Genevieve woke up weeks later unsure if she should curse the Pantheon or be grateful to gods and goddesses. She did not have time to reflect on what Tarzali slipped into her tea and watched gleefully as she swallowed every last drop. If she didn’t swallow the contents of her cup, she would end up kicked around like Suki. There was no one to heal her. She sent everyone away. She was glad that Randolph and his friends had resisted the urge to return to save her. The earthy taste in the back of her throat brought back horrible memories of nights curled into a ball on the floor cramping all over, sweating hot and cold, and choking on her own saliva, praying to reunite with her mother in another life.
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While serving breakfast to the Fomorian soldiers, she wondered if any of them were responsible for Sheehan’s death. The Fomorians had tried to kill Eden, herself and her sister many times. By the time that breakfast was over, she sat down to rest and hydrate. The worst of it had passed. The initial reaction was less about the Mandrake and more about mental and muscle memories. Mandrake was typically used for healing. Genevieve thought about ending it all, since there was no one waiting on her, but she thought about Snowflake, Suki, Eden and Shirley. Her resolve was renewed like a splash of cold water. Her eyes swept the room, glancing periodically at Tranter. There was no way an eleven-year-old could fight a fully grown Silver Tongue.
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After the soldiers finished eating and left, Phillip Tranter was seated on a wooden barrel at what was left of a wooden table. During the attack the furniture was destroyed. Especially since all of the tables and chairs had been pushed up against the doors as an additional barricade to provide the students a few vital minutes before the doors were splintered open by an enormous Minos and his escort of masked Ebony Knights. Minos were formidable creatures. Twelve to fourteen feet anthropomorphic bovines. The Fomorian Minos had a thick layer of black fur that rendered blades and arrows useless. The Minos’s eyes were covered by thick black coils of fur to nullify any stunning and light spells. Due to his muscular figure, the Minos moved slowly, but speed and agility didn’t matter when one blow from his fists obliterated bones and shields. The helpless screams, squirting blood, cracking timber and snapping of bones echoed in her ears.
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“Miss Lamb?” Tranter asked with a fake sweetness.117Please respect copyright.PENANA9cOD4AO7em
The Halfling was an eleven-year-old girl underneath all of that training and trauma.
“What did he call you to get you to obey?”
“P-pardon?”117Please respect copyright.PENANABMTyl1b0mY
“Sheehan. He had an intimate relationship with you. What gets you excited?”117Please respect copyright.PENANAyz8VG9TqF1
“I d-don’t understand what you’re implying.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAs3ooynAVtx
“You don’t have to protect a dead man, my dear.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAJQJim59t5t
“I’m not protecting him.” I failed him! Maybe if I went on that walk he’d still be with us? Or perhaps Grommet would have returned to the school with two mangled corpses?117Please respect copyright.PENANAeQiPNoqIOy
Phillip leaned his chin into his lightly balled fist.117Please respect copyright.PENANAQQslzXsfaT
“Allow me to rephrase my question.”117Please respect copyright.PENANASsfytIrGvr
She nodded at the pause he provided. It felt like something was crawling up her spine. She shuddered, trying to shake the feeling. The eleven year old did not have a choice.117Please respect copyright.PENANAfcUAaEKcEf
“Did that creepy old man touch you out of wedlock? You can tell me.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAG6AE94Ft68
Something inside her snapped. She was Elliot’s daughter. While she was not as short tempered as her sister, Genevieve would not stand for such unthinkable slander.117Please respect copyright.PENANAS0r9Eemof2
“How dare you! He never touched me. He’s not a REPULSIVE Fomorian like you!”117Please respect copyright.PENANABOgQ7yw3PX
Genevieve braced for something to be thrown at her or to be yelled at like her father did.117Please respect copyright.PENANALjwiKUbfZI
“Go to your room, Miss Lamb. I’m not going to argue with an angry child.” Phillip sighed.117Please respect copyright.PENANAY4PQIpnQ7I
The brunette did not have to be told twice. She bowed her head and ran from the room.117Please respect copyright.PENANA9EbItWO7Sf
***117Please respect copyright.PENANA49arpa2GxA
With Genevieve in her room, Phillip finished his tea and spent the rest of the morning browsing the collection of books in Sheehan’s office. A collection that would be expected of a human pretending that he could lead a school of fairies. However, there were some remarkable pieces scattered between the common scrolls and books that he did not expect a beloved, heroic figure like Sheehan to possess. Dead men may have told no tales, but what he left behind spoke volumes. Phillip called for Elliot’s daughter as he sat down at Arthur’s desk to flip through a bejewelled book. He wasn’t interested in reading at this time. He was assessing the value of the book. If it was undamaged, it would be expensive. If it was damaged beyond repair, it could be thrown into one of the many hearths to be burned. Genevieve did not respond as seconds turned into minutes. Was she still offended by what Phillip said about Sheehan? That was not very lady-like.117Please respect copyright.PENANA4KM9l90NA2
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Phillip Tranter rose to his feet with a scowl setting on his face. Genevieve was never tardy, unlike her sister. If those soldiers were harassing her, he would replace all of them with Tarzali’s new experiment. Even if Impatiens was in the middle of a mission. Phillip watched all of the known troublemakers assemble. All of those returning from the dungeon were splashed with blood. There were a few straggling students to deal with.
