“Bryn—” Mara cuts in, but Bryn shakes her head, cutting her off.
“I can do it, Mother,” she says, softer now, her voice steady. “I’ve read all the texts, every teaching that Masen brought me. I know how to untie a seal.”
“You know what this will ask of you?” Rowan turns to her, his voice serious. She nods her head. “Bryn, every spell takes. To undo a binding this old — what will this take from you?” he asks her.
“It will take what is fair. That is the way of the Runes,” she answers, her eyes looking away.
“Fair?” Mara’s jagged voice whispers. “The Runes don’t know the meaning of the word. I have spent every night since Kael left, praying for his return, bartering with every god who would listen just to see his face again,” she chokes out. “But I will not trade one child’s life for the others’ return. I cannot gamble the only daughter I have left on the slim hope of saving the son I’ve lost. If this goes wrong, I lose everything,” she says.
“Mother, if we do nothing, we lose everything anyway. The kingdom will die without a ruler who can survive. Wouldn’t you rather know you tried to fight? What would Father want us to do?” I’ve heard no one mention their father.
It’s something that has crossed my mind. But as someone who lost both parents, I know all too well the discomfort that comes with talking about it, so I never asked. Mara doesn’t respond, only letting out a silent sob and dropping against Bryn’s shoulder. It’s not a yes, but it’s the silence of a woman who knows what must be done. Rowan’s hand finds my thigh under the table, a firm grip that tells me exactly how he’s feeling.
“How long do we have?” Bryn asks Rowan.
“The king is taking the life of one of my men each day he has no Mourningwings,” Mara gasps at the cruelty of it.
“I’ll get to work looking for the right incantation then.” Bryn responds, heading out of the door as she speaks.
Mara's gaze lands on me.
It’s not a look of hatred, though that would be easier to stomach.
It’s a look of betrayal.
Her eyes, red-rimmed and weary. It’s a look that says she trusted me to bring back her son, and now I’m the reason she may lose them both.
Turning to Rowan now, she says,
“You make sure she makes it through this. You make sure my daughter survives this.”
“On my life, Mara.”
Chapter 21
Elodie
Leaving Rowan and Mara in the kitchen alone, the cottage is silent except for the soft whistling of the wind against the windows. The distant sound of Rowan’s deep voice speaking in low, urgent tones carries through the hallway. I couldn’t stay and watch Mara fall under the weight of her grief any longer. Finding Bryn’s door at the end of the hallway, I knock softly before pushing it open. She’s sitting cross-legged on the floor. An array of notes, coal-smudged sketches, and loose parchment splayed out in front of her.
“Hi,” I mumble. She turns to face me, giving me an instant, warm smile. She is just like her brother.
“Come in, Elodie.” My eyes catch on the notes in front of her, symbols and markings all with handwritten descriptions.
“Are those the runes?” I ask hesitantly.
“It’s some examples, yes. Has Rowan told you much about them?” she says as I shake my head, perching on the edge of her bed.
“It’s old magic, not like casting a magic spell like you read in the stories. That’s far too easy,” she says with a small grin. “Runes are simply a trade. The world is a scale and the runes are how you tip it. There are so many things you can do with them. But each rune has a price. If you want to heal someone of a wound, you feel that person’s pain as if it were your own. If you want to elevate your vision and see through walls, for every minute you spend with that ability, you will spend the same amount of time in blindness. It’s a give and take. The runes can give you great powers, but the cost can sometimes be far too high.” She looks away from me then, biting her lip.
“Is there not a way to grow the Widowsbloom using a rune?”
“No, rune magic can only enhance what’s already in the physical world. It can’t create life. You can increase a plant’s growth, but you cannot start it.” I figured as much. I suppose that would be far too easy, and if it were possible, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.
“So how do you know all of this? It sounded as though Mara doesn’t agree with it all,” I ask.
“My mother doesn’t agree with it since it’s illegal. They can kill you if they catch you using runes without the Aethel-Mark.”
“Aethel-Mark?”
