Page 60 of Flame and Sparrow

His hand struck forward—but only to swipe the cup from my grip and throw it aside. The pewter mug hit the ground with a metallicthudthat echoed in the open space and made my heart thud just as heavily against my chest.

The air stayed hot even as he turned away from me. The tension slipped from my muscles, my adrenaline faded, and I felt annoyingly, undeniably fragile in the wake of even such a small display of his power, like a flower dangerously close to withering in the heat.

I wouldn’t let myself wilt.

“I admit I made a mistake going into the Death God’s territory without giving it enough thought,” I said fiercely, “butyoumade a mistake if you believe I came here to be nothing more than your slave. I said I would serve in your court, not that you could lock me away and subject me to whatever you wished.”

He went back to staring at the light shining through the ceiling, as if appealing to the gods above him for strength.

“And you said it yourself on the day I arrived here,” I pressed, “we didn’t really go over the details of our arrangement. And westillhaven’t.”

He snorted. “Details.”

I fixed my eyes on his back, on the fiery patterns still glowing faintly beneath his shirt, staring until he finally looked at me once more.

Then he said, “Fine.”

My mouth nearly dropped open in surprise. I didn’t respond right away, afraid I might say the wrong thing and make him change his mind. I kept perfectly still as he reached out his hand, letting Moth flutter down and perch on his muscular forearm.

He stroked the griffin’s tufted ears for a minute before he glanced over his shoulder and said, “Valas mentioned the Tower of Ascension to you, didn’t he?”

I nodded.

“The only way to obtain its magic is to first pass the tests set forth by all three of the divine courts. The other two—the Sun Court and the Stone Court—will be first, and then this court you intend to join will also have its trial, but it will be one crafted by the Moraki we ultimately serve.”

An image of that Moraki flashed in my mind—a drawing I’d seen in a book of a beastly, humanoid figure with tattered black wings and eyes the color of bone. Just one of many depictions of Malaphar, upper-god of the Shade. Like so many other divine things, my knowledge of him was limited. I knew just enough to feel my blood running cold at the thought of having to face any trial of his creation.

“And if I fail to pass these tests?”

Dravyn shrugged, his fingers moving to scratch Moth’s fluffy chest. The griffin leapt from his arm to his shoulder to give him easier access. “From the moment you stepped into this realm,” said Dravyn, “your eyes had already seen too much. You cannot go back to before.”

“But I…I can’t stay in this realm indefinitely if I’m not divine.”

“Correct.”

“So you mean…I either pass the trials, or I…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say the worddie. He didn’t say it, either, but he didn’t have to; the cold glint in his eyes said enough.

Failure meant death.

Dizziness threatened—I hadn’t considered this angle of things. Not these trials, or the possibility that I might be subjected to them—and fail them—before I accomplished what I’d come here to do.

The God of Fire was watching me closely now, clearly trying to gauge how well I could stand underneath the weight of thesedetailsI’d insisted on having.

So I stood up straighter and asked, “When do I start?”

“Unfortunately, those other two courts are as preoccupied as I’ve been,” he continued after a long pause. “We’ve been dealing with a rather large problem for some time now, so the whole process of ascension for gods and spirits alike has become somewhat…chaotic.”

I was certain he wouldn’t elaborate on whatever ‘problem’ they were having, so instead I asked, “If you knew this—if you’ve been preoccupied with this problem for so long—then why bring me into the chaos?”

He didn’t look as though he wanted to answer, all of his attention focused on helping Moth fix a ruffled, out-of-place feather.

It didn’t matter, really, but for some reason the question sank its claws into me and would not let go; I had to know what he was thinking in that moment.

“Why didn’t you leave me to die in that cell in Cauldra?” I asked.

He shook his head.

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