Life After Death

Mikaela: damage control

{Mikaela}

I found Dagonet in his study, mixing some potion quietly. His face was still sullen and angry, and I stood in the doorway for several minutes before approaching. Dagonet, despite the reputation of fire mages, rarely lost his temper. I didn't blame him now.

"You can come in," he said curtly. "Only shut the door after you. I don't want fumes to fill the Torninc."

I complied, and then leaned against a wall, watching my son. Part of me wished that I had had such an upbringing to learn magic and potions, but I didn't think it would have done me as much good. I was useful at Vercyne because of the skills and experience I had now, not for being someone I wasn't. And besides, had I lived here, I would have never been mule-headed enough to keep Quinn.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"Not really," he answered. "There's nothing to talk about."

But I waited quietly, knowing my son enough that if he did want to speak, he'd do it at his own pace.

A moment later, he sighed, turning to face me.

"I really like Nimue," he began. "And I know that it won't work out and that her mother would kill the both of us. And Nimue hates it that some of my family knows already. Now she'll hate it when all my family knows. Adele can't know, Mom. You know she won't approve."

And he was correct. Adele would be furious with her daughter. I knew that Adele liked our family well enough, provided we weren't inflicting our chaos onto the world. She didn't like that I let my boys roam and learn and blow up parts of our manor. But I wouldn't have wished Adele's upbringing on anyone, which was exactly what she was doing to her own kids. And where were they? At my home, with family. The Torninc was nothing like the cold environment at Vercyne. Nimue and Dagonet were destined to fail, but I thought they deserved the chance to find that out themselves.

"I won't say a thing," I promised him. "So what are you working on in here?"

"I have a potion I'm working on with Guinevere, if she comes back." He pointed to some green goo in the corner. "I have a couple projects I'm finishing for Gwen and Eldreial. And if Corryn and Gawain agree, I want to run some tests and experiments and see if we can't figure out what happened last night."

"That's not safe," I said.

"Mom, Lionel almost died. None of this is safe. I'll be careful," he said.

If it had been me saying those things, something would have exploded behind me. But my son was more responsible than I was, to my shame. Dagonet was careful and curious. If anyone was going to find out what happened last night, Dagonet was it.

"And if I don't, then we won't know what happened with Galahad and if it's going to happen again," he pointed out. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Be careful," I warned. "Corryn has said this magic is dangerous. Please listen to him."

He smiled at me. "I'm always careful," he told me. "And Gawain thinks it will work all right; they are both coming up after breakfast. Don't worry."

Dagonet turned back to his potion, stirring it gently.

"I'm going to talk to Nimue," I told him, heading for the door. "I'm sure you don't want to turn this into a fight. I'll let her know what happened, and we'll let the cards fall where they may, all right?"

Dagonet winced. "I don't think I'll like where they fall," he said. "But if you're sure."

The moment I stepped out into the hall, Nick appeared. We walked down the hallway before he spoke.