Page 66 of A Fate Unwoven
“Information, mostly. Queen Anja’s ancestors had discovered a magic-suppressing mineral on their lands and were determined to use it against Wyrecia’s Fateweaver to balance the scales. Obviously they weren’t successful, but my father’s research suggested a member of theZværnaOrder had found a way to concentrate and harness this mineral, centuries ago. After we arrived in Wyrecia, my father went in search of answers, but he … died before he could ever find anything useful.”
A lump formed in Lena’s throat. She knew that feeling. Understood the weight of it.
“I’ve done what I can to honor what he believed in,” the smuggler continued, “smuggling people to Verlond, continuing his research, but it’s never been enough. I’m nowhere near the man my father was, and as long as Wyrecia has a Fateweaver under their control, I never will be.”
Lena’s sudden sympathy for him was swallowed by a spark of warning. “Is that why you’re here?” she asked carefully, fingers inching toward a blade that wasn’t there. “To get rid of me?”
Casimir frowned. “No. I came here to ask you to join me—to joinus.If you’re on Queen Anja’s side, you’re no longer a threat to her. Wyrecia will be vulnerable for the first time in centuries, and Verlond will—”
“No.”
“No?” Casimir’s brow furrowed, and something like hurt passed over his expression. “What do you mean,no?Last I saw you, you were leaping at the chance to flee into Verlond. How is this any different?” He shook his head. “You saw what happened to Silah. What the Empire’s Fist did to her. Don’t you want to put a stop to that? To help your own people?”
A laugh that sounded far too much like a sob escaped Lena’s throat. “OfcourseI do. But how is being a weapon of a Verlondian queen any different than being a weapon of a Wyrecian emperor?”
His threads were flaring now. It took every scrap of strength Lena had left to clamp down on the power rising within her. On the urge to use it to bend his will, to bendeveryone’swill, to her own.Thiswas why she couldn’t let a ruler—anyruler—use her power. It was too dangerous. Too volatile.
Something in Casimir’s expression softened. “You wouldn’t be a weapon, Lenora.”
She shook her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. “How could I be anything else?” The words came out before she could stop it. She was suddenly sotiredof trying to be strong. Casimir’s hands flexed by his sides, as if he was considering reaching out to her but thought better of it.
“Only you can decide who you are,” he said finally, voice low. “Power isn’t inherently good or evil. It’s how you use it that counts. Believe me, I know.”
Again, that haunted look appeared in his eyes. The one he’d had when he’d spoken of his father. It called out to the piece of her that would never be whole again without her mother.
Maybe his offer was foolish, and naive, but … it was a chance.
And perhaps a smuggler whose father was a magical advisor might be useful.
The Rite of Ascension was getting increasingly closer, and Lena was running out of ideas on how to translate the symbols on the chamber door. If she was ever going to get inside and get her hands on the severing ritual Venysa had promised her, then she needed an ally. Someone who knew about magic and politics. Someone who could infiltrate the High Priest’s chambers and slip away with books that might hold the answers she needed. Someone who could help her and her friends flee Wyrecia when she severed her bond.
Her voice was low when she spoke again. “You said your father had research onZværnamagics?”
Casimir nodded. “Yeah. A lot of it is still locked away in Queen Anja’s palace, but he brought what he could with him when we left Verlond. You found some of it, actually, whilst you were snooping around my things.”
Ignoring his barb, Lena asked, “How easy would it be to bring that research here?”
“For a smuggler of my caliber?” He smirked. “Incrediblyeasy. Why?”
Lena bit down on the inside of her cheek. She didn’t trust him enough to tell him what Venysa had told her, not yet. But if Casimir’s father truly had been researchingZværnamagic, then maybe there would be something in his notes that could help her …
“There’s an old tale about the origins of the bond between the Ehmar bloodline and the Fateweaver’s power. One that says it wasmade byZværnamagic after the creation of the first Fateweaver to keep her power in check, and that a second ritual—one meant toseverthe bond—was also created. Its existence has mostly been erased from history, but some believe it still exists. That it was hidden somewhere beneath the palace. I never really believed it, but … that night at the outpost, I had a vision. I think … I think it was a memory.”
It was as close to the truth as she dared get. Somehow, she doubted “I spoke to the spirit of the first Fateweaver in a dream” would go down quite as well.
“You saw the past?” There was something almost like excitement in Casimir’s voice. “That’s … I mean, I know Fateweavers have been able to do so historically, but it’s the rarest of their abilities.”
“And if the old tales are to be believed, it’s the hardest to control.” Lena sighed. “The memory I saw was … hazy, but I think it’s the key to finding the severing ritual, and after that night at the outpost, after Silah, I …” She trailed off, pushing away the wave of emotions threatening to swallow her before Casimir could see just how desperate she was. She couldn’t let him have the upper hand here. Couldn’t give him the chance to use her emotions against her.
“If your father was researchingZværnamagic, then there might be something in his notes that could help me learn more about the ritual.”And,she added silently,maybe they can help decipher the symbols sealing me out of that fates-damned chamber.
“Well, then, it seems it’s a good thing I came here, after all.” A satisfied smirk tugged at the smuggler’s lips. “You want my father’s research? It’s yours.If,” he said, closing the space between them until they were only inches apart, “you agree to come with me to Verlond and meet Queen Anja when all of this is over.”
Part of Lena screamed at her to back up, to put space between them, but there was another part, one that seemed to come alive at the challenge in the smuggler’s gaze, that refused to back down. She had few choices—and fewer allies—left. Even if she didn’t see her endof the deal through, there was no way Lena could afford to give up this chance. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to get as much out of their deal as possible.
“If I agree, I want your father’s research—andI want my dagger back. The one you took from me as payment,” Lena said.
Casimir tilted his head, eyes dancing at what Lena assumed was a new challenge. “My father’s research, and you can have your dagger back.Afterwe’re in Verlond.”
