by Rin Grey
Mitch considered that, then nodded. “I suppose not,” he agreed. “Then who are you?”
Elizabeth hesitated, but there was no point in hiding the truth, he would find out soon enough if he came home with her.
“I’m your grandmother.”
“My grandmother’s dead,” Mitch stated with certainty.
Elizabeth winced. “That may be what you’ve been told. In fact, I’m sure it’s what your mother believed. But it isn’t the case, I’m afraid.”
Mitch frowned. “Even if she were still alive, you’re much too young to be my grandmother.”
His tone indicated disgust that she would think him so gullible, and Elizabeth smiled in amusement. “Think about it for a moment. Have you seen anyone who looks a day older than me since you arrived here?”
Mitch opened his mouth to speak, paused, then closed it again. He thought about what she said for a few moments, then said slowly, “Magic. They all use magic to hide their true age.” His voice was awed.
“Very good. But not quite right. There is a magical ritual involved, but it doesn’t hide their age, it halts it.”
“You mean you are really only...” Mitch looked uncertain, “Um… however old you look.”
Elizabeth grinned. “Yep. So no playing the normal grandkid tricks on me, they just won’t work.”
Elizabeth was pleased to see Mitch grin in return. Under all that seriousness, there was a normal kid somewhere. “So seeing as Jocelyn didn’t send me, do you want to explain to me why you don’t want to go back? It has something to do with her, right?”
Indecision warred on Mitch’s face. “Maybe. Why do you want to know? And if Jocelyn didn’t send you, how did you find me?”
“Oh, the signs in your room showed where you went clearly to anyone who knows magic. But the reason I came was because your mother asked me.”
A shadow of longing passed over Mitch’s face. “Is she all right?”
“As much as can be expected. She’s very worried about you, and she misses you a lot,” Elizabeth said gently.
Mitch sighed. “I didn’t mean her to worry. You can tell her I’m all right, that I’m safe, can’t you?”
“Of course I can, but I think it would be better if you told her yourself.”
“I can’t go back.” Mitch turned away to hide the sadness on his face.
“Why not? If you’re worried about how you’re going to learn to use your magic, you needn’t be.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mitch interrupted bitterly, not turning away from the wall. “Even if I could use my magic safely, It doesn’t make any difference. Amily can be the heir, then everyone will be happy.”
“Amily?” Elizabeth asked, confused again. Then she remembered. “She’s next in line, isn’t she?”
Mitch nodded nervously.
“What happened?” Elizabeth asked, though she suspected she knew.
Mitchell hesitated, then said in a small voice, “She said that if I didn’t step down, she’d make me disappear, and hurt Mum.”
Fury began to build in Elizabeth at the thought of someone threatening Mitchell and Gemma.
She managed to keep her voice even when she said, “You should have told Jocelyn. She would have sorted it out.”
At least, she hoped she would have. Although Jocelyn did appear more wrapped up in her own problems than in anticipating Mitch’s.
“I tried,” Mitch said desperately. “I told her I wanted to step down as heir. I didn’t want the position anyway. But she wouldn’t listen.”
Elizabeth almost bit her tongue trying not to swear out loud. She could well imagine that Jocelyn wouldn’t listen to a young boy that wasn’t quite game to outright say he’d been threatened. But that was no excuse.
Jocelyn should have known Mitch better, and been keeping more of an eye on him, instead of being so focused on tradition.
The Salinga’s were in a bit of a pickle though, it seemed. Mitch didn’t want to be the heir, and given her threats, it was clear Amily could no longer be considered. At least, Elizabeth hoped that would be enough to disqualify her. Thus Jocelyn would be unwilling to let Mitch step down. Unless someone else could be found to fill the position…
She stood up abruptly. “I’ll talk to Jocelyn. It’s best that this is sorted out before you come home I think.”
“You can do that?” Mitch asked hopefully.
