“Yeah, boring as ever.” Courtney said, and I laughed.
We’d always begrudged our quiet childhoods.
“You got over the fridge pretty quickly.” I said.
“I wouldn’t say that,” she said, and I could picture her twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “It hasn’t lost its novelty or anything. It’s just... boring.”
“Well, you won’t be bored once you arrive in the magic realm. It’s crazy busy.”
There was a shocked gasp.
“Really?” Courtney asked breathlessly. “When?”
“I saw the High Warlock this morning and he’s going to set up this testing thing for me. Then they’ll set me up in a job and I can bring you guys across once I have a house and I know everything’s safe.”
“The High Warlock? You met him?” Courtney asked.
Too late I remembered I should be protecting this call. “Hang on a second.”
I lifted my hand and conjured a protective spell, waving my hand around me just as my father had done this morning.
I could feel more than one spike against the bubble and realized I was being monitored. By who, it didn’t really matter, but I had to be more careful, especially if I was supposed to be keeping my sisters a secret.
I swiped my hand down, around and under me, and once satisfied it would hold, I went back to my sisters. “Sorry, I had to conjure a protection spell. People are listening to me and I can’t tell them who I am. Who we are.”
“What do you mean?” Bella asked quietly.
I gave my sisters a quick rundown on everything I’d done since leaving them, being as brutally honest as I could be.
“So, you told everyone that our father was a human that died?” Bella asked.
“Yeah, pretty much, so they don’t expect us to be very powerful.” Which, as my mother had pointed out, was going to be a problem when my tests came. Perhaps there was a way to hide such information?
Courtney snorted. “Well that’s not gonna happen, is it?”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ll talk about that stuff when you guys come across, but the most important thing you need to remember is that no-one can know who our father is. They’ll have us killed.”
“But why?” Bella asked. “It doesn’t make logical sense.”
I couldn’t help smiling. She was always so sensible. “Basically... the Council’s power is contingent on being able to control the High Warlock, who they train from birth. Our father has no other children, and as illegitimate ones, we probably couldn’t inherit anyway... but...”
“But, like most monarchies’s, they don’t want to take the risk.” Bella finished for me.
“Exactly.”
There was silence for a few minutes and I could hear Mallory moving around in the apartment. More than likely she was the one listening to me. The question was though, was she just curious, or did she have nefarious purposes?
“Look, I better go eat dinner and get ready for the next few days. Take care of yourself Court, and stay safe, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” Courtney said. “Bye.”
She moved away from the phone and Bella clung to it, I could hear her breathing. “You okay Bella?”
“Yeah... but Courtney’s getting antsy. I’m not sure how long she’ll stay in the house with just me. How much longer do you think you’ll be. With you gone so soon after losing Mother...” She let her voice trail off and I waited for her to finish her thought. “I just want to know how much longer.”
I frowned. Courtney had always wanted to get away from the realm our mother had kept us in. To explore the world. But our mother’s magic had made her stay. Without it, I knew, Court would want to rebel.
“I just need one more week, Bella. Do whatever you need to do, to keep her safe. She looks the most like him... They can’t find her.” She had his temper, his power, his cheekbones.