by Elise Kova
Vi arched a single eyebrow and, rather than saying anything, strode out of her room like a princess. She locked the door behind her and returned the key to her pocket. Without waiting for him to lead, Vi descended toward Egmun’s office.
“Are you his errand boy now?” Vi asked dryly.
“I’m his most valued assistant.”
“I bet you are.”
Victor paused in front of the door to the office of the Minister of Sorcery. A smirk spread across his lips. “I know I’m not up half the night, snooping through Tower storerooms and stealing Mother-knows-what.”
Vi kept a sneer at bay, barely. She was too tired to deal with this petulant child. Vi took a step forward but Victor straightened. Even though she was higher on the slope of the hall, they were still eye to eye.
“Don’t question what I do,” Vi cautioned, “for it is far beyond the realm of what your mortal mind can comprehend.”
“Mortal mind? Just who do you think you are?”
“I am the one who has seen the end, and will see the beginning of your destiny,” she said ominously. It took everything in her not to have him flat on the ground, threatening him within an inch of his life. Only Taavin’s abundance of caution, and Vi’s fragile self-control, held her back. “Now get out of my sight.”
“With pleasure.” Victor didn’t back down, right until the end. He took three steps backward and turned.
Vi watched him leave, firing curses at his back. Somehow, he knew she’d been in the storeroom. That made it only a matter of time until Victor found Adela’s room. He was smart enough to piece it together, and all the pieces were secreted there.
The only thing that kept her from chasing after him was the knowledge that she had taken the key book on Oparium that contained Adela’s maps. Additionally, the journals were useless without the library books also in Vi’s possession. Trusting she was one step ahead, Vi knocked on the door to the minister’s office.
“Enter,” he said sharply. Vi did as he bid and found Egmun pacing the room. He stopped, spinning to face her, the moment the door closed. “I need to see it.”
“You’d do well to not make demands of me in such a tone. I’m not one of your lapdogs.” Vi was too tired to play along. He seemed genuinely taken aback.
“And you’d do well to not risk this shaky alliance we’ve formed. You need the prince, after all.”
She didn’t. Taavin did. But Vi was dutifully following his instructions still. Here she was, keeping the world on the rails, while Victor could be off hunting for the crown. Her lead on him slipped with every moment she wasted on Egmun.
“Bickering will get us nowhere.” Vi pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “What have I done to earn such mistrust?”
“Nothing, and that’s much the problem. I have given you everything these past weeks. I’ve given you food, shelter, access to the prince, even the ability to rummage through my Tower without an escort.” Victor had run right to Egmun after tracking her last night. “And you’ve given me no indication other than your word that you have the sword at all.”
Vi narrowed her eyes, though her displeasure was mostly directed inward. She’d been too focused on her movements and hadn’t been accounting for the desires of others. The first night she’d seen Aldrik in the library, researching the North, came back to her.
“The Emperor is taking an interest in the Crystal Caverns, isn’t he?” she said softly, so as not to speak over the pieces clicking together in her mind. Egmun’s startled eyes said all she needed to know. The Emperor was interested in the Crystal Caverns because he wanted to go to war with the North and was looking for a secret weapon to bring with him. “You want to get there before he does.”
Egmun was silent for a long moment. Then, “Yes.”
“I’ll show you the sword.”
“You will?”
“Yes, but you must stay here and do not track me to its hiding place. I will know if you do.”
“You really have it?” His voice was hurried and thin, as if he was afraid the truth was something that could break if he spoke too loudly.
“I always have.”
Vi shut the door to the office firmly behind her and began down the halls. The spark had lit an inferno in her stomach, the likes of which she hadn’t felt in some time. She wouldn’t be surprised if steam was coming out of her ears.
She wanted to give chase down the hall and find Victor. She wanted to demand he tell her what he had seen of her movements, what books he had read, how close behind her he was. But that pursuit would have been futile.