Elizabeth laughed. Why did everyone think the Salinga’s were so unapproachable? “Sure, I can talk to her. I don’t know if it will do any good, but I can try.”
Then his face fell. “I still can’t go back, so there isn’t much point,” he said, gloomy gain.
Elizabeth suppressed a sigh. Why couldn’t the boy just come? “What is it?” she asked as patiently as she could.
Mitch was very quiet for a long time, then near tears he said, “I had to leave anyway, she’s afraid of mages.”
It didn’t take a genius to work out who he was talking about. Elizabeth crossed the room, and sat on the edge of his bed. “That’s my fault,” she said regretfully.
“How could it be your fault?” Mitch asked in confusion.
Elizabeth hesitated, but she and Mitch shared something the others didn’t. She suspected he, of all people, would understand. Without pitying her. “I left home, left your mother, when my magic manifested—I was afraid I was going to hurt her. I nearly did, which is why she was so afraid.”
“What happened?” Mitch asked curiously.
Elizabeth sighed heavily. “I was angry, and I set the curtains on fire. She was just a baby, but I think she remembers.”
Elizabeth hated remembering that day, still tried to avoid thinking about it. But she needed him to understand his mother wasn't afraid of him.
“It doesn’t matter though. She is still your mother. She loves you.”
Mitch shook his head in disagreement. “You don’t understand. She’s afraid of me, or she will be when she finds out.”
“She already knows. I told her,” Elizabeth said matter of factly.
“You told her?” Mitch demanded. “Why did you do that?”
“Because she is your mother, she deserves to know.”
“I didn’t see you coming back and telling Mum about your magic,” he threw back at her.
Elizabeth winced. She couldn’t deny the accusation. Even a fifteen year old knew it was wrong. “No. I didn’t. And that is something I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life,” she said somberly. “But she does know now. And she knows about you too, so there is no reason for you not to come home.”
“What did she say when you told her?” he asked in a whisper.
“She wanted to know if coming here and asking the mages herself would mean they’d let you come home.”
“She was going to do that?” Mitch asked, surprised.
“Yes, and if that failed, she was going to move here to be with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I think she was ready to go pack her bags, but I said I would do my best to bring you back so she didn’t have to.”
“It’s not that simple,” Mitch said, dejected again.
“Yes it is.”
“No it isn’t. I have to stay here. If I don’t learn how to control my magic, she’ll have reason to be afraid of me.”
“Well then we will have to teach her that there is nothing to be afraid of about magic, won’t we?”
“We?” Mitch asked, looking like he’d suddenly seen a light at the end of the tunnel.
“Yes. We. I promised the king I’d take personal responsibility for teaching you enough magic to keep you, and everyone around you, safe.”
“The king? You talked to the king about me?” Mitch asked, his voice awed.
Elizabeth laughed. “Yes, I did. And he was very nice about it too. Said sorry about the mistake, and of course you can go home. If you want to of course.”
Mitch hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “If you can sort it out so I do
n’t have to be Jocelyn’s heir, I’ll come home.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I will sort it out, one way or another. I’ll be back soon, all right?”
Mitch nodded.
Elizabeth stood, and tried not to sigh as she wrapped her fingers around the stone and teleported yet again.
Chapter 12 - The Heir
This time, Elizabeth teleported directly to the Salinga offices, hoping Jocelyn was still there. She was not in the mood for this. Even with the chance to fill up on magic in the Dome, so many teleports in one day were fast taking their toll on her.
In fact, they must have been taking more of a toll than she realised, for instead of materialising in Jocelyn’s office, as she’d intended, she found herself standing on the stairs outside.
She looked at the closed door in confusion. That had certainly never happened before. Oh, she’d come up against plenty of barriers, such as the impenetrable barrier around Linarra, but she’d always seen those before she hit them. This time, she’d seen nothing. It was as though she’d simply changed her destination mid teleport, without being aware of it.
She frowned. Something must have stopped her. She was tired, but not that tired surely?
