12. Chapter 12
Chapter 12
“ D
id you use magic to fix this?” The man glared, snatching the cloak from her hands. “There are rumors about the elves who own this shop—nothing but trouble. You should be locked up with the other Order witches—too dangerous to have any magic around us,” the customer sneered.
She felt sick but stayed silent behind the counter.
“The other shop couldn’t mend anything for another week. They’ve been so busy. I had no choice but to come here,” he grumbled.
Tears welled in her eyes. “I promise you, sir, I barely used magic to mend your cloak. A simple enchantment spell is all.” They needed the business, but more customers had been suspicious of the elves who owned the tailor and sewing shop.
“People are talking, saying you’re hiding markings, and they’ve seen you perform master-level magic. This shop should be shut down.” He grabbed her wrist painfully. “Show me your markings.”
Crying out in pain, it was all she could do to stay calm.
Imani woke with a gasp. Tears ran down her face, and a bruise gleamed around her wrist. Was it a dream? Flashes like this happened more to her, even when she was awake. It was like she was Meira in them, and she was confident it had to do with the divination brand.
Imani wiped her eyes and tried to catch her breath, unable to shake the feeling her siblings were in trouble. Worse—she’d only received one letter from Dak and Meira to temper her concerns. They were supposedly doing well, but she was cut off from her family and missing them. Something wasn’t right, despite the words on the paper.
A cramp in her stomach caused her to hunch over and grasp her side. This had also been happening more often—her hunger gnawed at her. Imani hadn’t fed since her sister. She needed to feed soon, or these fever-like waking and sleeping dreams might intensify. Elves who starved themselves of affection and connection went insane. Feral.
Unable to sleep, she dressed slowly and trekked to the library. It was empty at such a late hour. The clock on the royal library wall chimed—it was well past midnight.
Imani scrubbed her hands down her face. The search for the Drasil remained at a frustrating standstill. Weeks of researching in the palace library had yielded nothing.
Massive stacks of books and parchment surrounded her like buildings in Stralas, and she could smell the old, musty papers and ink as she made her way to a table in the corner. It was marvelous, but she was too frustrated to appreciate it.
Confident she was alone at this hour, Imani laid out everything she had on the Drasil. First, she unrolled the map of Niflheim with the words “ Royal Vaults and South Chamber XII ” next to a circle around a structure in Kehomel, the capital of Niflheim. This was her most specific, profound clue about where a Drasil might be. It might be here in this chamber, in this vault, but if so, it was entirely out of her reach. She had no idea where these chambers were, and to go to Niflheim would be dangerous—a suicide mission without help. Help like Ara had had from the Niflheim royals, and help that had gotten her killed for working with them.
Going to Niflheim was out of the question. She needed to find another Drasil here in Essenheim.
Imani pulled out the scrap of paper with the list of wands and the words “ Royal Library. Manuscript 1148. Wand Efficacy of the Second Age ” scribbled underneath.
Nothing she dug through talked about the manuscript, and she hadn’t found one hint of A History of Royal Bloodlines book or the Drasil, either.
Meira wanted Imani to focus on returning to their family, but the more she read and reread everything she had, the more Imani’s mind fixated on the Drasil. Finding it—no, possessing it—was all she thought about most days. The idea of losing her magic choked her with fear. With her duties and choices never her own, magic was the one semblance of freedom she’d ever had in her whole life. If the Drasil could save magic and free her from her chains of responsibilities, she needed it.
She would find one even if it killed her.
Working for the Order for the rest of her life sounded like a death sentence. Meira would understand once Imani used the Drasil to repair the Fabric.
She sighed and let her forehead fall against the table, trying to think of anywhere else she could search tonight, but there was nothing.
At this point, Imani had read everything she could think of in meticulous detail, tried every combination, and grabbed any book looking remotely relevant. It was clear the manuscript and the book were located elsewhere.
