The Wizard's War Read Free Page A

into yourself
if we hadn’t decided that I could stop it.”
    I stomped my foot, the brat in me coming back in the
face of my own shock. “This isn’t your fault at all, stupid! You saved Mom and
Dad. It came on too strong for either of us to stop it. Please let me heal
you,” I said. He glared at me as if daring me to come any closer. “I will cry,”
I threatened. He relented by hanging his head and I was by his side in an instant.
    I only had to touch him; my magic instantly realized
that my brother was injured and it needed to heal him. It felt very much like a
bad burn, but soon he was as good as new and I could breathe easier.
    Dad stepped out of the house and held the door open.
“Go talk to your mother,” he told me. I really didn’t think it was safe, but
Hail pushed me up the steps. I shut the front door behind me and knocked gently
on my mother’s door.
    “Come in, Ron,” she said. I opened the door. The
window curtains were open, giving the room full of dark satin and hard wood a
friendlier appearance than normal. Our parents’ room had never been an
uninviting place, but it could be very somber when our parents were angry. “Did
Hail tell you what happened?”
    I nodded, gulped, and tried to speak. Only a choking
sound came out. She held out her hand and I walked forward to take it. After a
moment, Mom patted the bed beside her and when I sat, she put her arm around me
and held me close.
    “When I first found out you were on the way, I was
terrified,” she whispered against my ear. I tried to look her, but she held my
head against her shoulder. “I had no idea what to think; a god and a Noquodi
having a baby. Your father was so excited that it made me a little bit sick.”
    Talks with my mother could be dangerous. Sometimes,
there was something very mortal and motherly about her, but sometimes, she was
so very much a god. She was also occasionally very insensitive. I didn’t like
where this was going.
    “I wanted to give him kids so bad. He loved you
deeply before you were even born… but I was scared. I was sure you would never
make it to birth. I knew I couldn’t be a mother; I wasn’t built right, I wasn’t
loving enough, I wasn’t alive enough. Then you were born… So damn beautiful,
you look just like your dad. You were alive, healthy, and perfect. I was proud
of myself for being able to get you to him alive. You never spoke, ever, and
that scared me. Again, I thought I screwed up, though I could see in your mind
that you were normal, for the most part.” She let me go to look at me. “Then
when you started talking, I had to apologize to your father.”
    My eyes widened and I started to exclaim something,
but she shushed me.
    She smirked. “You looked like your father but you
were my child. I knew from the first moment you spoke to us that you were full
of fire, flair, and life. You could sweet-talk the gods into giving you their
worlds, or you could take it over by force. Your brother would always have your
back, steam-rolling anyone who got in your way or didn’t bend to your will. I
realized at that moment that I had better learn real quick to be a good mother,
because you weren’t going to wait for me to figure it out.” Her smile faded. “I
made a mistake today. I turned away from you when you needed your mother more
than ever. I was scared.”
    “I don’t want you to be scared of me,” I said. She
wiped the tear from my eye.
    “Your father said the same thing to me once.
Sweetheart, I’m not afraid of you. Yes, you could have killed us both,
but that’s beside the point. I should have been able to keep the balance from
you. Unfortunately, your stupid father outsmarted me. He figured it out first,”
she rolled her eyes, “which he usually does.” She put her hands gently on my
cheeks. “I couldn’t protect my mate, and I couldn’t protect my baby boy. Then I
hurt you worse by abandoning you.”
    I tried to speak and she squeezed my cheeks lightly
to silence