Chapter Thirteen
Daric awoke euphoricafter his night with Rain. Everything was finally coming together. Everything he wanted and needed was within reach. Even the Barrow Witch was as easy to find as they’d hoped. She was their age, not at all insane yet, and willing to help. In fact, the slender woman with rosy cheeks and dark hair had been waiting for them. She’d studied magic under the sorcererwho’d found Rain in Upper Ash. Together, the two of them had discovered the way to break the curse.
The witch invited them inside her home—one of the large earthen mounds dotting the forest not far from Braylian’s Cauldron—and as he and Rain took a seat at the Barrow Witch’s table, Daric wondered if Rain would eventually suffer the dire consequences of using magic. She’d never mentioned it anddidn’t seem worried, but she’d also hidden her power from him until now. He’d guessed at it without ever guessing theextentof it. Now that he knew, thoughts of the illness of the mind that ultimately plagued all sorcerers haunted him.
Daric glanced at Rain as she described their journey to the witch, who listened with avid interest. Rain’s magic didn’t require chants and ingredients. It wassimply a part of her. He hoped that would make a difference.
While Rain spoke, Daric laid out the pieces they’d gathered. The mockweed was withering but still hearty enough, and the bloodstones glinted dully in the weak light filtering in through the open doorway of the barrow. The witch’s home was tidy, if austere. And, he imagined, very cold in winter. He saw no remnants of the ancient culturethat had built these mounds as burial grounds, either time or the witch having swept the barrow clean of the bones and ghosts that had once occupied it.
“I’m glad you listened to my mentor and came to me,” the Barrow Witch said. “Most people would have shunned him. You did not, and for that, we can all be grateful.”
“We have everything your teacher mentioned,” Daric said. “You’re the final pieceof this puzzle.”
She reached out and reverently touched the gems they’d brought. “Bloodstones. The curse is strong, but the Blood of Braylian is stronger. And you have two crystals, which is impressive.” She gave them an assessing look, as though she might know what the Cave Witch had put them through with her enchantment.
“And the mockweed?” Rain asked. “We don’t know its purpose.”
“Mockweed,when combined with other curse-breaking elements, reveals the face of the person who cast the spell to begin with.” She turned to Daric. “You’ll finally know who cursed you.”
“Me?” He frowned. “Leathen was cursed, so that spring wouldn’t come here.”
“In this case, you and Leathen are synonymous. But no—you were cursed as an infant. I can see it in your aura.”
Daric’s initial confusion swiftlyturned to rage. He knew who’d visited Leathen shortly after his birth, a cold queen who’d looked upon his cradle with her snake-like smile in place as she’d struck.
“Illanna Nighthall did this.” His fists clenched in fury. “And then she slowly drained Leathen of riches and resources until its coffers were as dried up as the soil, and we had no choice. The marriage…” He looked at Rain, seeinghis own horror reflected in her eyes.
“Astraea is only six months older than you are.” Rain’s face leached of color. Even her lips looked bloodless. “Her mother planned this from the start!”
“Who else? She choked us in exchange for water and bread. Bought our orin mines. Took our wealth. And when we had no other options left, she arranged for a marriage that would give her grandchildren twokingdoms with only the Nighthall name attached.” Daric let out a bitter laugh. “I will punish Raana for this.”
Rain laid a cool hand over his and squeezed. “First, Daric, let’s break the curse.”
The touch of her hand returned his focus. Break the curse. Marry Rain. Give Illanna Nighthall what she deserved.
“Tell us what to do,” he said to the witch, steel in his voice. Soon, Raana would feelhis blade.
“We take the bloodstones and the mockweed to Braylian’s Cauldron and lay them on the stone circle like this.” The witch arranged the pieces on the table to demonstrate, facing the sharp tips of the bloodstones out and placing the mockweed across them. “But sixteen stones make up the great, curving border of the Cauldron. They each serve a different purpose, and the purpose rotatesamong them. The stone needed for breaking curses two moons ago might not be the same one needed today. I’ll have to perform a difficult ritual to reveal the stone currently tied to maledictions.”
Daric nodded. “I’ll reward you for your efforts.”
The Barrow Witch smiled vaguely. “I’m tied to the ground under which I live. I do this for Leathen.”
Daric acknowledged her words but still plannedon making her underground home more comfortable if he could.
“And when everything is set up correctly, we explain the enchantment to Braylian and ask her to break it?” Rain asked.
“It’s almost that simple.” The witch’s gaze moved back and forth between them. Her eyes were the color of grass and soil—and seemed suddenly haunted. “If Braylian hears you, fire will erupt from the Cauldron. Thenyou must speak the words, the ones to—”
“We know them,” Rain interrupted. “We know the phrase to accompany our offering.”
Daric looked at her oddly. She was usually too polite to interrupt anyone, but he’d seen how the language of sorcery chafed her. Rain shivered, and Daric tucked her against his side, wanting to comfort her.
The Barrow Witch watched them, her expression inscrutable, or perhapsa little sad, and Daric began to suspect he was on the outside of something he needed to be a part of. He couldn’t be sure. His thoughts still boiled angrily at Illanna Nighthall, and wrath possibly clouded his judgment.
The witch shifted her gaze to the open doorway and the forest beyond. “Who’ll say it, then? Who will present the offering?”
Rain clamped her mouth shut and looked at him.
