They couldn’t be serious? Why would she be pleased? “Gift? How can breaking magic even be a thing?”
“That is such an important question,” Berak replied. “As far as I know, you are the first with such a talent. And yes, Saana, I would think it is possible the emergence was late due to it being a new branch. We will need to research the emergent age of others who were the first of their lineage.”
“It is extraordinary, my dear.” Saana’s wizened smile sought to comfort her. “You will be the progenitor of an entirely new branch of magic.”
“But...this changes...everything,” Becka stammered. The tight gripping within her chest wouldn’t release. There were many words Becka might have used, but extraordinary wasn’t one of them.
“Yes, to be certain it is quite a favorable turn of fate for you.” Berak replied, seemingly oblivious to her distress. “You know, Saana, it is incumbent upon us to study her gifts further. There is so much we do not yet understand.”
Becka considered this to be anything but a favorable turn of events. She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around what they were saying. What it all meant.
“I agree. Two minds would be better than one while we work together to determine the significance of this new magical branch. By your leave, I would like to request a temporary transfer from House Alder.”
“Are you sure they could spare you?”
“For this?” she shrugged. “My mentee can manage for a time.”
“Then it is settled.” Berak snapped the latches on his case shut.
Becka watched them chitter like a pair of excited squirrels celebrating a newfound cache of nuts. All the while, the anxiety in her gut magnified breath by breath. This morning, she was an uncomfortable houseguest looking for her first opportunity to leave. Now? Would they let her go while this mystery hung over her head?
“I will leave you the honor of announcing our findings to the family,” Saana said.
“My thanks,” Berak replied, bowing his head for a moment.
Becka wanted to stop him. To flee the room. But what good would it do? How could she escape her own skin?
He strode over to the door to the viewing chamber and opened it with a flourish, gesturing for them all to enter. “Please join us. We have completed our testing and are ready to reveal our initial findings.”
Maura and Vott led the group with Quinn and Brent taking up the rear. Despite the spacious nature of the room, Becka felt penned in as the group circled around the central slab. She crossed her arms and shuffled in the direction of the changing room, only to be cut off by Saana.
“You can get changed in just a moment, dear,” she whispered. “The presentation is traditional.”
Becka’s gaze flitted to Quinn, whose attention was fully focused upon her. His grim countenance mirrored her mood.
“It appears your testing yielded fruit,” Maura said, her brow furrowed, gaze marking the fading gray-toned patches of color on Becka’s arms and legs. “I admit I have not had the pleasure of witnessing a result of this scale before.”
“Nor we,” Berak replied. “It is a fortuitous day for the House of Mirrors.”
Vott was taken aback, confusion plain on his features. “How could identifying any of the curses you were seeking be beneficial?”
“Becka is not cursed,” Saana replied.
Becka’s heart skipped a beat again. Becka held herself tightly, trying to shrink into a smaller and smaller space. She took a step back, running into and then leaning upon the limestone slab. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention.
She wasn’t used to mattering. Not among other fae. Not to who used to be her family. If she had to, she’d describe the sensation as nauseating.
The door beckoned her. She imagined herself running through it, down the hall, and out of the manor. Losing herself in the woods, never to be heard from again.
If only.
“She is gifted,” Berak announced, his voice reverberating through the room.
Becka wished she’d swoon, faint, and wake up to find out this was all a bad dream. But no such luck.
Expressions of confusion surrounded her, but she doubted any of them felt half as confuzzled as she did.
Maura, however, had the wide-eyed look of a child who’d discovered hidden treasure. “Gifted? How is that even possible?” A slow smile spread across her face, her gaze lingering on Becka, as if evaluating her afresh.
“I fear we do not have an answer for you as of yet, my Lady,” Berak replied. “Saana has generously offered to stay and assist with the research. The emergence of a gift after adolescence is heretofore unknown to us.”
“A curiosity, to be sure,” Vott said. “I must say, I have attended all of the testing ceremonies here at House Rowan, and before I came here at House Alder. This result does not look like any I have witnessed before.”
“That is because it is new,” Saana replied, her voice a jubilant sing-song to match her ebullient mood.
There was a pause in the conversation. Becka felt her heart lurch into the empty space.
“New?” Vott asked, a smile twitching upon his lips.
“Becka’s magic is new. She appears to nullify, or cancel, all other magics,” Berak replied. “We will figure out a proper name for it shortly.”
“But magic-cancelling is not a proper gift.” The words burst forth from Calder like steam from a kettle. Becka felt the heat of his anger radiating from him.
“It is now,” Saana replied, her sing-song voice immune to Calder’s foul mood. “Becka is the first.”
“What does it mean?” Astrid asked.
Saana pulled a wooden stick from one of the pockets in her black robes and used it to point at the ashed testing patches on Becka’s arms. “You see how the tests have all dried up and flaked away? The magic has been sapped out of them. It’s as if
