Rune Mage [Fantasy/Adventure | Book 1 +2 | Complete]

Chapter 32: Witch of Benover

Rowan leaned back, whistling through his teeth. Loren sat on the edge of his table, leaning forward, an intense expression on her face. Judging by the shadows below her grey eyes and the wrinkles on the edges, she hadn't slept properly for a few days.

"You're awfully chilled about it." She sounded accusatory.

"Really? I don't feel it. Halen Ashworth, huh." Rowan rubbed his eyes. He hadn't come across her before, although the renown of Ashworth metalwork spread far and wide. "But why Seiren specifically? She's just a brat."

"She's not the only one targeted, though. The odd thing is by the time we arrived, she should have been dead. That wound – it was almost fatal, and judging by the severity of the attacks until this point, these guys want to kill. Seiren shouldn't be alive."

"You're saying Ashworth got interrupted?"

"Yes, and it's not Seiren. She didn't put up a fight."

"Who would have interrupted our assassin?"

"I don't know. Someone strong enough to take on a state mage. Halen Ashworth is no pushover."

"Of all people to not put up a fight, her?" Rowan arched an eyebrow.

"That girl has a lot of issues," Loren said, jabbing a finger at his chest. Rowan retreated, hands held up. Loren's eyes burned with passion. He knew better than to argue with her when she was so fired up. "She blames herself for what happened six years ago and there's been nobody to help her through that at all throughout. She's just a kid. In her mind, she's still that scared kid who just lost her entire family. That's why she's so childish. I'm not asking you to mollycoddle her, Ro, but she needs support. I can do it, but it can't be only me."

"If you're going on about the mothering role—"

"Kommora was there for me when I was lost. So were you. Seiren needs that now. She might not acknowledge it, heck—" She ran a frustrated hand through her hair, tousling it. "—she might not even be grateful for it, but she needs it. She has so much potential, especially being Kristen Harred's daughter. You really don't want someone like her falling into darkness. You don't want her to be like Portendorfer."

"She has to learn from her own mistakes. Over-protecting her is just as bad. I'm not her mother."

"I'm not asking you to be that. That's like asking a dead guy to run a country." Rowan winced. "Just don't abandon her. She's conditioned herself to not let anyone in because nobody cared to stay before."

Rowan shook his head. "I see why you're a doctor, Loren. You're nuts."

She chuckled. "The best kind!"

"In all seriousness, though." Rowan leaned forward, resting his chin on a hand propped on the table. "The whole situation is quite strange. Ashworth attacking Seiren. I don't think it's a random attack."

"You think they purposefully wanted to kill her? What for? She's got a bad mouth but they're hardly insults of the century."

"There's something else I've been thinking..." Rowan pursed his lips. Loren's eyes lit up. "Kristen Harred was one of the most gifted rune mages of our time. How can someone like her be killed by a twelve-year-old girl who's not even been admitted to King's at that point? And it was magic from her own arsenal. How is that possible?"

"Seiren's pretty gifted, but you're saying...?"

"It's not an accident. I don't think Seiren did it."

"She managed to tether Madeleine, though. That must have been her, surely..."

"That's what I want to find out. If Seiren didn't kill Kristen, then who did? That 'rogue Hannan' whose traces nobody can find? Her father's definitely dead. The three were all buried. We saw the corpse at the funeral. But why weren't any of the mages warned about the attack when it happened? How were Kristen's runes breached? She created the national security system!"