Page 147 of Fortress of Ambrose
“So Caera was just making a name for her House? She was a fraud?”
“Is it that hard to believe?”
It was like looking out of glasses with the wrong lenses.Is this what my mother meant? Did she know?
“We need to break the Pact with the ancestors,” Yagrin said. “I have a plan. But first, tell me what I missed while I was gone.”
Nore poured herself a kiziloxer and let the bubbles mellow her out. She sat back in the chair by the fire and told Yagrin about Ellery and Adola working together to burn the ancestors’ bones to kill their spectral spirit. How they were hurrying to finish before sunrise.
“My cousin?”
“Your cousin.Who I told you not to trust!”
His head cocked. “Maybe this works for us? We want the ancestors out of the way. If he kills them all, then we can take your heart back without fear of retaliation from them.”
“We’d still have my brother to deal with.” She rubbed her temples. “I know Ellery. If he is doing this, he is certain it will get him closer to Headship. Somehow the two connect.”
Yagrin didn’t speak for several minutes. He stared with deep consternation.
“I don’t understand,” he finally said. “I’ve never heard of magic like that.”
“Well, somehow Ellery has, and he’s training your cousin well.”
He crossed his arms.
“Iwatchedher help my brother set my ancestors’ remains from the grave on fire. Right before she kissed him.” She grimaced.
“That House is full of traitors.” Yagrin’s mouth formed a hard line. He got up. With his back still to her, he said, “I know how we can break the Pact. The dead want to survive, and they think, somehow, access to a heart with toushana will help them. They have yours, but they would bemuchmore excited to have a heart with strong toushana.” He faced Nore with heavy-lidded eyes.
He wouldn’t…“Your brother’s heart?”He can be savage, and his rivalry with his brother goes deep.But this?
“His heart is rotten anyway. That’s what power does to people; it corrupts them until it kills them.”
Is that what he thinks of me?
“Yagrin, there may be another way—”
“My brother’s against us now, Nore. Thisisthe way. If the dead will accept, my mind won’t be changed.”
He wanted to sacrifice his brother’s heart to save her. Since Jordan wasn’t an Ambrose, it would kill him. Cold skidded across Nore’s spine. Was she really on board with this? She racked her brain. The temptation to break the Pact was too great to ignore.
“The dead have their own problems at the moment,” she told him. “I’m not sure we can convince them.” Even if they could persuade the ancestors, they still had Ellery to deal with.
Nore circled her chin, trying to picture what had happened to the ancestors’ bodies once the bones burned.It was ash.She hadn’t looked inside the grave to be sure. It was hard to make out everything happening in such darkness.
“I need a better look at this magic in the daylight,” she said.
She didn’t like this plan of killing his family to save her. But weren’t they doing the same thing? Ellery had to die if she would ever be safe. Her fists sweat as she and Yagrin hurried out the door.
The sun was fully awake when they rode out to the forest. And they found the grave sites in disarray. Piles of ash and charred bone were scattered. Trees had fallen over, and branches and debris covered the ground. Nore spotted the grave that was dug up the night before. It was partially refilled. How had her brother gotten so close to the estate? And why were the dead helpless against him?
She recited what she knew. “The ancestors’ shadow shriveled up and crept back toward the mound until it disappeared.”
She squatted beside the grave and stuck her hands in the dirt. “Help me look around in this one.”
He moved the dirt around. They were utterly filthy, elbow-deep, feeling for something.
“Any bones left in there?” he asked.
