Page 19 of Kingdom of Locks

“Well, I had to waste time and power reinforcing the protections around your haven, didn’t I?” Cyfrin snapped. “You should be thanking me, not complaining. Little do you know how vulnerable you would be to this world’s dangers without my intervention, Honeysuckle.”

Aurelia and Mama Gail exchanged silent looks. Impressed by her mother’s calm demeanor, Aurelia tried to relax her posture. They both knew how important it was that Cyfrin not have any suspicion that they already knew the news that was making him so irritable.

“Dangers, Master Enchanter?” Aurelia asked hesitantly. “Is something amiss?”

“I knew it was a terrible idea,” growled Cyfrin, ignoring her question. “I could have told them at the time. I’m amazed it took ten years for such a disaster to occur. What fools does the king have in the Enchanters’ Guild, to be advising him to make Fernedell the dumping ground for every disgraced magic-user in Solstice? But I know what fools he’s got running the guild—the kind who are too narrow-minded to know progress when they see it. The kind that would rather hang on to their power than see magic advance.”

Aurelia remained silent, trying to mold her expression into one of bewilderment. In actual fact, she had a fairly good idea what Cyfrin was talking about. She didn’t know the full details of his falling out with the Fernedellian Enchanters’ Guild—his ledgers were full of notes on his experiments, not personal journals recounting the events of his life. But she and her mother had gleaned enough to gather that he’d fallen from the guild’s favor on account of his unorthodox methods. It wasn’t hard to imagine, given the way he’d experimented on her hair all her life. The fact that such projects had caused him to be thrown out of the guild gave Aurelia great faith in Fernedell’s other enchanters.

Thanks to the news Mama Gail had read before, she also understood his other comments. Although she’d been a young child at the time, she could still remember Cyfrin’s fury when the decision had been made, ten years earlier, to build the magic prison a short distance to the south east of the tower’s location. From the way he’d spoken, anyone would have thought the king chose a site so close to them out of personal malice, rather than being completely unaware of Cyfrin’s illicit tower.

“What disaster are you talking about?” Mama Gail asked curtly. “If you want to be understood, you’ll have to be a little plainer.”

“I have no need to be understood by you,” snapped Cyfrin. “But I’ll have you know that all my predictions have proved correct. There’s been a mass break out from the prison, just as I said there would be.”

“You predicted a break out?” Mama Gail asked coldly. “I have no memory of that.” Cyfrin’s face darkened, but she pressed on. “How many escaped? Are we in danger?”

“A hundred criminal magic-users are on the loose now,” said Cyfrin, with relish. “And the only reason you’re safe is because of my protections.” He turned to Aurelia, his expression softening slightly. “Don’t forget that.”

Aurelia kept her face blank with difficulty. It was so like Cyfrin to lie and exaggerate the numbers. She knew from the official record Mama Gail had seen that the number was less than forty. But the enchanter would want her to be more afraid than the truth warranted. He was truly deluded enough to think he could frighten her into actuallywantingto be trapped in the tower. The worst part was, if Mama Gail hadn’t always been there, contradicting his lies the moment he left, it probably would have worked.

“Never mind all of that,” said Cyfrin, his features contorting into a smile that was even more alarming than his scowl had been. “Did you miss me, Honeysuckle?”

“Did I…what?” Aurelia blinked, taken aback both by the strange question, and by the sudden switch in manner. Was Cyfrin trying to be…kind? It wasn’t convincing.

“Did you miss me?” he repeated, his voice betraying only the tiniest flicker of irritation at her obtuseness. “I saw you waiting for me by the window. Counting down the hours?”

Mama Gail snorted, but Aurelia was too bemused to even see the humor. Did Cyfrinwanther to look forward to his visits? He’d never shown any hint of it before. He clearly expected her to see him as her benefactor—supposedly protecting her against the world—but he’d never tried to endear himself to her on a personal level before.

“Actually, I was just…enjoying the view,” she said blankly.

Again annoyance crossed Cyfrin’s features, but he quickly stifled it. “I was looking forward to seeing you,” he said, his smile once again not quite natural.

His gaze drifted to her hair, and Aurelia gathered it to herself uneasily. Why was he behaving so strangely? She preferred his angry rants to this falsely gentle tone. What lie was he trying to sell her now? Whatever his motivations, they weren’t genuine. That much was a given.

“Just because I don’t have much magic available to store,” he went on, “doesn’t mean this evening needs to be a total waste. There are other aims to pursue.”

“Other aims?” frowned Aurelia. “Are you talking about the new project you’re working on?”

“You remembered,” said Cyfrin, sounding pleased. Aurelia stared at him, still utterly bemused by his demeanor. He cast a lazy glance over his shoulder at Mama Gail. “I want to speak to Honeysuckle alone, crone. You can wait in the bedroom.”

“I don’t think so,” said Mama Gail, her voice as hard as the stone that formed their tower. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I think you are,” said Cyfrin grimly. “This is between Honeysuckle and me.”

“I’ve already told you,” snapped Mama Gail, moving to stand beside Aurelia, “anything involving Aurelia involves me.”

“Her name is Honeysuckle,” spat Cyfrin. “And her time is mine to command, not yours. She was given to me in payment for a theft.Youformed no part of that bargain. If you know what’s good for you, don’t remind me how dispensable you are to my plans.”

“It’s all right, Mama Gail,” said Aurelia, alarmed by the stubbornness she saw in her mother’s eyes. It wasn’t the first time she’d been afraid the other woman would push too far and tip Cyfrin over the edge. If he decided he no longer wanted to house and feed Mama Gail, Aurelia didn’t like to think what he would do. “You can go into the other room for a moment, surely.”

“I most surely cannot,” contradicted Mama Gail. “And I will not.”

Aurelia frowned. Mama Gail was always determined, and she made a point of being defiant when it came to Cyfrin. But usually she knew where to draw the line to avoid a level of confrontation more painful than it was worth. Aurelia couldn’t understand her mother’s sudden intensity. Cyfrin was unpleasant, but he’d never been violent toward them. Why was Mama Gail so determined not to leave Aurelia alone with him?

“In the other room,” growled Cyfrin. “Now.”

Mama Gail planted her feet firmly, her stubbornness written clearly across her face. Aurelia opened her mouth to again urge her mother to let it go, when Cyfrin’s arm suddenly flashed out. Before Aurelia well understood what was happening, he had her mother in a painful-looking armlock. Both women shouted in protest, but he ignored them completely. With a brutal twist, he spun Mama Gail around and marched her forcibly across the tower before practically throwing her into the room where she and Aurelia slept and slamming the door behind her.

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