“I can dress myself.”
Theo laughed lightly, as if she actually liked it when Beth was lippy and stubborn.
“All right, then. What else shall we talk about?”
That was the thing about Theo. She never let being a wife, or a mother to five children, or the most powerful person in Cascadia — perhaps in the world — stop her from being available whenever Beth was simply being whiny and childish, as she was now. This somehow made her own petty behavior seem ridiculous.
“I got caught sneaking around.”
“By your grandmother?” Theo’s grin made it seem as if she actually hoped Beth had bothered her mother, but Beth wasn’t so unskilled as to be caught by someone who radiated power as the Apex did. Her grandmother, who was not as benign as Theo, was almost as powerful a mind mage.
“No. Some boy.”
“Oh.” Theo seemed disappointed, and that made Beth smile. “Well, that’s what you do. There’s no shame in it. It’s not as if you would take anything. You need to practice … perhaps we should schedule another session.”
“I think you’re a little busy right now.”
“Yes, well. Afterward. The next three days will be behind us, like that,” Theo said with a snap of her fingers. She stood to move toward the door.
Beth wasn’t so sure the next three days were going to be as smooth as that, and she opened her mouth to tell Theo so but then felt stupid. It wasn’t like she was a seer; how could she know the future?
Theo turned back at the door. “Once we get the formalities out of the way — you know how your grandmother loves ceremony — then we get to actually enjoy dinner. I had the cook make chocolate pudding.”
Beth’s favorite, even though it was Rose’s party. Some part of her felt like an utter child, while the other part was pleased that her adoptive mother had thought of her even through all the months of planning.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Theo grinned as she always did when Beth called her ‘Mom,’ and then headed out the door. But as Beth rolled from the bed and pulled the dress off its hanger, her mother stuck her head back into the room and whispered as if suggesting some grand conspiracy. “Oh, and later, let’s see if we can break into your grandmother’s rooms again.”
“Really?”
“It will be like an informal training session. And if she happens to hit you with anything nasty — you know she’s probably taken the month to prepare for you — the castle is full of healers.”
Beth grinned. It was perhaps the first smile of the day she could attribute to her own feelings, rather than just an involuntary reaction to the emotion-influencing magical people who constantly surrounded her.
“It’s a plan.”
“Good.” Theo started to close the door softly behind her, but it was flung wide as Hugh, her adoptive father, burst into the room. He flashed a smile full of white teeth that stood out in sharp contrast to his caramel-toned skin at Theo, who laughed softly in response. They always did that not talking, but completely connected thing whenever Beth saw them together. Theo and Hugh were figureheads in the Worship of Spirit, as both of them had been born under a prophecy that included the other. So they were connected on a level entirely above that of a husband and wife. Some people believed that this prophecy had yet to be completely fulfilled.
“Just thought you might need help with your hair,” Hugh said, and then laughed when she just stared at him.
“Dad,” she groaned when she realized he was joking. Hugh was also dressed formally, with his sword sheathed at his side. His blade was carved with a gold-inlaid animal totem. He was a spiritwalker, who could transform into any other animal or human form. Mostly he changed into a large gray wolf and, occasionally, a gryphon. The gryphon form was some sort of a private joke between him and Theo, but when Beth was younger Hugh had taken her for a ride around the castle in this form, which had scared Theo speechless. Beth herself had been more terrified than thrilled, though she never told Hugh.
“There’s no getting out of it, shadowwalker. We’ve got dignitaries to greet and grandparents to keep on their toes.” Shadowwalker was a pet name of sorts, because Beth’s type of magic didn’t come with any other title.
“I’m coming. I’m coming.”
Hugh winked at her and then exited.
Beth dragged the dress to the bathroom with a grin firmly etched on her face. Her en suite wasn’t as large as the one in her parents’ suites, but the smooth stone still warmed underneath her feet as she made her way over to the walk-in shower. More magical spells, refined and maintained by the castle’s spellcasters, triggered the lighting and brought the water up to her preferred temperature.
