“Yes. It could’ve saved your mother.” Manon looked out into the fog, her eyes distant, before returning her attention to Scarlett. “Everyone here thinks it’s absolute madness medical magic was ever made illegal in Soleil.”
Scarlett sat down in the chair opposite Manon. “Yes, the government banned the good magic along with the bad after thewar crimes all those years ago. I’ll be trying to correct that once I’m back in Soleil. Anyway, have you seen the news yet? I’m dying to know what the papers are saying about us.”
“Today’s papers will come in on the afternoon train.”
“Good to know.” Scarlett poured out two cups of steaming tea.
“I’d wager there won’t be anything. Laylani’s in a tricky spot. She told the country we were bedridden. If she calls the police or the media, what will she say? That we’re dead? That the two people who were comatose for weeks woke up and stole her son?” Manon sipped her tea.
“I wrote to Alastair and Elestine last night,” said Scarlett. “Brayden has the letters. He’ll mail them today.” She filled Manon in on the details of what she’d written.
Her grandmother pressed her lips into a thin line. “I’m not thrilled about advertising we’re in Clair de Lune. What if Elestine tells the press?”
“We won’t be here long anyway,” said Scarlett, thinking. “I need to get back. Should we contact the Soleil media ourselves? We could use the press to get ahead of Laylani’s lies.”
“Give me a moment,” said Manon. She got that faraway look in her eye Scarlett associated with her decision-making process. A good thirty seconds later, she snapped out of her trance and spoke. “We need to gather as much hard evidence as possible before we act. Right now, we have a couple of piss bags and your brother’s testimony, which isn’t enough to take down your stepmother, let alone Moira.”
“Then we wait to get the results from the urine and confirmation my petition with the courts was approved before we return, preferably with some serious protection,” Scarlett said with a shrug. “In Soleil, with me in Parliament, we’ll find a way to incriminate her and Moira.”
Manon’s brow furrowed—with worry or confusion, Scarlett wasn’t sure.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“We should remain here longer than that,” said her grandmother. “You’re not ready to go back.”
Scarlett’s gut clenched. The idea of waiting here longer than necessary made her nauseous. “Why? Don’t you care about what’s happening in Soleil?”
“I do, but it’s not my top priority. You’re here.” She held her hand high above her head. “Then comes everyone else we care about.” She lowered her hand just a bit. “And Soleil is somewhere down here.” She hovered her hand as low as she could without stooping.
Scarlett sighed. She was desperate to return to Soleil in a fiery blaze of revenge, but she could save this argument for after the urine tests came through. “We’re waiting either way for now. While I wait, I want to go to your house and see where my mother used to live. And the Forest Temple with Beni, if he’s up for it. Brayden used his fire magic in front of me last night, and I want whatever magic I can get. A soul light, a valor—I want it all.”
Manon gave her a long look. “Are you sure? You’ll forever be more of Clair de Lune than you are of Soleil if you seek your magic.”
The note of warning in Manon’s voice made Scarlett tense. “You said no one in Soleil would be able to tell, right?”
“Right.”
“Then I’m sure. Being here without magic is showing me how much I’m missing out on. And I already feelotherin Soleil, so I don’t think I’m giving much up. I want to explore these things myself and potentially spread them to others who might have better lives with magic.”
“Well, let’s get to it, then.” Her grandmother’s cheeks rounded as she smiled. She was still beautiful, even at seventy. “Let’s go to my house first.”
“I’ll check in with Beni and meet you back here. Then we can go.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Scarlett slipped out of her room and crossed the hallway to knock on her brother’s door. Beni answered half-dressed, with wet hair.
“Hey,” he said as he made way for her to come inside.
Scarlett sat on his bed, eyeing the mess of clothes and shoes he’d scattered across the floor. “How are you? We haven’t had time to talk about everything since we got here.”
He started towel-drying his hair. “I’m all right.”
“Do you miss your mum?”
He kept drying his hair and said nothing.
“It’s okay if you do. Sheisyour mum.”
