Saana approached Hanna. “My dear Hanna, how are you?”
Hanna looked at Saana. “The patterns are gone. The fiery connections between people that bind and repel them. It’s as if they disappeared. Or evaporated. But that’s not possible, is it?”
Tears ran down Becka’s cheeks. She’d saved Langdon from his life of pain, but she had a feeling Hanna’s pain had only begun.
Saana pulled up a chair next to Hanna’s and gently took her hands in her own. “My dear, I’m afraid you have been touched by Becka’s Null powers.”
Hanna opened her mouth to speak, shut it again, and then opened it again. “What do you mean?”
“I mean to say, her gift breaks magic,” Saana replied.
Hanna frowned. “I suppose I didn’t comprehend Becka’s powers fully before. Such an odd ability.”
“Truly,” Saana replied. “And yet so vital for those fae who, like Langdon, are saddled with magic gone awry.”
“I suppose so. How long does the effect last?” Hanna looked around at all of them, her eyes full of desperate hope.
A silence hung in the room. Becka could almost hear Hanna’s heart rate increase and her blood pressure spike.
“As far as we know, the effects of Becka’s magic Nullification are permanent,” Saana replied.
Becka heard Elder Alaetha’s warning echoing in her mind. All harm Becka caused could invite retribution from other fae. Fate couldn’t have given her a crueler example by hurting sweet Hanna. Bile rose in Becka’s throat. She pulled away from Luce and ran to the bathroom at the far end of the room, emptying her stomach contents into the toilet.
“You can’t be serious,” Hanna replied, her tone flat. Lifeless.
Just then Alain arrived, followed by Astrid, Saige, and Berak. Becka washed her face, put her gloves back on, and then returned to the main room. The weight of everyone’s gaze followed her, guilt churned in her now empty stomach. Were they all afraid they’d be next?
“Langdon,” Berak asked, “are your gifts impacted?”
Alain sat close to Hanna, holding her shoulders as she sobbed against him. His nostrils flared and his eyes shone with the fire of his gift. Saige must have filled him in on the way to the testing chamber.
Langdon’s red-brimmed eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “I don’t think so. I can sense the moon in the sky and her pull on the water. But I won’t try to alter the flow right now. It wouldn’t be proper.” The frog who’d been freed by Becka’s magic hopped to Langdon’s feet, and he scooped it up and popped it into the same pocket on his chest he’d been talking into earlier. “Shh, you. Now’s not the time,” he whispered.
Face hot and sweaty, Becka worked to control her breathing, but her throat was as raw as her emotions. At least she’d been able to remove Langdon’s broken magic. Hopefully his gift would remain intact. This level of Null control was what Astrid had been training her for since her return.
Astrid and Berak exchanged glances.
“Then it sounds like your cure for Elder Langdon’s curse is a success, which is very good news,” Berak replied. “It’s deeply unfortunate Becka injured you, Lady Hanna.”
Hanna sobbed anew against Alain. Becka’s heart ached for her.
“It’s not at all fair!” cried Langdon. “They prepared me to live my life without my magic if it meant being healed. It’s my fault Lady Hanna got hurt, and yet here I am, restored to my proper self. I take full responsibility.”
“House Willow will make restorations to House Hawthorne. As will House Rowan,” Alain said, the fire in his voice brooking no argument.
Becka wished she’d already had that promised talk with Maura about the current state of the union between fae-touched houses, just so she could fully grasp how wrong things just went.
Pretty darned wrong, Becka. Sure, coming into contact with Hanna had been an accident, but Becka was responsible for her magical loss. Becka had broken Hanna, and her heart ached, knowing she had no way to reverse the harm she’d done to her friend.
“House Rowan will do all we can to make amends,” replied Astrid. She turned to Langdon. “I will have Duchess Maura speak with House Willow to ensure they do.”
“Our house stands by its compacts,” Langdon said, his voice certain despite the fearful look in his eyes.
Hanna pulled away from Alain, wiping her eyes with a kerchief from her pocket, and stood.
“How can you keep her here?” Hanna asked Astrid. “She’s a danger to any fae she touches!”
Hearing the venomous words from Hanna broke Becka’s heart. She wanted to run, to flee the room and Hanna’s accusations, but staying to bear the brunt of her ire was the least Becka could do. She owed Hanna that much in this moment.
Is Hanna right? Am I too dangerous to live amongst other fae? If so, what will become of me?
“You have every right to be upset, Hanna,” Astrid replied. “And I cannot imagine the profound depth of your loss. But it’s unfair to label Becka so. Houses have been blessed with profoundly powerful individuals in the past and have learned to accommodate them.”
“Your house won’t consider itself so lucky after she blights one of your own!” Hanna’s raised voice filled the room. “She could maim any of you.”
“Perhaps you should rest?” Berak said. “I could give you something to ease your nerves.”
Hanna glared at everyone. Elder Langdon shrank back, attempting to hide behind a chair.
“I want nothing more from you,” Hanna replied. She looked to Alain, who glanced back at Becka for a lingering moment before accompanying Hanna from the chambers.
“That could have gone better,” Astrid said, rubbing a hand against her temple. “Langdon, I take it you’re well?”
“Yes, Lady Astrid.”
“Then if you wouldn’t mind excusing us?”
“Oh! Yes.” He approached Becka and reached out for her gloved hand. She flinched, but then took his hand in hers. He bowed at the waist, his long, unkempt hair reaching the floor. “Lady Becka, I am forever in your debt.”
“You’re welcome, Elder Langdon,” she replied, searching for and unable to muster a more eloquent reply. She’d had too many shocks in too short a period, and falling back on rote protocols learned as a child was all she could muster.
He left, leaving Astrid, Becka, Berak, Saana, and Luce and Saige in the room.
“I’ll speak with the duchess,” Astrid said. “Saana and Berak, I want you to monitor both Lady Hanna and Elder Langdon daily until they leave. Let me know if there’s any change in their respective conditions.”
“As you say,” Saana replied. Berak nodded his agreement.
“This isn’t any fault of yours,” Astrid said to Becka. “It was an accident.”
Becka tried to see Astrid’s point of view, but Hanna’s censure and rejection, which Becka had earned every inch of, had shaken her to the core. She didn’t intend to hurt anyone, but it just kept happening. First Vott and now Hanna. Who might she hurt next? Meanwhile, Astrid’s callous focus remained on what Becka’s power might mean to the house, first and foremost.
“It was my gift. It pretty much feels like my fault.”