Theo had yet to find a ward that could completely defeat Beth’s abilities, but she often worried that the Spirit Binder was too soft on her. If her grandmother didn’t want her in her rooms, she might actually be a challenge, and that anticipation was enough to get her through a stupid greeting ceremony and a stodgy formal dinner.
She was aware that she was constantly searching for something she hadn’t even lost. And, yes, every time that thought surfaced in her mind it made just as much sense — as in, none at all — as the flood of disappointment she felt the moment after a door or lock opened under her hand. Still, she felt driven to exercise, to perfect this small bit of power that was solely her own.
CHAPTER TWO
“We are pleased to introduce our daughter, Rose Rudan. Blood sister of Bryan. Adoptive sister of Bethany, Tyson, and Arianna. Spirit Bound and earth elemental.”
Rose, dressed in a ruffled pink silk gown with her golden-brown hair curled down her back, exhaled quietly as Theo gave title to the power that was only just manifesting for her. Earth elemental. It wasn’t a surprise, but still Beth felt a twinge of guilty jealousy. Yet another powerful sibling.
Some days Beth had no idea why or how her adoptive parents had decided to adopt her when she was so different — so weak — compared to their other children. Theo and Hugh were powerful themselves.
She chided herself to stop it. This was Rose’s day. She shouldn’t be tainting it.
The children were all arranged on the grand entrance stairway. Rose stood a stair below and to the left of Theo and Hugh, whose golden head was bent as usual toward Theo’s red one. Tyson and Ari stood one stair above and to the right of their adoptive parents, between Bryan and Beth. Someone always had to keep a constant eye on Tyson and Ari and, even now, Beth could sense them cooking up some sort of mischief she’d have to try to thwart later. Being a fire elemental and water elemental meant that they could quite literally boil things.
Beth nudged Tyson, who had dipped his curly ginger head to begin muttering to Ari under his breath, and he immediately fell silent. She sighed and shifted her attention to the sea of people occupying the entranceway of the castle. Hollyburn wasn’t as large as her grandmother’s sprawling summer palace in the Drylands, which was beyond the Midlands in the far south of Cascadia. But, nestled in the mountains across the inlet from the Great City, it was the second largest castle Beth had ever seen. Larger even than her grandfather’s home, the Aerie, and he was the Chancellor of the entire NorthWest region of Cascadia.
People had been arriving from all over Cascadia for days. Most came by horse and carriage, but a select few traveled by magical means. Beth had snuck into the library yesterday to watch her grandmother arrive by mirror. The amount of magic and focus it took to walk through mirrors meant it wasn’t often done, but being Apex had its privileges. Her grandmother’s luggage, which Beth had itched to get her hands on, arrived later with the Apex’s escort and selected nobles.
The actual festivities of a Rite of Passage — at least for the children in the Rudan line — always started with the formal introduction of the child. This was set for the eve of Rose’s eleventh birthday. Her siblings had all gone through the rite before Rose, though with somewhat smaller ceremonies. Tyson and Ari’s rite had been combined four years ago, even though they were seve
n months apart by best guess. Ari had come to the Rudan family with her memory wiped so completely she didn’t even remember her own name, so her exact birthday was a guess.
The guests were grouped by their ranking within the spiritual and governing bodies of Cascadia. As a result, their grandmother stood first at the foot of the steps, waiting to be greeted.
“Rhea Rudan, Apex of Cascadia, Mind Mage and Guardian of Spirit,” a herald intoned. Awe and fear were evident in his voice, even though Beth was pretty sure this was the fourth time he’d announced the dignitaries, not including the other gatherings the adults attended throughout the year. The Apex oversaw all the spiritual matters in Cascadia, and under her the country was united in the Worship of Spirit. It was from Spirit, which flowed through them all, that they received their magical gifts.
Their grandmother climbed the three steps to stand before Rose. Even on the step above her, Rose was at least a couple of inches shorter than their grandmother. Unfortunately, Rose was practically the same height as Beth, and probably still growing.
