Cestra smirks. I don’t like the glint in her eye. All of a sudden, I feel caught in a web that I cannot see. Every time I think I have footing with the Regents, it gets taken away.

“He is not your Kingsmage,” she says. “You did not grow up with him. You are not bonded. From what I’ve learned from the other Legendborn, Selwyn Kane was hostile to you from the first moment you arrived at the Lodge, threatening your life both publicly and privately on several occasions. Why would you speak on his behalf?”

I open my mouth, close it, and open again, like a fish. “He is my friend.”

“He has been away from his charge and the service of his Oath for some time,” Cestra murmurs, leaning forward on her elbows to survey my face. Erebus wordlessly takes over her search, flipping past images on the screen behind us. “Whatever friendship you may have felt will be buried beneath the symptoms of his… condition.”

I shift in my chair, uncomfortable. Even if Sel changes, he’ll still be Sel. Demonia is a part of him. “I don’t believe he will succumb.”

She sits back. “Then you are a fool. It is impossible to stop the process once it has begun. The stronger the Merlin, the greater their fall.”

“If Sel was able to protect Nick again, his Oath would be fulfilled,” I say. “Are you even looking for Nick and his father or is that a lie too?”

“That’s right.” Cestra’s expression turns conspiratorial. “You and Nick Davis are close. According to our intel, inappropriately so for two Scions.”

Erebus only hinted at the nature of my relationship with Nick, but Cestra is much bolder. I say nothing.

“When your lineages were revealed, he, like the other Legendborn, must have realized that your relationship could not continue.” She offers a sympathetic frown, but the cruel gleam in her eyes ruins the effect. “That must have been a difficult conversation.”

I shift in my chair again.

“I see.” Her knowing smirk returns. “You two haven’t had a chance to discuss it. Then let me do the honors: this relationship is forbidden. If it continues, the Council will take action to keep you and Nick from endangering the bloodlines.”

My chest tightens and my ears go hot. “ ‘Endangering the bloodlines’? You mean…”

“You know exactly what I mean. This may not be of concern to either of you yet, at sixteen and seventeen, but the Order has outlawed relationships between Scions who have the potential to conceive, and with good reason. We cannot risk a firstborn child born of two Lines, confusing two Lines, regardless of your intent or precautions.”