Yes, her grandfather taught it to her
I think we have evidence against the sealed memory being her mother. In Chapter 201 – A Sealed Memory – Azalea Ellis the shadow has amber eyes that are familiar to Siobhan. Siobhan herself has large black eyes, which is a trait from the People. Her mother is her link to the People, and so should have had the same eyes.
So yes, the shadow could be a person. But probably not her mother.
Now where did she see those amber eyes before? I think that Chapter 139 – Sword of Damocles – Azalea Ellis has a clue:
Finally, the smoldering brimstone face at the top of the mirror came into view, bound into the frame.
Siobhan tried not to recognize it.
She reached up, ready to claw at her own eyes to stop herself from seeing. Just as her fingertips dug into their slimy wetness, she woke.
I’d be willing to bet that the amber eyes in her shadow were on that smoldering brimstone face. The only question is who or what that might have been…
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What if her mother became an aberrant with “fiery” eyes? She did have a fire demon familiar after all.
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Link to a brimstone lake for anyone not clear on the visuals but who is following the discussion. It can be yellow, amber, reddish, etc.
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In my mind there is a bit of evidence for this in the latest posted chapter (ch. 205), where it looks like Lacer does not recognize the shadow familiar spell. That tells me that the spell is now confirmed to be an uncommon one, and not normally seen in the University or the Red Guard. Its not a big hint, but every little bit adds up!
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I’d give a lot less weight to that. A lot of families have weird esoteric spells that they guard carefully. That’s why it was such a mark of trust when Newton shared the calming spell with her.
So there’s nothing weird to have an esoteric spell. But an esoteric spell tied to shadow in the ways hers is…? OK, now we’re getting interesting.
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