Page 117 of The Sundered Realms

Vhannor accommodated her without a word, one arm taking her weight so she could lean on him as she sat sideways in his arms. His other hand was free, though, and she wondered what he would do with it.

Then he answered, “Of all the subjects you could have been busying yourself studying while you were trapped in Serenthuar—“

“Okay, before you go too far with that thought, there weren’t so many challenges I could give myself that were both new adventures no one had managed before and that were also within my reach. A dead undeciphered language was a fairly obvious choice, with those parameters in mind.”

He wasn’t going to do anything with that hand, apparently. Maybe he didn’t want to distract her from an important conversation.

Liris had no such compunctions, and also great faith in her ability to focus. She wrapped her arms behind his neck and threaded her hands through his hair.

Had she ever touched his hair before? A revelation.

Vhannor’s voice came out much lower. “You make my point. You chose to attempt something no one else would, and then you succeeded. Then you saw the shape of the situation around you for what it was, a trap with no escape, and nevertheless found one and did something with it. You see possibilities where others only see walls, and you act on them. If I had to guess, it’s not a specific piece of knowledge Jadrhun is worried about at this point, but that he can’t predict what you’ll see. He claims he can’t be stopped, but what if he can?”

Ugh, mood killer. Liris let her arms drop and banged her head against his chest maybe slightly too hard, as the never-ending rain continued to pound around them. “Well, no pressure.”

Vhannor bent down to kiss her cheek. She thought that was supposed to be reassuring rather than inflaming. “You love pressure.”

She glared up at him. “I love it a lot better when I’m confident I know what I’m doing.”

He was silent for a minute, contemplating that. “Aside from learning everything I know from a lifetime of spellcraft in a few days’ time—“ Liris snorted ”—is there anything more particular you feel unconfident on?”

“Changing spells,” she answered immediately. “Or creating them.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, ah. I’m aware how easy it is to mess up, and how capable I am of doing so catastrophically, and it’s a safe bet Jadrhun’s plan involves the fundamental ley magic that holds the Sundered Realms together, so. Yeah, you could say I have a few concerns.”

“You’re going to be dispelling, though,” Vhannor pointed out. “Not creating a ley spell yourself.” Then he paused. “That’s not helpful, is it? You of all people won’t find a limitation reassuring.”

Something in her chest eased. He did understand.

Thank the gods for this man who didn’t think supporting her meant stopping her.

Liris blew out her breath in a gust. “No.”

“Hmm. Cozy as this is, would you mind turning the rest of the way around?”

Liris almost smiled to herself, already scooting.

As much as she trusted him at her back, she would never hesitate to face him head on.

He drew his knees in, so Liris sat across from him cross-legged before he took her hands.

“I won’t lie to you and say you’re wrong to be worried on that front,” Vhannor said. “It is dangerous, but second-guessing yourself at the wrong time is worse. But I’m here with you, and even at this speed we have a few days. So tell me what we can do in that time to make you feel surer you won’t explode the world by mistake.”

Surer, not sure. Ha. “You don’t have ideas?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then I want to hear yours.”

He smiled a little and shook his head. “No. You’re the one who’s going to be on the spot, and you know yourself best. Let me rephrase: What will help you feel calmer going in?”

Liris took a breath, closed her eyes. Tilted her head back, and opened them, gazing not at the broken walls around her, but up to the dark sky, whose rain couldn’t reach her here.

“Feeling in control,” she murmured. “Which means being able to control more. Right now I’m worried I’m missing some whole crucial field of knowledge, you know? And I know there’s no substitute for experience, but not knowing what Jadrhun might throw at me and not knowing what I can do about it—“

“You’ve spent your life arming yourself with knowledge in preparation for deploying it,” Vhannor agreed. “So that’s what we’ll do.” He pulled out his spell pad. “What potential opposition from Jadrhun do you want to start with? Fighting demons, maybe? Or other casters?”

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