My aunt stilled for a moment before she crossed the room to sit in the chair across from me.
She didn’t seem angry, and for once, emotion cracked her usually stoic facade.
“I try not to be as hard on you as she was on me,” she admitted. “You carry a heavy burden. I will not lie to you about what is ahead. My job is to prepare you with every ounce of knowledge I can. To put every offensive advantage at your fingertips.” Aunt Asterie snapped to solidify her point, and a blue shining orb appeared in her palm.
I nodded, looking over my book, meeting her gaze. “I know that.”
“Firose prepared me for death. I prepare you forlife,” she said as she squeezed her palm shut and extinguished the starlight.
A lump grew in my throat. I’d always wanted my most sullen aunt to speak to me this way—less stern, more honest and open. But it felt like crossing the threshold out of childhood.
“Are you ever afraid that maybe I’ll fail?”
She smiled—trulysmiled. “No, never.”
My shoulders slackened; if she was confident, then that fared well for me. Aunt Asterie never sugarcoated the truth.
The open text in my lap shimmered in the sunlight cast from the large picture window. I held the page but flipped back to the cover.Binding Curses and Entrapments.
I wondered…
“King Mattock—is he bound to Caym? Like a Jinn to a bottle in the legends, or like Uncle Fenris was bound to the woods?”
My aunt’s posture stiffened. A flash of her former mentor crossed her mind—as though the question felt familiar.
She tapped her chin, trying to appear unaffected. Her thoughts warred with how much to tell me.
“We are unsure,” she said. “Prior to the Sethe curse, Emmerick was one of Caym’s envoys. The curse trapped Caym inside King Mattock, leaving Death powerless since King Mattock cannot wake to do his bidding. I suppose that is much like a binding curse—he sleeps because the person he was last bound to sleeps.”
“Do you think Caym could existwithouta body? If he were to be unbound from King Mattock? Hypothetically.”
Aunt El’s face would light up to see the sleeping King detached from Caym and ready to be woken.
“What makes you ask such a question?” Her tone turned skeptical.
I swallowed hard. Her pointed stare unnerved me. “If Caym is bound to King Mattock, couldn’t youunbindhim?”
My aunt’s eyes shot wide open. “In theory, it may be possible. But that is a monumental risk. There is no evidence that the Sethe curse would keep hold of Caym should he not be bound to Emmerick’s mind, and he could look to take a new unknown envoy if not contained.”
“What if he were to be unbound and then bound to something else? Not a person.” My knee bounced at the idea.
My aunt stood. “That would be unwise,” she said sternly. “I despise the alternative of allowing Emmerick to remain cursed, but wecannottake foolhardy actions.”
“But what if—”
“Enough, Lark,” she snapped. “I need you to promise me you understand—that you won’t explore this further.”
My cheeks burned. “I understand,” I said. But I didn’t promise. So much for not being treated as a child; my ideacouldwork.
It seemed so simple.
“I’m sorry—it was only a thought,” I sighed out.
Glancing down at the books in my lap, I said, “I’m going to take these back to my room to study.”
Aunt Asterie gave me a nod with a still-furrowed brow. “You did well today. Let Elsie know that I’ve returned to Luz.” She looked out the window as I collected my books.
“Yes, Aunty. I will see you tomorrow.”
