Page 104 of A Fate Unwoven
Lena wasn’t certain her strengthened power would allow her to seize control of thekoruptedunder the cult’s command, but she was damned well willing to try.
“Your power is still unpredictable,” said Dimas. “You don’t know what using it might do.”
“They have Finæn and your High Priest. I don’t have a choice.” Lena glanced sideways toward Maia. They hadn’t had time to speak since everything had happened, but the fact that Maia had failed to come to her defense during Dimas’s verbal undressing of her in the churchyard spoke volumes. “Besides, I wasn’t prepared last time.”
“You aren’t preparednow,” Dimas said, exasperated. “The bangle that my uncle possesses was made to suppress the Fateweaver’s magic and can only be removed by someone with Ehmar blood. If he gets it around your wrist, the battle is over before it even begins.”
“I think I have a solution to that,” Casimir said, withdrawing something from inside his cloak. It took Lena a second to realize what it was in the dim light, but when she did, her heart gave a strangethud.
“Is that …?” Dimas asked.
“The mysterious bangle your cult-loving uncle planned to use to subdue Lena’s power?” Casimir smirked. “Yes, yes it is.”
Maia, wide-eyed, asked, “How did you—”
“I knew exactly what it was when Roston showed it off, so I swiped it after he got knocked on his ass. Figured it might come in handy.”
“The drawing,” Lena said, the threads of everyone in the cave blinking into existence as she struggled to keep a lid on her emotions. “The one in that book back at your hideout.That’swhere I recognize this from.” Something like guilt flashed over the smuggler’s face as she met his gaze. “You knew something like that existed all along, and you never told me?”
“I didn’tknowit existed,” he said. “At least, not anymore. I’d read about it in my father’s research, and he came to the same conclusion that Queen Anja had: the bangle was lost centuries ago.” He took a stepcloser to her, his eyes fierce as they searched Lena’s own. “I promise you, if I eventhoughtthe church still had it, I would have told you.”
“That’s not important right now,” Dimas interrupted. “Whatisimportant is that we have it. Which means we can use it. Not on you,” he added when Lena tensed, “but … maybe on my uncle?”
“How?” Yana asked. “You said the bangle is spelled to be used on the Fateweaver.”
It was Lena who answered, her mind clearly going in the same direction as Dimas’s. “The magic theHæstaare channeling—if it’s from the residual dark power left behind by the Furybringer, then it’s the same source magic as the Fateweavers’.”
Dimas nodded. “Yes. And if thatisthe case, then the bangle should work on theHæsta,too.”
“Should?” Casimir’s brow raised. “That’s a bit of a long shot.”
With a sigh, Lena said, “It’s the only shot we have.”
“No …,” Dimas said, pulling a velvet pouch out of his vest pocket, “it isn’t.”
Ioseph gave a sharp shake of his head. “Dimas—”
“It’s alright, ’Seph. I’m sure Lenora can forgive me this one betrayal, considering.” Despite their moment outside, the bite in the emperor’s tone hadn’t softened. He untied the pouch. Slid out a glass vial filled with a colorless liquid.
“What is that?” Maia asked.
“A sleeping potion. I was planning to use it to subdue Lenora so I could get the bangle on her if she lost control, or if the Rite of Ascension failed.”
The revelation made Lena feel a little less guilty for what she’d done to him. “Looks like I’m not the only one with secrets.”
Dimas glared. “It’s a good thing Ido,because now we have another weapon in our arsenal. We get close to my uncle, and if the bangle fails, then I’ll find a way to shove this down his throat. Once I do, Ioseph and the others can launch an attack.” It was as good a plan as any, Lena supposed.
“It’d be helpful if we knew where this was all going to go down …,” Ioseph said, his gaze fixed on Lena. “Can you … look into the future? Try to get an idea of the surroundings?”
“I … can try.” Her magic was stronger now, but that didn’t mean she knew how to control it. There was no residual magical energy in the cave to channel, no potion to take, but …
Lena closed her eyes. Concentrated on the magic inside of her.Show me,she commanded, as she had done by the chamber door,show me where theHæstaplan to take me.
Power rushed through her system, but it was not a vision that flooded Lena’s mind.
It was Venysa’s voice.
This plan is doomed,the first Fateweaver said.You cannot trust these people.
