This time, the light didn’t fall on a storeroom in disarray. Egmun hadn’t lied about getting the Tower students to set up the room quickly. Where once there were crates, now a narrow bed stood beside a desk with a single chair. The shelves had also been emptied and dusted.
She locked the door behind her and uttered, “Narro hath hoolo.”
Taavin appeared, inspecting the room as he usually did whenever she summoned him in a new place.
“You’re in the Tower?”
Vi brought him up to speed. By the time she finished, she had completed several laps around the furniture and was now perched on the top of one of the low bookcases in front of the window.
“Then everything is going according to plan,” Taavin said after a long stretch of silence.
Vi gave a nod. “This will give me enough time to look for the crown.”
“And Egmun will be the one to take Aldrik to the Caverns to fulfill fate’s needs, ensuring we continue toward the birth of the next Champion.”
“Yes. I’ll need to ask Deneya to continue working on the sword we’ll illusion to fool Egmun. That way he doesn’t get his hands on the actual crystal weapon.” She went to pace, but Taavin grabbed her forearm. He pulled her a step closer to him, resting both hands on her shoulders.
“If everything is going well, why do you seem so restless?”
“It’s hard to explain.” Vi glanced askance. “I know what I’m doing. I know what the path I’ve chosen means: that people will suffer because of my actions. That instead of trying to stop that suffering, I will play into it, hoping it leads to success. And if we are successful, everything will have meaning.”
“Or the world will be rebuilt and their suffering is lost.”
“Yes, or that.” Vi retrieved the unassuming, shimmering crystal that held all the power of the Sword of Jadar from the depths of an inner pocket on the long, threadbare coat she wore. She turned it over in her fingertips, watching the magic shift and swirl with each pass. The magic clung to her, begging her to absorb its power and use it to shape the world to her will. With a thought, she could make it grow into the sword if she so desired. “I was thinking about the weapons.”
“All right?”
“When Yargen sealed Raspian away, she split herself into three—one part to the Caverns, one part to the staff of the Champion that would later become the crystal weapons, and one part to the flame of Risen.”
“Yes?”
She could hear the confusion in his voice. This was something they’d been over countless times. Vi shook her head, trying to remain focused. A thought was taking shape.
“The flame in Risen… I keep thinking about it. When the world was rebuilt—when my body was rebuilt by Yargen’s hand—it was because of the power stored in the flame. We unleashed it.”
“Yes.” This time, the word took on a heavier meaning. Taavin already knew what she had pieced together—she could hear it in his voice. Vi met his eyes, not allowing him to hide from her.
“You know what I’m about to say, don’t you?”
“If my suspicions are correct.”
“And you’re so rarely wrong.” It suddenly felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. She tensed every muscle and braced herself. “Tell me what happened to the other Vi’s, after a new Champion was born? If I’m the ninety-third Vi, what happened to the ninety-second, after she failed at her mission?”
“She gave her power back to the flame.”
“I’m a part of Yargen, now,” Vi said softly. “My body isn’t really my own.” She’d known it wasn’t from the first time she’d set foot in this world. She’d known it down in her marrow as keenly as she knew Yargen’s magic was there. “If we succeed, my body will return to her as well.”
“You don’t know that.” He took a step closer.
“How else could it happen?”
“How does she manage to both rewind time and begin a new world? Even we don’t fully understand the ways of the divine.” Taavin rested his hand on the crystal, wrapping his fingers around hers. The motion was meant to take her hand. But the moment his fingers met the stone, he became that much more real. His touch was firmer, warmer. The faint glow that had emanated from him vanished entirely.
Vi twisted, careful to keep him as close as possible. Releasing the crystal into his palm, Vi ran her hands up his tunic and twirled her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. As long as the crystal touched him, he was as good as real.
She brushed her lips against his. Taavin ducked his head, leaning forward for another, longer kiss. She wanted to linger there forever, in ignorant bliss for him.
“Don’t worry yourself so much about these things,” he spoke against her mouth. “There is much that must come to pass before it’s even a concern. Each event more unlikely than the last.”
