by Rin Grey
Yet she was aware of a glimmer of recognition. Sean had used words similar to this to describe how she and the other mages that they’d found before magic became common had existed.
Even Sean hadn’t suggested that it could follow a pattern such as Evelyn was describing though, that idea was ludicrous.
Unless, there was a reason for it…
“You can control it, can’t you?” she demanded, amazement colouring her words. The thought was unbelievable, incredible, especially given their obviously primitive magical skills.
Yet what other explanation was there?
Suddenly, Evelyn was not so forthcoming. “How could we possibly do that? Jocelyn tells me your magical skills are far more advanced than ours are, you tell me how it could be done.”
The truth was, it couldn’t. Not by any method Elizabeth could imagine.
But the thought lingered.
Guessing that pursuing that line of questioning was fruitless, she instead turned her questioning in another direction, the hurt and pain of knowing they had known of magic before still stinging. “And given all that you know, did it not even occur to you that magic would become stronger? To keep a watch on those who may have had signs of it?” she demanded.
“We did keep watch, though possibly after all this time we’d become a little lax. The family had grown so large, we couldn’t possibly watch every single child for its manifestation. All children were routinely checked in their late high school years by either myself or Armegin, surely you remember?”
Elizabeth did remember, though at the time she had had no idea what it was about. She had thought Armegin, Evelyn’s predecessor, had summoned her and asked all those strange questions over her engagement to George.
“Well, it obviously wasn’t very effective, since I slipped through the cracks,” she said bitterly.
If they’d found her earlier, how different might her life have been? She shook her head. She couldn’t believe that her life had hung in the balance so closely.
“You had no signs of magic,” Evelyn said defensively. “Both Armegin and I scanned you and found nothing and none of your answers revealed any of the markers we were looking for.”
“Well obviously your frecking tests failed,” Elizabeth spat. The emotion of her earlier conversation with Gemma mingled with anger at the fact that her life could have been completely different.
If she’d known that the Salinga family had magic, that their very hierarchy seemed to centre around magical ability…
Had there been a chance to find the same sort of fulfillment here she’d found in the Dome?
Had there been a possibility to satisfy both parts of her life?
Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids, but she refused to give in to that sign of weakness. She would not cry in front of this woman.
She reminded herself that if they hadn’t rejected her, she would never have met Sean, never have been part of the Dome. Never have conceived…
She shut that thought off before it could complete. She didn’t need more emotional upheaval right now.
“Your magic manifested before you left?” Evelyn asked, her voice soft with understanding now, and a trace of pity.
Elizabeth didn’t want her understanding, and even less her pity. She hadn’t intended to divulge any of this.
“It doesn’t matter now,” she said tiredly. “What’s done is done. Was there something in particular you wanted?” Suddenly she just wanted this conversation to be over.
That was not to be however. It was plain that Evelyn was not satisfied with her answers. “I have answered your questions to the best of my ability, now I think it is only fair that you do the same.”
It was on the tip of Elizabeth’s tongue to deny any need to reply in kind, she certainly felt no obligation, but she caught sight of the tattoo again. Maybe if she gave Evelyn some answers, she might just give her a clue as to what was going on.
“That depends,” she said.
Evelyn’s eyebrow shot up. “Depends?”
“On what you want to know.”
Evelyn seemed thrown by that for a moment. Probably no one had ever said anything like it to her before. It didn’t take her long to recover though. “Jocelyn said you had been trained in the Dome?”
Elizabeth nodded. “I have,” she admitted reluctantly. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t already given that information out when she’d rescued Mitch.
“And that you know the king?”
Elizabeth gave a snort of a laugh. “Know is a bit strong a word.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know him?”
A memory of her conversation with the king, of how comfortable he’d seemed with her, hit her unbidden, throwing her off balance. If anyone had seen them conversing, they certainly would have thought the relationship more familiar than it was.
But that didn’t change the facts. “I met him for the first time when I went to request Mitch’s return. I doubt I shall ever have a reason to see him again.”
“Why then, did he agree to let you leave with Mitchell? From everything I’ve ever heard, no one leaves the Dome once they are there. Yet you not only accomplished it once, you brought your grandson with you a second time, with the king’s permission.”
Elizabeth was silent. She had no answer for that one, even if she had been in the mood to be forthcoming. She’d been as surprised as Evelyn appeared to be.
“What, cat got your tongue?” Evelyn snapped. “You must have some idea. Did it have anything to do with your relationship with this person in the Dome that Jocelyn mentioned?”
So she’d heard about that.
Elizabeth should never have mentioned it, she was never going to hear the end of it. And quite frankly, her family were the last people she wanted to talk about it with.
Trouble was, she couldn’t categorically deny it. The king most probably did speak to her because of her relationship with Sean, and it could very well have influenced his decision.
If it did, she was grateful for that, but she certainly had no intention of letting her family use it against her. Or the Dome.