Victor was a mortal, chained to fate, destined to heed the whims of two heartless gods. She couldn’t concern herself with him any more than she concerned herself with the rats that ran through the sewers underneath her feet.
The walk to the stables did little to calm her. When Vi arrived, she could feel the sparks crackling around her knuckles. She scanned the mostly empty stalls, looking for a woman she recognized.
“You look like you’re ready to murder someone,” Deneya said, emerging and wiping her hands on a rag that she returned to a belt loop. “Don’t think I’ve seen you like this since Norin. Welcome back.”
“I need the sword you’ve been working on.”
“It’s not ready.”
“It’s going to have to be.”
Deneya sighed and shrugged. “All right, follow me.”
Vi followed her up a side stair that wound inside the outer wall of the palace surrounding the stables. Inside the wall was a series of doors that led to rooms for each of the stable hands, fitted with a bed, table, dresser, and a single window that overlooked the horses beyond.
“Here.” Deneya lifted a short sword from behind her dresser, holding it out to Vi.
“It isn’t long enough.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Vi pulled the sword from the scabbard. It was almost unnaturally light. The metal was nearly white from the alloys used.
“I was going to make a longer one. This was merely a first attempt. But it seems we ran out of time.”
“You’re right, he doesn’t know the difference.” Vi held out the sword before her, staring at the weapon intently. “Durroe watt ivin.” Yellow glyphs, tinted with white, surrounded the sword. They sank into the weapon and painted it with new colors. Bright splashes of blue swirled against deeper shades, nearly purple. Sparks of magic drifted off the weapon. Vi gave it a swing, watching the illusion cling to the blade.
“It’s more convincing than any other illusion I’ve seen here. I’m sure he’ll buy it.” Deneya laced her fingers and placed them behind her head. “But what’s the rush?”
“He’s suspicious of me.” Vi sheathed the sword. Even though it could no longer be seen, her magic fed the illusion. “I need to give him something.”
“Then I’ll pray to Yargen it works.”
Vi nodded. “Be ready to move, too. You might want to start gathering your things.”
“So early? I thought we needed to see them to the Crystal Caverns?”
“We’ll see. The crown isn’t here; I think it’s in Oparium.”
“Then you know where all the weapons are.”
“The crown’s location is still just a hunch.”
“And if your suspicion is right, you want to move to get the weapons all at once?” Vi nodded again. “I bet Taavin loves that.”
“Yes, well…” Vi looked at the sword, promptly ignoring the remark. “I should be getting back to Victor.”
Deneya stopped her from leaving by grabbing her wrist and locking eyes with Vi.
“Remember, Vi, he’s only seen how you fail. Never how you succeed. You’re the Champion, not him. You’re the one who’s going to show us all how this ends.” Deneya continued to hold her gaze. Vi opened her mouth, but couldn’t quite find words. So she shut it slowly, settling for a third dip of her chin. “I’m following you into this future, not him.”
“Thank you.” That was all Vi could
think to say. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was everything she meant.
“You’re welcome.” Deneya released her and the woman’s lighthearted manner returned. “Now, off with you. Go quell the rage of a sorcerer who thinks he’s powerful.”
“With pleasure.”
Sword in hand, Vi made her way back through the palace to the Tower of Sorcerers. The good thing about having spent years studying the architecture and maps of the Imperial Palace meant that if she didn’t want to be seen, she didn’t have to be. There was always a passage, and a passage deeper still, winding within walls and behind doors to get someone from where they were to where they needed to go.
Muffled voices indicated Egmun wasn’t alone, but Vi knocked anyway. “Enter.” And, for the second time in one day, she did.
Egmun was seated behind his desk, Victor across from him. The young man gave her a satisfied smirk. Vi ignored him completely.
“I have what you requested.”
“Show me.” Egmun’s eyes never left the sword. But Vi’s darted to Victor. “He knows of the crystal weapons.”
“Very well.” In a sweeping motion, Vi unsheathed the sword. It was whisper silent; the steel hardly reverberated underneath the illusion that remained solidly in place.
