Becka perked up. Did Quinn return with them? “Enforcers are here?”
“Yes, they came as soon as we reported the incident. And yes, Enforcer Quinn is among them.”
A mixture of anticipation and anxiety roiled through Becka, followed by the lassitude of exhaustion. She’d only been awake for a few minutes and already it was difficult to keep her eyes open.
She desperately wanted to see Quinn again. It had been months since they’d stood face to face. They’d since communicated via message and email about potential clues to the ongoing Shadow-Dweller threat, but no calls. He’d kept his physical and emotional distance.
And why wouldn’t he? I’m still engaged to Alain.
Illan set the bowl down on the bedside table. “You need to rest. We can talk more later.”
Becka’s gaze drifted towards movement at the door, spying Saige waiting expectantly. Illan strode over to the door, motioning to someone out in the hall.
“I don’t think she’s up for company right now. I’d prefer that she rest,” she heard Illan say.
“I’m afraid we don’t have the luxury of time,” came the reply, which Becka recognized as Astrid’s voice.
A moment later, Astrid and Maura followed him back in. Astrid’s face was tear-streaked, and her cheeks were pinked. Maura’s pallor was gray, and Becka had the impression her well-groomed poise was the only thing keeping her together.
No doubt nearly losing her husband had pushed Maura to the limit. Looking back at them through her own tears, Becka hoped some of those tears were concern for her and not just for her father. She didn’t envy the weight her mother carried on her shoulders.
They walked up to her and took up positions around the foot of the bed. Becka’s anxiety spiked, and for now at least all thought of falling asleep fled.
“We’ve all been holding our breath for your successful recovery,” Maura said. “Illan has determined that your health will recover, but Astrid needs to confirm that your powers aren’t altered.”
Becka’s heart ached at their words. Oh great, they aren’t here to check on me, just my powers.
“I feel all right overall,” Becka replied. Maura and Astrid glanced at her but didn’t appear satisfied.
Do they even care how I’m doing?
“Based on how she’s rebounded compared to Vott, it leads me to think her dose was nominal. We’ll know more once the techs finish analyzing the blood work,” Illan explained.
“Doesn’t feel nominal,” Becka said.
“I am sure it does not,” Maura said. “Your father was not as fortunate as you.”
Becka felt the tears run down her cheeks, and her next words came out in a rush. “I’m so sorry, Maura. I didn’t want to drink the tea, so I poured my tea into Vott’s cup. If I’d drunk the tea myself, Vott wouldn’t have been poisoned.”
A flash of anger contorted Maura’s face, but she quickly regained her composure, dabbing at the tears on her cheeks with a kerchief. “We don’t yet know how the poisoning happened or who was targeted. Besides, if you had received a more potent dose, then you might be dead now or in a coma next to Vott. I am grateful that you appear to be rebounding, but we need verification that your gift is fully intact, which I will leave in Astrid’s capable hands. Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to Vott.”
Becka wiped tears away, struck by Maura’s cold reaction. It felt like Maura cared more about Becka’s gift than Becka herself, and perhaps she did? Things hadn’t ever been warm and fluffy between the two of them, Maura not being that sort of mother.
This situation had cast a bright light on the strain in their relationship. So why did Becka continue to feel disappointed in the distance between them? Why couldn’t she be another aloof fae, not caring what others thought?
Maura swept out of the room while Astrid remained, her focus narrowing on Becka. Her relationship with her Aunt Astrid was even more complicated. They’d moved beyond the initial tension and distrust from Becka’s return to the manor, but she still felt like Astrid saw her only as a potential resource for the house. It was as if her Null gift was endlessly interesting to Astrid, but Becka as a person, not so much.
“Help her get dressed,” Astrid said to the apprentice healer, who moved to Becka’s side and helped her sit up. “We will head to the training grounds and see if your gift has suffered.”
Becka eagerly accepted the young fae’s help, her limbs still not quite feeling fully under her own control.
“Again, I would prefer to keep her here for observation,” Illan said, stress visible in the narrowing of his lips.
“Noted, but the heir is coming with me. The sooner we can confirm that her powers are intact, the better for us all.”
Chapter 4
Becka crept into the training circle on silent feet as if the speed of her motion would change the predictable outcome. Judging by the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she didn’t have high hopes about this trial of her powers. With the shakiness in each step and the exhaustion pervading her every thought, she’d be lucky to have a decent showing.
But she knew Astrid wouldn’t let her go rest until she’d answered the question: were her powers still fully intact?
What will happen to me if they aren’t? Will I get sent back to the townhouse in the city?
Astrid stood off to the side, flanked by a pair of illusionist trainees who had constructed an elaborate rainbowed layering of magic: Nuisi, a stout but tall young lord, and Grein, a willowy and unusually-tall young lady, both clad in the silvered robes of apprentices.
Spheres of greens and blues rotated and spun past reds and yellows, each on its own separate trajectory.
The