“Rose.” Her grandmother spoke softly, as if attempting to ease the power that radiated off her. “You are blessed by Spirit, both in your adoptive family and your gift.” Rhea pulled a string of pearls out of a velvet bag and carefully wrapped the necklace around her granddaughter’s neck.
Not everyone gave a gift to the celebrated child, but her grandmother always did. Beth’s hand strayed to the strand that hung around her own neck; her pearls were in shades of light gray, while Rose’s were tinged with pink. She wondered how her grandmother had selected her gifts, not that the pearls were the true gift. No, they were simply a delivery system for the protection spells her grandmother had crafted. Ari’s pearls were tinted blue. Bryan and Tyson had been gifted with bracelets, each constructed of a different metal. Bryan’s silver and Tyson’s gold.
“Thank you, grandmother,” Rose whispered. Rhea smiled and raised her head to look at her daughter, Theo.
“Mother,” Theo called, “we are well met.” Theo held out her hands — a gesture she rarely offered — and Rhea stepped forward to clasp arms with her. Their hair was an almost identical red, though Rhea’s was sprinkled with gray. Beth noted that every person standing in the entrance stared at the two women, as if seeing Spirit itself standing in the middle of the staircase.
Rhea stepped away to greet Hugh, who flashed her a grin that always seemed to make Beth’s grandmother frown just a little. Rhea then stepped by her son-in-law to touch Bryan lightly on the mark he wore on his left cheek.
“Dougal Rudan, Chancellor of the Midlands, Governor of Cascadia, Warrior of Spirit,” the herald announced.
Beth tore her eyes from her grandmother, who had stopped to touch Tyson and Ari on their shoulders, and watched her great-uncle impatiently mount the steps. He presented a small, jeweled dagger to Rose. All the siblings wore similar blades, even with their finery. Their great-uncle was rather formidable and he hated ceremony as much as his twin sister, Rhea, loved it. The Governor of Cascadia oversaw all the practical, day-to-day, running of the country. This was a fairly new system where anyone, regardless of magical power, could be elected to the various governing bodies. According to her grandmother, who’d once reigned supreme, the system was flawed, but then Beth understood that the siblings seemed more comfortable constantly at odds. She wondered if that was because they were too powerful to stand being in the same room for long.
Her grandmother stopped in front of her, and Beth raised her boring gray eyes to meet the almost glowing lake-green gaze of the Apex. She always felt like Rhea was looking right through her, straight to her core, and was never happy with what she saw there.
“Bethany.”
“Grandmama.”
Rhea’s lips quirked in the briefest of smiles. The other siblings always addressed her more formally, but Beth found it easier to humanize rather than worship her grandmother.
“I remember your own reading very well. Six years ago now.”
“Yes, Grandmama.”
Her grandmother frowned. “You are not as inconsequential as you think, Bethany. You are the glue that will hold your brothers and sisters together through time.”
“I know, Grandmama. You tell me every time you see me.”
“Hmm. Perhaps it is time to change the direction of your thoughts.”
“Yes, Grandmama.”
Seemingly satisfied with greeting her grandchildren, Rhea moved to stand at Theo’s left.
“ … Madoc, the Chancellor of the NorthWest, Prophecy Reader of Cascadia,” the herald finished announcing, as Beth’s grandfather — Hugh’s father — strode up to greet Rose. He gave her no present, for he would read Rose’s spirit in the morning to see if the girl’s future was directed by any prophecy. That was his gift to share. Everyone’s reading was different. Beth’s had been long and inconclusive — or at least that was what her grandfather had told her, right before he cloistered himself with Theo and Hugh for what seemed like hours afterward.
Everyone suspected that Rose, who was already exercising a rare and easily identifiable power over the earth, would not have such a disappointing session with their grandfather.
“Renard Rudan, Chief of the Cascadian Guard. His wife, Peony, healer to the Spirit Binder, and their children, the Spirit Bound twins, Calla and Finley.”
Beth whip-turned from watching her grandfather to the four people standing at the base of the stairs, twisting her head so quickly that pain shot up her neck.