There was one more place here in Stralas that possibly held the answer. Indeed, she had a gut instinct it did—the master witches’ restricted library. If it didn’t, she would find a way to the Draswood. Their library housed the most prolific history of wands in the realm, and despite being exiled, she would find a way.
This search wasn’t over yet.
Standing up, she made her way toward the back, like she had every night recently, at the same time and place. The library’s massive size meant weaving through a maze of shelves to the far corner.
Her mind buzzed with more possible workarounds as she made her way to the cordoned-off area of the library, almost too distracted to hear the whispers from between the stacks.
Once she did, she stopped, her heart pounding.
Imani hid among a row of manuscripts and peered through an opening. Her eyes widened, recognizing the heir apparent with Esa.
Esa glared up at Prince Tanyl, who shook his head while she unbuttoned his pants. He removed her hand, shaking his head once more.
Oh? They honestly thought they were alone. A sigh of relief escaped Imani’s lips.
They weren’t precisely arguing. Yet, judging by Tanyl’s exasperated expression and Esa’s defiantly lifted chin, they disagreed.
Imani narrowed her eyes. Esa hadn’t exactly lied, but she knew Prince Tanyl far better than she had let on.
Imani strained to hear more.
“I told you. It was fun before, but I’m not interested in continuing,” Tanyl said.
“What’s changed?” Esa shot back.
A long, tense moment passed, but he didn’t reply.
Esa let out a string of curses. “I can’t trust the bastard with anything . He told you, didn’t he?”
“Lore is a friend, and I’m not an idiot. I figured it out on my own. It’s all too complicated now.”
“It’s not. He and I are nothing. And this”—Esa motioned between them—“doesn’t have to be anything, either.”
He grabbed her, towering over her diminutive pixie frame. His voice was a harsh whisper. “In case you haven’t noticed, this place has become a tinder box. It’s too risky to sleep with anyone right now. I can’t. You shouldn’t, either.”
“I don’t believe you. If not for your friend , we wouldn’t even be having this conversation; we’d both be getting off, as we need.”
“Don’t be difficult. Accept my decision?—”
“Can I take this to mean you’ve gone celibate? Ceased all dalliances and turned into some pious prince waiting for your heartmate ?” she sneered.
“Please. Whores are one thing, but my relationships with other court females, even discreet ones, are done. Things have changed— are changing. I need to start thinking about my future, and so do you.”
Scoffing, Esa shoved past him, heading toward another row of books. He crept after her, and their voices dropped to a mere murmur not even Imani could hear before ceasing altogether.
Seconds later, the door shut with a faint click , and Imani was alone again.
Unable to take the chance at getting caught, she waited five minutes. Then she crept closer to the master witches’ section. Silence greeted her at every turn in the dim library, but she padded as softly as possible.
When she approached the door, it appeared ordinary, yet it was covered in thick, invisible magic, and a faint humming buzzed in her ears. Scanning the room, paranoid, she confirmed the library was deserted again.
She grabbed a pen from a collection of enchanted items in her bag. Most wards couldn’t keep out inanimate objects. Dropping it as if on accident, it rolled into the ward.
The pen hit the invisible wall and shot back, air rippling and vibrating with the force of the shield. Holding back a frustrated growl, Imani tried five more times with multiple items. After half an hour, she gave up.
These wards were beyond her skillset to break. Like the ones around the city perimeter, they were a thick tranche of complicated spells layered upon each other so they couldn’t be easily tricked or dismantled.
Grabbing everything she dropped and dumping it back in her bag, she turned to walk past the first row of books. Fine hairs on her neck stood up.
Imani stopped, glancing to her left. Her nostrils flared at the pixie staring her right in the face.
For several seconds, the two simply watched each other. Imani didn’t want to be the first one to speak. She wanted to know what Esa had seen.
After a moment, Esa finally broke the silence. “I’ll get straight to the point. You tried to break the wards around the master library. I’m sure you know the penalty for even an attempted breach is steep. So, what are you searching for that’s worth the risk?”
