“I want to see the throne,” says Cardan. No one is inclined to gainsay him. The brugh is full of turned-over tables and rotting fruit. A crack runs through the ground to the split throne, with its wilted flowers. Cardan spreads his hands, and the earth heals along the seam, rock and stone bubbling up to fill it back in. Then he twists his fingers, and the divided throne grows anew, blooming with briars, sprouting into two separate thrones where there was once only one. “Do you like it?” he asks me, which seems a little like asking if someone enjoys the crown of stars they conjured from the
...more
