“One of the reasons, yes,” the king admitted. And then he briefly told the woman about his fall from the cliff, without giving specific details about why he fell.
Selia all but collapsed into a chair when he finished. “Then there’s very little time. I feared this would happen one day, and I could only pray to the goddess that you’d come to find me if it did.”
“You know what to do?” the king asked.
“I believe so. I only hope it can be done in time.”
“Why are you here?” Magnus finally put his thoughts into words. “Why did you disappear all those years ago only to . . . live here, in Scalia, of all the undesirable places in Limeros?”
She eyed him quizzically. “Your father didn’t tell you?”
“No. But to be truthful, my father doesn’t tell me very much. I thought you were dead.” He gritted his teeth, angry all over again that this secret had been kept from him for thirteen years. “Clearly, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not,” she agreed. “What I am is in exile.”
Magnus shot a look at the king. “For what reason?”
“It was her own choice,” the king replied weakly. “There were those on the royal council who demanded her execution—those who believe to this day that her execution was carried out privately. Instead, your grandmother came to live here. And here she has stayed all these years without anyone in this village—or at the palace—being any the wiser for it.”
“Why would anyone demand your execution?” Magnus asked, sharing a look of confusion with Cleo.
“Because,” Selia began slowly, “I confessed to poisoning my husband.”
Magnus shook his head, confused. “But I saw Father poison him.”
“Did you?” She regarded him with interest. “Then you saw the poison that I supplied to him. Gaius couldn’t take the blame and the throne, so I made everything easier so that he could rule—much better than Davidus ever could.” She said it so simply, as if they were discussing the weather. “It hasn’t been so horrible, really. This town is sometimes unbearably cold, but it’s pleasant enough most days. I have friends here, which helps to pass the time since my son’s last brief visit. What was it, Gaius . . . five years ago?”
“Six,” Gaius replied.
“Sabina visited me twice since then.”
“You were her mentor. I’m not surprised.”
Cleo remained silent, but Magnus knew she was filing information away in that beautiful blond head of hers.
“There’s no more time for talk.” Selia stood up from her chair. “We must leave immediately for the city of Basilia.”
“What?” Magnus shot a look at his father. “That’s in west Paelsia.”
The king too looked surprised by this. “It’s a long journey. And we’ve only just arrived here.”
“Yes, and now we must leave. I have a friend in that city who can supply the magic I need to help you before it’s too late.”
“What I need more than that, Mother, is your magic to help us find Lucia. She’s gone missing just when I need her the most.”
“So the prophecy was true,” Selia whispered. “And you didn’t tell me until now? I could have helped her as I did Sabina.”
“I chose to use tutors who didn’t know of the prophecy.”
She said nothing for a moment, then nodded sharply. “You were right to be careful with her. However, finding her current location will be a challenge. After all these years in hiding my magic has faded to a point that it’s useless to me. The answer for this too lies in Basilia. We will go there and get what we need for the next steps in our plan.” She took the king’s hands in hers, smiling. “At long last, everything is coming together. But I need you well.”
“I never knew you were a witch,” Magnus said, choosing to remain mostly silent until now, watching and listening.
Selia glanced at him. “I told very few this secret.”
“And you feel that you can restore your elementia?”
She nodded. “I haven’t had a need to do so for years, but to find my granddaughter, to acquire the magic necessary to heal my son . . . it will be worth it.”
“My father recently told me about a curse . . .” He glanced at Cleo, whose expression was bleak.
Selia’s eyes widened. “Yes, of course. The tragic curse on Elena Bellos. I’m so sorry, Cleiona, for your loss.”
Cleo nodded. “I am too. I wish I could have known my mother.”
“Of course you do. Even though my magic is weak, I can still sense this powerful curse all around you when I concentrate. I won’t say that it will be easy, but I promise to do everything in my power to break it when my magic is strengthened.”
The tight knot in Magnus’s chest finally loosened just a little. “Good.”
He saw relief in Cleo’s eyes as she nodded. “Thank you,” She said.
“What is this magic in Basilia that could help me?” Gaius asked as Selia grabbed a canvas bag and started shoving some of her belongings into it.
“Magic that once belonged to the immortals themselves,” she told him. “An object of great power that very few know exists.”
“And what object is that?” Magnus asked.