“He turned fourteen and your father sent him away. Off he went, and when he came back to visit, he was a young man. He must have honed himself in that time, because as soon as I saw him, I felt his power, and I was afraid because his heart was full of spite. I said, You don’t come back to bother us, you go away. The trouble was, my Elena was not afraid. All she saw was the pretty mister, and even though I told her, Don’t you go crossing that man’s path, she didn’t listen.” The wax from the candle had dripped down onto the table, tracing slow, pale rivulets. Alba touched the hardening wax with
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