Page 42

CHANGE

C as watched Asan leave the room and turned back to Emryn with the poultice on his arm. “He said not to wait, shall we eat?”

“What are we doing today, Cas?” She walked over to the table and sat down. “Is there anything else we need to do here?”

“I should tour the lands while I’m here,” He said after a moment. “The people like to see me and it gives the headmen of the villages a chance to air any grievances that they have.”

“Would you prefer to go alone?” Emryn asked.

“Mother, no.” He shook his head. “Do you know what they’d do to my if I didn’t introduce my wife?”

Emryn giggled, the sound high and musical. “Overrun, no doubt.”

“Utterly mobbed,” he replied, winking at her. “No, I’d like to have you along if you wish.”

“I’d like that,” she said, looking down at her plate and applying herself to breakfast. “I’ll just need to figure out what I’m wearing and my- well, you know.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that.” He smacked himself in the forehead. “Your riding habit won’t accommodate your wings, will it?”

Emryn shook her head. “Maybe it’s best if I stay here.”

“We can figure it out.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I have a feeling that Asan already has a plan. We just need to get it out of him.”

“I take it you are discussing me?” Asan walked back into the room with the letter in his hands. “Nothing nefarious, Emryn. Just an invitation to tea with the headman’s wife from the village next door.”

Emryn took the letter, skimming the contents and nodding. “I’ll write back to her and accept.” She rose and left the room to Cas and Asan.

“Do you have a plan for her wings?” Cas asked bluntly. “I want to take her when I ride the land, but I want her to be able to camouflage the wings. To be safe.”

“I have the beginnings of a thought on that,” Asan said slowly. “It may or may not work.”

“Tell me about it and maybe talking it out will help.” Cas leaned back in his chair. “We still have a discussion to have about the nature of magic.”

Asan chuckled. “I did threaten you with that, didn’t I?”

Cas nodded. “We had a discussion about that a few years back, but there was a lot of wine involved.”

“Well then,” Asan nodded, “if the wings are manifesting because she is tapping into her soul, then terminating that connection temporarily should remove the wings.”

“Is that the best idea?” Cas asked. “Can we be certain that a reconnection is possible?”

“The scarring I saw on her back when the wings appeared says she has done it before.” Asan replied, forking up an egg and putting it on his toast. “And if she has connected multiple times, it should be possible again.”

Cas nodded, turning that over in his head. “As long as she isn’t tearing them out.”

“That was a compulsion,” Asan said, swallowing his toast. “I removed it, so it should not be an issue going forward.”

“Who-”

“I did not stop to get a signature,” Asan said shortly. “It seemed better to simply dispel it.”

“I would still like to know,” Cas said.

“I will, if given permission, look at the place it was.” He said. “If it had happened often enough to scar a healer of Emryn’s caliber, there will be a signature still etched in the place it was.”

“That makes sense.” Cas turned as Emryn walked back in, deep brown cloak still over her shoulders. “Emryn, we might have a solution to the wing issue.”

“Alright,” Emryn sat back down at the table. “I would love to know what it is.”

“How many times were you made to pull them out, Emryn?” Asan asked.

Shame rose through her eyes, spilling onto her face. “They said I was an abomination and-”

“No, darling, you’re a miracle.” Cas took her hands. “Whoever did that to you was cruel beyond imagining.”

“How many times?”

“Thirteen,” Emryn whispered. “Four for the city and the rest when I was learning. When I lost control, they’d grow, and I’d have to tear them out to teach me control.”

“That’s-” Asan looked disgusted beyond anything Cas had ever seen. “Dreadful, I will discuss this with the college. We must ensure that no other students are going through that.”

“I think I’m the only one with-” she used one wing to push the cloak aside and then covered it again. “At least I never saw anyone else.”

“And the healers did this to you?” Cas was trying to keep a leash on his anger.

Emryn looked down, away from him and Asan, but he could see the tears on her cheeks. “I thought of him as a father, Cas. I didn’t remember, and I wish I still didn’t”

“Emryn, look at me, darling.” He reached out and levered her face up gently. “There’s no shame for what was done to you. You’re free of it now, and I will ensure that no one else falls victim to this thing.”

Emryn wiped at her cheeks and tried to smile. “I never would have remembered if it wasn’t for this, but I’m happier with you than I was in the temple. And I never thought I would be happy anywhere else.”

“Well, now that we have all that out in the open,” Asan broke in, “I see no practical reason why the plan I have should not work.”

“And what is it?” Emryn turned to Asan, who outlined his plan to them both in greater detail.

“If the connection is severed, the wings should vanish,” he finished. “All you need do is remove the connection.”

“We will consider that as sound for now.” Emryn said. “But practically, I have no idea how I would go about it.”

“I will help you, if you will grant me entry into your mind.” Asan replied with a nod. “Between you and I, we can most likely find the pinch point.”

“As you say,” Emryn said, looking at Asan and then over to Cas.

“I’ve trusted him with my life on several occasions,” Cas said after a moment. “He will not harm you, Emryn.”

All he could do was hope he was right as his wife nodded and shut her eyes.