“There it is,” Egmun breathed, drawn to his feet. “It’s really there.” He walked around his desk, as if he were approaching a sacred relic. Vi continued to hold out the sword as he approached, holding her breath, waiting. Egmun’s fingers trembled as he reached upward. They came in contact with the illusion. Vi’s magic held. “It doesn’t feel the same as the other crystals.”
“This much power wouldn’t. It’s far more refined, not wild like the stones you use. This has been honed.”
“Yes, I read all about how Jadar honed the crystal with the blood and sacrifice of Windwalkers,” Egmun said lightly, as if stating a passing fact about the lineage of Solaris and not the most heinous period of the Dark Isle’s history. “Finally, after all this time, it’s—”
“Minister.” Victor stood, breaking the moment.
“What?” Egmun turned to glare at his young apprentice. But Victor wasn’t deterred.
The young man reached out his hand. With one finger, he touched the hilt at the guard, running up along the blade. Victor’s eyes narrowed. When he pulled his finger back, a line of red was cut into it.
“It doesn’t feel like our crystals, Minister, because it’s not.” Victor leveled his gaze at Vi. She met it and kept her face passive.
“What are you talking about?” Egmun balked.
“Look closer,” Victor practically snapped at the man. It seemed to jostle Egmun out of the power lust that had clouded his eyes. Now, he inspected the sword far more intently. “You’re a Waterrunner too. You know illusions.”
“What do you see?” Egmun asked.
“It’s a subtle… shift. Only visible when you touch it. A good illusion, indeed. But not a perfect one. There is no such thing as a perfect illusion.”
Vi watched as her hopes were crushed under the heel of Victor’s boot. Egmun wrenched the weapon from her hand. He waved it around, watching it carefully. Then, Egmun began to laugh.
“Well done, Victor. You passed our test. You may go.”
“Minis—”
“I said go!” Egmun barked. Victor dismissed himself, but not before giving Vi a rather satisfied side-eye. She had to hold herself back from reaching out and snapping his neck then and there. The world would be better for it. Of that, she was nearly certain. Once the door was closed, Egmun brandished the sword at her. “What is this?”
“The Sword of—”
“Lies!” he roared, slashing it through the air. “Lies, lies, lies.” Egmun slammed the weapon into the side of his deck and Vi watched it leave a deep gouge. Sure enough, her illusion writhed as the weapon wriggled. He pointed it back at her, advancing. “You, you’re a Firebearer. I saw it. You can summon flames.”
Vi held up both hands in an effort to be non-threatening. But tiny fires illuminated each of her fingertips. Both to prove his point, and to show that she could fight back if she wanted.
“How are you doing this?” He stopped. “Unless… unless you have an associate. Someone working with you. Was that why you were in the Waterrunner storeroom?”
“No one is working with me,” Vi insisted calmly. “The illusion is mine.”
“Impossible.”
Vi lowered her hands and with them, the illusion fell alongside her hopes.
“That’s impossible,” he repeated, looking between her and the now unveiled sword.
“It’s not when you know how to use the power of the crystals. I do have the Sword of Jadar. But I will not show you until we are leaving for the Caverns with Prince Aldrik.” Vi locked eyes with the man. “Consider this demonstration my proof of the sword.”
“You—”
Vi wrenched open the door behind her and stopped him mid-sentence. “You will summon me when we are to leave for the Crystal Caverns and not a moment sooner.”
Before he could answer, she slammed the door and retreated to her room, where the empty scabbard in her hand and the silence that surrounded her were solemn reminders of her failure.
Chapter Eight
Vi paced her bedroom, looking out over the city of frost that glistened like fire in the light of the sun disappearing over the Western mountaintops. Solarin shone brighter than ever before, for every day brought them closer to the prince’s coming-of-age ceremony. The relentless march of time continued against her, seeming faster and faster with each passing hour.
