The Shadow Wand - Laurie Forest Page 0,1

original size, and its people will be the major power in the region for a long time to come, rivaled only by their uneasy allies, the Alfsigr Elves.

And they’ll be looking for their next Great Mage.

Alarm rises inside Edwin as he looks at the children.

His nephew Rafe Gardner sits on the leaf-patterned carpet, steadily watching his uncle and aunt. At five, little Rafe has the stoicism of a much older child, quickly appointing himself the protector of his younger siblings. He cries silently, his arms draped protectively around tiny Trystan.

Trystan has curled himself into a tight ball of misery as he keens and whimpers, “Poppa. Momma. Poppa. Momma,” over and over.

Edwin’s heart wrenches. Trystan’s a fragile child, prone to tears and fear. The skinny two-year-old’s eyes are dazed and frightened.

And then there’s three-year-old Elloren.

She’s balled up next to her brothers, hugging the quilt Tessla sewed for her, a blanket lovingly crafted for Elloren when she was still in Tessla’s womb, featuring a branchy tree with bright green leaves stitched onto the fabric, with little embroidered birds and animals darting all around. Elloren is whimpering softly into its folds.

Overcome, Edwin goes to Elloren, kneels, and embraces her. She reaches out small arms to cling to both him and her quilt, her body racked with sobs.

Edwin glances at Vyvian, and his sister’s expression sends an icy chill straight through him.

She’s glaring at the children like they’re hideous blowback, her hatred for Vale and Tessla on full display and spilling over onto these innocents. Edwin’s hold on Elloren tightens as he takes in Vyvian’s cruel, unforgiving expression and he realizes what he must do.

The children need him, and he loves them.

“The children will stay with me,” he tells Vyvian, his voice hoarse but staunch, and he surprises himself with how unwavering he is in the face of his intimidating sister.

Vyvian’s frown deepens, her fists clenching and unclenching, her glare sharpening on Edwin. She seems uncharacteristically rattled, and Edwin knows it’s for all the wrong reasons.

“Very well,” she says, and her mouth thins as she flashes one last resentful look toward the children, as if wanting to rid herself of this terrible business and dispose of them. She moves to leave, but pauses at the door and slowly turns, her gaze fixing on the children in a way that raises the hairs on Edwin’s neck as her hateful glare morphs to one of appraisal.

She meets Edwin’s gaze once more, her expression and tone hardening to a needled point. “You’ll need to wandtest them,” she insists. “And soon. If they have power, you’re to immediately let me know. Mother would have insisted on it.” Her voice breaks, and tears glisten in her eyes. She blinks the tears back firmly. “Our family legacy might not have died with Mother.” She gestures toward the children with a flick of her elegant hand. “Their parents were traitors, but perhaps, if raised correctly, the children can grow up to be champions of our people.”

Edwin blinks at his sister and, in this moment, he hates her.

Their parents.

No, Vyvian, he wants to rail against her. Our brother and his fastmate!

But Edwin knows that Vyvian has her blinders firmly in place. There is absolutely no nuance in her perspective. To Vyvian, the world is divided into clean halves—there are Evil Ones, and there are Gardnerians. And you have to pick one side or the other.

No.

Edwin knows what he will do. Not what Vyvian wants. But not what Vale and Tessla would have wanted either.

Forgive me, Vale. Forgive me, Tessla.

He hugs Elloren close as a fierce wave of protective love washes over him.

If any of the children has inherited his mother’s power, he will hide it from the Gardnerians. He will protect the children from all of this.

They can’t have them.

Not the Gardnerians. Not the Resistance.

This legacy of evil magic will end here.

* * *

Several months later, Edwin decides to wandtest Rafe, Trystan, and Elloren.

He tests them on three separate occasions, traveling far outside of Valgard each time and taking each child deep into the woods where no one will be able to witness any magic uncovered.

Magic that Edwin prays is not there.

So far, his uneasy prayers have been mostly answered.

Edwin had been worried that Rafe might have inherited his mother’s powerful abilities. He’s a kind boy, but with a surprisingly strong presence. Physically graceful and sure of himself, Rafe is filled with a steely confidence not often seen in a child of such a tender age. But he’s as good as magically