Aridisia looked at her.
“Unless I intend it, right?”
“True, but what I wasn"t able to warn you about was others" being able to cast aside or subvert the magic from a simple scroll.”
Chiona frowned. “Then how am I supposed to rescue my father?”
“I don"t know, child.”
She felt her despair rising again and struggled to keep it suppressed.
“You look overwhelmed.”
China burst into tears, and the woman pulled her close, the embrace reminding her of her long-dead mother, her imprisoned brother, and her kidn*pped father. Everyone she"d ever loved had been taken, one at a time.
Their farm on the outskirts of the Phorbi estates at the west end of Scrollhaven, the Anthus family herded sheep for livelihood, their few acres barely able to sustain a dozen head, the wool and milk and occasional m
