I nodded. “A containment sigil. But it’s not complete. If it were, my magic wouldn’t work at all.”
She’s right,Quandary said, and I relayed his message.Look at this.He started clawing at the floor near the wall opposite the door.
We both crossed to him. There, half-hidden beneath the edge of a bright painting of a lush garden, we found a larger mark. This one hadn’t been etched but painted onto the stone in something dark and flaky. Something that, with a sick feeling in my stomach, I recognized as dried blood.
“This is the anchor point,” Kieran said softly. “The main rune that powers the others.”
I touched it gingerly. Unlike the other marks, this one felt warm, almost hot. As soon as I made contact, the rune pulsed with a dull red light, and an electrical shock ran up my arm.
I gasped, jerking back.
“What happened?” Kieran caught me by the shoulders, steadying me.
“It recognized me. My magic.” I stared at the mark, which had returned to its dormant state. “I think it’s specifically targeted at me, not just magic in general.”
His jaw tightened. “We need to find who did this.”
“How? The castle is huge, and there are dozens of people who might want to sabotage me. Half the court thinks I’ve bewitched you.”
“We’ll start with this rune.” He touched the edge of the mark, careful not to make direct contact with the blood. “This kind of magic leaves a trace. If we can follow it…”
“We can find the source.” A spark of hope ignited inside me. “But I don’t know how to track blood magic. It’s completely different from joy magic.”
“I do.” His expression was grim. “My father made sure I understood all forms of magic, even the forbidden ones.”
The way he said it made me wonder what else his father had taught him.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“We follow the trace.” He straightened, holding out his hand to me. “Together.”
The certainty in his voice steadied me. He wasn’t questioning whether I should come along or suggesting I stay safe in my tower. He assumed we would face this threat as partners.
I placed my hand in his. “Lead on.”
His fingers tightened around mine, and everything else faded away. There was only Kieran, looking at me like I was essential to him.
Then Quandary headbutted my leg, breaking the spell.Stop dallying and get to it before it’s too late.
“We should get moving,” I said.
“We’ll need something to track the magical signature. Do you have any salt?”
I retrieved a small jar from my supplies.
“Perfect.” He took it, then tore a strip from the edge of his sleeve. “I need something that’s been affected by the blood magic.”
I handed him one of the fading crystals. “Be careful. There’s something wrong with it now.”
He wrapped the crystal in the cloth, then sprinkled salt over it, murmuring words in a language I didn’t recognize. The salt grains began to glow with a faint blue light.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“Created a simple tracking spell. The salt will respond to the same magical signature that corrupted your crystal.” He unwrapped the crystal and handed it back to me.
Our fingers brushed in the exchange. Even that brief contact sent a shiver across my skin.
Kieran poured some of the glowing salt into his palm. “Now we follow where it leads.”
