“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “What words did you say when you called on the goddess, Dea? What aspect did you use?”
She made a surprised sound, and her mouth turned into a round O. “How do you know any of that?”
“I kidnapped a life mage and got him to talk.”
“Again, Princess Thalia, I underestimated you,” she said, that amused, mocking smile returning to her face. “I’m happy to tell you. I used the goddess’s fury aspect and said ‘Dea Erinys,’ envisioning the whole land turning to dust.”
It was obvious why she didn’t have an issue telling me—using that aspect couldn’t reverse the curse. Fury led to destruction, not creation.
If the fury aspect was what Lysimache had connected to, then why didn’t she wield her magic when she said the words? Or pass out?
“Are you wondering why nothing just happened?” she asked, and it bothered me that she could so easily read my thoughts. “I have been cut off from using the goddess’s power since I cursed Locris. I haven’t felt or heard her in over a millennium. I imagine it’s her way of punishing me.”
“And you made sure that no other priestesses and acolytes could tap into that power themselves by taking away their knowledge of how to do so. Destroying the books and changing what was taught in thetemple.” Letting Artemisia strike them all down so that they wouldn’t be able to perform magic against her.
“Fortunately for me, your people had managed to kill or kidnap most of the women who were still at the temple in Troas, so it was easy to begin anew.”
“Why go back to the temple? Why not take over as queen and rule?” I asked.
“There’s no power in government. All the power is in religion. If you control people’s beliefs, you can control them. I only had to wait a generation or two to start changing everything. You let the elders die off, you destroy every book and text about religion, and then you tell the people what to believe and how to worship. It was almost laughable how quick the men were to embrace the idea that the goddess had intended magic only for them, the ridiculous way they treasured their amulets and the fraction of power they could tap into. They called themselves ‘life mages’ and put themselves into the upper echelons of society even though they could do so little.”
“So what’s true and what’s not?” I asked. “What are the goddess’s laws and what did you make up for your own amusement?”
Her mouth twitched as if she was suppressing a smile. “We are done talking, Princess Thalia.”
Anger rose up suddenly, viciously. It was a good thing Stephanos had taken my weapons. I briefly considered going downstairs and getting my sword back. I was trying to follow the goddess and respect life, even in people who didn’t deserve to have it. I needed her to see me as worthy, to not risk her anger.
If I didn’t kill the high priestess, I wondered how mad the goddess would be about me cutting off both of Lysimache’s hands instead.
“What will it take to get you to answer our questions?” Io asked. She sounded calm but I recognized that tone. It was the same one her brother had when he was beyond furious.
I wasn’t sure why Io had asked. What could we offer the high priestess? I certainly wasn’t going to release her. I intended for her to spend the rest of her life locked up.
Lysimache considered Io’s question. I expected her to stay silent, so I was surprised when she said, “Water.”
“You don’t have water?” Io pointed toward the tray, where there were several full cups of it.
“I want water from the fountain at the temple. I miss the taste. City water is foul.”
That wasn’t why she wanted it. She wanted to keep her strength up. She was going to try and escape. Lysimache still hadn’t realized that we knew what that fountain water did.
“We can do that,” Io said, and it took everything in me not to intervene. What was she doing? “But first you must drink one of those cups. We can’t have you dying of thirst before we can fetch the water for you.”
After a few moments the high priestess picked up the cup nearest her and drank the entire thing, showing it to Io when she had finished.
Io took me by the arm and said, “We’ll be back tomorrow.”
She hurried me out of the room before I could protest and led me down the stairs. Stephanos waited at the bottom. “All finished?”
“For now,” Io said. I wanted to question her but thought it would be better to wait until we were alone.
He handed me back my weapons and I thanked him.
“Will you ... will you tell Zalira that I’m thinking of her?” he asked, and I felt so sad at the pain in his voice.
“I will,” I said. I probably shouldn’t. It might hurt her to be reminded of how much he loved her.
But if I were in her sandals, I would want to know.
