Page 58 of Games of Death and Desire

Pain stings along the line I’ve cut down the middle of my palm. I kept it shallow but pierced far enough that several drops of blood streak across my hand and patter to the dirt below.

I tilt my head back toward the sky. “All-Giver, Great God, the One who made all that exists around me, I give of myself to you. See me, show me the way that is right, and I will carry out whatever purpose you put me to. Whatever strength you give to me, I’ll use it to better this world.”

My nerves jitter with the words, but it’s actually less frightening calling out to the All-Giver than any of the godlen. After all, the Great God abandoned the realms of the continent centuries ago… after razing the first scourge sorcerers from existence.

Really, we have the same goals.

I doubt my voice can reach wherever the All-Giver has gone. And I mean what I’m saying anyway, even if not in the way I intend the conspirators to think.

But making a plea to the highest power I know of is still a little intimidating.

No godly voice answers in my head. Only the unknown watcher from wherever they’re poised amid the trees. “You could do great things with an attitude like that, Ivy of Nikodi. You could be one of the few to truly serve the All-Giver as the Great God deserves.”

Ah, so now they’re buttering me up, making me feel special in the hopes that I’ll want to chase that feeling. I’ve watched so many con artists using similar tactics on the streets of the outer wards.

“If I can, I will,” I say more earnestly than is truthful.

“Put the dagger down and bind your cut with the cloth that was lying next to it. We have one more matter to discuss tonight.”

As I wrap the strip of fabric around my palm, the pain of the cut dulls with a quiver of magic. The bandage is Elox-blessed.

“What’s the other ‘matter’?” I ask.

“There’s a small package we’d like you to deliver for us. You’ll be able to carry it in a pocket unnoticed. We ask that you bring it to the Temple of the Crown tomorrow night and leave it behind Prospira’s statue.”

I knit my brow. “Whatisthis thing I’m going to be carrying around?”

“All you need to know is that it’s heavily enchanted, and the magic must not be disturbed. Opening the pouch it’s enclosed in could ruin its potency.”

My skin crawls. The question I think anyone else would most likely ask first is, “It won’t hurt me, will it?”

The voice chuckles. “Oh, no. Especially not if you leave it be and carry out your task as requested.”

“What’s the point of bringing it to the temple anyway? What’s it going to be used for?”

“The powers that be stand in our way, but our work needs to be done. We do what we can to thin their numbers.”

I stiffen against a very honest hitch of my pulse and let more concern seep into my voice than I would have if I didn’t want to sound normal. “You mean it’s going to hurt someoneelse? Someone important?”

“I didn’t say that. And nothing at all will happen while you’re nearby.”

The implications are there, though. This is the real test—seeing if I’ve bought into the speaker’s grand talk enough to risk being party to treason.

What else can I do? If I refuse, the road ends here. I might not even survive the walk out of the woods.

“This is your first opportunity to serve the All-Giver as you said,” the voice goes on at my hesitation. “If you would prefer to return to your previous life of following orders and bowing to those who haven’t earned it—”

“No,” I say quickly, with feigned urgency. “I’ll do it. Where’s the package?”

“At the base of the tree directly to your left. Take it, and leave the woods. And remember to keep the pouch closed.”

“I know.”

I approach the tree I can only vaguely see and kneel down. My heart is thudding in anticipation, my body braced for the magic I expect to feel radiating from my new cargo.

My hands find a leather pouch no wider than my smallest finger. I can’t imagine it’s holding anything much bigger than a ring.

I take it into my grasp…

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