Page 29 of Malcroix Bones Academy

My jaw hardened. Now that my aunt was finally talking, however, the last thing I wanted was to make it stop.

“The outrage over your mother’s death led to a number of very highly-publicized changes,” Ankha continued. “Such dalliances now would require a fulltrialin our world, not summary execution. If guilt were determined, a life sentence is now the highest legal penalty permitted. It was also decided, atleast in the case of your mother, that reparations for her death would fall to you and your brother.”

I blinked. “Arcturus and I arereparations?”

“Yes,” Ankha warned, her eyes sharp as glass. “It was decided by the highest court in Magique Britain that if either of Clotide’s offspring showed significant Magical ability, they would be allowed to assimilate here, rather than being…” She waved a dismissive hand. “…Terminated. As had been the practice in the past.”

“Murdered, you mean,” I muttered.

Ankha shrugged.

“Whatever.” She leaned back in her thickly-cushioned, flowery chair. “It was a very generous concession, given our previous laws. It was also deemed a kind of ‘experiment,’ in the event any future hybrids were to be born. A number of stipulations exist. Any hybrid living in Magique must assimilatefully,and never be allowed to leave. Obviously, that meant you’d be banned from work in any profession that could bring you into Overworld, and certainly you could never become a member of the Praecuri yourself.”

I frowned and started to open my mouth, but my aunt continued tartly.

“Your mother was quite well thought of, as I said.Ourmother, your grandmother, was well thought of, as well. She wasalsoin the Praecuri, as it tends to run in families. You can thank our good name for the changes in the law. That, and…” Another sniff. “…a somewhat moretolerantbent in society since the original laws were written.”

Ankha looked away long enough to bite down on a crispy piece of sausage.

She swallowed a few chews later. “The fact that your father was in law enforcement, and they met while working a case together in Overworld, lent sympathy to your situation, as well.”

I sat back in my chair.

“My father wasn’tinScotland Yard, though,” I said. “He was a teacher.”

“After,yes,” Ankha said. “Do you think your mother was unaware of the law? When she was one of those tasked with enforcing it?” She scoffed. “She hid all of you from the Praecuri for years. Of course your father wouldn’t be able to continue his career in law enforcement.”

“Then why did she go back?” I asked. “Why return to London at all?”

“We do not know,” Ankha said.

I frowned, skeptical. “Mum said we were visiting family.”

“I highly doubt that was true,” Ankha replied.

I silently agreed.

“But what could have caused her to take that kind of risk?” I persisted. “If it wasn’t some kind of family emergency, what was it?”

Ankha rolled her eyes. Leaning over the table, she plucked a piece of bread from the basket and began buttering it viciously with a stubby knife.

“I’ve told you,” she said. “No one knows why she came back. Just as no one knows ‘who gave the order,’ as you put it. As you can likely imagine, there have been many whispers of plots and conspiracies around this in the years since. Many believe she was lured. Those accused range from the head of the Praecuri to the most infamous among our Dark Magicals. Some believe the Ethnarch himself was involved?”

“What was the official story?” I asked.

“That your father’s human mother was ill, and he wished to see her.”

“But you don’t believe that?” I clarified.

“No,” Ankha scoffed. “I doubt anyone does. Including the Praecuri.”

A silence fell between us as I struggled to think about all of this.

“Whatdoyou think?” I asked finally. “Do you think she was lured?”

Ankha stared at me over the table, her blue eyes more raptor-like than usual.

“I have no reason to ‘think’ anything about it at all, girl,” she said. “I wasn’t privy to the evidence of the case. Idoknow that as soon as your mother set foot in England, she tripped a magical trace the Praecuri had placed around the bounds of the island. As to what happened before that and after… I haven’t any idea.”