Mine to Spell (Mine #2) (21 page)

“
What happens when I get to the tournament and I start hexing all of them? What if it feels good to get back at them after so many years bowing to them?” Even now, I’m wishing that Chancellor Ryan was participating instead of helping the judges. That’s one warlock I’d love to throw a hex at, and that thought only proves how all too right my concerns are. “The tournament is going to change things. It’s going to change me.”

“
I can’t deny that you’ll change,” Waverly says. “But that doesn’t mean you have to become a worse person for it. Zade competed last year. Do you count him in the same group as the other warlocks?”

“
Well, no. But he’s not from here. He’s grown up learning different things than I have. What if it all wears off on me?”

“
Councilman Daniel is from here and is very kind. And what about Jacob? The man who Thomas defeated grew up in Chardonia, but he worked hard for women’s rights and finding kindness and balance while he was a Chancellor, part of the council.”

She has a point. “I’m just scared.”

“I know you are. It’s perfectly fine for you to be. In fact, I’d be more worried if you weren’t.” She wraps her arms around me. “You’re going to be just fine.”

She may be right, but chancing it worries me. I don’t want to lose myself while trying to find myself.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Waverly left this morning saying she was bringing back a surprise. I’m not sure what it is, but it had her awake early. When I finally hear the front door open, I don’t wait for her, but rush to greet her. When I get to the hall and see who’s standing in the entry behind her, I run faster.

“Katherine!” We hug, and I laugh. “I didn’t think the surprise was going to be a person.”

“
I figured it was about time I visited this part of Chardonia. Make sure there are no new fashions for the tournament I’m missing out on.”

I can’t stop smiling as I look at her, even though it’s still difficult to get used to her altered appearance. Her tattoos glow fuchsia today, portraying the color the warlock is in charge of the tarnished has decided it needs to be, I suppose. But her eyes are bright with something that she always seems to carry with her.

“You’ll be staying through the tournament then?”

“
Just staying for the night. Business calls me away, but I will return for the tournament.”

“
I’ll set up a room for you, Katherine,” Waverly says. “You two chat. Come find me when you’re finished.”

“
I can help,” Katherine says.

Waverly waves her away. “I want to do it. You two catch up.”

She hurries from the room. I ask, “What are you doing here? I can't believe it's just fashion. You seem to keep up with it well enough without traveling.”

“
I’ve come to help.”

“
Ummm…” The fact that she wants to help is fantastic, except she’s a seamstress. What could she know about magic? “Do you know what I’m doing?”

“
Entering the tournament. I assume you can cast spells somehow?”

“
It’s supposed to be kept a secret how much I actually can do, but yes, I can cast spells. And not just me, but any woman with magic can.”

“
I didn’t think it possible.”

“
Apparently, the council has been working to keep it a secret, but I’m attempting to change that. Waverly and Lukas have been helping me hone my abilities. Did you know Waverly cast most of the spells for Serena’s ball?”

“
Lukas, huh?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me. “Not 'Lukas of Chryos', or 'Lukas, the most handsome warlock I’ve ever met in my life, who saved me from living on the streets'?”

I swat her shoulder.

“Fine. Don’t give me details,” she says.

“
It sounds like you already have them.”

“
You’re the one that wrote them to me.”

The urge to stick my tongue at her is strong, but since I learned that from Lukas, it feels too much like proving her point. “Fair enough. Though I might not have been as liberal with the descriptions if I knew it would turn to teasing.”

She laughs. “I don’t think you would have been able to help yourself. I’m looking forward to seeing these… how did you put it? ‘Charming good looks’ for myself.”

I turn away from her as I feel the blush coming on. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t answer mine.”

I sigh, a big, dramatic one.

“If you must be that way,” she says, “I’ll pry the details of this Lukas out of you sooner or later. Or I suppose I could just ask him anything I want to know.”

Mortified by the thought, but just a little curious to see what she would ask and how he would respond, but mostly mortified, I change the topic back to more neutral territory. “You’re here to help? Can you do magic as well?”

“No, I don’t cast spells. If I did, things may have turned out differently for me.”

“
You’d be erased and sacrificed instead of tarnished.”

She presses her lips together like she’s trying to keep her words from spilling out.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”

“
It’s not that. I—Well, I—” She sighs and shakes her head. “I’m not here to help with the magic. I’m here to provide any attire you’d like for the tournament. I didn’t know if your current wardrobe would be suitable or not.”

“
Oh.” The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. “What does one wear to duel in a tournament when one is a girl?”

“
We can start with the basics and build on them. What do the warlocks wear?”

“
You don’t know? I thought you knew everything there is to know about clothes.”

She shrugs. “I’ve never been to a tournament before, and when I asked Serena about it, she was trying so hard not to get upset over your situation that nothing she said was of any use. I figured I might as well come here and speak with you myself.”

“I’m glad you did.” Beyond glad. Though I don’t know how far I can stretch my coins to pay her. She’s probably going to insist on doing it for free, but I’ll make sure she gets compensated for it. It’s a wonder how she manages a thriving business when she’s always offering to do so much for free.

“
Do you remember the warlocks’ attire?”

“
The warlocks all wore breeches and shirts in black. Each participant had a band around their arm, the color depicting which country they’re from.”

