They forked left down another set of stairs.
And what was earlier?Ezer thought back.
A test of the runic magic,Arawn answered.
You missed me,she said.Admit it. I’m not so terrible as you once thought now, am I?
At that, he chuckled aloud. Then his voice filled her mind as the staircase wound down, down.I never thought you terrible, Minder. Though I thinkyouthought that about me.
He wasn’t wrong.
She risked pushing him further.Why are you on leave?
His silence was answer enough.
She tried to keep her next thoughts gentle.If I’m to trust you, to be your ally, as you said … then I need something to go off. Let me get to know you, Firemage. Please?
He paused before they reached the bottom of thestairwell. And when he turned to her, they were nearly eye level, even though she was two steps above.
She felt her eyes drop to his chest, where even through the pale linen tunic, she could see the outline of his angry scar.
A bit of truth about you,she whispered into his mind as she clutched the stone.That’s what I require if we are to be friends.
He swallowed and opened his mouth like he was going to speak.
But then the words came into her mind instead, and she could hear the carefully veiled sadness in his voice. A wound … that hadn’t quite yet healed.
I am not in battle,he thought, as his chest rose and fell so close to hers,because my magic has been denied by the gods. And it’s all my fault.
The stone cooled in her grasp, signifying that he’d dropped his. That the conversation was over. But he’d given her a truth, just as she’d asked.
And she didn’t like it one bit.
They soon entered a torchlit, rounded hallway. And there stood a small figure in brown robes.
‘You came!’ Izill’s hood fell from her head as she rushed to grab Ezer by the hand. ‘And just barely in time.’
A pointed look at Arawn, who held out his hands in apology. ‘She walks slowly, Izill.’
‘Or perhapsyouarrived too late to collect her,’ Izill chided him. She sighed, exasperated. ‘Door, please?’
Ezer smiled at the way such a small, mouse-like servant could boss around a Sacred Prince the size of a war bear.
‘Of course.’ Arawn inclined his head respectfully and swung open the door for them.
The room on the other side was enormous. It was lovely, with ornate white stones with golden veins striking through the floors andthe walls. It was domed, like a massive ballroom, but beyond the tall white marble pillars, one enormous circular window stood on the other side.
It took up nearly the entire wall and overlooked the Expanse.
The war.
There were several others standing before it.
They were all younglings, children no older than ten, at best.
The sky was almost dark. She could see the jagged Sawteeth in the background, the peaks so sharp they could have been refined by a whetstone.
The shadowstorm felt closer than ever. Like a living, breathing black crown atop the Sawteeth. Some parts of it were darker than others, tendrils of deepest black that she imagined she could feel from here, for it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
