I douse my eyes into her chest and sob.
No nuance. No ambiguity. Absolutely every tear in this body.
She breathes onto my ear, running fingers through my hair.
“Thank you,” I whimper.
“Don’t. I knew this would torment you, and persuaded you towards it. I don’t regret it, but I am no saint.” Her strokes drop further down my back while her head leans onto mine. “You won’t have to facethisagain, but you will have to face death every day. You’ll be a great necromancer.”
“I will… I promise.” I clutch at her dress. “I don’t know why the Ring chose for her to die.”
“I know. The Ring lets us choose our odds, but it plays them cruelly fair.”
“It never feels fair.”
“...I know.”
She knows.
She did this exact spell too.
I guess there’s no one else I’d hope to comfort me then. She understands better than all of them. She suffered worse than the death of a friend who spent so little time in my life.
“I believe you, Mistress.”
“I know that was awful, but”—she lifts up my chin—“that was arealnecromancy spell. You’ve started the long journey to becoming a necromancer. Treasure your discomfort before you find death…”
My eyes widen. My mouth gapes. My jaw twitches.
Her eyes, they’re glowing. Vibrant pink, swirling in circles. She’s patronized someone, and… I’m the person she’s touching.
“Kate? Is something—“ Her voice shuts as she leans closer.
I didn’t know her face could hold so much horror, as she puts me down from her grip and backs away.
Nothing.
Nothing is said between us.
What the fuck do I ask? Is it real?
“Mistress?” Please give me the answer to a question I can’t phrase.
Without taking her eyes off me, she opens the door, and runs.
Leaving me alone with questions I don’t know how to ask.
Chapter 18
Unaskable Questions
I stare between my room and the stairwell.
The day’s not half over, and Mistress Vincenza’s locked into her room. The woman I seek for answers is the very one I can’t ask this to.
I open my hands and shut them. Is it real? Can I access the Ring? What would it feel like?
I hide into my bathroom, unwinding Hanna’s hasty bandaging and cleaning off residual salve. My veins have darkened, the skin having gone scaly. I was gonna ask Mistress Vincenza to take me to a doctor of necromancy to heal it, before I broke down crying.
