We stayed at the Montrose castle for a time, but a message from Ehuna summoned us back to the Caputo castle, specifically the library.
I had a feeling I knew what this was about—Legacy’s amulet. I’d told Ehuna about it, and my chest had swelled with warmth at how she’d thrown herself into researching it for us.
It clung to Legacy's throat like a shackle, its cold metal a constant reminder of the spells it was warding off.
While we waited in the library for Ehuna, I traced the outline of the golden pendant. “Quite beautiful.”
“It’s strangling me,” Legacy said with a pointed look.
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about the amulet.” I grinned.
She matched it with a brilliant one of her own.
"We'll get it off you," I said, stepping close enough to feel the heat radiating from her body.
The air between us crackled with something fierce and tender, the same as it had since our paths collided.
"Removing it… It's not just about being able to be found with a tracking spell." She rested her hand above where her heart beat steady and strong beneath her chest.
"It's about freeing yourself from the war and choosing to be found," I finished for her.
"Yes," she breathed out with a little laugh, her eyes never leaving mine.
"We’ll get it off," I said again, though the how of it remained a mystery even to me.
"Your optimism is as endearing as it is misplaced," Legacy teased, though the glint in her gaze told me she shared in my reckless hope.
I shrugged. "Call it a character flaw, I suppose.”
Hope was a foreign concept to me, yet here I stood, practically bursting with it.
"No, it’s what makes you so infuriatingly irresistible," she said, her tone light but laden with something deeper, something that sent a jolt of anticipation zipping down my spine.
“Well, that makes two of us.” I leaned in for a kiss, so gentle and pure that it took my breath away.
Ehuna came in then with a black cloth bag, and Legacy and I jumped apart.
“Sorry to interrupt, but if we’re going to do this, it’s going to take some time.” She set her bag at her feet. “Now, stand still, Legacy.”
Legacy mostly complied, though her fingers still fidgeted at her sides.
"First, we try the gentle approach," Ehuna said.
Her sigils on her dark skin and the stones on her gauntlet began to glow as she reached out to touch the amulet. The delicate tendrils of magic caressed the cursed jewelry. They probed and nudged, seeking a weakness, a chink in the amulet's armor. It didn’t seem to find any.
The corner of Ehuna’s mouth twitched in annoyance. She was not one to be easily thwarted, especially not by some trinket.
"Let me try something else." She retrieved a small vial from her belt, filled with a dark-purple liquid that shimmered like starlight.
She uncorked the vial, and with a deft flick of her wrist, she poured a single drop onto the amulet.
The air crackled with energy, but as the droplet sizzled against the metal, it became clear that this, too, would not be our easy answer. The amulet remained as intact as ever, its grip unyielding.
"Magic-resistant," Ehuna said, a note of grudging respect threading through her words. "But I have more tricks up my sleeve."
She pulled out a tool from her bag that looked suspiciously like a pair of enchanted shears. The blades glowed red and blue, hot and cold, simultaneously. Ehuna slowly approached Legacy with them.
"Careful with those," I warned, unable to keep the waver out of my voice. "We're aiming for amulet removal, not decapitation."
