I wasn’t in the same physical class as Gabriel Noble. It was obvious to anyone with eyes.
“To do...what?”
“Help.” I responded somewhat more tartly than intended. I didn’t know if I was more upset with my brother thinking I’d sold myself or that he thought there was no way Noble would have purchased me.
“How—”
“Your sister answered your question.”
Kennen’s jaw closed with an audible snap.
Noble’s eyes narrowed. “Now, tell us what you deliberately left out of your tale.”
“What he left...Kennen?” He looked at his shoes, shuffling his feet, buckles clicking against the bars and upending straw. “Kennen?”
Noble was less patient. “You used dark magic. Why?” Dark—
“It wasn’t—I didn’t hurt anyone!”
No, oh,no. “Kennen, what did you do?”
“Nothing!” But he had never been good at lying.
“Touching the body alone would leave some traces of darkness,” Noble said, tapping a finger almost lazily on his crossed arm. “But not the amount that was registered on the report.”
My heart sank. “Kennen...what happened to the gold?”
He shifted, shoulders rising to his ears. “Mari, you still on about the pocket money? I swear, that’s all you—”
“Kennen!”
“I bought a draught!”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. “Whatkindof draught?”
His shoulders fell. “One of enhancement. It would solve all our problems!” He gripped the bars. “If we only—”
“You know those things don’t work! They are the work of conmen and—”
“Ferris said if we could find an augment or enhancer—”
“Kennen! That’sdark magic!”
“It shouldn’t be dark magic! It only affects myownmagic!”
“It’s illegal!”
“Being born lesser should be illegal!”
Noble snorted.
“Did you take it, Kennen?” His expression answered my question. “You had dark magic in you—on your hands,in your mouth!”
“I know,” he whined. “But I didn’t kill anyone!”
“Augments and enhancers can be used effectively in the reverse.” Noble examined his fingernails. “They can drain magic from another in order to augment the caster.”
Kennen went white. “But I didn’t, I wouldn’t—”
