Linda Downey, the Dragon, Becka Downey's little sister, Enchanter, mother. If anything she never fit the normal profile for any of the roles she played.
The dragon was supposed to be an old graybeard leading the revolution. Commanding respect, draping power and wisdom around him like a cloak. Not the brains of the operation, running around all of god's green earth with every new lead.
Becka. If Becka knew what her little sister did she would pass it off as a nightmare or fantasy. She was never the conventional aunt for Jack either. Most aunts buy you a golf shirt and the cutesy cards for your birthday. Linda had always been more fond of Go-kart races or dragging him to Podunk towns digging up the sword of a long dead ancestor.
If leader, sister, and aunt stereotypes were broken by Linda Downey that barely compared to how she shattered the Enchanter ones. Enchanters the docile Weir, protected by wizards, used as play toys, sold in the Exchange. Linda used and abused her powers of persuasion.
But she personally felt failure in her mothering of her only child. She hadn't felt it much before now. The Havens, his disappearance, and Lee. Before she might have felt a twinge of guilt on birthdays or spending time with Jack. But she was watching him, she always watched Joseph, Seph, McCauley, her son.
Linda remembered that she never held him. Never. If she picked him up, out of that bassinet, there would be no way she could put him down again. Seven pounds eight ounces, sixteen inches long. She remembered thinking two things at once: "God he's ugly," and "Damn he looks so much like Lee."
Seph was a month old now. Linda constantly watched him. If she had known Lee some hundred and thirty years ago this baby would have been an exact replica, except for his eyes. Seph had Enchanter eyes; not like hers though, his changed colors in the light. He stared with those big eyes.
It was the hardest thing she'd ever done, leaving that baby with Genevieve LeClerc. Harder than never looking Lee in the eyes again. She compensated with Jack. She spent time with Jack, picturing her son.
Of course she hovered and visited when he was too young to ever remember her. One visit a few months before Jack's second birthday, Seph was about seven months.
Linda had sat with Genevieve, talking, planning. Seph had pulled himself up with the aid of the hideous coffee table in the foyer of the Bed and Breakfast Genevieve owned. He sat up by himself and looked at her. Linda felt a squeeze on her heart. Then he smiled at Linda, with a few hints of ivory poking through pink gums.
The smile brought with it words that broke Linda's heart. "Mamma," the little boy babbled repeatedly, waving chubby fists at her. Linda started to cry but ran from the Bed and Breakfast before Genevieve could say a word. That was when Linda constructed the story of a fire in California, one that killed Seph's parents.
Linda watched Seph closer after Genevieve died. She arranged for St. Andrews in Switzerland, Dunham's Field in Scotland, no work for long. Then the Havens, Mr. Houghton's suggestion. She had been busy since Midsummer at Raven's Ghyll so she had just accepted it.
She had assumed it was working out; Seph hadn't been expelled or gotten into trouble. Then Houghton sent her the email from Seph. She had rushed there as fast as she could.
When Dr. Leicester had said that Seph disappeared Linda didn't believe a word. When she saw her boy beaten and bruised Linda slipped behind her Enchanter mask, she couldn't show even an ounce too much emotion.
Whisking Seph away with a lie about Ravenstock and the hope that shown on his face hurt Linda. Tip toeing around the truth in the drive from the Havens to Trinity was a trial.
Then living with him seeing him daily, that made her want to be his mother in more than the genetic sense. She wanted to build a life for him in Trinity. Watching him interact with Jack, Ellen, Becka, everyone, just seemed natural. But having him call her Aunt Linda felt like a lie.
When Seph disappeared Linda almost broke down. But being in the house they were building together was the final straw. Then confronting Lee. That was harder than giving Seph up, because now she had lost him.
Then she had him taken from her by Leicester. He had told her that Lee killed their child. Then she thought she would have to watch Lee die too. She'd been to Hell and back to keep Seph safe. She had failed miserably.
The world was still a jumble but Linda had stability. She had Becka and Jack and Ellen and Nick. But most importantly she had Lee and Seph. They might still have an awkward relationship between the three of them but the relationship itself was important.