Page 119 of A Frozen Pyre
“Ophir, let’s go. Make a door.”
She looked up at him hopelessly. There was no light behind her eyes.
“Let’s go, Firi! Make a door. It’s how I tracked you to the Straits. It’s how—”
“I can’t,” she said, then dropped her eyes once more. It took him a moment to realize she was crying.
He knelt beside her and caught her hands in his own. “What do you mean?” But even as he asked the question, his thumb rolled over something cold and unfamiliar. He looked down at the warm, delicate fingers and the metallic band cinched firmly to her the space between her knuckle and palm. Horror stole his breath as his second knee met the floor. “No,” he said, shaking his head. He repeated his denial again and again.
Ophir said nothing. She brought her hands to her face to catch her tears.
“This can’t be true,” Harland insisted. “You can make flame! You’re doing it now! I’m sure you can manifest. I’m sure you can—”
Her face whipped up to meet his pleading eyes with a level stare. She dropped her hands and gritted her teeth as she said, “I’m able to make flame because she’s allowing it. It’s a false freedom, and she knows it. Her ability to beat my fire was the reason she was brought into my life in the first place. Water wins every time.”
“We’ll go,” he pushed. “We’ll go now, and we can find someone who can speak to metal to get it off your finger. We’ll—”
“She told me to stay put,” Ophir said, each word dripping with venom.
He dug his hands into his hair and got to his feet as he began to pace.
“But you can be separated, right? She’s gone right now to get firewood. She could leave and never come back.”
Ophir shrugged glumly. “From what I understand of their magic, I belong to her while I wear the ring, but she’s also bound to me. I don’t think she could leave me. It wouldn’t have served Eero’s agenda if I could have commanded Ceneth to stay put and then I fucked off into the sunset. We’re tethered.”
“These blasted things are evil.”
Ophir looked at him until he couldn’t hold her gaze any longer. He understood the accusation. He’d known about the rings when he and his party had ridden north for Raascot. He’d said nothing when Ophir was set to be the wearer.
A muscle in his jaw ticked in frustration. He looked at the hellhound and said, “This is Sedit?”
She nodded, then waved the comment away. “I made another, but I sent it off when Sedit arrived. I don’t think Dwyn can tell the difference.”
“If Sedit is here, Tyr must be, also,” Harland said excitedly. “With the two of us combined—”
“Tyr left me to return to Sulgrave,” she said, voice as cold as the winter wind beyond. “He got what he wanted from his visit to the continent, and he left. He can drain now, just like Dwyn.”
Harland pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger. He went to the window to keep an eye on the meadow while they spoke. “He can drain? Like the siren’s stolen powers?”
“It can be taught,” she said bitterly.
“He’s in the Wilds, Firi. I saw him just two days prior. He came up from Gwydir with Sedit.”
She shook her head slowly, hair catching in the clean-burning firelight. Her forehead wrinkled. “No, he left us in the woods after the ag’drurath. Dwyn taught him how to drain, and when he got what he wanted…” She let her words drift off. A new expression crossed her face. “But why would Dwyn lie? Why would…” The pinched space between her brows relaxed. She closed her eyes and looked at nothing. “Because that’s what Dwyn does. She wants control.”
“She’s wanted it ever since she killed Caris,” Harland said.
Ophir nodded. “I know.”
His brows shot up in surprise. “You know she’s responsible for your sister’s death?”
“Berinth killed Caris.”
Harland abandoned his place by the window and joined her on the floor once more, down on one knee. “Look me in the eye, Ophir. You are aware that Dwyn is behind the orchestration of Caris’s murder?”
Confusion sparkled through her golden eyes. Not confusion at his words, but at the energy and tone he brought. “Yes.”
“How long have you known?” he asked, cupping her shoulders gently on either side. “When did you learn this information?”