“I fail to see what my relationships in the Dome have to do with anything,” Elizabeth snapped. “I’m not there anymore. I’m here.”
“So I’ve noticed,” Evelyn said just as snappily. “Jocelyn has seen fit to declare you heir, against my better judgement I might add. However, that position holds many responsibilities, and I am here to determine if you are up to fulfilling them or not. Any ties you have to the Dome could be a conflict of interest.”
That’s what this was about.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I didn’t ask for this position, Jocelyn offered. I guess she sees enough advantages in it to be worth it. Or she had no choice. Either way, it doesn’t seem to be up to you.”
“So you’re going to refuse to answer any of my questions?” Evelyn demanded.
Elizabeth felt a strange satisfaction at not caring about her opinion. Evelyn wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating as Elizabeth remembered. It was rather sad really, how little real power she had. Even her magic was a pitiful fraction of the least powerful mage in the Dome.
Elizabeth wondered idly why the Salingas all followed her so readily. “I guess I am.” A sudden thought occurred to her, and she leaned forwards in her seat. “I might be persuaded to give a little more, if you can answer a question of mine.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” She didn’t sound pleased.
She must want to know very badly.
“Your tattoo,” Elizabeth indicated Evelyn’s wrist. “It’s very unique. I’m just wondering what its meaning is?”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed. She glanced down at the distinctive tattoo around her wrist and then met Elizabeth’s gaze. “It’s a family tradition. Why do you ask?”
There had to be more to it than that. Sean wasn’t family. As far as Elizabeth knew, she was the only person in her family that he even knew.
Or maybe not.
“Because, he had one exactly the same,” Elizabeth said flatly.
She watched Evelyn’s face closely, searching for her reaction. It was almost unnoticeable. A slight widening of the eyes. A sucked in breath. Then a deliberate frown. “Impossible. It is unique to the Salinga family.”
She’d managed to surprise Evelyn. So she didn’t know.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure he isn’t a Salinga,” she said dryly.
“Who is he?” Evelyn asked sharply. Directly. Unavoidably.
“That’s none of your business.”
“I beg to differ. If he has a Salinga tattoo, it most certainly is my business.”
“What are you going to do, tell him to remove it?” Elizabeth laughed at the idea of Evelyn, or any of the Salinga family, trying to tell Sean what to do.
“Are you refusing to tell me?” Evelyn demanded.
Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. “Yes.”
Evelyn’s eyes bulged. She wasn’t used to being refused. Elizabeth found it slightly amusing.
“Was he why you left the family?” she demanded. “Did he lure you away?”
Elizabeth laughed at that. She would have thought, after their earlier conversation, that Evelyn could have guessed why she left. If she couldn’t figure it out, Elizabeth certainly wasn’t going to enlighten her. “I don’t see that it’s any of your business.”
Fifty years ago, Evelyn’s tight lipped frown would have made Elizabeth quiver. Now she merely found it amusing.
“I think it is,” Evelyn said flatly. “It is directly related to your position as heir.”
Leaning slightly forward in her chair, Elizabeth said quietly, “The only people I owe an explanation to are George and the girls. Gemma I have already talked to, and she is satisfied with my explanation.”
Satisfied might be a bit strong, grudging acceptance probably described it better.
“And George? Do you intend to give him an explanation too?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “Whether I choose to talk to him or not is my business, not yours.”
“Perhaps you’re not aware Elizabeth, that he is still your husband?” Evelyn said silkily.
“What?” Elizabeth was shocked enough that she didn’t even try to hide her surprise.
“Yes, he never applied for a divorce, even though he’s been living with that woman for forty years.” Evelyn sounded disgusted, and Elizabeth felt a pang of pity for that woman, even as the import of her words hit her hard.
George was still married to her? Her mind recoiled instantly at the thought. She’d thought that part of her life was well and truly over. She had no wish to ever go back to it.
But she wasn’t going to let Evelyn see any of that. She closed her mind to the idea, and focused on Evelyn.
“Again, that’s between the two of us. What does it matter to you anyway?”
“It’s not that simple, Elizabeth. You may have seen it as leaving your husband, a marriage I was against, need I remind you, but at the same time, you left this family. Now, out of the blue, you return and expect to slide back into a place of importance without even an explanation? How can we possibly trust you?”
Giving a soft laugh, Elizabeth said, “I haven’t asked you to trust me, and I see no reason to. If you have a problem with my position, take it up with Jocelyn.”
She almost wished the old woman would. That would free her from this obligation.
Even if she was starting to get more than a little curious what the Salingas were up to.
“I give up then. I wash my hands of you.” Evelyn threw up her hands in exasperation, then walked out of the door without looking back once.
Once Evelyn had gone, Elizabeth stared off into space. Her mind was still in turmoil after all Evelyn had revealed. That other Salinga’s had magic. That they’d known about it when she’d left. That they had some strange connection to Sean.
None of it made any sense.
She didn’t want to deal with it right now.
