Moving in nearly all directions, I was so startled when I came upon a river and slipped so much that I nearly fell in. Sighing and relieved that I hadn’t acted on that thought of foolishness, I knew that if there was a river, there had to be someone living nearby, perhaps a hermit, and all I needed do was to follow it.

“Rabastan Lestrange (you know, your second cousin) will be escorting you to the ball in my stead. You won’t want your old mother there, anyway, Artemis.” She smiled coyly at me as I let the horror sink in. Rabastan Lestrange? Was Merlin trying to torture me now?

I reminded myself I was in a public setting, because if I didn’t, I would have broken down right there, because at that moment, I was sick of it all, of everything. I wanted to leave my world and never look back, but there was still one tether tying me to the pure-bloods, and that tether was my mother.