Sidia didn’t feel much surprise at the revelation before her, Julia’s secret wish to thwart her son’s efforts to rule the world. Mothers were generally protective of their sons, suspicious of the women they married, but her murderous intentions had been rather exaggerated. If she just didn’t like Sidia, she surely wouldn’t have tried multiple times to kill her.

“How dare you?” Severus growled. “All the centuries I trusted your judgement. You could have been ...