introduced you and Mother to The Liberation. I was the one who filled your heads with hope for the future.”
