His words infuriated me. I halted and spun. “I think I already understand, Mr. Vesper. You and your brother were raised wanting nothing. Two rich, spoiled brats of the aristocracy. And now that you are grown, you wanted a town to be warden of, so you rolled a die and landed on Hereswith. Quite a challenge, I might add, since it’s rather far from your home and resides in the shadow of mountains. But I commend you both for your noble sense of duty and obligation, and while I don’t think you will fit in well here, I hope I’m wrong, for the sake of the residents.”

The shock in his eyes and the flush of his face were delicious to behold. I smiled as I continued on my way, thinking he would leave me alone. But he was far more stubborn than I anticipated and caught up to me again.

“I’ll have you know, Miss Madigan, that I’m not staying in Hereswith.”

“Oh, I see! So you assisted your brother in stealing the town and now you are abandoning it?”

“I have responsibilities elsewhere,” he said in a near growl. As if I should care.

“Then don’t let me keep you from them,” I said, my father’s cottage coming into view. Phelan relinquished me, coming to an abrupt halt in the street, and I walked the rest of the way home on my own.

But it felt like I was treading an endless nightmare, and it would end if only I could wake.

8

I didn’t know where Papa planned to take Imonie and me, and the uncertainty gave me a stomachache as I waited in the yard, holding a mewling Dwindle in my arms. The wagon was parked at our gate, packed to the brim with boxes and crates and burlap sacks of our possessions. Most of the furniture remained behind in the cottage, as did the framed artwork and the endless pots of plants, all of which Papa used a scouring charm over, to ensure no trace of us remained. I had ensorcelled nearly everything from my room into one bag, using Mama’s shrinking spell.

A crowd had gathered to see us off, most of them dear friends who had known me for half my life. Lilac Westin brought a bag of pastries, her eyes rimmed red. The Fieldings were there, the girls holding my books. And to my great shock, Mazarine. The disguised troll wore a modest dress of thick brocade and wielded an umbrella, to shield her skin and hair from the sunshine.