I frowned as we walked. “So, you’re on his side?”
Abigail chuckled. “I’m on no one’s side. Or, more like, I’m not against you, Ava. Not at all. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, badly it seems. We’re all on your side. Your father. Tavlor. Me. The Council is the enemy here. They saw you as an easy way to maintain complete control over the realms. And when that didn’t happen, they turned to you.”
“You mean they wanted to kill me.”
“Well, yes. They need an heir to the Council, to the power of the Realms, but your father has not provided one. You are, in most people’s eyes, the heir to your father’s power. There are no rules about illegitimate heir’s inheriting the High Warlock position. There has never been a time when it needed to be discussed.”
I found it hard to believe that no High Warlock had ever stepped out on his wife.
“Okay, assuming I believe you, what’s the plan?”
“We will hide you, and then find a way to re-instate you back in your proper place—beside your father, as the heir to the High Warlock.”
My stomach tightened and pain tingled across my skin. “What if that isn’t what I want?”
We stopped at the top of an incline and I looked down. A house appeared between the trees, seeming woven into the forest.
“Is that your place?” I asked.
Abigail turned to me. “Ava, if this isn’t what you want, then we can build you a realm, a long, long ways from here, and put you and your sisters in it for the rest of your life.”
Fear crept along my veins. Was that what I wanted? To be afraid and hidden for the rest of my life?
As my mother had lived?
Like she’d wanted us to stay, for the rest of our lives.
Alone.
No more sexy Tavlor, no more adventures and scary twists to life.
Just boring, the same thing every day. Forever.
“No. I don’t want that either,” I said, “but I’ve never even thought about what I really want from my life with my father. I
t was never a possibility before now.”
That was a lie. I had thought about it.
I’d dreamt of sitting at his side, helping people, ruling the realms as his most trusted advisor. But I couldn’t seem to admit that to Abigail.
She smiled, her eyes kind. “Let’s settle into my home, get something to eat, and talk a little more.”
I nodded and followed her down the hill and into the small, comfy cottage.
Directly to the right sat a wooden table and chairs with a large mirror on the wall beyond it. As Abigail waved her hand, food and drinks decorated the table.
“Oh, thank you,” I said as my stomach tightened with hunger.
We sat down and began to eat the unusually sweet bread and meats. I suspected Abigail wanted to talk more about the situation at hand, but she was kind enough to give me a moment to fill up. I ate as much as I could, stuffing myself because I had no idea what the near future held.
After we finished, we sat back in our chairs. I slouched in mine, and Abigail waved her hand to remove the dishes and leftovers.
“So, Ava,” she started, “it looks like we need to work out a plan. We—” Her head popped up, and she seemed to be listening. “Hang on.”
With that stood up and waved her hands over a large mirror on the wall.
The mirror transformed into a portal of some sort, the surface rippling with silver, and then the image of Tavlor appeared. “Ava. Is she safe?” He demanded.