Page 30 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
Sani chewed her cheese, looking queasy. “Of the little I remember,” she said, “I wish I didn’t.” She wrinkled her nose as if she could still smell the vomit with her scent magic.
Uriel cringed. “You and me both.”
Sani threw an olive at Uriel’s face, which she caught in her mouth with impressive coordination.
“Well, after those knights came to talk to Professor Farkept…” I trailed off, wincing. “I followed them.”
“Youwhat?” Sani asked at the same time Uriel wondered, “Were you caught?”
I shoved a piece of bread in my mouth, chewed, swallowed. It seemed dangerous to divulge that I recognized Mariana, so I left that out. “I was curious, I guess? And I wasn’t caught, I made myself known.”
“Why?” my friends enunciated in unison.
“They were talking to someone who seemed…afflicted. Maybe a sickness, or…I don’t know.” I shuddered, thinking about the implications of that night. Was the hooded figure a knight in Mariana’s Order who’d beenbitten? “They needed a medicinal tincture that I happened to have on my person, so I offered it to them.”
“What kind of tincture?” Sani asked.
I glanced down at the Oath tattoo that ringed my wrist. “I shouldn’t say. But part of the reason I was invited into the program was because of what I learned that night.” I still wasn’t convinced that my Hylder tincture had been more effective than Phina’s (and effective atwhat, exactly?). “I guess I feel like I didn’t truly earn my place.”
Uriel brushed the breadcrumbs off her trousers. “Professor Farkept would not invite a liability into her lab.” She tucked her legs and leaned forward. “Even if you overheard something, she must seesomepotential in you.”
I nodded reluctantly, eyes floating up to the splay of leaves above our heads and the periwinkle sky beyond the canopy. Phina had said the same thing, but the problem was, I still didn’t fully believe my professor’s praise.
“She’s right,” Sani said. “It’s a prestigious and highly secretive program. She wouldn’t invite you into it without serious consideration.”
“Andpartof what she considered was the intelligence I overhead.” I sighed. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t complain. It just feels suspicious, is all.”
Sani hummed thoughtfully, pursing her lips.
“What?” I prompted.
Sani pushed off her elbow and swiveled, so that she sat on her knees. “I don’t want this to make you more anxious than you already are, but—” Her voice was a whisper when she continued. “My history class has been studying the transparency of knowledge and the weaponization of magic during the kingdom’s early inception. Back before Fenrir was absorbed as a territory under Marona’s rule, many of the local artisans and adepts here chose to obfuscate their research to prevent it from being developed by neighboring territories first.” Sani’s eyes widened meaningfully.
“We are not following,” Uriel said flatly.
Sani let out an impatient groan. “Basically, alchemical and arcane research became highly valuable—a way for territories to seize a militaristic advantage. If a territory had alchemical or arcane power that Maronadidn’tpossess, they could use that magic against their would-be conqueror.”
“Why would this history lesson concern me?” I asked.
Sani fixed me with an almost manic stare, a mauve flush tinging her deep brown cheeks. Foreboding context aside, I loved it when she got intense about history. It’s how I felt about herbs.
“Imagine you’re a wartime adept working on a secret research project that could alter the course of the conflict. What would you fear most?” Sani asked.
“My notes getting stolen by the enemy?” I guessed.
“Assassination,” Uriel replied.
A familiar pang of fear dropped into my stomach like a stone in a well, echoing through me.
Sani pointed at Uriel, pleased. “When it comes to high-level research, it’s not just thenotesthat are valuable—it’s the adept who’s skilled enough to actuallyperformthe magic. The Seven Territories have a long history of secret research projects and targeted assassinations of prominent adepts. Kidnappings, too.”
Knowing too much almost got me killed, Hattie,Anya had said.
I couldn’t help but feel windswept by Sani’s words.
I let out a nervous puff of breath, my appetite gone. “You’re telling me that joining Phina’s program could put me at risk of being kidnapped ormurdered?”
All this talk of politics was…tooclose. Suddenly, I wasn’t just worried about the program itself, but how my involvement could call attention to my identity.
