Wicked Games

Chapter 12

ROSEANNE

The next day, I meet the sisters mid-morning as planned. I worried yesterday that they'd seen through me, that they didn't believe what I was saying.

I tried to keep as close to the truth as I could. I do have a relative in the Borderlands who works for the Border Lord. What I didn't add was that it was the Border Lord himself. They'd never trust me if I said that, and then I'd never get my journal off her. The fact I have a resident's permit because he's my father is beside the point. In all honesty, the only reason he let me out is because I'm talented. That was the truth. He sent me out to learn the world, build my skills independently without his support, to understand how hard it is to survive, and realise the enormity of what he'd done and had to fight for. So that one day, I could take over the reins from him as Border Lord. And the taxes bit is more or less true. I send money home. Okay, it's not taxes, but it goes to my mother and brother. Father is tight, despite the accrued wealth. I suspect because he's terrified of losing it all and having to live like we did after The Tearing.

I figure the closer I keep to the truth the better. The more lies I tell them, the more I have to keep track of, and I'm bound to fuck up at some point.

No. This is the easiest way. Tell as many truths as I can while avoiding answering the shit I need to keep quiet.

Lisa and Jennie set a gruelling pace, marching across the city. I was sweating after the first ten minutes. I had a stitch after fifteen, and I wanted to be sick after twenty. They're both tall and long legged, and I am most definitely neither of those things. The cobbled streets are killer on my ankles and it's chilly, as if rain is singing somewhere in the distance. We're at least three miles out from the centre of the city now, and I've no idea how much longer we have to go.

"Guys, for the sake of my dignity, could we slow the ever loving fuck down?" I moan.

Jennie cocks her head over her shoulder at me. I'm trailing at least ten feet behind them. "You're aware we're going to have to set this kind of pace through the Borderlands. Better to practice now, don't you think?" But she's grinning, a little twinkle in her eye.

"You're a dick. And I'm hailing a carriage." I'm puffing as I try to keep up with them.

"We can't aff—" Jennie starts, but Lisa digs her elbow in her ribs.

They can't afford it? How badly were they ex-communicated from their legacy?

"Were you not allowed to keep your inheritances?" I say and immediately regret it. The words spilled out before I could stop them. I don't mean to pry. "I'm sorry, you don't need to answer that."

Lisa puts her hand up. "No. It's fine. And if you must know, no. We were banished from all our properties, all our banks. The only coin we were allowed to keep was whatever was in our pockets. Which, given we are... were legacy magicians, meant we were still living at home. We hadn't inherited anything, as our parents were still alive. We had barely enough coin for a room for a night."

This makes me stop mid-stride. "I didn't know. I'm sorry." It makes me see her in a new light. They'd spent their whole lives with everything handed to them on a plate. I can't imagine the culture shock of having it stripped away. I get why she fights hard for her territory. No wonder she hates me when her clients are all she has. How strange that she went from everything to nothing as I went from nothing to everything.

"We don't need your pity. It is what it is. Five years we've lived like this, and we've done fine. But when we get the map and have our titles restored, our banks unfrozen, and our legacies returned, we won't forget those who shunned us."