“Which of you have been harassing Miss Lamb?”
The Fomorians turned their heads to look at each other in utter bewilderment.
“What’re you talking about boss?” Blizzard spoke up. “No one’s seen neither hair nor tail of ‘er since she served us b’eakfast.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAdKvZiKXyIy
“Yeah, the last fairy to see her was uh…”117Please respect copyright.PENANAMpIG6bMdN4
“Say it.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAfqDFLPPVXz
“Tarzali.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAo49UvPpd2W
“Tarzali?” His mind flashed back to three years ago when Tarzali experimented with Mandrakes as sedatives. Especially those nights Tranter spent ensuring that Genevieve survived the vomiting and fainting since her father locked himself in the dungeon to drink and Raphael moved on to antagonise Suki and harm her when she fought back.117Please respect copyright.PENANAEboyf1GOaY
“Yes, sir.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAYgqzCbsF8x
“You’re all dismissed until further notice.”117Please respect copyright.PENANA7ho4lcxhxe
If the Halfling was somewhere in the castle, he could not allow any of them to find her.117Please respect copyright.PENANApoz8nMgpAk
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“TAAAAAARZAAAAALIIIIII!” Tranter stormed into the dungeon where the angel was studying a mess of wooden splinters, sinew and flesh with a scalpel in one bloody hand and a candle in the other for light.117Please respect copyright.PENANAvCTanQaAUW
“Yeeeees?” He replied, turning to grin knowingly at the Silver Tongue.117Please respect copyright.PENANAblbcsZL8r3
“You KNOW why I am here.”
“If you aren’t using her, I will.” Tarzali shrugged indignantly.117Please respect copyright.PENANAFeSOK6CBJ9
“Until I have no more use for her, no one will touch her. That includes you.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAMhqlQnVxXK
“You’ve always had a soft spot for her. However, even you have to admit that she is smarter than your beloved Wanda ever was. By leagues now that she’s almost a lady.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAE99NGhQOU4
“Unlike Wanda, Miss Lamb is not replaceable, Tarzali. Her mother was the last member of the mysterious cult.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAoa5mhw8xVo
“It was only Mandrake juice, Tranter.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAWug51VlAdt
“While Mandrake is not known for causing harm, even in excess, you’re used to dosing large beasts and brutes. What if she’s unconscious somewhere in the castle or worse?”117Please respect copyright.PENANAs7bnUZ78Io
“This little scrap isn’t about our plans to destabilise the Fianna, is it?”117Please respect copyright.PENANAOQqZrqvjrZ
“This is hardly a ‘little scrap’.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAkDI1qOh2B8
“Do you still resent Elliot for what he did to Madeline? How crucial is this child to your plans? Look how far we came, despite wasting her essence on a failed project.” Eden.117Please respect copyright.PENANALgzVUln8u5
“Miss Lamb IS a Mana Major, Tarzali. Possibly the last of her kind after the genocides.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAVVyKJ0fPjx
“The genocides were Elliot’s idea.” The angel shrugged his green wings. “Mana Major. Mana Minor. What’s the difference? There is none when they’re bodies under my knife.”
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Blizzard burst into the room in a flurry of snow that turned their breaths into icy mists.117Please respect copyright.PENANAgFwQ8RSvI5
“Boss! The Halfling. She’s gone.”117Please respect copyright.PENANAmZB8v6ojWf
“I know that, you blithering-” It took every ounce of self-control not to lose his temper.117Please respect copyright.PENANA4MnwbYu1VA
“Dylan tried chasing ‘er down, but the Halfling jumped into the river at the edge of the marsh. The big, fast one. Everyone’s lookin’ for ‘er but she hasn’t come up.”