"Talk to us, Thea. Tell us what happened," Ianthe murmured.
"I d-didn't w-want to do it," Thea murmured, lifting her head just enough for her words to escape. "B-but they said that... that if I didn't, they'd t-tell you about... about what I'd done and you'd throw me into the streets, and... You know I cannot go back home. Not to my mother. You know!"
Ianthe clutched her closer, her eyes closing in despair. How well she knew that feeling. Thea was only eighteen, after all, not so very much older than Ianthe herself had been when she'd found herself facing similar circumstances. "Shush," she whispered, pressing a kiss to her ward's temples. "I would never throw you out, Thea. You should know that."
"I d-didn't know what to do, and all they wanted was for me to leave the letters on your bed. I didn't see the harm in it." Thea's eyes glimmered as she looked up sharply. "You know I'd never have done anything more. I promise. I—"
"I know."
Ianthe let the girl sob against her shoulder until her tears were finally worn out. Lucien poured a small snifter of brandy for the girl, watching silently as Ianthe settled her on the sofa.
"Here," he murmured, offering the glass to Thea. "This might help settle your nerves."
"Tell us about it, please," Ianthe said, offering her a handkerchief.
"He said if I didn't do as he asked, then he'd—"
"Who said?" Lucien asked sharply.
"There's a... a group of young sorcerers. We were all approached, usually out shopping or visiting or on our rare half days off."
"Approached by who?" Lucien demanded.
Thea's reddened eyes lifted to his. "H-his name is Noah Guthrie. He said he'd help me learn my magic faster. Said that the Order just wanted to shackle it, to tie me to their leg and turn me into a good little p-puppet. At first I said no, but then... I couldn't make the rope knot." She turned to Ianthe. "You kept telling me to keep trying, but... I just... I just wanted to know how to be a sorcerer. I didn't want to fail anymore. So I went to his meeting. I thought it couldn't hurt to attend just one... And there were others there like me; apprentices, those thrown out of the Order, those who'd never been found. And Noah said there was n-nothing to be afraid of, that you were just repeating your propaganda against..."
"Against?" Ianthe whispered.
"Expression." The word was a dry whisper.
"So he encouraged you to use Expression repeatedly," Lucien said, then sighed and scraped a hand over his face.
"There w-was to be an initiation." The girl's face paled. "We all swore by our blood that we would never betray our circle, and Noah said that Eliza, one of my friends, had betrayed her oaths and told her Master. He said she h-had to b-be... punished..." The girl dissolved in tears again. "He said we had to do it. It was only supposed to be a demonstration, but something... something happened. Eliza stopped breathing. I don't know why. I don't know how—"
"I should have guessed." Bloody hell. "You've been distracted and out of sorts for nearly a month, when you were doing so well beforehand. I didn't understand why you'd slid backward with your control, but guilt would do it. Fear. All of those emotions eating away at you." Ianthe shook her head, then dragged the girl into her arms. "You didn't hurt Eliza. There is no magic in this world that could make her die from breaking a blood oath. You were tricked. Most likely it was poison, or some expert sorcery you couldn't detect. I know the Sicarii can wield a stiletto-sharp whip of magic that can kill at a distance and leave you none the wiser. He probably did it himself, so he'd get what he wanted. A group of young, inexperienced sorcerers that he could blackmail."
Thea sobbed.
"Thea, sweetie." Ianthe leaned back to brush the girl's hair out of her wet face. "Can you tell me where this Noah Guthrie met with you?"
Thea wiped her face. "I can do better than that. I followed him one day. We—he and I... We were..." Her gaze dropped, as if she were ashamed. "And I thought he might have been out walking with someone else, so I followed him back to a house, and there was an older lady there. He called her Morgana, and she asked about me, asked if I was doing what she wanted me to do. I'm so sorry, Miss Martin. I knew in that moment that he never cared about me. I knew I was in trouble."
"I see." She wanted to get her hands on Noah Guthrie and wring his bloody neck. Toying with a young girl's emotions like this was both cowardly and cruel. "The address Thea?"
"I don't know where it is precisely, I can't remember, but it was in the eastern end of Knightsbridge. A pretty stone house with rose gardens all around it. I didn't think to note the precise address."
Ianthe released the breath she'd been holding. "Thank you, Thea. It's a start."
Chapter Twenty-Six
Drake arrived barely ten minutes later. Ianthe had gone to check on Louisa, so Lucien stalled his father's words and led him to the conservatory where he'd first taken tea with Ianthe. It seemed a lifetime since that meeting. How much things had changed.
"How is she?" Drake demanded the second the door had shut. He looked like he'd aged a decade overnight.
"Preparing herself for battle," Lucien replied. "Upset, of course, but holding herself together. I would not care to be Morgana when she gets her hands upon her."
"And she has... her daughter with her?"
"Our daughter," Lucien said softly. There was no surprise in his father's eyes.
