Page 150 of Grave Situation

“What are you rambling about this time?”

Turds, he hasn’t been listening. I shove my memories of the past few minutes toward him and wait for his reaction. I’m expecting it to be loud and indignant.

His silence speaks volumes.

“Leicht?”It’s barely a whisper, but he hears it.

“I need to consider the implications of this.”

That’s not the “it’s impossible” that I was hoping for, so I turn my attention back to Jaimin. “I don’t think you’re right about this, but explain your reasons for believing it. You too, Master,”I add. They both think this, and I can’t convince them otherwise until I know why.

Jaimin sucks in a deep breath. “There’s only one reason, really,” he admits. “One thing that’s convinced me I’m right about this. The people you killed, Talon. That man the night of the first attack, and the archers when we met the bishop.”

“What about them?” We still don’t know how they died. The only thing we—I—know for certain is that my magic was involved.

“They were justdeadwith no cause. Their brains and bodies were intact, with no explanation for their deaths.”

I nod. “You’ve said that. I can’t expl?—”

“I’m not asking you to explain; I’m telling you. There was no reason for them to be dead. It was as if their souls had just left their bodies. We know your magic killed them, but that’s not something mages can do. Only the gods have the power to move souls on to their next lives.”

I swallow hard.

“When Peiris and Arimen were talking about the godsborn, something clicked in my head. This is the puzzle piece we’ve been missing, Talon.You’rethe champion.”

My head is shaking before he even finishes. “No. It can’t be.” He’s wrong. “Master, tell him it’s not true.” Surely I’d know if I was… a god?

It’s too ridiculous for words.

Master Samoine says nothing.

“Gods,” I whisper, suddenly glad I’m sitting down and not still in the tub. “But wait—you said the godsborn are all aware of who they are. So I can’t be one. I didn’t know anything about this—or even that they truly existed! And I don’t have god powers. Just this one thing I can’t control and don’t understand. Maybe I have some sort of brain disorder.” That sounds far more reasonable than the idea that I might be the incarnation of a god.

My mouth is suddenly not my own as Master speaks. “That was my thought, when I realized what Jaimin’s theory must be,” he says. “Not the brain disorder; the part where you have no awareness of godhood nor access to other powers or control of the one we believe you might have.”

We wait; his “but” is heavy in the air, if unspoken.

“You met Master Haftel in Lenledia, didn’t you?”

I glance over at Jaimin, confused. Is Master changing the subject? “Uh… yes. Why?”

“She and I came up through the ranks together as apprentices. Her specialist field of study is telepathy in families. Specifically how telepathy acts in families with multiple Talented siblings.”

I still don’t understand how this is related to the godsborn. “I think I’ve seen one of her papers before. Actually, when we were in Lenledia, she said something to me and Tia about having a theory on Talented twins. But Tia wasn’t a mage, so her theory?—”

“Her theory, which she’s never published because she’d be laughed out of the academy for having a theory about children’s stories, is that twins with different Talents are actually an anomaly—a mistake. They were supposed to be a godsborn, but something went wrong with the incarnation process, and the consciousness of the god was split between multiple fetuses.”

My breath is frozen in my lungs, and my heartbeat is drumming so loudly that, for a moment, I can’t hear anything else. “Don’t youevercall Tia a mistake,” I rasp.

“No,” Master says immediately. “I misspoke—that’s not what I meant, and I apologize. Tia herself wasn’t a mistake; she was an extraordinary person. But the god made a mistake, and instead of one of the children—you—being born with their consciousness, the process… Well, I don’t know what happened. Haftel’s theory is a little vague in this area— possibly becauseshe was never able to speak to an actual godsborn. But she posits that when the process of incarnation doesn’t work as it’s supposed to, instead of the fetus dying, the god’s consciousness is divided between fetuses. Each holds a different portion of the god’s power, hence the reason for different Talents, which doesn’t normally occur in siblings, much less twins.” There’s an edge of frustration in his voice. “I don’t remember much else of her research—it was the kind of project she worked on in free time, and we only talked about it while drinking. I don’t know if it would be safe to ask her for more details.”

I stare at my hands in my lap, my brain blank. I can hear what Master’s saying, even understand it to a degree, but I can’t quite process it.

“That would explain why the bond with Leicht transferred to Talon,” Jaimin comments, and when I glance up, it’s to see him watching me closely. “It’s an ability he was meant to have from the beginning.”

“Wh—” I clear my throat. “What do you mean?”

“Several of your gods bonded dragons while they lived,”Leicht explains.“They were the first to do so and bequeathed the ability to dragon riders.”His pause is heavy.“There is a prophecy among dragons of a mage who becomes a rider.”

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