Page 111 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
“Like our Oaths?” I asked, lifting my wrist to show off my Allegiance tattoo.
“Oath tattoos—including the finger tattoos on adepts—are an example of arcane magic written onto paper, with a secondary manifestation on the skin,” Uriel said. “Weaving arcane magicdirectlyonto skin is a darker practice. Bloody. Involves carving arcane symbols into the skin with a knife. It is potent and not easy to undo. Rare and highly regulated.”
My stomach twisted. I thought of all the tiny marks on Noble’s hands—similar to the tattoos of adepts, butscarsinstead ofink—and wondered if they were not the marks of metalwork, butmagic.
“Wood—including paper—is the most agreeable material,” Uriel continued, “which is why we have the Oath Ledgers.”
Feeling disturbed, I finished the rest of my spiced milk, clutching the small wooden mug as I wrapped my free arm around my torso in a makeshift hug. “What does any of that have to do with water?”
“Water is a common ingredient in balancing arcane magic.”
I stiffened. “Truly?”
Uriel spread her palms as if to say,Why would I lie?
It was just that…waterseemed far too simple.
“Anywater?” I asked.
“I have not learned that yet, though I’m sure the source alters the result,” Uriel said. “There is a reason the ancient city of Kelebraim-on-Gray was the birthplace of arcane magic.”
Kelebraim-on-Gray was also where Gildium was discovered. Where the Mirrors were created. The site of numerous magical pools that bubbled up from the earth.
“For the sake of sourcing the water,” Sani cut in, “I hope arcane adepts have other options than Kelebraim. The surrounding woods are treacherous—not to mention the geothermal pools themselves, which are famous for their strange and adverse effects. No one has gone to the ruins and returned in generations.”
Anya and Idris had.Barely.
In fact…
My breath hitched.
Anya and Idris had bathed in the Well of Fate, and—in spite of Idris’s knighthood and the Oath of Proving the Lord had forced Anya to take for her trial—they’d returned to Waldron free of all Oath-related obligation. Could it be that the magical water in the Well of Fate had altered the arcane magic in their Oaths?
“Therearetheories that the magical pools are why Fenrir is so fertile,” Sani added, tapping her chin. “Most of Fenrir’s fresh water—the River Gray, River Wend—originate in springs not far from the pools.”
Thathadto be why Phina was studying water.
“Sani, how much do you know about the history of the Mirrors?” I asked.
“You’re thinking of the Well of Fate,” she said, easily catching on. “The waterismagical; there’s a long history of nobility who visited the pool to alter their foreseen futures. But I’ve never read anything that suggested the water undid arcane magic—otherwise, we would have recorded accounts of folks visiting the pool to nullify their Oaths.”
“Itispossible there are recorded accounts that you have not read,” Uriel pointed out.
“Unlikely,” Sani said—and I couldn’t tellif she was joking or not.
I could see Sani’s logic—but that left out what’d happened with Anya and Idris. Not to mention the fact that nobility visited the pool tochangetheir Fates, not make their Fates blank. Perhaps something else had happened when Anya and Idris had visited the pool? Another unknown factor, like an added ingredient? Maybe Idris had been carrying my Hylder salve, and that had interacted with the water?No, that didn’t seem right.
Maybe the Well of Fate simply possessed its own magical qualities, separate from its interaction with arcane magic.
“Water balancing arcane magic,” I said, facing Uriel again. “Does it happen by touch, or is there a specific process?”
“I hope to learn that from Professor Gour.”
“Right,” I muttered. “And I suppose that after you join, an Oath will prevent you from telling me.”
“Probably so,” Sani cut in.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook my head. I was so close yet so far from any tangible answers. “FuckingFates.”
