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Emotions painted the blood. Happiness. Anger. Sorrow. Lust. Each gave off its own energy.
Humans were not good at taming their feelings. They felt everything so rudely, right out in the open, with no awareness of how their reactions might affect those with finer senses.
“They’re going to… destroy her, you know? It has already… been seen. This court will… fall… with her inside it.”
And he could have his reasons, so long as none of them involved him harboring any sort of hope that Saeris was going to confess her undying love for him. That wasn’t happening.
“What do you think I’m doing?” I snarled. “I’m saving the fucking fox!”
I was going to kill him. “You maimed them at best,” I snapped. “And the day you save me on a battlefield, I’ll put on a dress and dance a fucking jig.”
The universe could end and Carrion Swift wouldn’t have run out of questions.
“Don’t you know? There isn’t much I wouldn’t sacrifice to make you happy, Osha. A little healing magic is the least of it.”
Most couples flirted by making eyes at each other or complimenting each other’s outfits. We did it by discussing how best to murder our enemies. A smile ached at the corners of my mouth, begging to be unleashed…
“I am no child. My name is Saeris Fane, and I am your queen.”
We knew the Hazrax entered Ammontraíeth many years ago, Kingfisher said into my mind. We haven’t heard tell of it leaving since. It’s rumored that it doesn’t even leave this hall. It doesn’t eat or sleep. It just watches.
The old woman is Algat, Keeper of Records. She was a witch once. Cast out by her own clan for meddling in dark magics. She might look like the oldest of the Lords, but she’s actually the youngest. I had cause to deal with her once or twice before she transitioned. Pure evil runs through her veins, Little Osha. Do not underestimate her.
THERE WAS A new tattoo on her chest: a thin black line that marked her skin from one shoulder to the other, right below her collarbone. Just a simple line, but somehow striking.
Tal snatched the tiny bird that was dive-bombing his head from out of the air. He held it out for me to see. “Paper,” he said. “Folded to represent one of Yvelia’s rare breeds. They’re called stargazers.”
“Aren’t we just the same? Made from the same material as the sea and the dirt and the sky? Folded from the scraps of the gods and entrusted with a spark of magic that makes us real?”
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered. “You’ve existed in my mother’s drawings for most of my life, but you were never real to me before. I didn’t believe…” His eyes were wide and full of awe. “I had no idea what you would mean to me. I had no idea what I would do to keep you safe. When I close my eyes, you are all I fucking see, Saeris Fane. I could be dead in the ground five thousand years and the frosts could have taken my bones, and still no other male will ever have loved another female the way that I love you.”
I want you on all fours for me, Saeris. Crawling…
“Sweet fucking mercy,” he panted. “Kill me. Sit on my face and ride my tongue until I fucking die. I can’t take it anymore.”
“He took her back to his realm and tricked her into a bargain. Then he came and kidnapped me because he thought I was you—” “Fuck me, Carrion.” I shoved him out of the way and grabbed the boy by the shirt. The sour tang of his fear flooded my nose. “Do you want to see your sister?” I growled. “Y-yes!” he stammered. “All right, then. Let’s fucking go.”
I stopped running and brought it forth. It slammed out of me in a tide of glittering black sand and shadow so overwhelming that it swallowed the street we were standing in. And then the ward. And then the entire city. My magic encompassed all Zilvaren. For the first time in history, the shining banner in the north fell into darkness.
“Gods damn it,” I spat, opening my eyes. Filthy mouth. The quicksilver chuckled. So ill-tempered. Bad, bad, bad. “Oh, shut up, you.” I willed the quicksilver to change.
Its skin was a sickly pale color, translucent in places. A network of black veins pulsed below the surface of its skin. Its eyes were solid black and featureless. Its mouth… gods, it had so many teeth.
“As for what I am…” The creature trailed off. “Who knows anymore? This body is just a vessel. My mind is very old. It can be in many places at once. I see through the eyes of others from time to time. These are very useful skills to have.”
I am an Alchemist. I didn’t dare speak out loud. I was too worried that the words would turn into a scream, so I spoke them internally instead. You are a pretender, the voice accused. My name is Saeris Fane— Your name is ruination, the voice snorted. Blight. Curse worker. You do not deserve to live. I do! There are others more worthy. None of them stand before you now! It
I was crying. When I brushed my tears away, my fingers came away coated in silver. This pathway is clear, the speaker declared. Receive this gift all in fear and trembling. In the end, it will be your end.
“Hey, I had no experience with magic. I felt something, I guess, but I just thought she was hot.” He winced in my direction, making a face. “Sorry.” An angry rumble filled the cavern, but it didn’t come from me. Hayden looked like he was about to start pummeling Swift’s face with his fists. “All right. Okay, everyone, let’s just forget I said that, shall we?”
