Page 84 of Magic Touch
"What of Sara Beth, Prudence or Minerva? Did they fear I would do harm as well?" Those three witches know me a little better. Two have gone from mistrust to something cordial.
Esme smiles and tips her chin down as she recalls feelings. "Prudence never doubted you. Minerva was impressed, but not worried for herself or Trina."
"And what about the esteemed coven high priestess?"
"Sara Beth is harder to read. She keeps her emotions tightly bound up. I didn't sense fear, but I saw her eyes widen then a hint of a smile when she realized you had magic beyond what she'd seen before."
"Was it a kind of test?" I dislike the idea of being tested in such a way. "Would they risk Trina if they were unsure of my honor?"
She stares down at the carriage floor. "I am not of the coven, and my mother despised Sara Beth's mother. I may be jaded in my thinking."
"The fact that you know this is a start toward rethinking." My love for her expands with every moment we're together. Even as we close in on the coven, where I may lose her forever, my heart soars with delight in her clever and open mind. "Tell me what you think, even if your views are biased. I will make my own judgments."
Her slim shoulders rise and fall in a long breath. "They believed Trina is a lost cause. They were willing to sacrifice her to find out what you could and would do."
I wish I could disagree with her assessment. Perhaps Prudence believed, but the rest were willing to let Trina die at my hands.
The carriage stops, but neither of us make a move to get out. Samuel shifts the weight as he climbs down.
Esme looks up from the floor. "I will stand by you no matter what the outcome."
My heart aching, I take her hand. "I know, but your life is too precious. Do not risk all for me."
Samuel opens the door and puts the step down.
Like statues, we stare into each other's eyes. My words thrum from within, I love you.
A warm smile lights her face and my heart.
After we tell her everything that happened at Esme's shop, Sara Beth stares for an uncomfortable moment. "The boy had been magically infected?"
"Yes. I'm sure what I felt in the child had a nature similar to that which was inside Trina," I say.
Minerva pales, shocked to hear that Mrs. Bates' son was ill. "You believe the magic would have killed him?"
With an uncanny ability to remain calm, Esme nods. "What I felt was like a cancer, but different."
"I saw that boy not a week ago, and his only complaint was a slight rash." Minerva's voice is low and grim.
Staring, as if I might run and she would catch me, Sara Beth says, "How can you know? What skill tells you the magic in these two incidents is of the same nature?"
I don't know how to put into words what I felt. "Words fail me. I have no reference to tell you how I know."
Sara Beth throws her hands in the air. "What would be the point of harming an innocent child?"
"To test me, as you will no doubt test me." I stand my ground despite my trepidation over my coming tribunal.
Her eyes flash with anger. "I wouldn't risk an innocent to see if you are of the light."
Softening my tone, I say, "No. Of course, you wouldn't. But you did risk Trina, and you will test me. The magic that infected that boy was malevolent. The user without conscience. His evil seeped from the magic like your sapphire aura seeps from you."
"You see my aura!" Sara Beth jerks back. "I didn't realize you had this ability."
"It would explain how he knows that the magic in Trina and little Donald was similar. Aurors can often match magic. It's a very handy skill." Minerva sits on a wooden chair.
Esme takes it as a cue and also sits.
I wait for Sara Beth to stop pacing and join them, and then I sit beside Esme. "I have learned a great deal about magic, though I know I have much more to learn. I'm willing to submit to your tests, and if you call Goddess, I will allow her to divine my magic as well. I have nothing to hide from you."
