Page 110 of The Sundered Realms

“How?” Nysia demanded, her voice cracking like a whip through Liris’ protective calm. “How does sundering Serenthuar un-sunder it?”

“At the Sundering, magic forged connections between realms randomly, right? Jadrhun must think he can guide them. So if he has access to all the realms Serenthuar was once connected to, and he detaches Serenthuar from its only Gates in Etorsiye and Ormbtai—“

“He thinks Serenthuar will geographically reconnect with its former neighbors,” Princess Nysia finished, falling back in her chair. “That’s insane. How does he even have the power? Why does he think it would work—why does Serenthuar think it—oh, void it. Void everything and Jadrhun specifically, if I’d been faster—“

Liris didn’t follow this change of direction in Nysia’s thought process until all at once she did.

A researcher Liris didn’t know explained to a caster, “There are so few realms with only one Gate, as Jadrhun thought Serenthuar had. Most realms would never risk an experiment like this. But Serenthuar, with their reputation for forward-thinking, for considering their realm as a whole even at the expense of individuals...”

They trailed off, apparently remembering that Liris was one of those individuals, but Liris could complete that thought easily.

Serenthuar would take this risk where it wouldn’t take others.

Serenthuar, despite its best efforts, had been shriveling, and only a plot of epic proportions might save it. They would risk being sundered for the chance of being saved—in a way that would allow them to keep themselves exactly how they were without having to change.

Liris could have told them about the Gate to Etorsiye years ago. It might have mattered.

Then again, they’d considered this course reasonable and trusting her impossible.

“This is not your fault,“ Vhannor told her fiercely. “Jadrhun said he no longer needed Tellianghu’s superfluous Gate. My guess is he didn’t just detonate Etorsiye’s Gate to separate Serenthuar further. He figured out a way to gather that magic to power the spell he’ll need to try to guide a sundering. People in Tellianghu would have died instead.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Liris whispered.

“It does—“

“IT DOESN’T MATTER.”

She’d surged to her feet so quickly the chair clattered behind her.

Her love watched her quietly. So did the rest of the room.

Liris couldn’t just be part of a team without bringing it down. She couldn’t act without shedding worse consequences everywhere.

“You mean this gives us a brief window of time before Jadrhun can bring his plan to fruition,” Liris said. “I understand that. But he’ll expect us to figure this out, which means he’ll be working as fast as he can—using Thyrasel to power his spells faster, probably trying to kill me to make sure I can’t make it to Ormbtai to interfere, because I’m the only one who might be able to on the fly. So I have to get away from everyone so they don’t get caught up in attacks on me, and I have to get to Ormbtai to stop him. Nothing else matters.”

Vhannor shouldered his way into her vision, filling it with himself. “Liris, listen to me.”

His voice, her center.

Serenthuar had been her center.

Her guts curdled.

“We don’t know how far along Jadrhun is,” Vhannor said, taking her by the shoulders, “what traps he might have laid. And even if we get there—dispelling a work like that is impossibly dangerous in its own right, even before whatever obstacles Jadrhun can muster. This is—not just reckless, it’s more like suicidal, and you don’t have to—“

“An entire realm, Vhann,“ Liris whispered. “Entire realms. I do have to try, even if it’s hopeless. Of course, I have to.”

Liris couldn’t have a future until she’d dealt with her past. She couldn’t choose any path for herself but this one.

Serenthuar still had her trapped after all.

Chapter 16

Serenthuar made me weird about object acquisition. Not having been able to acquire things for myself could have made me jump to do so, but instead it’s made every decision feel so much more intentional. Which, as always, is in Serenthuar’s interests: what an ambassador is seen and known to have acquired reflects on them, and on Serenthuar, and affects negotiations. Nothing can ever really be personal, let alone without consequence.

Part of me wishes I could have learned to be that easy in the world. But part of me doesn’t.

Liris wasn’t going to let herself be sacrificed without her input this time, but that she not only had to do it but also sit through an interminable planning session was unbearable.

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