Page 190 of Carousel

A minute drags by. It’s a lifetime. The sky is a deep orange, and our shadows are growing. Ships travelling in the distance look like creatures of the night.

And then they appear. Three figures, right across from me, crowds and crowds between us. Dezeeves is leading the way this time rather than Ephraine. He looks like an impoverished man compared to Vikemy in his immaculate State Craftsman robes and gleaming cape. Cosmer is in between them, being pulled along by Dezeeves with a sort of tether, like an animal. His hands are tied in front of him, and there’s something unnerving about the way he’s stumbling along.

My heart lurches.

I wish Dezeeves would drop dead.

But then I reconsider it. Because surely he won’t let his son, his own flesh and blood, be executed?

Still. I can’t take any chances when it comes to him. I need to act.

They’re coming this way.

Dezeeves passes me first.

Then Cosmer. But he doesn’t seem to see me. Doesn’t seem to see anything.

They must have given him more osimidite. It’s the only explanation.

I can’t dwell on it, can’t feel the pain I want to feel, because Vikemy is directly in my line of sight. Another ten seconds and he’ll be on the stairs.

I inhale so deeply I swallow air. My pulse is rising. I can feel the light surrounding me, as if it was already there. I just needed to notice it.

One more step, Vikemy. One more.

Now.

Vikemy, I say into his mind, just as he crosses my path. I can smell the perfume on him. Cosmer isn’t guilty.

He passes me at the same quick speed.

No change in his demeanour at all.

And my world is on fire.

Because I know in my bones, my mind, my soul, that it didn’t work.

I felt no drops of heat as my magic left me. No prickling over my skin. No sound in my head. No inaudible click, like something slotted into place in Vikemy’s mind.

Why?

“Well?” Riss asks, at the same time that Dezeeves’ amplified voice begins resounding from the platform. But when she sees my face, her own drops. She clutches her jaw. “No. Don’t tell me…”

Tears fill my eyes.

She looks like she’s about to cry, too. “But we were right in front of him.”

My voice is as weak as I feel. “I know. I don’t understand.”

Bringing my magic to me had felt so natural it felt accidental – just like it did when I stopped Drake from taking the knife or made Cosmer look at me at the dance.

But my magic couldn’t leave me. Stayed stuck. Caged. It was like –

“Sisters,” I say, painfully, like I’m calling on them to kill me now.

Because I know what must have happened

I spin around.