She didn’t have the energy to try to figure it out now, so she put the strange abnormality away to think about later. Her knock at the door was answered by Jocelyn’s secretary who showed her into Jocelyn’s office.
“We have a problem,” she began.
“Another one?” Jocelyn leaned back in her chair, folded her arms, and looked decidedly unimpressed.
Elizabeth was too tired for subterfuge, so she came straight to the point. “Mitch doesn’t want to come home.”
“Doesn’t want to come home? Why not?” Jocelyn raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth suspected her outrage was less out of concern, and more for a lack of Mitch being suitably grateful.
“Amily said if he didn’t step down as heir, she’d make him disappear and hurt Gemma,” Elizabeth said flatly.
“Amily has…” Jocelyn’s voice floundered, her expression disbelieving. “Well, that’s unacceptable. Why didn’t he say something?”
“Apparently he tried to, though I suspect he didn’t put it quite that clearly. He tried to tell you he wanted to step down as heir, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Well, of course I wouldn’t accept his stepping down as heir, but he should have told me about Amily. I’ll deal with her, make it clear to her she has no chance at the role, irrelevant of Mitch.”
“How do you plan to convince her of that? Given her open threats, it seems unlikely she’ll be deterred by someone telling her to stop it. She thinks she has a right to the position, and given the fact she’s the closest female, I can understand that. I don’t understand why Mitch was named heir over her in the first place.”
Jocelyn barked a laugh. “I think Amily has proved why we didn’t choose her. Can you imagine the damage she would have done if she’d had charge of the family?”
She had a point.
“There must be someone else,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Mitch is refusing to come back and be the heir, and I can’t say I blame him. What would you have done if he was gone for good?”
“That would have been a major problem, because there isn’t anyone else,” Jocelyn said flatly. “Unless you’re offering?”
Elizabeth stared at Jocelyn. She’d planned to jokingly suggest that she’d take the role, sure that if she did, Jocelyn would scramble to find someone else.
She hadn’t expected her niece to pull the same bluff on her.
Well, two could play at that game.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I can’t say I’m exactly enamoured of the idea, but if there’s no one else, then it would seem like we have little choice.”
Jocelyn’s eyes widened, and Elizabeth hid a smile. Just as she’d expected, Jocelyn hadn’t been prepared for her to agree. How quickly could she wriggle out of this one?
Elizabeth took a seat opposite her niece and leaned back in her chair ready to be amused.
She wasn’t disappointed. Jocelyn opened her mouth as though to instantly take back her statement. Then she snapped it shut, a look of surprise and annoyance flashing across her face for an instant.
She looked disgruntled for a moment, as though arguing with herself about something, then let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
“I can’t say I’m pleased with the situation,” she said tightly, “But I suppose, until Mitch is old enough to realise what he is giving up, it might be a solution. You won’t be in any position of power you realise, and I highly doubt you’ll ever actually make it to my position, I’m sure that in the next ten years someone more suitable will appear, but I suppose you could be a placeholder, for a time.”
She stared at Elizabeth, as though daring her to back out.
It was Elizabeth’s turn to baulk. She hadn’t expected Jocelyn to take her offer at face value. She’d been sure her niece would scramble to find someone, anyone else.
It had never occurred to her that she might be stuck as the heir.
She’d been her own boss for so long that the idea of answering to anyone else was abhorrent. Especially when she had so little idea about what they even did.
Even more so when it meant remaining with her family, answering their no doubt many questions. Dealing with the consequences of the choices she’d made so long ago.
The thought made her break out in a cold sweat. Even if the drama Mitch was dealing with wasn’t enough, she’d seen the stress George had gone though, and he’d only worked for the business. Being the heir had to be ten times worse.
It was on the tip of her tongue to say no. She wasn’t in the least bit embarrassed by taking back her comment. She could walk away, let Mitch stay in Linarra, and let Jocelyn find someone else. What did she care if there was no Salinga heir? It wasn’t any of her concern.
