“You want me to kill him…and then resurrect him…so you can experiment on him?” The words feel foreign in my mouth. If they are asking for this, they might have discovered thefulltruth of magic, whether or not they say it aloud.
And they want me to wield it in a way I swore, both to Osian and to myself, that I never would.
“Better him than Osian. Better him than anyone else, wouldn’t you agree?” Seren asks softly.
I should agree. And yet, it leaves me feeling cold.
“My magic only worked for Osian because of how well I know him. I do not know Taliesin Wynn. I’ve never even met him. If I resurrect him, he’ll live for no more than a moment or two.”
“You know a great dealofhim, the infamous bastard, as we all do.” Seren shrugs. “Spend a week or two with him, if need be.”
Spend a week or two…with the exiled threat.
“Isn’t that dangerous? Even if his powers are muted by the wards, won’t he want to kill a member of the Order that trapped him there?”
“Tell him you are a Swynwraig on the run from the Order. Trust me, he will have a soft spot for you.” Seren smiles. “Perhaps it’ll even help convince him to open up to you, so you can learn him well. The better you know him, the longer we can examine him.”
I swallow, stomach twisting. “I don’t think it would be enough.”
Lowri folds her arms and glares at me disapprovingly. This is not the answer they want, and suddenly I feel the urge to retractevery objection. Letting down the Order goes against the very core of who I am.
“If we have any hope of you resurrecting a god, it willhaveto be enough,” Seren insists. “You will not have the occasion to know one as well as you know Osian, unfortunately. You must make do with what we have.” She slides a paper across the table to me, labelled with the exile’s name. “Our recorded histories.”
“In fact,” Lowri leans closer, voice low, “we do admit Osian isn’t the best candidate for our examinations. He shares so little in common with how you’d handle bringing back a god.”
“But if he’s all we’ve got, he’s what we’ll use,” Seren adds.
“I see,” I whisper.
Their answering smiles feel as sharp as any sword.
I’ve heard of their cunning, but I’ve never felt it directed at me until now. It twists my stomach, this feeling of being trapped in a spider’s web. A web designed to make me think I can escape, even though it’s hopeless.
I could say no. For now. But they will find another way to force me to comply. Already they are using my love for Osian against me. I see it so clearly. And yet recognizing it changes nothing.
I swallow. “Fine. I accept your assignment.”
Lowri slides another document across the table. It’s my assignment, laid out in meticulous detail, with a space at the bottom waiting for my signature. Then she passes me Arawn the Mighty’s blessed book, the leather cover curled and softened from centuries of use.
“Make the oath,” Seren says firmly. “I will end the exile by my own hand.”
I hesitate only for a moment as I place one hand on the book and the other around the quill. Theremustbe another way. Anything but this. But then my thoughts drift to Osian, to his fury in his eyes after what I did. I was the one who put him inhis cage, and I know Seren and Lowri well enough to understand they will never back down. The only way he’s getting out of this is if I do what they want.
“I will end the exile by my own hand,” I whisper, signing my name in unison with my spoken words.
A chill runs through me. I’ve done this a hundred times for dozens of other assignments. The oath is nothing more than ceremonial. But this time, it feels different. Like it’s the first step toward my doom.
4
Ihave never left the city alone. The rolling lands beyond our walled fortress hide far too many rebels these days. Order members and soldiers patrol the nearby hills and valleys from here to the borderlands, but they can’t cover the entire area, leaving patches of unprotected road. No one ever leaves without support.
Until last night, of course. Osian went rogue to track that fugitive. He didn’t even tell me he was doing it. And despite how he feels about my magic, he’s never kept something that important from me.
For the hundredth time, I can’t help but wonder what he was up to out there. And unless I succeed on this mad assignment, I might never get the chance to ask him.
Sighing, I tug my pack higher onto my shoulder and trudge along the damp cobblestone road to the city gates. I asked the High Swynwragedd if a Rhyfelwr or two could accompany me as far as the coastal wards, but they refused. I must keep the nature of my assignment to myself. No one else can know our plans.
Unease rattles through me, like a snake’s warning before it strikes. Nothing about this feels right.
