The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 36

The basement of Selena's house was brick-walled, unfinished, and had that faintly musty smell common among most basements. The lighting at least was good. Cora stood with Selena, Warren, and Zoe by the door that led to what had once been the coal cellar. It had been drywalled and painted, a cot, toilet, and small sink added in one corner. It had also been heavily spelled by a defensive mage and was nearly impossible to escape from according to Selena.

Zoe shifted her weight back and forth, clearly the most uncomfortable about the whole situation. Then again, Cora thought she might be pretty overwhelmed. They'd given her a quick explanation on the car ride over to Selena's, but Cora felt it had been too sketchy. She only hoped that Zoe would get through this okay. Still, her friend had insisted on joining them for this, even when they'd offered to drive her home, so she couldn't be all that badly messed up. She turned her attention back to what was in front of her.

The heavy door to the tiny cell, which is what it really was, stood open. Cora had linked one of her new mirror shields to the doorway to keep the room secure. Now they all stood in front of it, their attention on the occupant of the cell.

The rogue sat on the bed, her face clean of the blood that had come from her smashing her nose into the ground, and watched them as they watched her. It was Selena who broke the silence between them. "What's your name? Or would you prefer we continue to call you rogue?"

The woman's green eyes, which had been steady on them, dropped to her lap. "My name's Marissa Redding," she said quietly.

"And why did you come here, Ms. Redding?"

Marissa looked up then, tears at the corners of her eyes. "I wanted to be somewhere I could live quietly. I'm tired of running all the time, of being scared. I never wanted this. Ever. I'm not a real rogue, honest! I'm sorry for what happened earlier today, but I was scared! Every time I get anywhere I think I'll be safe, another mage comes along and attacks me or forces me to leave because they think I'm like all the other rogues. I'm not."

Cora could scarcely believe what she was hearing. It was like this woman had completely changed, like she was a different person. She thought the rogue she'd seen back at the mall was the real one and this just an attempt to get enough sympathy that they'd let her go. Beside her, Zoe was frowning and Warren's face remained a blank mask.

Selena's eyebrows rose. "Then what type of rogue are you?"

"An unjustly classified one. I finished my apprenticeships and was considered a full mage. Everything was going great until I crossed paths with another mage. He was a bitter man who made advances on me, and when I refused, convinced everyone I was a rogue. You know how some of those older men can be. They consider magercraft to be more of a boys' club and don't like any of the women who don't fit into one of the categories they like. I did nothing wrong, I swear!"

Cora heard a faint snort from Warren while Zoe just glanced at the rest of them. Cora was inclined to think the worst of Marissa after what she'd tried to do to Zoe and wasn't sure if that was colouring her view on the woman's words or that she was really full of shit. It was hard to tell, though she thought that this whole thing was just an attempt to con them.

For a few seconds Selena didn't say anything, just held Marissa's gaze. "Might I ask which of the mages was the one who had you declared a rogue? If it's true, of course we'll have to take steps to right this."

A few tears slid down Marissa's cheeks, though her face remained as pretty as ever, without the redness that always happened to Cora. "You believe me? You're the first ones to ever actually listen to me. Thank you!"

"The name, Ms. Redding," Selena said.

"Of course, of course," she said, her lower lip shivering slightly. She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "His name is Harold Pembroke."