“I did help you. I brought you everything you needed to stop this war,” North said, “but it obviously meant nothing coming from a dirty, unranked vagrant.”

“Wayland,” Hecate said, her voice hard. “Now is the time for you to come back, don’t you see? Everything will be forgiven.”

“No!” North said. “I didn’t come back here for you, or for this life. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“You’re doing your father a great dishonor,” she said severely.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m the only one doing his memory justice,” North shot back. “He would have done everything in his power to deal peacefully with this threat.”

“Really, Wayland?” Oliver asked, sneering. “Auster is no more of a threat to the people of Palmarta than the girl you’ve brought here.”

I tensed, my heart giving a strange lurch.

“She has nothing to do with this,” North said.

“Don’t think we didn’t realize what she was the moment we both saw her,” Oliver said. “Other wizards may not be powerful enough to sense it, but unfortunately for you, we are.”

“Oh, how foolish of me,” North said. “How could I ever forget how very powerful you are, Ollie?”

“You know what we’ve done with her kind in the past,” Hecate said. “I thought at first that you were bringing her to me to use in the war. That kind of power would devastate Auster’s armies.”

“Sorry to ruin your plans,” North said, “but I’ve been sorting out the threads of her magic since the first day I met her. It’s not as simple as you would think. She radiates magic, yes, but all the different kinds are knotted together, so she can’t necessarily control the effect she’ll have on the world. I’ve closed off most of her ability to use it, willingly or not. She’s no danger or use to you, not anymore.”

My mind, or at least the portion that wasn’t slowly spinning it all together, was telling me to stop listening. To turn and walk back down the stairwell, to leave before I learned the full truth.

“All you’ve done is repress her magic,” Hecate said. “A single wizard can’t strip that type of power, Wayland. She’s not like us. She doesn’t just channel magic; she creates it—is it. You must understand why the Guard has handled things the way they did in the past. The jinxes were detected and put to death before the age of seven, when their magic would have manifested.

“Does she even know?” Hecate continued. “Does she know what she is, or have you kept that from her, too?”

“She doesn’t,” North said. “And I’ll skin the both of you alive if you tell her.”

Oliver laughed. “Oh, this is too good! The dumb thing follows you around like a lovesick puppy, and she’s never put it together?”

I cringed, shrinking away until Hecate’s voice caught me and held me there.

“That’s unfair, Oliver,” she said. “How could she possibly know? Most wizards wouldn’t recognize the magic, let alone a human. I’m assuming that’s what the duel with Genet was about? And the quake that followed?”

“I had to fight,” North’s voice was strained. “She releases so much magic into the world that it draws other magic to her, and there hasn’t been a wizard who’s been able to resist it.”

“I felt I had to touch her,” Hecate said. “Even with the bracelet, I could still sense it, weakened as it was.”

“Yes, and I noticed how well you resisted it, Mother.”

“You touch her all the time,” Oliver snapped. “It’s disgusting how little restraint you have.”

“Because I want to, not because I feel compelled to! There is a difference!”

“Wayland,” Hecate said. “I’ll use her, or I’ll end her life—either way, she will not leave this city until I’ve made my decision.”

North was practically pleading now. “Magister helped me create a lock. I’ve been strengthening it over the past few days, making sure that no one else can sense her power. It’s contained completely. She’s not any danger to Provincia!”

I could hear Hecate’s sharp breath, even through the thick wood. “That is highly unsafe, Wayland! If the lock breaks, all of the repressed magic will spill out—who knows what disaster that would create!”

“She’s created very few disasters,” North said sharply. “A drought, a quake, a storm, and a landslide—that’s it. And the only reason they came about was because she was upset!”

“So she stubs a toe and creates a whirlwind?” Oliver said scathingly. “Tell me how that isn’t unnatural or dangerous?”

“That’s not—!” North began fiercely.

“The truth is, my son, that you were irresponsible in taking this on,” Hecate said severely. “You don’t know what kind of destruction she’s capable of—no one does! How many have died or lost their homes and possessions in the towns you’ve passed through? Do you even know if the magic you’re using on her is causing her pain? Will repressing her magic kill her? Or, worse, kill you?”

I couldn’t breathe. My vision had blurred, and my throat constricted. This couldn’t be real—whoever that girl was, she wasn’t me.

“I don’t—” North tried again.