Page 43 of The Silver Spider
"Magic use burns triple the number of calories. And our magic burns even at rest."
"That would explain why groceries are a third of the household expenses," Serephone muttered.
Anissa's brow rose, and she smiled. "All Dwyrkin are like that, not only the Dwyrkin Fae. Eat."
She didn’t think anyone would try to poison her. She began to eat. "So, I've been kidnapped."
"Yes. I am sorry about that. Father should have taken more pains to prevent you from ever coming to the city. He could have laid some geas, at the very least."
"He was lazy then, I don't expect he's changed much."
Anissa paused, then pursed her lips. "No. Not much."
"I don’t suppose I can just walk out the front door?"
"I wouldn’t try it."
Serephone ate for a few more minutes. "What does Dawnthorne want with me?"
"He'll tell you himself, but ultimately, it is our law that any of our blood must remain under the supervision of the head of the Line. Centuries ago when we freely intermingled with humans, there were complications."
"And those complications now deprive me of my freedom? It can’t be legal."
"By whose definition of legal?"
Serephone stared at her plate, jaw gritted against an impolite response. Anissa wasn’t an enemy—this wasn’t her fault. "Where is Amnan? I know he's here, I heard him."
She glanced up, but her sister wouldn’t meet her eyes. "You'll see him again, when Dawnthorne wills it. The best thing you can do now is to be cooperative. You angered him. He doesn’t like being slapped."
Serephone opened her mouth, closed it. "I pulled on every ounce of power I could and flung it at him, and that was just a slap?"
"It was a hard slap. Serephone…he can't let that go unpunished. Please, be wary around him. Don’t anger him further."
"You make him sound like a bully."
"No. A Lord."
Serephone pushed her plate away. "I'm done, thank you."
Anissa rose. "I'll have the staff place a snack basket in your room—we all have them. The chef prefers it so we aren’t constantly raiding her domain. Can we—I would like to talk more–soon?” She smiled, a little, "I have no other sisters."
She couldn’t imagine not having sisters. "I’m Iona's only aunt?"
"Yes." Anissa's expression closed.
"We can talk."
