Page 23 of Blood Feast

“You and Aunt Lyta are joining with the ward?” Cassia guessed.

Uncle Argyros nodded.

Cassia knew other Hesperines could connect with the Queens’ magic to observe the entire border of Orthros, but she had never witnessed it before. “How can I help?”

“If the enemy attacks, try to channel what Lustra magic you can from here. It will be valuable to test what power you can access away from the letting site. I am also curious to see how your magic responds in proximity to the ward.”

Trust Lio’s uncle to turn this into a research opportunity. They were certainly far enough away from the tower for such a test, all the way across the Sea of Komne and in the Umbral Mountains.

“And Cassia…”

“Yes, Uncle?”

“If I tell you to retreat inside the ward, I trust you will do so.” Silvertongue fixed her with his legendary stare.

She had to admit, her mentor could still intimidate her. “I will.”

Cassia flexed her bare fingers, which would have been frostbitten by now if she hadn’t been immortal. All she felt was apleasing chill on her Hesperine skin. Knight pressed close to her, armored against the cold by his thick fur and hardy liegehound blood. Even though she didn’t need his warmth, she gladly accepted his nearness. Would he ever stop protecting her as if she were human?

She opened and closed her hands again, trying to grasp any Lustra magic that might lay under the mountains. In theory, the magic of nature was everywhere and strongest in wild places. This was certainly wilderness, but what power would she find in barren terrain?

“Lio has taught you the foundational spell casting gestures, I see,” Uncle Argyros commented.

“He explained that mages don’t actually need these motions for the spell to work, but that they help us concentrate, and the right gestures are especially important with affinities that are difficult to control.”

Uncle Argyros nodded. “Physical actions help you anchor your arcane power and focus your Will.”

“He also said each mage must find which gestures work best for them as an individual. I’ve been experimenting to find what’s compatible with my affinity.” She didn’t want to admit it was a work in progress. No amount of hand waving seemed to tame the Lustra.

She felt the faintest stirring of…something, like a vibration under her feet. Surely she would not have the opposite problem now and be unable to draw power when they might need it.

“How likely is an attack?” she asked. “The border patrols are cautionary, surely? All the fighting must be far away in Tenebra.”

There came another flare of his mind magic, and the ward pulsed a response. “Organized warbands of heart hunters have been making surprise attacks directly on the ward.”

Cassia’s chest tightened. She scanned the ravine below with her keen Hesperine eyesight. It was only then that she realized where they were. She hadn’t recognized it from this viewpoint, but she had once fallen to the very bottom of that chasm and been surrounded by possessed heart hunters.

“We’re in Martyr’s Pass,” she said. “You’re saying the Collector has more heart hunters under his control?”

“Yes. Nike and I have detected his presence in their minds, but he proves elusive. He avoids dueling with us and throws his pawns at the Stewards.”

“Surely the worst the heart hunters can do is ambush Hesperines who step outside the barrier. The ward is too powerful for our enemies to penetrate.”

“For all our enemies to date, yes. But we do not fully understand what the Collector is capable of. When he opened that portal inside Orthros during the Solstice Summit, he became the first enemy to violate Hespera’s Sanctuary since the founding. We must not underestimate what sabotage he might attempt upon the ward.”

The thought that Orthros’s enduring defenses might actually be vulnerable made Cassia’s stomach turn. “This isn’t all the Collector has been up to for the past month. Of that I’m certain.”

“This is merely the front where he is detectable,” Uncle Argyros agreed.

“We promised that Orthros would keep the Empire safe from him too. Have our Imperial allies reported any signs that he’s trying to infiltrate their shores?”

Uncle Argyros shook his head. “But as Tendeso said, they are ready to send the Imperial army, should Solia ask.”

“Knowing the Tenebrans, her subjects would see military action by the Empire as a foreign invasion, not a heroic rescue.”

“I fear so. Contact between the hemispheres after millennia of isolation is one volatile spell waiting to explode at the slightestprovocation. Fortunately, Tendo is not here in an entirely unofficial capacity.”

“Solia said he only came for a personal visit.”

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