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Misericordia by Deejaymil
Fandoms: Tortall - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
05 May 2022
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Summary
The first time Alex saw Mercy was the day that Duke Roger of Conté drowned the mouse. She was a glimmer of gold at the corner of his eyes, perched upon his shoulder with her sharp fangs showing; she was also the lie that Roger told him, the one where he said that it was mercy to drown creatures too sorry to be saved. Even at seven, Alex knew exactly what Roger was saying when he said that, that Alex himself was a sorry thing, and he'd be sorrier yet if he didn't prove that he was worth saving.
Ten years under the heel of the duke leaves Alex wound up so tight in his own mediocrity that he's certain he won't survive the Chamber. He sees animals everywhere he looks, animals no one else can see but him. Then comes that day that Roger returns to the palace with a child he says is his, a child burning with so much magic that even Alex can feel it. A child that's entirely at the mercy of the same mage that drowned the mouse. A child that, like Alex, has no one looking out for him.
No one, that is, but Alex himself.