Page 134 of Daughter of No Worlds

She turned around holding a long, curved, burgundy sheath. Then she slowly withdrew one of the most exquisite blades I had ever seen.

It was long and delicately curved, with an angled, pointed tip. But most strikingly, it was made out of two shades of metal, gold and platinum twining together in a wild, organic dance, like the roots of two trees tangling underground. In a few gaps between the two, I could see that the center was hollow — offering veins that would accommodate magic, like mine did.

She handed it to me, and I examined it. It was impossibly light, considering its length.

“This had better not snap in two on her.”

“You insult me with that implication.”

She was right. For all my grumbling, I had never known Via to produce anything less than an impeccably crafted weapon.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said, admiringly, and I had to nod.

Beautiful and functional. Just like Tisaanah.

“I named it,” Via said. “Il’Sahaj.”

“Il’Sahaj?”

“It’s Besrithian. It means, ‘blade of no worlds’ or ‘blade of all worlds.’” At my confused glance, she clarified, “In old-tongue Besrithian, ‘aj’ means both ‘none’ and ‘all.’”

“That’s impractical.”

“Impractical, sure. But certainly poetic.”

“Seems a little far up its own ass.”

“My art pieces are my children, Max. I name all of my children. Even yours.”

“I don’t even want to know.”

She smiled, shrugged. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you. But I figure, you can’t go around breaking chains and freeing civilizations with a boring weapon without a name.”

I could hardly take my eyes off of it. It was, I admitted, the perfect thing for breaking chains and freeing civilizations. And itfit— fit Tisaanah so perfectly that it was hard to believe that Via had only met her once. She wouldn’t know how to use it at first, of course, but what a thing to grow into.

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “You’ve outdone yourself. How much do I owe you?”

“Consider it moral reparations for all of those dirty, dirty weapons contracts I do,” she said.

She ushered me to the door, waving away my further insistence on payment. “Go do something with your lives. And Max…” She paused at the entrance, mouth twisted in thought. “Try not to slide back into the shit.”

No promises.“I’m doing my very best.”

“Well, good luck. To both of you.” And with that, she melted back into the warmth of her apartment, leaving me standing there holding two beautiful weapons that felt at once painfully familiar and deeply uncomfortable in my hands.

I dropped a bag of gold coins in her letter box before I left.

Chapter Forty-Six

Tisaanah

By the time Max returned, I was clawing at the walls.

It was amazing the sheer speed at which I swung from weak and ill to feeling like I was crawling out of my own skin. In fact, I feltsogood,soenergetic, that it edged on unpleasant — like something was just a little bit off, like my blood was running hot. My heart beat fast even when I was sitting still.

So when Max got back, when he showed me the weapons he had gotten from Via… I think I must have looked a little insane, because he hesitated to even let me hold the sword. He did, though, and I cradled it in my hands as if it were a child. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. And that name… Il’Sahaj. Blade of no worlds. Blade of all worlds.

Just like me.

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