Ford wondered if they were holding out on him. He hadn't missed the way the older women looked at each other when he asked about getting magic. Martin had said he wasn't born with magic, which was strange.
What sort of things happened in this country? Was magic not really a right of birth, but something that could be attained? No, that was ridiculous. He cut a glance at Mia. She was looking at the floor, and not at him.
So she knew whatever it was the older women were hiding. Or at least part of it, from the discomfort she displayed.
He let the subject drop, determined to bring it up another time when he could trick or pressure the young woman into telling him more. He already wanted her to help him find the cave, but if she knew anything at all about how to get magic if you weren't born with it, he needed to redouble his efforts in making her like him.
