“Being away from Jagadev,” Anne said. At some point she’d stopped tacking
“You’re wondering what you should do,” I said.
Anne nodded. “Well, for the short term you can both stay here,” I said. “I might not have as much status as some, but as long as you’re living under this roof you’ll have some protection at least.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t get too grateful. I’ll probably want you to help out around the place.”
I saw Anne try to hide a smile. “But . . .” I said. “In the long run you and Variam are going to have to decide what to do next.”
Anne seemed about to say something, hesitated.
“I can’t take the two of you on as apprentices,” I said. “I couldn’t take on someone else and teach Luna as well. But even if I didn’t have Luna, I
A chill wind gusted over us, ruffling our hair. “Or you could try and make a go of it as independents,” I said. “But that’s got its own problems. You’re going to be seen as rogues or runaways or both. If you can get enough support and pass the journeyman tests, then the Light Council will have to recognise you as adult mages. But that’s not easy.”
Anne sighed. “None of it is, is it?” She straightened. “Well, we’ve made it this far. We’ll make do.”
“You will,” I said. “And you won’t be on your own this time.”
Anne looked at me and smiled. I got up and held my hand out to her. “Come on. Let’s go help Variam unpack.”
We went down out of the cold and towards the warmth and voices below.
FATED
CURSED
TAKEN
