Page 80 of Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore
“I was there when he first brought Violet to Shadowfade Castle,” said Quinn. “She was such a scared little thing. I’d never seen so much power in a single being, and it was clear he hadn’t either. He banished many of us from his service and put all his focus into turning her into the Thornwitch. She never stood a chance of escaping his clutches.”
“And you just let her move in?” Nathaniel could feel his anger rising again, his betrayal a fresh wound ripped wider and bloodier. “You didn’t think any of us needed to know? You put our lives in danger, Quinn.”
“My bees kept an eye on her,” said Quinn with a careless wave of her hand. Nathaniel filed away this fact—that apparently the woman he’d known most of his life couldspy on peoplethroughher insect friends—for later, when he’d have more capacity for intelligent thought. “And on that Sedgwick too. It’s clear to us when someone comes here to rebuild versus when they come to Dragon’s Rest to destroy, and we knew exactly which one each of them was trying to do.”
“We almost had her too,” grumbled Fallon. “Another week or two and she’d have trusted us enough to come clean on her own.”
Quinn shook her head. “I really thought she was going to say yes to the Thursday support group when I asked her the other day.”
“Support group?”
“Well, yes. Every Thursday, those of us who used to work for Shadowfade meet to chat and see how we’re all doing.”
“Guy always bakes the best snacks,” added Jerome.
“Violet was trying to start over, honey,” Quinn said. “She moved here to see if she could be someone other than the Thornwitch, and she wasn’t the first. Those first years right after leaving—they’re hard. Shadowfade makes you think you’re nothing without him, and the things you’ve done in his service…” She shuddered. “Well, it’s important to have support while you’re rising from those ashes.”
“The Thornwitch was infamous,” he argued, though doubt bubbled in his heart now. “She was known for being evil. She did terrible things—she killed people!”
His sister rose from her chair, her eyes ablaze in a way that reminded him, terrifyingly, of their mother. “Nathaniel Marsh, did you or did you not work for the Crucible?”
“That’s different.” Nathaniel thought back to those years. “I never killed anyone.”
“No?” Pru snorted. “You built weapons. Explosives. Devices that were made to hurt, to kill. Don’t deny it.”
He met his sister’s eyes. “I don’t.”
“You can parse the differences until your face turns blue, butthe truth is you did things under the orders of someone with more power than you. It doesn’t make what you did right. But it also doesn’t mean we don’t understand.” Pru’s face softened. “I know it’s scary, Nat, but people change. They’reallowedto change. They’re allowed to try and be better than what they were before. And when we care about them, then we need to support them.”
Nathaniel wanted nothing more than to bury his face in his hands. He’d already known Violet was trying to start over; she’d made no secret of that fact. Moons, he of all people should know how important that was—coming back to Dragon’s Rest had given Nathaniel the space to grow. Here, back where he’d started, and especially since Violet came to town, he’d awoken from the sleepy half life he’d been living since he came home from the Crucible and since his parents’ passing.
He’d learned he could be more than his family’s legacy and more than what he was in the Crucible. Here, he could build his business on his own terms, in a way that spoke to all his skills and aspirations. It was like Nathaniel had removed an ill-fitting shirt he’d worn for so long he hadn’t realized that he’d grown out of it, only continued letting the seams dig into his skin and the buttons strain at their stitches. Now that it was off, he could see how it had kept him warm through the years, but he couldn’t fathom putting it back on. That was the thing about change, after all. It meant letting go of the person he’d been in the past.
Even here, among people who knew every last one of his wretched mistakes, no one had brought up his parents. They had given him the grace to start fresh, and he knew what it meant to him. Why hadn’t he been able to give Violet that same chance?
“But she’s behind the blight,” he said miserably. “She’s the one causing it.”
“And that’s serious indeed,” said Quinn. “She did that maliciously?”
He saw her face again, her horror, her shocked realization.Nathaniel, you have to believe me.And he hadn’t.
“No, I—I don’t think she knew she was doing it.” He averted his gaze, which was dawning with the realization that he’d acted every bit the monster he’d accused Violet of being. “She worked hard right alongside me to try and find the cause of the blight. I know she wanted to stop it. And I threw it all right in her face.”
And now she’d…oh no.
“Sedgwick,” he whispered, remembering her words. “She went after Sedgwick and Peri.”
“Pardon?” Quinn asked.
He told them what he knew. “She said Sedgwick had the Eye of the Serpent, and that if he could bring back Shadowfade, he’d—” He gritted his teeth. That Violet had killed the sorcerer was something she’d clearly held close to her chest. He’d spilled enough of her secrets tonight; he didn’t feel right sharing this for her too. “He’ll kill her if he returns. Thornwitch or not, Shadowfade’ll kill her. And then Dragon’s Rest will be right back where it was…” Another horrible thought struck him. She said she’d do what it took to prove herself. “And I let her go alone.”
He’d been such a spectacular idiot.
Pru was at his side. “Violet’s powerful. She can hold her own, can’t she?”
Nathaniel’s heart sank. The wreckage of Violet’s shop, of her crumpled form on the floor, flashed through his mind. “He’s dangerous. And after I accused her, with the blight…” He looked around the room. “I know I made a mistake, but Iknowher. I don’t knowhowexactly she caused it, and I don’t know if she does either, but she’ll hold back if she’s afraid her magic will cause any more blight.” He swallowed hard, pulling the vial from his pocket. “She doesn’t know I discovered the antidote.”
Pru’s face lit with surprise. “You did?! Nathaniel, that’s—”
