Page 60 of Songs and Spun Gold
And then, her father’s debt would still be owed to the king. Her family would be tossed out with no place to live and no means to earn a living.
They would be ruined.
Her mind raced, trying to find a different solution. She couldn’t believe she would have made such a rash deal, eleven years old or not. This man had no reason to tell her the truth.
“And don’t think that the prince can free you from it,” he continued, his grin widening. “Magical bargains can’t be escaped that easily. You could tell him if you want, but…how do you think King Steffan would react to that?”
Her breaths were coming faster and shallower as she backed herself into a corner of the room just as the stranger had backed her into a metaphorical one. There had to be a way out. There had to be a way to save her family without succumbing to the stranger’s mad deal.
Tilting her head to the side, she reviewed the stranger’s words. “According to the deal, I must actually marry him for the bargain to be complete?”
The stranger narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms. “Yes. My side is only met once you have married the prince with my significant help. But your family will suffer if you don’t.”
It wasn’t much, but it was a chance. She had to take it, to buy herself time to find a solution, if nothing else.
Without saying another word, lest she accidentally agree to something worse, she stomped back to the spinning wheel, settled herself on the seat, and began spinning once more.
She could see the stranger out of the corner of her eye ashe sauntered past to lean against the wall in front of her.
“I knew you were a clever girl,” he smirked. “Clever and practical; the best kind for this sort of thing.”
Katy bent her head so that she could no longer see him and focused on spinning as fast as she could. For about an hour, she stayed silent as her thoughts spun along with the wheel, trying to think up arguments for why the king should release her from marrying the prince. She could tell him about the consequences, but the king wouldnottake kindly to her trading his future grandchild for her family. If she was lucky, he would only throw her out and send his steward for the principal.
After a while, she decided to gather information. She couldn’t find a loophole unless she knew what she was up against.
“So, magic,” she began as casually as she could. “It must be nice to be able to do whatever you want. Even changing one substance to another.”
The stranger snorted from his position just inside her candle’s reach. “I can’t do whatever I want. Magic has rules.”
“Really? Like what?”
She could see him studying her. “I can’t turn the bales into gold. It’s only because you’re already changing its form, after a fashion.”
“Could you turn me to gold?” She really hoped he couldn’t.
“No,” he replied after a moment. “Not without more power than I’m willing to use.”
How comforting.
Falling back into silence, Katy considered her next question. “Why do you want my child” didn’t seem like the best way to learn what she wanted, nor did “How do I stop you from taking my baby”.
He seemed like the type to enjoy bragging about himself.Maybe she could work with that.
“You must be pretty good at magic,” she said. The flattering tone sounded flat to her ears; hopefully, he wouldn’t notice. “To be able to turn straw into gold.”
“It’s taken much study,” he replied smugly. “Most magic-users can’t. Most can only use their primary type of magic, even after training.”
“Primary?” Katy prompted. She didn’t have to fake her curiosity. Up until two nights ago, she hadn’t believed magic existed. She knew nothing about it.
“All magic-users have a natural affinity for one of the four types, and most can use a second without additional training,” he replied carelessly, waving a hand. “It is only the truly skilled who, with much dedication, can learn to manipulate a third, let alone a fourth.”
“How many can you use?”
He grinned. Katy never knew a grin could be so terrible until she’d met him. “All four. Naturally.”
Holding in her sigh, Katy berated herself. As if her father’s mouth when drinking wasn’t bad enough, she had to entangle herself with apowerfulmagic-user with no scruples. She couldn’t possibly stumble across one less skilled or willing to help out of kindness. “What are—”
“I’m not conducting a magic class,” he said abruptly, scowling. “If you’re going to spin, spin.”
