Trial of Magic (The Fairy Tale Enchantress #4) - K. M. Shea Page 0,241

minds.”

“Naturally. It’d be good for my mind if you stopped caterwauling,” Angelique dryly said. “The students can begin classes again when we’re not in the middle of the greatest trial the Conclave has seen since the Snow Queen first beat the Chosen.”

Another teacher puffed his chest up. “We cannot stop centuries of tradition for common worries!”

“Common? Worries?” Angelique hooted in laughter. “I’m delighted to be the one to inform you that you are rather behind the times. The Chosen are not common, nor are they mere worries. Or did you think the Luxi-Domus headmaster was gone on a holiday instead of running off since he was actually a black mage?”

The instructors exchanged guilty looks.

One of them opened their mouth to argue.

“Be forewarned: I’m very short on patience. If you are about to say something stupid, I can’t promise my irritation won’t trigger my magic to summon all the squirrels from the nearby forest to attack you.” Angelique said.

Evariste smirked at the unusual but highly effective threat, which suitably cowed the complainers. “She’s come into her power,” Evariste observed to his companion.

Pegasus tossed his head, making his bridle jangle. Most likely it was a gesture of agreement.

Evariste glanced at him. Together, they stood on the edge of the camp where only the faintest orange light of the crackling campfires reached. “I’ve been meaning to ask: is there a particularly reason why you aren’t speaking your mind?”

Pegasus’ ears twitched.

“You’ve never been reluctant to voice your opinions before,” Evariste reminded him.

Pegasus turned away from Evariste, gracing him with a view of the constellation’s rear end.

It was on the tip of Evariste’s tongue to ask Pegasus if he feared what Angelique’s reaction would be once she found out just how powerful the constellation really was. But there was no benefit in making Pegasus mad.

It’s not like my situation is so different from his. He fears she’ll pull back once she learns the truth. I fear she’ll reject me when she learns how I feel.

“Evariste?”

Sybilla and Finnr skirted round the edge of the camp, joining Evariste where it was calmer and, more importantly, quieter.

“Sybilla, Finnr. Good evening.” Evariste smiled warmly at the pair.

“Oh, none of that polite civility, child.” Sybilla marched straight up to him and wrapped her plump arms around him in a hug. The embrace was warm, and her clothes faintly smelled of soap as they always had, but there was an unyielding strength beneath the affection.

The gesture brought back a flood of memories of similar hugs he’d received from the Fairy Godmother when he was a boy.

“Are we ignoring our rules, now?” Evariste teasingly asked as he hugged Sybilla back.

“Pish posh. Our rules aren’t necessary,” Sybilla barked. “Not in times like these!”

“Sybilla and I decided it was still best to keep our distance until we reached Verglas, so if any Chosen spies remained, they wouldn’t see.” Finnr’s voice was low and rumbled like ice falling from a glacier. “But as we have passed into the Snow Queen’s land, it is no longer necessary.”

Sybilla squeezed Evariste tight for one moment more, then stepped back. “We should have tossed our rules aside years ago.”

Finnr slipped past Sybilla and approached Evariste for a slightly awkward but no less love-filled back pat. “There are many things we should have done—we would have done—if we’d known the truth about the Conclave.”

Sybilla sharply elbowed Finnr. “Oh, like treat dear Angelique better?”

Finnr bowed his head.

“Treat Angelique better…what do you mean?” Evariste flicked his gaze from Sybilla to Finnr and frowned.

Sybilla waved her hand. “Merely that Finnr was his usual, unpleasant self to her—which is to say he made her life more difficult than necessary.”

Evariste shifted, his posture going from relaxed to tense. “Finnr…”

“Sybilla is right,” Finnr flatly said. “I…mis-stepped. But I will have to confess my sins at a later time. Now, I’m more worried about you.”

Evariste shook his head. “No, we can’t just smooth over this—”

“We’re not.” Sybilla patted his arm. “Truth be told, I could have tried to help Angelique more, but I was too concerned with my own tasks to realize just how large of a burden she was carrying. It’s something we’ll have to discuss—we need to discuss—but, Evariste, please. Tell us how you really are.”

The worry shining in Sybilla’s eyes was the only thing that moved Evariste to let the topic change. That, and he figured if Finnr had been unspeakably horrible to Angelique, she’d have said something by now.

Though, she hadn’t told me that she was still considered an apprentice after all these