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Winifred knew that her son’s day at Hexley Hall had been a bad one when he hurled his book bag against the wall. Her husband snorted at the action, shaking his head as he led their daughter away for her private lessons. “You’re sixteen! Not a baby!” he shouted over his shoulder at his son.
She stepped in when Cedric opened his mouth to say something back. “Ceddykins…” she gently said, placing a hand on his arm to get his attention.
“Mummy…” The teenager’s face crinkled in a way all teenagers’ did when they desperately tried not to cry. Just like every other teenager, Cedric lost the battle with his tears. He buried his face into his mother’s dress and hugged onto her as tight as he could. His shoulders shook as he wept and let out all of the frustration that had built up throughout the day.
She let her son cry on her until he had no more tears to shed. She wiped his face when he straightened up, hushing him as he softly hiccuped. An idea came to her and she took his hand, rubbing the back of it in comfort. “Come with me, baby. I want to show you something important. Something your father and sister don’t need to know about.”
He frowned at his mother’s words but nodded, wiping the back of his hand over his eyes once more with a final deep sniff. “Yes, mummy.”
Winifred took her son’s hand and led him away, leaving the book bag for a servant to clean up. She led her son down into the lower parts of the castle. “Once you become the Royal Sorcerer you’ll know all about these secret passageways and rooms too,” she assured him. “This castle is full of secrets.” She stopped once they had reached a smooth wall. She drew her wand and held its tip against the wall. “Teaghlach…” she breathed.
Cedric watched in wonder as glittering lines spread out across the wall. It resembled a web, lines branching off in different directions with small clusters here and there. When it finally finished the entire wall and part of the ceiling were covered in golden and silvery lines. “What is this, mummy?” he asked.
“Our family tree, darling.” She chuckled when he frowned in confusion and explained, “your father tends to focus on his side when talking to you and your sister. He thinks we should avoid talking about my side as much. Your father has a thick skull.” Winifred frowned, narrowing her eyes at the memory of her argument with Goodwyn about this subject. The man wasn’t here now. She could do as she wished!
“This is my family tree. This is a whole new side you have not seen yet.” She pressed the tips of her fingers against one of the lines and in a shimmering wave names started to appear. “Your family, Ceddykins.”
The teenager looked in wonder. Slowly he stepped forward and he touched one of the names. He gasped as a small image appeared in front of him, showing an elderly sorcerer with a familiar nose. He tapped another name and laughed when a new image appeared. “This is amazing,” he whispered. He looked at his mother with wide eyes and Winifred smiled.
***
They spent hours down there together. Winifred told Cedric stories about her family, making images appear to show the subject in question. A lot of her family seemed to be known for practicing rather unpopular classes of magick.
His eyes were drawn to the furthest point of the family web. He frowned and walked towards it, followed closely by his mother. Here the lines were black, the names smeared as if someone had run their hand through them. “What is this?” he asked.
“This...is what those without any magic did to us,” she answered. She reached out and touched one of the names. It burst into flames and the flames spread across every name and line that was black. Entire families were engulfed and several were cut miserably short. It looked as if only a small amount remained golden or silver, spreading out to the rest of the web.
“The Fire Trials,” Cedric whispered, eyes growing wide in realization.
“People who cannot use magic have always feared and hated us. It’s because we can do things they can only dream of. They became so jealous that they tried to destroy every single one of us touched by magic and even those not!” Winifred pointed to one of the names. “Endora was caught healing a doe, she was ten. Samantha had only just been born when they came for her parents and took her too in an attempt to rip us out by the root.”
Cedric hugged himself as he listened to his mother. They had learned about these things in school but seeing the way families were destroyed in such an intimate way was different. It made it more real somehow, watching the way the names burned.
His mother continued telling him about the names. “Her name was Tabitha; she didn’t even know any magic but her wife did. She was a midwife and one day she had been unable to save the child during birth. They killed her and her wife.”
“Why are you telling me this, mummy?” Cedric whispered.
“Because this is your heritage. All of these people are in your blood. They were taken from us by fearful peasants and jealous Royals. If they cannot control something they will always try to destroy it.”
Winifred cupped her son’s face between the palms of her hands. She pressed their foreheads together and closed her eyes. “You will show everyone who laughs at you one day, Ceddykins. You’ll be the one with the power to burn anyone who stands in your way. Understand? Do not let them try and burn away your hopes and dreams.”
“I won’t, mummy. I won’t let them ever look down on us!” Cedric hissed, hands clenched into fists. “I will become a greater sorcerer than father! I will make the Royals kneel to me. They will regret what they’ve done to me...to all of our family!”
She smiled and slowly the images faded away, leaving them facing a bare wall once again. She kissed Cedric once on each cheek, cooing to him. “You’ll crush all of your enemies, baby! I know you will!”
***
“Did mummy change your diaper, crybaby?” Cordelia asked when she saw her brother later in the evening. She blinked in surprise when he just stared at her, an odd expression on his face framed by his wavy bangs. She said nothing else and left him alone.
Cedric watched his sister walk away, already imagining how sorry she would be once he became king of Enchancia.