Sedgewick's footsteps echoed through the dark, empty halls of the palace as he limped to his quarters. Whatever Feyla had given him had long since worn off and the "excitement" of the past days was finally catching up to his back. He rubbed it subconsciously as he continued down the hall. After the last in their string of disastrous chats, Feyla had spoken more to that wizard than to him. Vin had stayed in the Northlands and he and Feyla had parted at the capital's docks after she'd coolly rejected his offer to see her home safely.

Not that I'd have been much use currently, thought Sedgewick.

His tense shoulders loosened as Sedgewick reminded himself that this trial was almost over. He would go and explain everything to Eleyna in the morning. Then he'd gather some other mages and drag that wretched little snake out of his hole so he could slowly and painfully pry the answers out of Tyrinn and finally break the curse.

And then what?

Sedgewick breathed deeply as the thought sunk in. He turned down the hall while turning the thought over in his mind. Things would simply continue on as before. Except without Tyrinn. And without...Feyla.

Reaching back into the recesses of his memories, Sedgewick recalled his life before he'd met Feyla. His brow furrowed in confusion as he remembered how many years that covered. He'd lived longer without Feyla than with her. How odd. He would've sworn it was the other way around...

Sedgewick paused at the thought only to realize that he was finally in front of his door. The door. That was why he stopped. Not because he was thinking about how alone he'd been left again. He opened the door.

Besides, he wasn't alone. He had Eleyna—when she wasn't busy—and he had, he had... His work! Yes, he'd always have that. And when he wasn't working he'd still have—

His cat nuzzled against his leg as Sedgewick shut the door. He slumped his bag onto the floor and snatched up his pet. "Hullo, Telemachus. I missed you." Sedgewick's hands shook as he pulled his pet to his chest and buried his face in the cat's soft fur. He squeezed his eyes shut, drawing comfort from Telemachus' familiar, welcoming purring.

"At least you aren't leaving me," he whispered into his cat's fur. The fur was a bit wetter than normal but the cat must have just taken a drink and somehow gotten his back wet. It certainly wasn't damp because Sedgewick was getting emotional over another lost assistant. Certainly not. He'd had dozens of assistants; Feyla had just lasted longer than most. "I suppose I should have seen it coming," Sedgewick muttered to his cat while feeling his way through the dark to his settee. "Someone like her... And me being, well, me. It was bound to end." He slumped into the settee and stared up at the dark ceiling. She was better off without him. All he'd done was hurt her.

A light knock tapped against his door. He ignored it. Let them return with the light.

Feyla was still young, beautiful, open-hearted. She'd loved before. She would love again.

The knock sounded again, more insistent this time. Sedgewick scowled with annoyance as he scratched his cat's ears.

And once she did, he would be relegated to a silly story told to her friends. A ridiculous infatuation laughed over while she bounced her husband's baby on her knee. And he would be alone. Forgotten. Cast aside. Useless.

A fist banged against the door.

Sedgewick growled under his breath before reluctantly releasing his cat. He adjusted his glasses and wiped his damp eyes. Been staring at the ceiling too long. That was it.

He curled his hand around the door handle and yanked it open, preparing to verbally slice whoever had the nerve to annoying him in the middle of the night mere minutes after he'd returned. Yanking the door open, the venom on his tongue evaporated as Eleyna stood before him in the dim light, her fist raised for another round of banging. "Eleyna. My girl, what are you doing here?"

She glanced down the hallway warily before sweeping past him and pushing him aside to shut and lock the door. "We need to talk."

"What is this about?" he asked.

Eleyna said nothing. Her bright, honey-colored eyes scanned him as if looking to confirm something. A silk overdress was tied around her nightdress and her curly hair hung loosely about her shoulders. Almost as if she had slipped away and done the bare minimum to make herself decent. "How long have we known each other?" she asked quietly.

"How long have we— Eleyna, I've known you since you were a babe. You know that."

"I do. Which is the only reason I'm doing this. I need—" She paused, briefly, and relaxed her worried features back into neutrality. "I need you to answer me honestly."

Sedgewick quirked his head in confusion. "You're worrying me, my girl. Are you in danger? Did something happen?" he asked as his worry mounted. Without his magic, he was useless in righting whatever had gone wrong. And something must have gone very wrong. Even in emergencies, Eleyna always sent someone to fetch him, never coming herself. Yet more concerning was the worry once again breaking through her stoic mask. She almost looked like a lost, young girl again. Sedgewick's critical eyes refocused on her night dress and frazzled hair as an idea struck him, igniting an overwhelming burst of rage.

"If that brute hurt you—"

The stoic mask shattered as Eleyna curled her lips in disgust. "No! Fenroy would never. Why must you always drag your baseless—"

"That is debatable."

"Let me finish!"

Sedgewick went silent while Eleyna once again collected herself. She walked over to the rune disc in the wall and triggered the dim glow-lights with her blue-toned magic, an act Sedgewick hadn't even bothered trying. Her finger traced the intricate runes he'd carved as she continued not to look at him. "Are you using black magic?" Eleyna asked. Her broken whisper revealed far more of her emotional state than she was usually comfortable showing.

Sedgewick's mouth went slack as he gaped at her, his sharp tongue leaving him. Was she being serious?