“We need to leave,” Vi said to Taavin, worrying the crystal stone that contained the power of the Sword of Jadar between her fingers. “We should take the Sword and go, get the crown before Victor can, and put an end to this.”
“We need to stay. Aldrik must go to the Crystal Caverns with the sword, otherwise we risk disrupting the flow of time so dramatically that a new Champion won’t be born,” Taavin said calmly, clearly trying to soothe her anxious energy. Vi bit her tongue. “You have already proved you can transfer the energy from the sword to the Caverns. All will be well. You’ll preserve Yargen’s essence.”
Vi curled and uncurled her fingers over the crystal in her palm, feeling the magic move and stretch. Manipulating Yargen’s power was becoming more and more instinctive by the day. The time she’d spent scouring the Tower and Imperial libraries for information on crystals, however little there was, seemed to help. It took a lot of reading between the lines, but there was knowledge there that enhanced her nightly practice.
“What if—” A knock on the door interrupted the thought, saving Vi from herself. It was three fast raps, followed by two slower ones. Vi opened the door to an illusioned Deneya.
“He’s on the move,” Deneya said as she entered, casting her magic aside with a flick of her wrist.
Several curse words lit across Vi’s mind. But she kept her voice level. “What’s happened?”
“Egmun went out this evening. He rarely goes by horse anywhere, so I followed.” Deneya was still in her stable clothes, hay clinging to the rough wool covering her forearms. “He met with some Westerners down the mountain, at one of the last inns for travelers.”
“Did you recognize these Westerners?”
Deneya shook her head. “But you know humans, they age so fast. I couldn’t tell you for certain if they weren’t boys the last time we were in the West.”
“What did they discuss?”
“It was hard to hear from my hiding place. I had to remain inconspicuous so I stayed outside, underneath a window by the booth where they sat. But I know I heard mention of the Sword of Jadar.” Vi let out the string of curse words this time and ran her hand through her hair. Deneya continued, “It seems you haven’t given him enough. Egmun doesn’t believe you have the sword.”
“So he found the Knights of Jadar to make sure they don’t have it.” Vi’s attempt at an illusion was costing them more than
she could’ve imagined.
“And, in the process, let them know that he does,” Deneya said grimly. “They attacked him on the spot, accusing him of somehow stealing it.”
“And Egmun?”
“He’s all right. Slipped out in the fray. Two Knights tried to follow him but their horses were spooked by a bear emerging from the woods.”
“A bear?”
“Like this one.” Deneya waved her hand and uttered, “Durroe watt ivin.” A large grizzly bear materialized in the corner of the room, roaring soundlessly. She released the illusion as quickly as she made it. “It was more convincing when I had curo with it, for the roar.”
“Thank you for helping Egmun out of there.” Vi turned to Taavin with worried eyes. “What do you think?”
“I think your time is running short.” He stood from where he’d perched on the low bookshelves by the window. “You can’t risk getting caught off-guard and having the sword stolen by Knights intercepting you. Aldrik taking the sword to the Caverns is a stone in the river, as I’ve told you. The sword will find its way to him… one way or another. But if you want to transfer the power, we ought to be the ones to see both prince and weapon to the Caverns.”
“I know.” Vi chewed over her thoughts, which were unpleasant as a piece of raw fat. She looked down again at the stone in her hands. “I’ll have to get him there tonight.”
“How?” Deneya asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll think of something.” In one fluid motion of light and magic, there was the hilt of a sword in her hand where there had previously been none. It was shorter than the original Sword of Jadar, just the right size to fit in the scabbard Deneya had made.
“You’ve gotten better with the crystals,” Deneya said, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes drifted to Taavin. “She been practicing when we’re not looking?”
“She must’ve been,” Taavin thoughtfully replied.
“No time to go over it now.” Vi returned them to the matter at hand. “Deneya, ferry some items between here and the horses. We’ll take Prism and Midsummer—get them tacked and ready.”