But that was the rub. Mitch would be stuck in Linarra. Sure, she could take Gemma there to be with him, but that was only a partial solution. She knew neither of them would really be happy there.
Guilt wrapped itself around her chest and squeezed. She tried to fight it. It wasn’t her fault that Gemma and Mitch were stuck in this. It couldn’t even be blamed on her leaving.
Except, if she hadn’t, maybe she would have been chosen instead of Mitch in the first place. Maybe even instead of Jocelyn.
She’d never know.
One thing she did know, she was in the middle of this now, and she couldn’t bring herself to run. She’d sworn never to do that again.
She took a deep breath. Really, was it that scary? She wasn’t afraid of Jocelyn, and the woman would never be able to stomp over her the way she would have with Mitch.
Elizabeth suspected she knew it.
“So you agree then? To drop Mitch’s position as heir and let me take his place?” she checked again.
Surely Jocelyn wasn’t serious. She’d back out now, wouldn’t she?
Jocelyn heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Yes, I agree.”
Elizabeth frowned. Why? Why was Jocelyn agreeing with this? Somehow, it didn’t seem like the uptight, formal woman she’d seen since she arrived back.
“What, no caveats, no buts? You just agree.”
Jocelyn gave her a tight-lipped smile. “No, no caveats. Changing your mind now are you?” Her voice indicated she was unsurprised, expected nothing less of Elizabeth. Did she even detect a note of triumph?
“No, not at all,” Elizabeth responded promptly. “In fact, it will be quite fascinating to find out what really happens around here.”
If nothing else, she could bluff with the best of them.
Jocelyn surveyed her for a moment, lips pursed, then said flatly, “Don’t get your hopes up. You won’t be seeing much at all until I’m certain you’re going to stick around for more than a few weeks.”
Elizabeth grinned cheekily back at her. “Yes’m.” This was more familiar ground.
Jocelyn however, looked at a loss. “Well,
I suppose you’d better get back and fetch Mitchell. Hopefully there won’t be any further problems, because I’m about to go home.”
Elizabeth nodded and stood up. She considered teleporting straight from where she was standing, then remembered her earlier attempt to teleport in. But she had already teleported out once, so perhaps she had imagined it?
“Jocelyn, in the spirit of this newfound partnership, mind telling me if there is any barrier around your offices?” she asked impulsively. She was going to make a fool of herself if she was wrong, but…
Jocelyn frowned. “Barrier, what do you mean, barrier?”
Looks like she was right, she was going to make a fool of herself. “A magical barrier,” Elizabeth elaborated. “I thought I hit one when I came in, but couldn’t find it?” It seemed ridiculous, once she’d said it out loud, especially given that Jocelyn lacked any magical ability.
Jocelyn raised an eyebrow. “You couldn’t find it? I thought you were such an amazing mage you would have been able to—if there was one?”
Elizabeth frowned. She had been ready to accept she’d somehow messed up her teleport due to her tiredness, but Jocelyn’s reaction indicated otherwise. Her answer also indicated she wasn’t going to admit it. It was easier to let the matter drop, for now.
It did serve to pique her interest about just what the family did. Maybe being the heir might have some good points.
“I suppose so,” she agreed. “I must be more tired than I thought.”
“Apparently,” Jocelyn agreed.
Elizabeth stood up, and gathered her energy, both mentally and magically.
“Goodnight, Jocelyn,” she said, and teleported out.
Jocelyn watched the space where her aunt had stood only moments before. “What was that all about?” she demanded of the voice in her head.
“The barrier? Oh, she’s right, there is one. You don’t think I’d leave you vulnerable to an unexpected magical attack, do you?”
Jocelyn frowned, diverted from her original inquiry. “And you didn’t think to mention it to us?” she demanded.
She felt rather than saw the mental shrug. “Why? It does not affect you.”