Mom was moving so fast that it was a little hard to keep up. There was a determined look on her face, not the fake pleasantness she showed off to my teachers nor the excitement of seeing her old friends. It was solemn and serious. It wasn't the kind of expression I was used to seeing from her.

What was she going to show me?

The library was basically empty. Everyone was too busy I supposed.

She led me up the stairs to the third floor. She trailed her fingers on the spines of the books. I couldn't tell what any of them were.

"I never told you this, because I wanted you to hear more about the fun bits, but I spent a lot time on this floor in my first two years."

"I thought this floor only had books meant for third-years."

"It does, but all floors are open to all students. If you can understand a complicated spell or concept without seeing the books on the first floor, good for you."

"What about the danger?"

"If at fifteen you don't understand that magic can be dangerous, you probably won't get it without a lessoned learned the hard way."

There was a strange sense around me. I felt a chill but also a warm breeze. Was that Mom's doing?

"Did you understand the danger?"

"It's the first lesson about magic I ever learned. Mother made sure of that. She refused to teach me any fire spells until then. Ruby got it faster though, but probably because she was older when she started. Like you."

But Ruby would have been younger than I was. Mom would have started at five, and Ruby would have started when Vivian adopted her, which was years before coming here.

She stopped in front of a shelf. "Ah, it is still here. Right where it always was."

"You came up here to look at the books? What about the runes?"

"The floors may be open, but the runes are set to help find books meant for your year and below. It only searches the first floor, in your case. If you want a higher end book, you'll have to know exactly what you're looking for or keep looking blindly."

Ah, so there was a catch. Someone wanting to rush ahead might not be patient enough to look through shelf after shelf with no guarantee they'll find anything. Keeping the more reckless out of the dangerous stuff.

"What were you looking for?"

"Power. Knowledge. A way to defeat my enemies so absolutely no one ever considered hurting my friends or family again."

At fifteen?

"It also kept me busy while Ruby recovered, I thought that was why Mother didn't comment on it."

Thought, past tense. Did she change her mind?

"Mother pulled me aside one day. She knew what I was really doing. She told me she didn't want me to be afraid anymore. I told her what I wanted. She started tutoring me in more advanced spells."

"Did it work?"

"Nope. I was the most powerful student in our year, but that didn't make the dreams stop."

Dreams? Were they like the ones I had been having? Nightmares of dark green?

"Between you and me? I don't think that fear ever truly left. The trick wasn't getting rid of the fear, just letting it rest. That took time. And we both know how I am about time," She shrugged and winked.

I wanted to asked what she wanted to show me. But she was back to scanning the spines. No markings to tell any of the books apart.

But Mom found what she was looking for. She pulled a book from the shelf and tucked it under her arm. I didn't see the cover.

"Let's go find somewhere comfy to sit, yes?"

She was grinning. It looked semi-faked. Real emotion, but exaggerated.

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"Do you have a favorite spot?"

"Not…really?"

"Didn't you tell me that you met up with your friends here all the time before they moved you into Dragon Tower?"

"We did. We sat at the same table."

"Show me."

I took her to the table my fellow Dragons and I used to sit at. I sat down in my old seat out of habit.

She put the book down and it had no visible title on the front. It was instead covered with small symbols. It reminded me of a collection of painted quarters. "Did everyone sit in the same seats?"

"Um…I think so?"

"Where did Nightcall sit?"

I pointed.

It was a little surreal, seeing her sit there.

She flipped open the book and finally, the title. Collection of Coven Heraldry.

"Heraldry?"

"Yes. I know, it's not as exciting at ancient fire spells and exotic creatures, but if you're even considering being a full member of the Hearth Coven this stuff is important."

"I was worried it was going to be something dangerous."

"It might be. Knowledge is power and all." She pushed the book towards me. "I want you to start with page five."

I flipped the pages and paused when I saw what she was showing me.

The Hearth Coven sigil was a bright red dragon on a familiar blue background. Echo blue and Dragon red.

"We don't know if Malcarg had a coven before he founded the Hearth one. Truth is, no one's sure where he came from. Some historians think he was an Aplos, others think he was a runaway with a Grand Patriarch father. Either way, he supposedly drew this one himself."

