“Are you married?” Abi asked next as she polished off her plate. “Can men be witches, too?”
Val looked down at her cup. “I’m not married anymore,” she said quietly. There was clearly a story behind that, but it didn’t seem right to ask.
The sounds at the stove stopped for a moment, and I glanced up just in time to catch Walter giving Val a quick look. I gave the man a questioning look, but he seemed to realize and cleared his throat, returning to the task at hand.
Hm.
Maybe if I got him alone later…
Once we finished breakfast, Val and I returned to the jungle clearing we’d visited yesterday. After a centering exercise, I ran through everything Val had explained the day before, pleased that I was having a much easier time controlling the flame than I did earlier.
“Your aptitude for th
