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She grinned. "Well, then you can give it back."
Everyone laughed. Tasha started to say something, then stopped when she looked up at the
door.
"Janine!"
My mother stood there, looking as stiff and impassive as ever.
"Sorry I'm late," she said. "I had business to take care of."
Business. As always. Even on Christmas.
I felt my stomach turn and heat rise to my cheeks as the details of our fight came rushing back
to my mind. She'd never sent one word of communication since it had happened two days ago,
not even when I was in the infirmary. No apologies. Nothing. I gritted my teeth.
She sat down with us and soon joined in the conversation. I'd long since discovered she could
really only talk about one subject: guardian business. I wondered if she had any hobbies. The
Badica attack was on everyone's mind, and this drove her into a conversation about some
similar fight she'd been in. To my horror, Mason was riveted by her every word.
"Well, decapitations aren't as easy as they seem," she said in her matter-of-fact way. I'd never
thought they were easy at all, but her tone suggested that she believed everyone thought they
were cake. "You've got to get through the spinal cord and tendons."
Through the bond, I felt Lissa grow queasy. She wasn't one for gruesome talk.
Mason's eyes lit up. "What's the best weapon to do it with?"
My mother considered. "An axe. You can get more weight behind it." She made a swinging
motion by way of illustration.
"Cool," he said. "Man, I hope they let me carry an axe." It was a comical and ludicrous idea,
since axes were hardly convenient weapons to carry around. For half a second, the thought of
Mason walking down the street with an axe over his shoulder lightened my mood a little. The
moment quickly passed.