Chapter 31
“Anyone can walk north if they want!”
Zynie tried to sound dismissive with a scoff, but her heart was pounding out of her chest.
“The book that was stolen contains the names of some extremely dangerous invokeds. And now, a bunch of filthy thieves with neither the skills nor the right to handle them have taken it.”
Zynie’s shoulders gave a huge, involuntary flinch. Sure, she knew they’d done something wrong, but did she really have to be called a filthy, incompetent thief?
“Maybe whoever took it just wanted to help people, you know? Maybe they needed the book for a good reason…”
“Are you kidding me? If it were something that could actually help, Lady Merga would’ve used it herself ages ago.”
Virelda snorted. Fay had once tried to talk sense into Zynie in much the same way, but Virelda’s words were sharper and colder by far.
“If this mess gets any bigger, you and Fay are both getting exiled.”
“I told you, I don’t know anything about this!”
“You two even smashed the sentry doll. Do you realize just how many rules you’ve broken?”
“Wait—that really wasn’t me!”
Zynie’s eyes widened in shock.
“I swear, I didn’t do it! It must’ve been another witch!”
“And who would that be?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Zynie insisted, swearing she really had nothing to do with the sentry doll.
“Do you really think it’s a coincidence that after that night, Fay risked living all alone by the broken outer wall?”
“Are you suspecting Fay now? Hold on—that was always her house!”
She’d always been attached to her home. Zynie remembered how, even when she’d taken refuge at the castle, Fay longed to go back.
“You actually believed her when she said she just missed her house?”
For someone called a genius, you really are too naïve. Virelda made a pointed comment for everyone to hear. Zynie squawked indignantly, but Virelda ignored her.
“Your reaction just told me everything. So Fay’s the culprit.”
“How do you figure that?”
Zynie was certain Fay could never have done it.
That night, Zynie had tried to get back into the tower to save Fay, but the door wouldn’t budge. No spell or password she tried worked, so she ended up waiting all night by Fay’s bedroom for her to come home.
At dawn, just as she was about to give up and go to Merga, Fay finally showed up.
‘Sorry for worrying you. It just took me a long time to find a way out that wasn’t being watched.’
Fay had comforted her, saying it was the right choice, as Zynie wept from guilt for leaving her alone. As for the doll, Fay claimed to know nothing about it—and Zynie believed her.
“There’s no way Fay could have destroyed that doll!”
Virelda conceded that point. The sentry doll was powerful enough to guard an important area and hadn’t been breached in over a century.
“But what if it was an invoked named in that book?”
“Wait—you’re saying an invoked did it? That’s even more impossible!”
Zynie shrieked.
“Fay’s never even summoned an invoked in her life!”
It was well known, by Virelda and every witch in the city, that Fay always fumbled her words and failed the ritual whenever she got nervous.
“Magic is a string of coincidences. Even if you recite the same spell, you don’t always get the same result.”
“So you’re saying Fay just accidentally summoned an invoked?”
Virelda cut Zynie’s protests short with a firm command.
“Zynie, bring Fay to me tomorrow morning.”
“Why should I?”
“Fine. Should I come get her myself? Would you prefer I drag her here as a criminal instead?”
If you want a scene, I can give you one.
Virelda’s sarcasm made Zynie ball her fists and glare daggers at her. The whole city knew the two of them didn’t get along, but calling Fay a criminal? That was too much.
“When you see Fay, you’d better apologize for accusing her!”
Even as she gave in, Zynie pouted. She was sure Fay would’ve told her if she’d really managed to summon an invoked. Zynie trusted her completely.
“All right. But if I’m right, your crow is mine.”
“You want Donovan…?”
“Yep. I’ll let him be Scarlis’s plaything. He might not taste good, but at least he’ll have some nutritional value.”
“You want to feed him to your invoked? That’s too much!”
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