It was Sunday morning and I was stalling leaving Dragon Tower.

I had the same amount of enthusiasm for going to the next Representative council meeting as I did for getting stabbed in the eye.

I sighed.

"You can do this Serafina," I told myself as I stood in front of the door.

I reached out and grabbed the claw shaped doorknob.

It didn't open.

I tried again.

It still wasn't opening.

"You can never make anything easy, can you?" I asked the dark oak walls around me.

Not that the Tower responded.

Assuming it would if it could. But with Dragon Tower you never really know.

"Open you stupid door," I said while pulling on the doorknob. Still a lot of nothing. I put my head on the stone of the door. "What do you want from me?"

That's when I heard the music.

A soft, gentle orchestral song.

I didn't recognize the piece.

Then I heard the voices.

"Hearth, I can't believe your parents let you have that." I knew that voice. The boy who delivered the lavender flowers to Serafina Hearth.

"They don't know. Besides, it's for music. What's the harm?" Serafina Hearth's voice.

Then the Echo stopped. And then the door opened.

Do Echoes make the door lock?

(*********)

I wasn't the last to arrive. Maat, Horus, Anubis and Gregory Set were already in the room. The others weren't.

"It's good to see you're back. I was worried after the whole duel thing," Gregory Set said in greeting.

"Unlucky for some I'm not so easy to get rid of," I commented as I sat down.

Anubis glared at me.

Glare all you like. You can't do anything now.

The meeting hadn't even started yet and the curse was already hurting.

Can we get this over with already?

(*********)

I still wasn't sure how I felt about what I learned yesterday.

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I was outside after the meeting and sitting on the bench closest to Dragon Tower.

I hadn't bothered to change and was looking down at my gloved hands. The bite from the forest sprite hadn't left any scar, thankfully. I had enough of those already.

But my rumination was interrupted by a voice. "Mind if I sit next to you?"

I looked up at Vivian Hearth. My grandmother.

"Go ahead," I told her.

She sat down with her hands tucked on top of her lap and looked ahead towards the mountains in the distance.

"How long have you known that I'm your granddaughter?" I asked after a few seconds.

Her distant expression didn't change, did Mom tell her or was it Jarec?

"Since after the spider attack. I saw your parents' names in the records when we were trying to figure out what happened." She sighed. "I started to suspect after Dragon Tower chose you."

I didn't respond.

She continued, "Your laugh. It sounds just like your mother's."

"Is that why you came to check on us that day? I thought it was because I was the only person being loud."

"There was a bit of that."

We sat in silence for several seconds as I tried to find the words for the question I really wanted to ask.

"Why did you marry Dearil Merripen?"

"It was nineteen-seventy," she explained. "I was nineteen and wanted nothing more out of life than to be the matriarch of a happy family. The only daughter and oldest of the Hearth coven of my generation. That meant only one thing for me. I needed a husband."

"But why him?"

"I gave the elders of my coven full reign over choosing my suitors. He was the one they selected for me. I got along decently with him, but I didn't love him. He was convenient for my goals."

"And that lasted how long?"

"We married in February. We had Lucinda December of that same year. I realized what kind of man he was and divorced him before she was three."

"Not that long then."

"I found out he was going to place a compulsion spell on Lucinda. I gathered the appropriate evidence of it and was given full custody of her. I was fully prepared to never see him again or let him anywhere near my daughter. I just wish I had gotten her away faster."

"He placed a curse on his own infant daughter?"

She nodded, "That's what all the evidence suggests happened."

"Any idea why he did it? Why a curse? Why was he trying to do that? He had to have known that you wouldn't be okay with that."

"I admit, I've never known the exact reasons why. I've had suspicions. But nothing I wanted to pursue. I focused my energy on raising Lucinda. And then once Ruby came into our lives I wanted to forget about it."

"You had the family you wanted."

"I did. I had one daughter who was well-behaved and was a hard worker and I also had Lucinda who was determined to teach her sister what fun was." The fond smile on her face and the tone of her voice said it all. She wouldn't have either of them any other way.

"Now you have grandkids to think about."

"I do. Jarec has somehow turned out like both his mother and his aunt. And then there's you." She turned to face me. "I have to assume you're more like your father than your mother."

"I am. Have you ever met him?"

"I haven't," she admitted. "The closest was that day after you woke up from your spider attack."

"Did you disapprove of him that much?" I asked.

"I was born in nineteen-fifty-one. We may not be affected much by the human world's conflicts, but stories from those who don't live here on Maginisi were spread around for the next few decades."

"World War Two."

She nodded, "I couldn't see how anyone from that world could be good for my daughter, or good for my grandchildren. I am sorry about that. I never intended to make you feel like…"

"Like I was hated for my circumstances of birth," I finished.

She was frowning. "But I should have done it differently."

"Either of you could have," I told her. "But we can't change the past. We can, however, forge a new future. If you're still interested, I wouldn't mind having a new grandmother."

"I hope you're not expecting me to be able to bake. I've been told I'm terrible at it."

"Baking is not required. And if it makes you feel better, Mom's still not great in the kitchen either. She's burned it down at least once."

She laughed, "That sounds like my Lucinda."

"I still can't fully believe I'm here, having this conversation. But gods it's so obvious now. I knew you were acting suspicious. And Mom was definitely keeping secrets. I knew it. I should have figured out. I feel very silly for not figuring it out sooner."

"I thought about telling you, but Lucinda felt that her and Victor were better equipped to explain certain details. Namely Merripen. I also think she wanted to give you a chance to judge me without that knowledge."

"It's a lot to take in still."

"Suddenly being a part of one of the more famous and respected covens is a lot. I'm here if you just want to talk, I'm here."

"We'll see about all of that."

"And of course Jarec seems amiable to having a cousin."

"Noble family, evil grandpa, and I sleep in a tower full of spooks. This is going to be the best school year."

"Most people would be nervous."

"Ask me in about three days when it settles in more."

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