Asmo tilts his head, chews the inside of his cheek as he considers this, the movement emphasizing his sharp cheekbones. The shadows from the fire dance along the planes of his face, and something deep inside of me stirs. Something I haven’t felt in months. I look away.
Ivan has his face in his hands, massaging his temples. He looks up. “You’re right. Luca and I will go.”
I shake my head. “I’m coming.” A part of me aches to see the castle, to walk its halls again and be back in my home.
Ivan opens his mouth, but I cut him off. “This is my kingdom, and this is my choice.”
Luca leans back in the armchair, shaking his head.
Asmo pushes himself from the wall. “Let’s get to planning, then.”
We spend the entire night and every waking moment over the next two days coming up with a plan to get into the tithe. We have to see Elle. The problem is Marik and Cora would spot any of us in an instant and glamours would disappear the moment someone as powerful as they are put them to the test.
“I think I know something we can do,” Asmo speaks up, breaking the contemplative silence we had all been sitting in for the last fifteen minutes.
Luca stares at him expectantly from the pad of paper he had been scribbling on. Every single line has been slashed out.
“There’s a dark magic spell that Marik and I used to play with when we were kids,” Asmo says, glancing at me nervously and shifting in his seat.
“What a sentence,” Holly mutters from her usual spot—the cornerof the living room shrouded in shadows. She sits on the floor, her feet kicked out and crossed at the ankles.
“It’s a blood spell,” Asmo says. “It changes your appearance as long as the mark is intact. We used to transform into each other and trick our parents.”
Ivan sits up in his chair. “Will it hold against any protection spells or wards embedded in the castle?” he asks.
Asmo nods curtly. I stare at his profile, but he won’t look at me.
“Why didn’t you mention this yesterday?” I ask sharply. We spent all day yesterday trying to figure out a way to sneak ourselves in.
He hesitates, but says, “It’s not something I’m accustomed to using. It was more of Marik’s interest as a kid. Plus, we’re in this messbecauseof dark magic.”
A memory of Marik and me sitting in bed flits into my mind, Marik telling me that Asmo was the one who used to play with dark magic. So, that’s how he got around that lie.
“Yeah, well. I don’t think we can afford to gloss over any tool in our toolbox,” I snap, but I regret it. We’re all running on fumes and acting like that isn’t going to help anything. I bury my head into my hands.
“Princess, dark magic is powerful stuff. There’s a reason it’s been banned for centuries.Nobodyshould know how to use it,” Asmo says. “It’s designed to whittle away your soul with every use. But I don’t think we have a choice.”
I lift my head. “I won’t force anybody to do it, but I agree. We’ve been talking about this for days and this is the best—no, the only— idea so far. It seems like our only option.”
“Holly needs to stay behind,” Luca says. “She’s not strong enough to wield dark magic.”
“I’m right here,” Holly snarls at him. Gone is the sweet, innocent girl from before. Life has found a way to harden her, to sharpen her into something colder.
“He’s right,” Asmo says quietly. “Dark magic is hard on the body, and there’s no reason you need to be wielding it.”
She shoots a look at him, but nods in resignation. “Fine. I’ll stay here. But I’m portaling in if you lot don’t come back at the agreed-upon time.”
“Portals to the castle grounds will be opened at first light and will close at sundown. They will be available in every town square,” Ivan says. “Asmo, how does this dark magic spell work?”
Asmo leans forward, his weight shifting the couch. “It’s one of the easiest spells in the book, so that’s good news. All you have to do is think of a person as you draw the symbol. It’s best to think of someone you know or look at someone right in front of you. If you try to transform your features into an idea instead of after an actual person, you’ll likely end up messing something up. Marik and I used to carve the spells into our skin while we looked at each other.”
“How cute,” Holly mutters from the shadows.
Asmo ignores her and dips his finger into a nearby glass of water. He draws a wet symbol on the back of one of the discarded newspapers. It looks like an oval with an X in the center.
“You want us to carve that into our skin?” I ask in disbelief. I’m no stranger to taking a blade to myself, but I imagine the others are.
He grimaces, but nods. “It’s painful, but it’s not hard. It’s like your magic recognizes what you’re doing and helps you. You could always paint it on your skin with blood, but I’m worried about it flaking off. The risk is too great.”
