“I didn’t know anyone here knew my grandfather.”
“Oh, aye. I didn’t know him as well as your grandmother, of course, but I met him several times.”
“My grandmother?”
She put three large spoonfuls of sugar in her tea before offering the bowl to me. When I shook my head, she tutted.
“You’ll learn by my age to accept whatever sweetness you can get.”
I smiled politely, trying to restrain my curiosity. “How did you know my grandmother?”
“Why, Louise was my dearest friend growing up. So many years ago now, but the memories haven’t faded. You have her look around the eyes, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know,” I said softly. “She died before I was born.”
“Of a broken heart, I’ll be bound,” Nan said with a sigh. “Brantley was so tall and so determined. And such strength. It was a marvel to us—a whole community without a single strong ability. It seemed like he could do anything.” She shook her head. “None of us were surprised when Louise left everything to marry him. Any of us girls would have done the same—although no one was surprised when he chose her. Louise was the most beautiful of us, inside and out.”
Her eyes grew moist. “Such a tragedy, how things turned out.”
“His death, do you mean?” I asked. “I know he died when my father was young, but Father never talked about him.”
“Some things are hard to relive.” Her hands stilled. “My own parents went the same way, and it was hard to watch.”
“Your parents?” I frowned. Marissa had mentioned her grandparents’ deaths. “Did my grandfather die from using too much wild power? I thought your generation knew better.”
“Aye.” Some of the spark returned to her eye. “We tried to tell him. But men! They can be stubborn.”
“Not just men,” I muttered, thinking of Cadence.
She snorted. “True enough, my dear. True enough. He would have done better to listen, though. He thought he was different. He thought because he was so strong, he could tame the wild power and bend it to his will. He talked about retaking Calista and turning Louise into a queen.” She shook her head. “Not that the promises were why she married him. She was besotted.”
“My grandfather tried to clear the wild power from Calista but died from contact with it?” I said the words slowly, trying to absorb the revelation.
“That’s what we heard. Louise never visited again after that, but Quirin’s parents went to see her. I would have gone along as well, but I was expecting at the time. She refused to come back here with your father who was just a boy still—said it wasn’t what Brantley wanted for his son.”
“She should have come,” I said hotly. “She should have chosen community over empty dreams of power.”
Nan looked at me steadily. “You’re different from your father.”
“You met him, too, I think you said? Was that when he visited here?”
She nodded. “Aye. When he first turned up, it was like history repeating itself. He looked that much like his pa. We thought at first he’d come with the same intent as his father—to find a bride with an ability like his own. But he didn’t stay long. After he left, Quirin told me Louise had instructed her son to go to Tarona to find a bride.”
I listened silently as she confirmed my guesses about my family’s history.
“Brantley was disappointed when his son turned out weaker than himself—a result of Louise’s weak ability, no doubt. His choice had ensured him a child with a power ability, but he wasn’t the heir Brantley desired.”
A surprising fellow feeling swept over me as I imagined my father’s childhood. He had always been so competent and assured that it was hard to picture him as a boy. But my sympathy quickly soured. How could he do the same thing to me that his father had done to him?
“So my grandfather decided his son should gamble in the other direction,” I said, not quite able to keep my voice neutral. “He would marry a mage bride from a different affinity and hope at least one of his strong children received his own power affinity.”
“Aye, that about sums it up,” she agreed. “At least he was wise enough to swear off using his ability—at least on this side of the border. That’s natural after seeing his father die.”
My mind whirled. It explained why I had never seen my father use his ability. But I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that he had intended for Cadence to attempt the very thing that had killed his own father.
Before I could express any of my simmering resentment, the door behind me opened, and a stream of people entered the small room. I stood, exchanging greetings with Quirin and Marissa and sending Renley a nod.
My earlier curiosity about their purpose in sending me here resurfaced, driving down the emotions about my father. I didn’t have to ask any questions, though, because Marissa burst immediately into speech.
“I hope Nan hasn’t been talking your ear off. Her age certainly hasn’t dented her tongue.”
I assured them both it had been a pleasure, hiding a smile at the source of the accusation. Nan herself seemed to find the whole thing amusing, cackling at random intervals and saying provoking things that made Marissa scold her.
“We don’t want to be seen gathering at my house,” Quirin explained while Marissa pottered around, re-boiling the kettle. “The General hasn’t forgotten that some people used to see me as a leader of sorts.”
“What have you been meeting about?” I glanced at Renley. “You didn’t mention anything about this.”
“We didn’t want to say anything until we knew if we could make it work,” he said.
“Make what work?” I looked between them.
“Renley stole a neutralizer.” Quirin clapped his son on the back, pride on his face.
Renley shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with his father’s praise. Quirin had been transformed since his son’s change of heart, but I knew Renley hadn’t told him the reason for his about face, and it weighed heavily on his conscience.
“A neutralizer?” I raised an eyebrow. “Daring. But why? If you’re hoping to use it on the General—”
“Nothing as dramatic as that,” Quirin assured me. “We just wanted the chance to test one out. Marissa told us you’ll activate our young people if we can get yours off, but none of us have ever had reason or opportunity to attempt such a thing.”
“And?” I asked, skipping over the fact that I’d never actually made that agreement.
If they could remove my neutralizer, it would be a price worth paying. And since they were Calistans in Calista, I thankfully wouldn’t find myself legally bound to the entire group.
“Physical proximity doesn’t seem to be necessary for it to function,” I added. “I’ve tried removing it at night, of course, but it doesn’t make a difference. It’s possible a greater distance would have an effect, but I daren’t remove it outside the cabin.”
“We worked it out,” Renley crowed.
“But it isn’t good news, I’m afraid,” Quirin added quickly, dashing my hopes just as they were leaping high. “It turns out it works like a miniature power storage device. Any time you reach out with your ability, it sucks the power you produce straight into itself. So it takes someone with a power ability to unlock one.”