In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: XLVI

Xilia's Point-of-View
The Veranda
October 1893

If there was one thing I could not stand, it was poor punctuality. The door began to swing open, and Ominis and the girl strolled in.

I scoffed at the sight. I had not sent her an invitation to speak with me. Only Ominis.

My voice was thick with disapproval, "Ominis. I believe I had only requested your presence." The tendons in my neck stuck out when I swallowed to clear the uneasy taste in my mouth.

"Well, I had figured anything you would like to speak to me about could be said in front of my fiancée." His hand brushed against her back while the corners of his mouth lifted upward.

I sighed. As a mother, I should have been grateful that he was happy. But as a woman of status, I had wondered about how the other prominent families would react.

Their whispers had already traveled back to me about Milton. And that was all the girl's doing. I clenched my jaw at the thought.

Ominis pulled the chair out for the girl, and she gracefully sat down while Ominis took his seat next to her.

He threaded his fingers through hers when they rested their forearms on the same side of their chairs.

Perhaps I held a grudge against my own life. I had chosen Mercurio, and he was not the perfect partner. I knew that. However, my luck was extremely fortunate since he only abused me a handful of times. Ursula Black had told me that was fairly normal.

She had been beaten way more often than myself. And I had someone like Mercurio who would always send flowers or gifts after it occurred. So, at least there was a reward.

When Kassia had discovered the bruises covering my body, she lost her mind. I had never seen her temper go up in flames until that moment.

Kassia's voice was light when she first arrived at the manor. "This Mercurio had his house eleves conjure this for you?" She has been entranced by the elegance of our new home. We had been living in his family's manor for so long, and Kassia was never allowed to visit.

"He must truly care about you, Xil. It all feels so surreal. I cannot believe that Orion is about to graduate. He was so little when you had him, and we were practically children ourselves." She chuckled at the memory.

"Yes. It is all very strange, isn't it? I just wish Milton were here to see his brother succeed. I had to send him to another military school upon request of the Ministry." I pressed my palms to my eyebrows and smoothed them out in frustration.

Kassia rubbed my back gently. "He is one bad seed. But you have three other children that bring you an immense amount of joy." She leaned forward and smiled at me.

"I suppose so. Kass. Can you come to my chamber? I need your help with something." My voice was tense, and I was worried about how she would react.

She nodded, and we made our way to my quarters by the veranda. Once inside, I began undoing my dress.

"I just need your help healing these." I turned my arms in and out and spun around, so she could see the bruises that layered my body. They were an array of colors. Black, blue, green, and yellow due to the different stages of healing.

"Xilia." Kassia's voice was light, almost feathery. She had drawn in a breath to pause before she accused, "This is from Mercurio?"

My tone was calm when explaining my role, "Well, yes. It's commonplace in high-status marriages. Or at least that's what Ursula Black had told me once."

Kassia drug her wand across each mark, and the pain increased but then ceased almost as soon as she cast the healing charm. When she was done, she stomped out of my room.

I followed her only to see Ominis standing in the middle of the main foyer. He had been playing some sort of made up game with Marat, but he stopped when he heard Kassia's footsteps.

"Aunt Kass!" Ominis yelled and ambled over to her. He was so small when he wrapped his arms around her leg.

"What's next sister? Are you going to tell me that he blinded Ominis, too?" Kassia was hysterically laughing and scoffed at the idea.

She could tell just by the look I gave her that the suspicion was true.

She angrily approached me and grabbed my wand in her hand. She lifted the wand to my neck and commanded me, "Request his presence."

"Kass, he is at the Ministry on assignment. I can't—"

She pushed the wand further into my skin, and I obliged. "Mercurio," I whispered.

"Do it again with more gusto, sis." She held her stance, and I was not sure who I should be more afraid of. Her or Mercurio.

"Mercurio!" I screamed. I feared for my life. Perhaps that would get him to apparate here.

His body whooshed into the room, and he stood in the center of the foyer, "You called?" His voice had a tinge of annoyance to it.

Kassia had already relinquished my wand from my throat when he arrived. "Not her," Kassia challenged. "Me."

She took my wand and put it toward Mercurio's chest. "I have been practicing a new form of magic and would love to have a chance to try it out on you."

The smile that stretched across her face was terrifying. She screamed and leaned into her cast. Her voice was like fire when she attacked, "Avada Kedavra!"

But she hadn't been finished. She blinked and her eyes transformed. Here hazel irises covered the entirety of her corneas, while her pupils were now almost nonexistent. They both now were a thin slit that extended from the top of her eyelids to the bottom.

It was almost as if she resembled a snake. Once her eyes had taken their final form, she locked them on Mercurio. Loud popping and crackling noises ensued around his body. And piece by piece, his body turned to stone.

"Mother." Ominis' voice had thankfully brought me back to reality.

I cleared my throat to let him know, "Kassia said your partner has residual magic, and we need to remove it."

"Did she receive word from Aesop?" Ominis leaned forward in his chair. I sensed his apprehension.

"Yes. She had told me to let you know that they had made amends. Against my wishes, no doubt. She also wrote me on how to remove it." I reached for the girl's hands.

I placed my palms over the tops of hers and closed my eyes. I began speaking Greek to pull the excess magic into mine.

As I spoke, the markings on her cheeks and forehead disappeared. When the last facial scale had evaporated, I removed my hands from hers.

The girl smiled softly at me with her eyes watering, "Thank you."

"It's nothing more than I was told to do." I lifted my chin in the air and left the veranda. I could not form an attachment with the girl. I had not needed to be emotionally invested in anyone anymore. It would never be worth it.