The man, whose chiseled features only further emphasized his formidable figure, stepped forward and knelt with his sword over his knee at Theo’s feet. Renard Rudan. Her great-uncle’s prodigy, though not his son by birth. Also known as Ren, he had been raised from the dead by Theo during the Aerie Rising over ten years ago. In the aftermath, Theo had been referred to as the Spirit Binder, and any children caught in the backlash of magic, as Spirit Bound. Beth and her siblings were those children, whose powers were either remarkable or a mystery. Unfortunately, Beth was the only one of her siblings still in the mystery category … at least, she kept hoping she was more than just a so-called stealthy shadowwalker.
The Chief of the Cascadian Guard never visited Hollyburn as far as Beth knew, and it was also odd that his wife, Peony, was called the healer to the Spirit Binder. Shouldn’t the Spirit Binder’s healer be in residence? Maybe it was an honorary title from before the Aerie Rising. However, what was more disconcerting was the fact that their adopted children, who were currently bowing their twin white-blond heads, were also referred to as Spirit Bound. She’d never met any of the Spirit Bound beyond her own siblings, and had only been vaguely aware that more existed. In light of that, the way she’d made a fool of herself in front of them earlier seemed even more reprehensible. Beth had never been great at following etiquette.
Theo stepped down and reached her hands toward Ren. “Ren, we are well met. You bless us with your attendance after so many years, my friend.”
Ren looked up at Theo, determination etched in his face, and reached to clasp arms with her. Peony sighed softly, as if a great weight had lifted off her shoulders.
Rumor was that Ren and Theo were bound to each other before his death, though Theo had been under a memory spell at the time. Dougal had spelled and kidnapped Theo, his own niece, from Rhea … it was easy to get confused by the family history.
Theo swept Peony into her arms for a hug as Hugh reached forward to clasp arms with Ren. The men exchanged a laugh, which didn’t seem to be about anything funny. Then Theo turned to Calla and Finn, who, overwhelmed as everyone was when first encountering the Spirit Binder, both fell to their knees before her. Though Calla really just floated down perfectly prettily, Beth thought darkly.
“Calla and Finley, you are welcomed back to the land of your birth.” Theo ran a hand down the sides of each of their faces and tilted their chins until they were looking up at her. Calla and Finn shuddered underneath the touch, and Beth was not surprised. She knew wha
t it felt like to be touched by the most powerful woman in Cascadia, even if that woman was her own adoptive mother. “Spirit Bound, indeed,” Theo murmured, and then turned to indicate all her children with a sweep of her arm. “I would like you to meet my children. I do hope you will be great friends.”
Beth tried to not glare when Finn grinned, far too smugly, and locked eyes with her. She’d just been practically mandated to be friendly to him and his perfect sister. It was a bitter pill, but she’d swallow it. She always tried to exceed her adoptive mother’s expectations, though honestly, that was usually an almost effortless thing to do. Perhaps Theo’s expectations were too low. It was just that something about Finn put her on edge … maybe his impossibly good looks
She looked away as the twins followed their parents out of the entranceway and toward the dining hall. Only the immediate family stood on the stairs to finish greeting the remaining guests.
Beth sighed. It was going to be a crazy, long night.
∞
Dinner was as insufferable as she thought it would be. Except that, instead of being trapped at the head table, a last-minute change had all the siblings sitting with their new best friends, Finn and Calla. The gilded ballroom had been converted into a dining hall for the evening. People were seated by region and rank at long tables running the width of the room, though tomorrow everyone would be encouraged to mingle with their neighbors. The castle’s spellcasters had outdone themselves in magical splendor. The linen-draped tables hovered — solid to the touch — off the stone floor, hundreds of dripless candles hung in mid-air, and, completely out of season, butterflies flitted about the carved beams of the vaulted ceiling.
To Beth, it seemed that all of Cascadia, in all of its finery, was crowded into the ballroom. She tried to ignore the panic of being surrounded by what felt like thousands of people, but was probably only a couple hundred. She had been happy to see that their round table had been set off to one side of the head table, which meant she didn’t have to worry about chatting to any nobles or being constantly under observation.
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