“I never wanted it.” Ryquin sighed deep. “But she does. And we made a deal, long ago, Lex and I, that if she helped me find a way to travel to Infinita Mori as a living man, then I could lead them back to prosperity while she oversaw matters of the living. Imagine what it must be like to be stuck, some for centuries, souls from all the worlds, a veritable horror with no end and no relief. I could usher them through the valleys and forests of their limbo and into the next life. They deserve better, and I intend to give it to them.”
“You want to rule the dead?” Jesstin burst out laughing. “Some kind of king of the netherworld?”
Ryquin only cracked a polite grin. “If you understood the conditions there, you might not be so flippant.”
“But they’re dead.”
“Death is but one journey we take, one form we assume,” Lexsea said. Her voice was entrancing, rhythmic. Gennady was right. She was doing something to him, and being aware of it didn’t help. “Death is not the end nor the beginning. It should never be more than a brief sojourn on our endless journey. But for hundreds of years, Jesstin, the dead have not been allowed to pass. Does it sound fair to you?”
It sounds like a trap. I just can’t see the borders yet. “Right, so, I learn to take you to the netherworld and you break the bond?” It sounded like one of the fantastical stories he used to read to his nieces and nephews, except it was too farfetched even for fiction.
Ryquin’s nose flared with a brush of annoyance he hadn’t been quick enough to hide. “We prefer Infinita Mori, the Mori, or the Infinitum.”
“And no, that is not all.” Lexsea’s slim shadow climbed over Jesstin. He slammed his eyes shut, and she laughed. “The dead are waiting. Can you think of anyone you might like to see? Anyone at all?”
The word flashed in his mind.
Mother.
The mother he couldn’t remember because of Mathias.
The mother he’d dreamed of for years, a fantasy with only her portrait in the dining hall for reference.
Lexsea brushed her fingertips through his hair. “Think on it, yes?”
Elloven had never been to a circus of any kind, had only heard tales of them from Fabrien and his friends. What they’d described sounded like a child’s playground compared to what she saw as she walked with her uncle and Taven through the grounds of Cirque Calliope.
There was a large amphitheater on the north side, scaling up into the hillside. At the bottom edge, a dozen pavilions were scattered along what Estelar had called a courtyard but seemed more like a separate village. There were stalls for food and charms and all manner of mysterious goods. Smoke from food and drink carts rolled into the air above. It all smelled so delicious, she fantasized about trying a little from each one.
“Just as there are seven curias, there are seven exiberes, events,” Estelar explained. “There’s?—”
“Can you tell me about the seven curias first?” Elloven asked, cutting in. They strolled down a busy fairway of vendors preparing for the night. “What they are?”
Estelar slowed some. “She really told you nothing? Esmeray?”
“She had her reasons,” Taven said. He had one hand on Elloven’s back, firm and unmoving, even when the crowd forced her to cut away. Every time she looked at him, she read the questions in his eyes, which would sound more like accusations on his lips.
“Our histories are no secret, not to those of the blood. But you must never tell our truths to outsiders, Aelloven. The men of your kingdom have no respect for our histories, our magic, or what we have endured as peoples, and that is why we no longer offer passage,” Estelar said. Elloven saw the way women’s eyes traveled to him when they passed, how the men seemed afraid of him. He was both handsome and fearsome, and it said something, she thought, that he’d chosen to remain with the mother of his children all these years when it seemed the consort system was designed for variety. He had Malon, but Malon seemed more like an afterthought compared to how Estelar deferred to Tansea as an equal. “If Esmeray was so guarded with you, then I’m sure it will come as a shock that the Coventicular of the Seven is a mirror for the Coventicular dos Sete. In Ilynglass.”
Elloven nearly challenged the Ilynglass claim, but the way he’d said it, like he was reciting facts she should already know, not ones she’d need convincing of, stayed her. It was also neither the first nor even the second time the mythical Ilynglass had come up in the past week alone. “A mirror?”
“Our curia of death is their Cabalos dos Mortos, or Cabal of the Dead. We go by Rivenholde, the same way all curias have chosen names, to blend into your kingdom when necessary, but they have no such need on their side. There was a time when there were portails between our worlds, which allowed all curias and cabals to cross freely, but those doors slammed shut when Infinita Mori was breached.”
Earlier on the walk, Estelar had explained how hundreds of years ago, the dead had been trapped by dark magic, and no one since had been able to reverse it. She hoped it wasn’t true, because it meant Gennady, her father, and so many others were stuck in a helpless terror she couldn’t imagine.
“Starting from north to south along the peaks of the Seven Sisters, we have Curia Grymwood, who use the magic of the arcane to create and enhance and destroy. They’re especially... flashy when they put on shows, but I’m afraid we’ll miss theirs tonight. Next we have the best curia, Curia Rivenholde. We specialize in death magic.” He affected a light, facetious bow that made her and Taven laugh. “Curia Duskmaw, the curia of chaos, is the third peak and your prominence, Aelloven. Their magic is less simple to define, as it can take many, many forms, which you know.”
How Elloven wished she did know, but she waited for him to continue.
“Then there’s Curia Rosedown, our curia of solace. These are healers, soothers, and warders. Curia Skyfire uses blood magic, such as calling upon the ancestors. Curia Eversong are our silver tongues, our storytellers, dreamers, and chroniclers. Lastly, Curia Ashwind, which is Taven’s prominence, utilizes time and space. Many have the blood of more than one curia and so can practice more than one house of magic, which is why Taven can also heal, though he is not Rosedown prominent. But only one house of magic can be dominant. So while Taven can heal, he cannot lay or remove wards, spin protections, or other intricacies Rosedown is known for. It would take days to run you through all these curias can do, and the many combinations of magic, but will that suffice for now?”
She didn’t need to tell them her head was spinning. They both clearly saw it in her eyes. “Thank you for explaining.”
“You have blood from all houses, which doesn’t make you unique, but your lineage does. And being chaos prominent means your chaos magic can, when needed, call upon the other six schools of magic, in ways even those with pure prominence cannot access.”
“The frozen men.” Taven nodded with a dawning look of understanding. “Of course.”
“You froze men?” Estelar grinned. “On purpose?”