I stared at the page for a while.

"Now go to page fifty-five."

I grabbed a handful of pages and then froze. The Merripen Sigil. Three golden eyes in a triangle shape on a deep blue background.

"Their history doesn't go as far as ours does. About seven hundred years. None of them were known for anything particularly amazing, but they were also free of major scandals. Dearil Merripen was the first of his coven to be on the Major Council."

"The what?"

"They propose and write laws, the Minor Council votes on whether or not they pass."

"If he was so high up the ladder, why bother with…"

"I wanted to know that too. I don't know much about his younger years. He was in Kelpie Tower, he served two years on the Representative council, his fourth and fifth. Two years later he married Mother. You know the rest of the story."

"Had you. Cast the curse. Divorce."

"Over a decade later, he kidnapped me and the others. When that didn't work out, he murdered a few members of the Major Council."

"That's…but why?"

"I don't know. The only time I was ever in a room with the man he was too busy injuring my sister and threatening my new friends."

"That's why you rarely talked about where you came from. It wasn't Vivian's response to dad. It was Merripen."

"If I told you stories about my mother, you'd eventually ask about my father."

"You didn't want to tell me that level of horror story."

"I figured not knowing would make you happier. At least compared to the alternative."

"Sounds hard."

"It was. But it was worth it. Seeing you grow up unburdened by all this. I wouldn't have minded sitting with you as a child flipping through pictures and names, but I minded you being unhappy and afraid."

"Do you think he'll try anything?"

"Assuming he finds out you exist, probably. If he finds out you exist and have a human father, definitely."

Something clicked, "That's why you're a Stewart."

"Also why you're a Stewart. If I enrolled a Hearth child everyone would know. If he does look for you, he will be looking for a Hearth not a Stewart."

I wondered if this kind of thing was the reason none of her friends seemed all that happy to see her. Because she had a habit of hiding things. But it was hard to be mad at her for it, when I knew she was trying to protect me.

"Fun fact on page thirty-six."

I flipped away from the Merripen symbol and found myself staring at the Owlcourt one. A silvery-white owl perched on golden scales with a black background.

"A little more famous, but still a minor coven. I had heard a little bit about them before meeting Larae. She didn't know who I was at first. I don't think the idea of a Hearth in detention occurred to her."

"If the Echoes I've seen are any indication, you were far from the first one."

"Hundreds of years of our history at your fingertips. Failures and successes. Meetings and betrayals. That pile of stone probably has more stories to tell than it has time."

"It's shown me a few things. Serafina Hearth for one."

"And what was she like at your age?"

"She liked music, she owned a record player despite the risks it brought her, and she hated being courted by a Kelpie boy who she claimed only liked the Hearth name."

Mom nodded, "I had a few of those too. They thought marrying me would give them some kind of sway over Mother. Some covens tried to convince her to arrange a marriage without even bothering to introduce them to me."

"But you married Dad."

"She never said yes to any of them. She told me that if anyone that didn't care to hear my opinion had no business being my partner. Once she admitted that she didn't want what happened to her to happen to me. Merripen did have her parents approval and they had barely spoken before the wedding."

"So you did the opposite."

"I guess so. But not for that reason. I won't tell you that it had no affect on me falling for Victor, but I'm pretty sure I would love him without it."

"It's a little scary to think about, what might have been."

"Maybe. But I don't see any version of my mother going through with trying to force an arranged marriage on me. That isn't who we are. Even hers was one she volunteered for."

"A high-ranking noble family that doesn't care for arranged marriages?"

"You might have noticed Serafina, but Hearths tend to do things their own way. For better and for worse. Our first Patriarch is called 'The Tyrant'."

"And who's best friend made a magic knife to make his own personal army of dead things."

"Exactly."

I blinked. "Well, at least I seem to be holding to family tradition."

"More than you think. You may be Stewart, but you're at least half Hearth."

Stewart in name, Hearth in blood. Mom had to choose. Would I have to one day? I wasn't sure I'd get an honest answer out of her if I asked. Maybe it was better not to think about right now.

I closed the heraldry book. We would need to head over to Monsters soon.

"You're right, that's enough history for today. The past can wait just a little bit longer."

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