“
Sounds like a uniform.” She taps her lip with a finger. “I wonder how mandatory they are.”

“
The paperwork says more on it. The kitchen is just through there.” I point down a side hall. “Why don’t you go have a seat, and I’ll grab them for you to look over while I make us a snack.”

“
Sounds wonderful after the journey here.”

She hurries in the direction I indicated while I fetch the paperwork out of my room and follow after her to the kitchen. Only when I get there, she’s not sitting down; she’s busily making something in the kitchen. “I didn’t mean you needed to cook.”

“Oh, posh. I like to. Besides, I was sitting in that carriage for much too long. I’m done sitting for a while, I think. It will only take me another minute. I’m not doing anything fancy. Though there will be enough for Waverly, if you’d like to see if she wants to join us.”

Waverly is eager to join, adding cookies and milk to Katherine’s sandwiches. A few minutes later, when everything is ready, we sit at the table with the paperwork spread out before us.

“The colors are strict.” I point out the part about each country’s colors.
“
But I don’t see anything beyond that. I don’t remember specifics from last year as to what the men wore. I was concentrating on other things.” Like magic, even when everyone else thought it was the warlocks themselves.

“
I bet you were.”

I thread my fingers through my necklace, pretending I didn’t hear. “It was hard not to get caught up in it all. I’ve never seen so many spells in one place before. I just wanted to devour them all, take the knowledge back to father's, and try them. Though I didn’t go to father's for a long time after that. Which was a very good thing. There were more opportunities to practice at Zade’s then I had ever found at father's.”

“Sounds like Zade became a good thing for more than just Serena.”

“
He’s great at talking to us or giving us space when we need it. Plus he’s just nice. Usually. He’s not very happy with me right now.”

“
Oh no. He lost his temper again, didn’t he?”

“
Not without my help pushing him there.” I give a sheepish grin. “Look at all of this. I was trying to trade my ownership to another warlock so it would help take pressure off of Serena. Show everyone she was like the rest of them. Instead, I went marching past all of the rules and am bringing more attention than ever.”

“
It’s fine. Serena never was like the rest of them anyway.”

She most definitely is not. But now things are so much worse. I hold back tears. “He’s afraid I’m putting them at risk. And he’s right, I am. I let my ownership get transferred thinking it would be easier for them, but when Edward took me away and came after me like a mad man, I couldn’t take it. And I feel like I’ve failed them in the process. There’s even more weight on my family. Two misfit girls with the status of a warlock. That can’t help anyone.”

Waverly says, “It can help more people than you realize.”

“
It’s true,” Katherine adds. “Did you know more women are coming to me to design and make their clothing? And sometimes, when they come, they want to speak about more than just clothes.”

“
Really?” I try not to get my hopes up that this has anything to do with me, but it’s the only time I’ve heard about anything good coming from what’s happened to Serena and me outside my own family. “What do they want to talk about? Do many people know about my freedom? Do they know I’m participating in the tournament?”

“
Many do. Since you entered the tournament, word has spread about both your freedom and your entry. And they know you’re Serena’s sister, my best customer, so it leads to all sorts of gossip. Which is great for business.” She winks at me.

I’m starting to wonder what business, exactly, she’s in. It sounds like more than just dresses. “And yet you’re here instead of there taking care of them all.”

“Posh. I have workers for things like that.” She waves me away.

She’s always so open. I have to ask. “Are your workers all tarnished as well?”

“They are.”

I lower my voice, not for fear of someone overhearing, but out of respect for her. “How are you doing with the new laws?”

She braces herself against the counter, lowering her head. “Not well. The council has gone mad. Taking our small amount of earnings wherever they can, making the monthly check-ins mandatory, keeping track of our every move. Things can’t last like this.”

I hurry around the counter to put an arm around her. “I’m so sorry.”

After a large sigh, she straightens. “So am I. But we’ll keep doing our best to work around them until something better happens, or we break.”

“
I won’t let you break,” Waverly says, voice as rigid as Katherine’s posture.

“
And I will do everything I can to help.” Though it seems like there’s so little that can be done. At least I’m already on the council’s bad side.

“
Thank you both.” She changes topic as if it’s too much to think on right now, and I can’t blame her, though I do wish there was more we could do. “What if we went with some breeches?”

“
You know I love breeches.” In fact, they are all I ever want to wear now, but I still don’t dare wear them in public. I have enough problems on my hands without adding that to my list of crimes. “But I don’t know. Wearing them in front of warlocks just seems wrong.”

Her voice is soft, but firm. “You are one of them now.”

Only not nearly enough of one of them for it to truly matter. “Maybe. Except it feels like I don’t fit in under expectations for either warlocks or women. The tournament isn’t made for someone like me.”

She puts her hand on mine. “I know. We’ll figure something out, though.”

“Knowing you,” Waverly addresses Katherine, “it won’t only be figured out but will far exceed anyone’s expectations, and you’ll have to hire even more workers to accommodate the new requests you’ll have from whatever new style you come up with.”

She blushes. “I’m sure it won’t be that remarkable.”

But of course it will. She has a way with clothes like I have magic in my blood.

She hurries on. “I’ll make a couple different options, and you can decide which would be best. All of them will allow for maneuverability. I assume you’ll need to move around a lot?”