* * *
Hugo and Rory went home. After all, they couldn’t exactly come in: they were boys, and visits from boys were strictly forbidden. Meanwhile, Izzy walked with me towards my father’s library. My stomach churned with anxiety about my father summoning me to his office.
“It’s going to be okay, Addie,” Izzy said, but she didn’t fool me. She was almost as nervous as I was. “I’ll wait here for you.” She sat on a settee outside of the office door.
At least I’d have Cheeva by my side. He bolstered my courage a little, but it was ironic that the white wolf had put me under suspicion in the first place.
I couldn’t imagine what my father wanted to discuss. Anything about shopping would be coordinated by my mother or Tristan. Had I been wrong about what had happened at breakfast? Was the real interrogation about to begin?
Since Zarius had just now threatened to say something about Rory, I was fairly sure he hadn’t had time to make good on that threat. I still had that to look forward to. However, any way I looked at it, I just couldn’t see how this conversation could amount to anything good.
I gulped hard as I knocked on the library door.
“Come in,” my father called.
I opened the door. “Hello, Father. Zarius said you wanted to discuss something with me.”
My father’s stare shifted from me to the huge white wolf. A deep furrow formed between his brows, as if seeing Cheeva made him question everything all over again. Great.
“Take a seat, Adriana.” He sat behind his desk, waving me into one of the two plush armchairs facing his desk.
My heart sped up.
“Adriana.” He said my name like a reprimand.
My heart sped up more.
“I do not want you to think that what I’m about to tell you in any way condones your poor behavior yesterday.”
He couldn’t mean Cheeva choosing me, as that wasn’t anything I actually did.
“Are we clear, Adriana?” He glowered at me.
Whoops! I hadn’t answered without hesitation as expected. If I wasn’t careful, I’d blow Operation Oblivious. “Yes sir, we are.”
“That’s better,” he said, steepling his forefingers in front of his mouth. “I have reconsidered Bartholomew Magnuson as your future betrothed. What I also want you to know is that I would have interviewed him before making any decisions and I would have found him…lacking.”
Yes, but what if my father had promised me to Bart when I was little? He wouldn’t have known Bart was “lacking,” and I would have been stuck with him anyway. It wasn’t fair that no wizard ever got to marry for love. It wasn’t right.
“Adriana!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Pay attention, daughter. As I was saying, in the future, you will trust that I will make the right decisions for you and for this family. You will respect my judgment and you will not challenge me again. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded dutifully.
“There is time to sort this all out. The overturning of your betrothal to Falcon Voltaire could take quite a while.” His focus shifted once more to Cheeva and then returned to me. “I’ve sent for a seeker to consult about the white wolf. I want to understand why Cheeva has attached himself to you. I’m sure you would like to understand it as well.”
Oh Shih-Tzu! What would a seeker see? Would he know I have magic? “Um—” I choked. “Ye-yes sir.”
“It seems that Seeker Quinlan cannot make it to the stronghold for three or four more weeks, so it should not interfere with your trip to New York.”
“Yes, Father. Whatever you think is best.” I swallowed hard. “But—” I heard the hesitance in my own voice, “—even though I don’t know why he chose to be with me, I am growing fond of Cheeva.”
“Do not get attached to him, Adriana. He is not your pet. He is a powerful familiar. I’m sure when this is resolved he will end up bonding as your brother’s familiar.”
I knew in my heart that wasn’t true. It would never be true. “Yes sir,” I whispered meekly.
With a nod, my father dismissed me, looked down at papers on his desk, and started writing notes as though I was already gone.
I walked out of my father’s office feeling like things could have gone worse, and then they did.
Zarius walked by, snickering as he knocked on my father’s library door. He’d warned me. He was about to try to make sure I didn’t see Rory anymore.
What could I do to stop him? I tried to think of anything I could do or say, but there wasn’t anything. I was just as powerless as I’d always been. Being able to levitate a water bottle wasn’t going to help me stop my brother. Some wizard queen I was.
By the Claw of Copernicus, why was I stuck with a brother like Zarius? He was such a jerk. Part of me wanted to collapse on the floor and cry right then and there. I wasn’t ready to lose Rory. I’d liked him for so long and now he liked me, too. I knew I’d have to give up Rory someday, but not yet. Not now, when we were just starting to get close.
My thoughts shifted to the prophecy. Was it possible that my and Rory’s lives were intertwined by destiny?
Izzy jumped up, ran over, and wrapped me in a big bear hug. “Did you survive?”
“Yes, and there won’t be any betrothal to Bart.”
“Hey!” Izzy patted my shoulder. “That’s absolutely fantabulous!”
“But Zarius is in there telling my father that I’m having some kind of illicit relationship with Rory.”
Izzy wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Well, are you?”
“Izzy!” I whacked her shoulder. “Of course not.”
“Sorry.” She snickered. “I was curious. Let me rephrase that—your brother is a total troll-butt,” Izzy said in a hoarse whisper. “So, anything else with your dad?”
“Yes,” I whispered back. “He’s calling in a seeker to see why Cheeva chose me.”
Izzy slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyebrows shooting up. “No!” The shout was barely muffled by her hand.
“We have to be quiet, Izzy!” I whisper-shouted.
She nodded her head in spastic agreement. “Hey, at least it isn’t like it was a couple of hundred years ago when the Nostradamus keep had seekers running around all over the place.”
“There is that,” I agreed.
The more I thought about Zarius in there with my father, the more furious I got. Right now I felt more powerless than I ever had before, and I supposedly possessed super-strong magic inside me. I needed protection from him. I needed to be equipped with the knowledge to defend myself.
I needed a translation amulet!
“Izzy, you want to do something really stupid and dangerous?”
“You bet,” she said, without even a second’s hesitation.
“That’s why I love you. You’re my own personal Don Quixote!” I started walking.
“Not sure if that was a compliment,” Izzy said, following me. “But what is our mission, since I’ve already decided to accept it?”
“We’re running up to Zarius’ room to steal a translation amulet.”
Izzy halted mid-step. “Um, Addie, there’s getting a backbone and then there’s reckless abandon. I didn’t mean I wanted you to concoct a spur-of-the-moment, harebrained scheme destined to fail.”
I turned and jogged toward my immediate family’s bedchambers. Cheeva paused, but then followed after me.
I glanced back at Izzy and mouthed, “Are you coming or not?”
She shook her head, rolled her eyes, and with a huge sigh, jogged after me.