Samheed and Lani were nearby, unhurt. They rushed over to Aaron and Kaylee to find out what the dissenters were yelling about. Thisbe, Fifer, and Seth moved to the outskirts of the gathering to listen in. They’d seen smaller altercations, but this was the first time they’d witnessed such a large group coming at Aaron. It was alarming.

Frieda Stubbs got in Aaron’s face. “A good head mage would at least try to control his dangerous sisters, like Alex would have done!”

“Yikes,” muttered Thisbe.

“Oh no,” moaned Fifer.

Kaylee stepped in angrily and went after Frieda. “Alex wasn’t able to control them either,” she retorted. “Amazingly, they are not controlled by anyone but themselves—imagine that. Besides, it was an accident that not even Alex could have prevented.”

Frieda sneered at Kaylee, then continued to yell at Aaron. “At least Alex took after your father—he was a good man. And you tried to have him killed! You and your sisters are exactly like your horrible pirate mother. You might not look like her, as your sisters do, but your heart is cold and evil like hers.”

“What nonsense is this?” Kaylee elbowed forward, and Frieda immediately threw a punch at her. Kaylee dodged it.

“Hey!” shouted Lani, getting between them as Aaron, carrying Daniel, stepped back to shield the boy. Samheed stared from one party to the other as if he wasn’t sure what to do. Then he went to stand and protect Aaron as other dissenters edged toward the mage.

Fifer and Thisbe looked at each other. “What?” whispered Fifer.

Thisbe shrugged, wide-eyed. Something felt very strange about what Frieda had said.

“Frieda,” said Aaron, trying to be patient, “what are you saying? What do you think you know about my parents?”

But Frieda clamped her mouth shut and circled Kaylee and Aaron, fists raised.

The twins didn’t know what to think. They’d never heard anyone beside their brothers speak of their parents as if they knew them. Abruptly Fifer started toward the shouting match. “I’m going to find out what she’s talking about.”

Thisbe grabbed her arm. “Fifer, no! Have you lost your mind? Everyone’s mad at you right now! And Frieda’s looking for a fight!”

“These people are more mad at Aaron than me,” Fifer told her. “They hate him because of all the stuff he did before we were born. They can’t get over it, and they think Aaron shouldn’t be head mage.”

Seth nodded. “We missed a lot of the drama while we were gone, but Sean filled in me and Fifer the other day when you were training.”

“Aaron told me some of it,” said Thisbe. “But what was all that bluster about our parents? Our pirate mother? That’s . . . that’s just crazy.” She frowned. “Isn’t it?”