There was, however, an unavoidable need to see George. She’d known she would have to, of course, especially since her new position would involve being here for the conceivable future, but it wasn’t a reunion she had been looking forward to.
Evelyn was right, much as she hated to admit it, she owed him, at least, an explanation. But how could she even begin to explain?
She couldn’t see that conversation going any better than the one she’d just had with Gemma.
She looked up to see her daughter peeking around the door.
“Is she gone?” Gemma asked nervously.
“Yes, she’s gone,” Elizabeth answered, surprised to realise that Gemma was as nervous of Evelyn as she had once been. “She really isn’t that scary though you know.”
Gemma looked at her as if she had just said that the sky falling would be a good thing. “You’re talking about Evelyn? Of course she’s scary.”
“Why? What can she possibly do to you?”
Gemma opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. “Well, nothing I guess.” She looked thoughtful.
Elizabeth smiled, hoping she had given her daughter something to think on.
She wished she could brush away her own fears so easily. There was nothing George could do to her, she repeated the words to herself.
“Mamma?” Gemma looked uncertain.
Elizabeth was glad of the distraction. “Yes?”
Gemma hesitated, then her words came out in a rush. “Is Jocelyn going to want you to come in to talk about your role as heir?”
Elizabeth frowned. Gemma had seemed fine with her being named heir. Glad even, that Mitch didn’t need to shoulder the burden. Why did she sound upset now?
Then it hit her. This wasn’t about her position as heir at all.
After the events of the morning, Gemma was afraid of being alone with Mitch right now.
Even if she wasn’t, after the fire earlier, Elizabeth wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving her right now.
“She probably will, but I’ll tell her I can’t leave Mitch right now,” Elizabeth promised.
She’d have to wait to go and see George too.
Elizabeth tried not to feel too relieved about that.
Chapter 6 - Amends
Elizabeth managed to put off talking to George for nearly a week. After all, she couldn’t really leave Mitch and Gemma alone right after the washing line incident. She told Jocelyn the same thing when she wanted her to come down to the offices and discuss her new role.
She wasn’t going anywhere until she was sure Mitch was in complete control of his magic. Not even next door.
He was a quick learner though, and not once after that did he show any sign of losing control. If Elizabeth hadn’t been there and seen it with her own eyes, she would have thought she’d imagined it.
After teaching him for a week though, and satisfying herself that he really was in complete control, there was no putting it off any longer. After the morning’s lessons, she went looking for Gemma.
Her daughter was in the kitchen, taking a cake out of the oven.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Gemma?”
“Yes?” Gemma put a tea towel over the cake to keep the flies off while it cooled, then looked up.
“Where’s George living now?” Elizabeth said, before she could chicken out.
Gemma looked at her wordlessly for a moment, then said, “He… well, he moved in next door.” She looked uncomfortable.
Elizabeth could guess why. “With his girlfriend?”
Gemma nodded.
Elizabeth wasn’t in the least bit upset, but she wasn’t sure explaining that George was part of her dim and distant past would make Gemma feel any better. “I’m not going to upset the applecart. I just, well, I suppose I owe him an explanation. And I hear he never filed for a divorce. It sounds like that’s something we should do.”
> “It’s going to come as a bit of a shock,” Gemma said quietly. “We all thought you were dead.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Do you think you should warn him first?”
“I don’t know. His heart isn’t too good these days, perhaps it would be best.”
Of course, he had health problems. Unlike her, he was no longer young. She felt a little guilty about being so healthy when he wasn’t. Then it hit her.
Elizabeth gave a ghost of a smile. “That, at least, is something I can help with.”
It wouldn’t make up for what she’d done, but she did feel glad she could offer him something better than just her weak excuses for leaving.
“You can help him?” Gemma asked eagerly. “Can you make him young again?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Magic doesn’t work like that. I can halt my own aging, but I can’t reverse it once it has happened. I can’t do even that much for anyone else. However, I can strengthen his heart, and heal any other problems I find.”
Gemma clasped her hands together and smiled. “That would be wonderful. Let’s go over right away.” She hesitated suddenly, then asked, “Will Mitch be all right here by himself while we’re gone?”
Elizabeth nodded. “He’s come a long way. I’m confident he’s not going to lose control again. And he’s under strict orders not to practice while I’m gone anyway.”
Gemma looked relieved. She nodded, then called out to Mitch, “I’m taking Elizabeth to see Grandad, we’ll be back in an hour or two. We’ll be just next door if you need us.”
They headed outside, down the path to the gate, and across to the house next door.
Elizabeth tried to ignore the thumping in her heart as Gemma knocked on the door. So much for her dim and distant past.
Oh well, at least once this was over she’d be done with the explanations.
“Sara will answer,” Gemma explained to Elizabeth as they waited. “Papa can’t get around so easily these days.”
The woman who answered the door wasn’t particularly young herself, although she seemed sure on her feet. “Hi, Gemma,” she said in a friendly way. She eyed Elizabeth curiously.
