Page 63 of House of the Raven
“Only a fourth. I don’t have magic, in case you’re itching to know. My great-grandpa on my ma’s side was full-blooded, but he had no magic to pass down. He traded hides.”
So many people in Castella have mixed blood, and so many hide it as if it were a stain to be removed. I wonder if it’s the same in Tirnanog, if those with even the slightest hint of human blood are seen as less?
“What about El Gran Místico?” I ask.
Esmeralda laughs. “You don’t have to call him that. He’ll get a big head.” She considers, then adds, “A bigger head, I mean. Call him Gaspar. That’s his proper name. Anyway, he’s also a fourth fae and has a good bit of magic for protective stuff and sneaky stuff too.”
“Sneaky stuff?”
She points at the table with the tarot cards and crystal ball.
“I see. Is he your father?”
“Gods, no. What made you think that?”
“You have the same eyes.”
She shrugs. “The color is common in our troop.”
“I’ve never been able to see through someone’s glamour before,” I say.
“His glamouring magic isn’t strong. Some people with the blood can see through it.”
Esmeralda appears entirely comfortable sharing this information with me, even though we’re strangers. It’s as though there’s an unspoken trust simply because we share a common ancestry. For the first time, I’m able to openly admit this one aspect of myself I’ve always concealed, and it’s liberating.
“So yea, you’re safe as a mole deep in its lair here,” Esmeralda says. “Gaspar and I are wondering, what’s your plan?”
“Plan?” I feel as lost as a moleoutsideits lair.
“Yea, what are you going to do from here? ‘Cause you can’t stay inside this wagon forever. Gaspar needs it for his work.”
Oh, they want me to leave. Of course, what did I expect?
“I… I’ll go.” I start moving toward the door.
“No, niña.” She touches my arm briefly, and I stop. “We’re not kicking you out. We want to help you, but we have to know how.”
As I breathe out in relief, a warm feeling spreads over my chest. These people know nothing about me, and they’re willing to help me.
“That or they want to exchange you for a hefty bag of gold,”Father’s voice comes to my head in that eerie echo I would like to get rid of. That isn’t the side of him I want to remember.
I think about it for a moment. How can they help me? There are a lot of things I can think of, like getting me in touch with Jago, so I can leave this town with him. That would be the perfect outcome, but I know it’s not the most likely one. If I go back anywhere near that villa, I could get captured again. And getting these people involved in something like that could bring them terrible trouble. No, I can’t do that. They’re already taking a risk. I need to make it as easy as possible for them to lend me a hand. So with that in mind, I settle on what to say.
“Um, I assume your troop will be leaving Alsur at some point, right?”
She nods. “Yea, we don’t stay for too long in any one place. Means trouble to linger for the likes of us. Matter of fact, we’re leaving tomorrow. This is the end of our loop, then we’ll be headed back to Castellina.”
My heart leaps. “Castellina?” I repeat dumbly.
“Yea, you know the place?” The question seems sincere, which means she has no idea who I am, even if she suspects my name isn’t Catalina.
“I’ve been once,” I lie. “It would be a great place to hide from… all of this.”
“That, it would.” She throws her hands out. “It’s easy then. You ride with us back to Castellina.”
“Do you think that’s possible? No one will mind?”
“No, it’s fine. There’s always room for one more. You’ll have to pull your weight though.”
