I was coming to realize, however, that the magistrate was more firmly in the grips of the charm’s lingering effects than the people I had interacted with at the festival. He had only known me in passing before Powell’s interference and didn’t have a wealth of memories of all I could do in the forge like Cole. And unlike Gemma, he had thought about my situation long and hard in the past, when he had agreed to let Powell keep control of the forge. His opinions had been reinforced over and over.
“The fact that you spent time in the forge proves nothing.” The magistrate sat with his back straight behind a large mahogany desk, a journal open in front of him. Every now and then, he dipped a pen into the inkwell and added a few notes to his journal, but not often. I didn’t know if that was normal, or a sign that he felt my arguments lacked merit.
“I’m not telling you that I spent time in the forge—though I did. I’m pointing out that Powell did not. How can you justify the master smith for the entire village never picking up a hammer?” I was losing the battle to stay unemotional. My inheritance didn’t even matter to me at this point; I just wanted recognition that Powell was a fraud.
“He might have manned the shop, but it does not necessarily follow that he never picked up a hammer.”
Ward take it, I was done with politeness. “Powell has less skill than a trained monkey. He’s profited off my work for years. You want to know what he’s created in the forge? A lopsided candlestick and jewelry that he actually managed to make worth less than the cost of the materials. You know what I’ve created? Every damn piece of iron this village has needed since my father died. I have served as the master smith of Skorsa since I was sixteen, but it was only afterPowell came that everyone decided I couldn’t be trusted to hold a hammer.”
Magistrate Wrison’s face remained impassive, but I thought I saw a shift behind his eyes. A hint that my words had finally found their target. Sam had been wrong. Now that the charm was broken, I needed to appeal to emotions. I needed the magistrate to recognize that what he felt toward me was artificial. And the best way to do that would be to rouse true emotions.
“Mina recognized what was happening,” I continued. “She saw what the rest of you missed.”
Sam might have been wrong about what tactic I should take with his father, but he had been right that Magistrate Wrison was concerned about my connection to Mina. His eyes narrowed. “The fact that you didn’t come up with this excuse of a magical charm until after Mina came to Skorsa is not in your favor, Master Smythson. I will not see you use her for your own gain.”
“Did you actually talk to Mina?” I challenged. “She’s the one who sought me out, needing my help.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“She gave your wife a present yesterday, didn’t she? A necklace. She didn’t come to Skorsa with that necklace.”
“Mina has access to the finest jewelers in the kingdom. You will not trick me into believing you made the necklace.”
“Would you like to see the copper chain I made that served as inspiration for the necklace? Or perhaps we could visit the forge and I could make another, though I don’t have any sapphires for the pendant. Or you could ask Mina.”
“I saw enough yesterday to recognize that Mina is not unbiased when it comes to you.”
“So she must be wrong? How touching, you don’t even respect her enough to trust that she can make sound decisions.”
I expected anger, but the magistrate fell silent. His aloof mask cracked, and hints of confusion and doubt peeked through. “Mina is an intelligent young woman.” I wasn’t sure if he was trying toconvince me or himself. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t be led astray. Lust is a powerful motivator to ignore the evidence in front of one’s eyes.”
“And what’s your excuse?” I muttered.
Abruptly, Magistrate Wrison stood. “I will talk with Mina now. Come back at one. I’ll summon the council to discuss your claims.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of this sudden declaration, but if anyone could convince Magistrate Wrison, it would be Mina. She just needed to be given the opportunity.
???
After my meetingwith the village council, I didn’t bother with supper. I grabbed a hard-boiled egg from the chill box as I passed through my house and headed to the willow.
I laughed.My house. What a joke. Magistrate Wrison had admitted that legally the house had been mine since my mother’s death. The smithy was another matter. There shouldn’t be any question that it was mine, and yet, after hours of arguing, the village council still hadn’t reached that realization. When I had been sent out of the room after arguing my piece, Sam had explained that while the council didn’t have the authority to deny my inheritance, they could exert considerable pressure to make me sell the smithy. After all, technically, I was still a journeyman.
If the council wanted a master, my only option besides selling was stubbornly refusing the new smith the use of an existing forge while not being allowed to sell anything myself. Or I could find a smith to certify my mastery, but that would probably take a year, no matter how skilled I was.
Sam was convinced it wouldn’t come to that. Once the villagers had time to adjust to the absence of the charms, they ought to go back to how they behaved after my father died. No one had caredthat I wasn’t technically a master. If my mother hadn’t married Powell, the village council might have even invited a master smith to stay in Skorsa temporarily and paid to certify my mastery.
I wasn’t sure it mattered if Sam was right.
I parted the branches of the willow and barely had the chance to notice movement within before Mina barreled into me, wrapping her arms around my waist tightly. “Sam told me what’s going on. And after my conversation with Conrad today...” She somehow squeezed tighter, and I realized I was holding her just as fiercely. “I’m so sorry you still have to deal with this. I’ll make sure a magistrate who hasn’t been influenced by the charm comes out to handle the situation as soon as I reach Haiwella.”
“It might not be worth it,” I admitted. I had promised myself I wouldn’t do this until Mina had shared whatever secret she still had, but things had changed. No matter what, I was done with Skorsa. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me back at the beginning. It is time for me to seek my fortune in Haiwella. If you are willing, I could maybe even travel with you.”
Mina stepped out of my arms, one hand rising to rest on the pendant I knew hid under the neckline of her shirt.
The nervous gesture made me freeze. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No. I mean, yes, you should have.” Mina wrapped her fingers around the pendant, catching the fabric of her shirt, too. She swallowed. “I’d love for you to travel to Haiwella with me. But there’s something I need to tell you first. I should have told you earlier.”
