Page 121 of Forged in Flame and Shadow

But where does that leave me?

I will do anything to keep Ana safe, yet beyond that, I don’t know what we can be to each other. Everyone seems to agree that what’s best for Ana isn’t a relationship with me. She’s on a particular path, pushed toward a cause much bigger than her or me alone. I have no idea where I fit.

I brush her hair out of her face, my chest full of the emotion I’ve only now been able to name. It occurs to me I could tell her right now—share everything that’s in my heart.

But no. That would be selfish. I won’t say it so close to the mission, when she needs to be focused on the challenge ahead. She might even think I’m using the words to persuade her to stay. For now, I’ll wait. Only when I know I have nothing to gain from the confession, when I know it’s what’s best for her, will I tell Morgana Angevire that I love her.

Chapter 37

Morgana

“There it is. The cradle of evil.”

Harman’s tone is ironic, but as we bend to peer through the trees, a shiver still runs up my spine. Bastion lurks in the valley below us. Though it’s surrounded by rolling hills and grassland, the Temple’s training school is cut off from it all by tall stone walls. From this height, I can see the buildings are laid out like army barracks, arranged in neat rows around a central structure that appears to be a sanctuary.

It might look banal, but I get Harman’s point. This is the place the Temple takes children to mold them into monsters.

Eryx points to a group of red-robed figures standing outside Bastion’s gates. “There’s the guards.”

“Whydoesa training school need so many guards?” Damia asks.

“Yes, is it to keep someone out, or the children in?” Alastor asks ominously.

“That’s because of us,” Harman admits. “We attacked this place a few years ago. We wanted to free the children and damage thebuildings. We had some success with the latter, but since then they’ve raised security.”

“And the children?” Phaia asks.

“We couldn’t get them to leave. They don’t need guards for the children because they have other ways of keeping them docile,” Harman says darkly. “That’s why we scheduled this for their prayer time. It’s part of the plan. Come on.”

We descend the ridge, heading back down to the camp where members of the Hand are enjoying a last meal before we attack. The food is cold—we can’t risk the smoke from fires giving away our presence—but I still enjoy the bread and meat packed up by Heda’s staff at the Crossed Keys.

I left Dots there with Tira, hoping he’d be some comfort to her. But he’d whined the whole time I said goodbye, and Tira barely spoke a word to me, though she did hug me tightly before I left.

“Your sensic magic will be a big help,” Harman says to the fae as we eat. “It’s an advantage we didn’t have before. You’re confident it’ll work?”

Several of the fae give Harman a withering look.

“Yes, it’ll work,” Leon says bluntly.

Alastor helps Harman by explaining further.

“Some of the clerics are trained to block sensic magic—the cleavers especially—but you said they don’t keep any cleavers here, and the acolytes likely won’t have the skill. That just leaves the grown clerics who act as the guards and instructors, but they won’t be expecting sensic magic, so we can catch them by surprise.”

Harman gives Alastor a grateful nod and glances at Esther. “Then now, we wait.”

“Prayer time is at four o’clock,” she says. We’ve been over this, but I’m jittery enough that I’m glad for the review. “That’s when all the acolytes will be in the central sanctuary hall.”

“And that’s when they’ll be most distracted?” I press.

“Yes. They meditate with communal chanting,” Esther says.

Mal, seated beside Esther, shudders. “It’s creepy as fuck. Especially with that incense they use.”

“Opios,” Esther says. “They burn it to put them into a trance-like state, which makes them more suggestible. That’s why they need to do it every day. It keeps them brainwashed and obedient.”

“A decade of opios, and of course those children are convinced they’re doing the will of the gods, and that the Temple is Ethira’s righteous army on earth,” Harman says bitterly.

I shake my head, horrified by the concept.

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