Dropping the knife amidst the partially sectioned vegetables, thumb still firmly between her lips, she hurried over to receive her scolding.
“ Git yer thumb out of yer mouth, girl,” Cook growled.
Jelena obeyed immediately. “I cut myself, ma’am,” she explained, wrapping a corner of her apron hem around the oozing wound. She braced herself for the verbal barrage. To her surprise, Cook had a message for her.
“ His lordship wants to see you.”
“ Now?” Jelena asked meekly.
“ Yes, now!” Cook replied sharply, her jowls quivering in annoyance. “Gods only know when you’ll be back. Who’s goin’ t’ cut all of them carrots, eh?”
Jelena resisted the urge to answer with “Cut them yourself.” That would only get her a cuff on the head from one of Cook’s ham-sized fists. Instead, she remained silent, eyes lowered.
“ Go on, then! Don’t keep His Lordship waitin’!” Cook waved her hand in dismissal, and Jelena hastily departed.
The yard lay quiet, bathed in watery, midmorning sunshine. The castle gates stood open and through them, Jelena could see a pair of guards lounging just beyond the raised portcullis, leaning on the butts of their spears. Pigeons fluttered and cooed in the eaves of the outbuildings. A pair of cats snoozed contentedly atop a hay bale.
I’d better go get the circlet. Now’s as good a time as any to return it, Jelena thought. She hurried back to her room and retrieved the circlet from her chest. As she descended back down into the yard and made her way toward the keep, she couldn’t help but feel that monumental changes were in store for her. Her life had come to a crossroads; she felt certain that her uncle intended to tell her which path he had chosen for her.
She thought about the blue fire and wondered again where it had come from and how she had summoned it. Why had it not appeared last night, during the Sansa feast? Surely, if strong emotions were the trigger, it should have manifested then, yet it had not.
Jelena knew the answers to her questions lay elsewhere. Only by seeking out her father’s people could she ever learn the true meaning of the magic that had awakened briefly within her, with such startling results. Only the elves could teach her how to control it.
I’ve made up my mind. No matter the price, I must walk my own path. I’ve got to find out who I really am.
“ Come!” Jelena heard her uncle’s voice command through the thick wood of his study door. Quickly, she obeyed.
Duke Teodorus was not alone. Brennes, Amsara’s steward-a lanky scarecrow of a man-was there as well. He sat on a stool beside the duke’s writing table, diligently scribbling in a big, leather-bound book resting on his lap.
“ I believe we’re finished here, Your Grace,” Brennes said, slamming the ledger shut, and briskly rising to his feet. To Jelena, he looked like one of the herons she often saw out in the flooded spring fields, wading about on thin, bony legs in search of crayfish hidden in the black mud.
“ I’ll coordinate with Lord Magnes on those matters we discussed,” the steward said as he tucked his quill behind one ear and started for the door.
“ Yes, thank you,” the duke replied. Brennes brushed past Jelena, pausing just long enough to rake her with a disdainful glance down his great beak of a nose before exiting and closing the door softly behind him.
“ Good morning, Uncle,” Jelena said politely. “Here is my mother’s circlet. Thank you for allowing me to wear it.” She proffered the circlet to the duke, who took it without comment and set it down on his desk. He folded his hands before him and fixed Jelena with a hard-eyed stare.
“ Why’d you leave the feast like that? Were you deliberately trying to embarrass me in front of my guests?”
“ No, Uncle, of course not. It’s just that I…”
“ That you what?” Duke Teodorus interrupted, clearly irritated. He shook his head and took a deep breath as if to calm a rising tide of anger. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. No harm done, thank the gods.”
“ I’m sorry, Uncle,” Jelena replied. An ache in her hands drew her eyes downward. She was clutching her apron hem so tightly, her knuckles stood out like white knobs. She forced herself to relax her grip and remain steady.
“ I have news for you, girl, and it’s good… The best news you’re ever likely to hear from me.”
Jelena dared to look up at her uncle’s face. The hard lines around his mouth had softened a little, as if he were going to take great pleasure in what he was about to say.
“ I sent a letter to Duke Sebastianus several months after his wife died, describing you to him and inviting him to come have a look at you at Sansa. Well, he did, as you know, and he has agreed to take you off my hands. Do you understand what I’m telling you, girl?”
Her uncle’s words fell on Jelena like freezing rain, rooting her to the stone floor.
“ I…I’m not sure,” she whispered, barely able to get the words past lips that refused to work properly.
“ Veii has made an offer for you, girl, that’s what. He’s willing to take you on as his legal concubine. It’s not marriage, of course, but then, you didn’t really expect that, did you? This is an excellent offer, the best you’ll ever get. Veii will be legally obligated to care for you for life, and provide for any children that you may bear him, even if he marries again. Furthermore, he has agreed to pay me a decent sum for you, much more than I’d thought I’d get. Everyone profits.” The duke leaned back in his chair, smiling broadly now.
Everyone profits?! How do I profit by being sold into slavery?
A white-hot anger rose up in Jelena, melting the ice encasing her stunned brain and unfreezing her limbs. A shout forced its way up from her belly and into her throat. “No!” she screamed. “I won’t let you do this to me!”
Duke Teodorus’s smile vanished. Slowly he stood up, a storm of rage settling upon his brow. His voice was deadly calm. “You ungrateful little bitch. How dare you speak to me that way? Don’t you realize that you have no say in this? As your legal guardian, I have the right to decide for you in these matters. The bargain’s been struck, and the contract has been signed and witnessed.”
“ Contract! Don’t you mean bill of sale?” Jelena shot back bitterly.
Like a charging bull, the duke rushed her before she could react. His closed fist connected with the side of her head like a hammer blow, knocking her to the floor, where she lay stunned. Blearily, she saw the toes of her uncle’s boots appear just beyond the tip of her nose.
Where is it? Where is the magic!
She felt herself being hauled to her feet by the back of her dress. Her uncle shook her hard, like a terrier shakes a rat.
“ Stand up, damn you,” he growled, holding Jelena under her armpits while she struggled to get her feet underneath her.
I need the magic! her mind screamed, but it refused to come.
“ Veii leaves for home in three days’ time. You’ll be going with him. Now get out.” Jelena stumbled as the duke gave her a shove toward the door. Dizzy and sick from the blow to her head, she barely made it out into the hallway before she doubled over and retched.
“ Gods! Jelena, what happened?”
Jelena felt Magnes’s arms loop around her waist to steady her. She turned and leaned into him, close to losing consciousness.
“ Gods!” Magnes exclaimed again. “Who did this to you, Cousin? Who hit you?” He gently probed the blotch of rapidly purpling flesh on her face. She winced and tried to pull away, but he held her firmly.
“ Come on. I’m taking you back to my chambers. You can tell me there,” he said. Jelena felt too sick and disoriented to protest. Instead, she allowed Magnes to sweep her up and carry her back to his apartments, a suite of rooms that took up half of the keep’s third floor.