Chapter 4
Mama gasped, like a woman stabbed through the heart. I scarcely felt her grip squeezing the blood from my hand. All my attention was on the red-haired man standing before us.
Warder Galtus Celcio, fire sorcerer, leader of the red priests.
My father.
So many questions slid into answers, with a velocity that made me dizzy. Foremost among them was the puzzling truth of my fire sorcery—which, suddenly, was no mystery at all.
“You have no kin here,” Lord Raine said in a hard voice, as if denying it would make it true.
“On the contrary.” Galtus Celcio smiled, sharp and exultant, then looked at my mother. “Tell him, Arabelle. Tell him the truth of your past.”
The king turned to look at my mother, his dark brows lowering in a frown.
“What is this?” he demanded.
“I…” Mama faltere