"Are you?" Eleyna repeated as she half turned. A blue glow still encircled her hand as if she was preparing to—

"No!" he shouted, waving his arms and backing away. "Gates, no. I've spent my adult life trying to crush it. Why the gates would I embrace the enemy of everything I've fought and worked for?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask Tyrinn?" Eleyna answered coolly.

Tyrinn.

Another illusion shattered as several more pieces clicked into place. "He's setting me up," Sedgewick muttered, more to himself than to Eleyna.

"Then he's doing a very fine job of it." Eleyna stepped closer and the lost little girl vanished, replaced by the iron-willed woman that reminded him so much of her grandmother. "I need you to tell me everything."

Sedgewick ran a hand through his hair before meeting her gaze and finally explaining all that he had hidden.

"You should have told me," she said once he finished. "You would have if I were my father."

"No, I wouldn't. But you understand now, don't you?" he asked, his eyes pleading as they took a seat on the settee.

Eleyna turned away and furrowed her brow as she mentally analyzed his story. "After the fight with the witches' guild, did you note in the report that you were struck?"

Sedgewick blinked and drew in a breath. "No."

"Of course you didn't. That would have made this mess simpler." She rose from the chair and held her arm out, calling upon her magic. A device levitated from a dark corner of the room and Sedgewick recognized it as Eleyna's much-smaller personal spell-weaver. She set it on his kitchen table and beckoned him over. "Give me your hand."

Sedgewick reluctantly trudged over and held out his hand over the device. The four crescents vibrated as they forcibly drew his inactive magic from him. Sedgewick gripped the table with his other hand, hissing in pain. The magic snapped into place, held flat between the tips of the four crescents.

It was a sickly black.

Eleyna inhaled sharply. They both leaned closer to examine the barely-present orange veins crisscrossing the black.

"There are discrepancies. It's not a perfect match for black magic usage."

"But you must admit, it is rather close. Close enough to be debated."

Sedgewick jerked his hand out from under the device.

Eleyna refused to look at him and began walking back to the settee. "Tyrinn asked for an audience with Fenroy and I while you were gone. He brought the sorceress you caught with him. She claimed that when you confronted her alone, you subdued her using black magic."

"You would believe that criminal over me? A man who has served your family for centuries? And may I assume he promised her clemency in return for her 'honesty'?"

"He did. But that's not everything. Tyrinn said that he withdrew one of your texts from the Ivory Tower only for you to promptly demand it back once he received it. We checked his quarters and yours. The book was nowhere to be found."

"Because he gave it to Bilara!" Sedgewick shouted. "I got it back; it's in my bag right now!"

"But don't you realize how this looks?" Eleyna snapped back. She stalked closer, pinning him with her fiery eyes. "The Minister of Magic disappears to the Northlands without a single mage to account for his actions. Once he is safely out of reach, a scared, young sorceress comes forward claiming he's been using black magic. Then it's discovered that a dangerous, valuable spell book has gone missing after being taken by him. Said book is not anywhere in his quarters. In the dead of night, the minister returns with the missing book after failing to catch the powerful sorceress he supposedly spent all this time pursuing. A sorceress whom he once possessed—and professed—feelings of passion and loyalty towards."

With every word Eleyna spoke, Sedgewick felt a noose slowly tightening around his neck as the rest of his carefully constructed life crumbled around him. "Eleyna, you can't seriously— The woman literally stabbed me in the back! That did an excellent job of killing any lingering affection. You...you do believe me, don't you, my girl?"

The fire in her eyes snuffed out. Eleyna wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the floor. "I want to..."

Sedgewick gripped the back of the settee as the room started spinning. Not Eleyna. Not the brilliant little girl who used to sit on his lap and beg him to read her spell books instead of stories. Surely she wasn't turning against him.

"Feyla was there. She can testify for me."

Eleyna swallowed and closed her eyes as if to mask a great pain. "Feyla is accused of being an accomplice. Everyone knows how loyal she is to you. She will be instructed not to leave the city until the claims can be disproven. Unlike you, Tyrinn has less evidence to support her involvement." She opened her eyes and met his fully. "You have to leave."

He blinked at her with his glazed-over eyes, not digesting what she was saying.

Eleyna gripped his arms and shook him hard. "If you are brought before a court, I won't be able to protect you. The evidence is too great, and as the queen, I am sworn to mete out justice, not withhold it. You need to get out of the city until you can prove your innocence."

"What if I can't?" Sedgewick whispered, staring at Eleyna as if he finally saw her.

"Then...I'll miss you, sir." She released him and backed away, reaching into her overdress's pocket as she did so. Eleyna pulled out the rune disc he'd made for her children, the thrum of magic making it glow slightly. She pressed it into his hand without a word.

Sedgewick's eyes flickered from Eleyna to the rune disc. His breath came in short gasps and he squeezed the disc firmly, unable to stop his shaking hands. They held each other's gaze in a silent goodbye. Embracing had never been their way. Finally, Eleyna squeezed his hands once more before fleeing the room, magically dragging her spell-weaver with her and leaving her few fallen tears behind.

Sedgewick clutched the disc as he watched the girl he viewed as a daughter abandon him as well. Three rulers. Two women. One war. Through it all, he'd held onto his position with a viper's grip, never wavering in his certainty that everything he'd built for himself in this country was his. For over six centuries, Sedgewick had lived and worked and breathed for the Magic Ministry. And now it was gone. He was a fugitive from the very organization he had built.