"Wait," I said, gazing at him sharply. "Did you just say slavery?"

"Aside from her word-tying magic on both of us, there's the amulet," he said, waving at it. "It's fused with poison. If I went against her or the church in any way, or stopped bringing new members into the church, she would skip the dose of the antidote to counter the poison."

My jaw dropped to his chest. "Is she poisoning my dad, too?"

"Yes," he said.

This explained so much ...