And still, all the things I feared have come to pass.
The Orderdidturn Crystal Hollow against me.
Theydidfind Teren, and they took him.
Theydidmake it unsafe for any sage, anywhere.
So what is thepointof not acting as my full wrathful self, if I’m still going to lose everything?
At least I can live as myself.
And if anyone wants to stop me...
They’ll have to deal withallof me.
And so will everyone else.
Jiran glances at my raised hand; at me.
“A moment more, please,” I tell him quietly. “There is one more thing you should hear before you go.”
“I think I’ve heard more than enough,” he says.
That some of them are ready, but not enough of them.
No—that’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? It’sus.
It has to beus.
“Yes,” I agree. “So have I. And I miscalculated. But I think you’ll find that so did Eraya.”
The room’s attention is turning toward us, listening again.
“You on first name terms with a sage?” Jiran asks me gruffly.
“Oh, much worse than that,” I murmur.
But I meet Zan’s eyes, my gaze clear even as I see the answering clarity in his.
He will not be trying to stop me this time.
And not just because it wouldn’t matter if he did.
“Before we can build,” I say to Zan, “we have to prove that we will fight.”
And this time, I let my magic go.
I let the magenta of my wrath spill out of me, an aura that quickly encases the whole room.
But inside, no one goes mad with rage.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
I am holding their wrath in my grip and squeezing it.
I hold everyone’s attention there for a moment that stretches, letting the knowledge of what I must be sink in.
The knowledge of what Iam.
