City of Spells (Into the Crooked Place #2) - Alexandra Christo Page 0,78

speak to her.”

“I’m speaking to you.”

“My amja is—”

“Not you,” Wesley finished.

He looked over to Saxony’s amja, who was watching the whole affair with still eyes and a look on her face that Saxony rarely saw: curiosity. Interest.

As a child, Amja was the person who Saxony saw as most certain in her life, most unwavering and, if she was being honest, unwilling to compromise, but now her grandmother looked at Wesley like he might just stand a chance at being heard.

“I’m not trying to offend you,” he said. “But Saxony has great power and she led the Crafters back when we first went against Ashwood. It’s because of her that the other Lieges from Kins across the realms have joined with us. She can unite people in a way that I don’t think you’re capable of.”

“You think I’m not capable of leading my people?” Amja asked.

“I think you’re too scarred by the past to see the future clearly,” Wesley said.

Amja blinked and her eyebrows furrowed together ever so slightly, and for some reason that made a sudden panic shoot through Saxony.

He’d offended her.

“Wesley,” Saxony said.

It was one thing for her to insult her amja, but another thing entirely to hear someone else do it.

“You need to respect how things work,” Saxony said.”You’re way out of line.”

“No.” Amja’s voice was soft as the breeze. “He isn’t. He has wisdom.”

“Wisdom,” Saxony repeated.

“I can see what he has seen in you,” Amja said. “I have seen your bravery and your determination, Saxony. And most of all, your ability to look past what others want and see what is needed for the realms.”

“You just said you were angry that I went behind your back and summoned the other Lieges,” Saxony said.

Amja shook her head and stepped toward Saxony, taking her hands in hers. “I’m not angry with you,” she said. “I’m angry with myself for refusing to listen.”

She stroked Saxony’s cheek.

“My dear child,” she said. “This is your path. Your judgment gave us an army of Crafters and Lieges who helped protect us in the forest. And your power, your fierceness, helped quell the tornado and the magic that tried to attack us.”

Saxony’s heart drummed fiercely against her chest, but she tried to stifle it, not daring to let her hopes get too high.

“Are you saying that you want me to be Liege?” Saxony asked.

She had to be certain.

She had to make sure she was hearing right.

Amja smiled, squeezing Saxony’s hands. “I’m saying that you already are. You have been acting as one since you arrived in the forest and I have stupidly been getting in the way of that.”

When Saxony breathed next, it was like all of the tension in her relaxed.

This felt right, like it had felt when she spun spells by Wesley’s side to take down that tornado. Becoming Liege was Malik’s destiny, and then they thought it was Zekia’s, but maybe it was nobody’s fate at all. Maybe it was something you had to earn, or something you discovered inside of yourself.

Maybe that was why their Kin had been cursed for so many years; they weren’t waiting for Zekia to fulfil her destiny. They were waiting for the right person to decide their destiny for themselves.

And Saxony had decided a long time ago that this was what she wanted. She just hadn’t expected everyone else to want it too.

THE WALLS of the garden trees cast shadows on the winter-dulled grass as they gathered their army in the large courtyard at the back of the estate. One hundred and fifty Crafters and nearly a hundred buskers all crowded around Saxony, Tavia, and Wesley.

They waited for the news.

It hadn’t been Saxony’s idea to round them up, but Wesley thought it would boost morale to let them know about her new position as Liege. The Crafters already trust you, he’d said. And the buskers know you well, so it could help to unite them.

“We’ve called you here to let you know about a change of leadership,” Saxony said. “I’ll be taking over as Liege of the Rishiyat Kin and will be in charge of overseeing all the Crafters in our army from now on.”

She waited for anyone to protest, but the Crafters seemed pleased by the decision, most looking like it hadn’t made much of an impact at all. As though Saxony was just confirming what they already knew and wanted.

“How does that affect us?” a busker called from the crowd. “Just another Crafter asserting her authority while we all get picked off one