Imani deliberated. Esa had seen something she shouldn’t have, but so had Imani.
She tilted her head to the side. “It was fascinating to see you with the prince, and my, what a little liar you were, acting like you didn’t know him before. Lovers’ quarrel?”
Running her hands absently over the books on a shelf, Esa stepped closer. “If you saw us, then you know we are nothing. So, go ahead and shout it from the rooftops. Besides, if sleeping with the heir apparent were as serious a crime as breaking the Crown’s wards, they would hang half the city.”
“It didn’t sound like nothing. Are you in love with him?”
Esa chuckled. “Let’s stay focused on the matter at hand. Not only will I keep your little illegal activities up here a secret, but I can get you into the library. For my help and my silence, I want two things from you in exchange.”
“How can you get me in? Because you’re sleeping with the heir?”
“How doesn’t concern you.” She drew herself up to her full height and stared at Imani, eye-to-eye. “I may not be in Tanyl’s bed anymore, but I have his ear more than you. Are you interested, or do you want me to start blabbing?”
“I’m interested in your silence. What do you want?”
With a meandering gaze, Esa regarded her for a long time. “You’re mediocre at physical magic in combat, so you lose a lot but hate losing. I can see the red in your eyes when you’ve had enough, and then you fight dirty—without magic. It’s well-practiced street fighting, but street fighting, nonetheless. It’s the only thing keeping you right in the middle of the pack—exactly where you want to be, from what I can tell.”
“You’re wrong,” Imani lied. Truthfully, she had held back, trying to stay inconspicuous, but she didn’t dare admit it to Esa. She didn’t need more eyes on her.
A low laugh sounded from Esa. “Am I? You don’t know much about pixies, do you? I immediately noticed you carry yourself like a low or common breed. I bet a low of some kind taught you, maybe even a hobgoblin.”
Genuine surprise made Imani flustered. “Good guess. It was a hob.”
“I knew it,” Esa said with a nod.
Exposed, Imani crossed her arms.
Esa pressed on. “I’m going to be blunt—these new laws, all of us being brought here against our will and immediately forced into training for the assessments—you know something is wrong.”
“I agree it’s odd. But I’ll be blunt, as well. I’m ignorant about politics, nor do I care. All I want is to pass the assessments and find a way to return to my siblings.” A lie, but another necessary one.
The pixie tsked. “High-bred females in the capital with competitive magic are in a dangerous position. People like us are at the top of the execution list. The Crown will murder you and call it an accident before you return.”
A pit formed in Imani’s stomach. “Did something similar happen to your brother?”
“Don’t speak about my brother here,” she hissed, eyes blazing.
Imani backed off and held up her hands. “I’m sorry.”
Esa smoothed out her hair. “You and I need allies, and help. I want to train with you.”
Imani’s heart skipped a beat.
Assessments occurred in the spring, in a little over a month. Despite adoring her studies with the master witches, especially wandlore with Master Selhey, her nerves danced on a knife’s edge these days. There was so much to learn, and while she was progressing faster than anticipated, Meira’s magic veered more toward utilitarian rather than combat. The assessments would assuredly require her to be more physical than her sister’s magic allowed her to be.
“Why would you want to train with someone like me? I’m mediocre at magic.”
“I’m blackmailing you , so why I’m doing it is irrelevant.” Esa stared down her nose at Imani. “But everyone has some friends, even among enemies. Unlike elves, pixies have never been well regarded, and we don’t have anywhere near the same loyalty as your kind or shifters. So, when I look around at my choice of allies here, there are few.”
A memory surfaced from her last night in the Riverlands, when her sister begged her to make friends, and Meira’s words whispered in her ears.
“ Bare is the back of the friendless .”
Imani gave Esa one nod to continue.
“You’re intelligent and driven. You may be ill-trained and inexperienced, but you have undeniable potential to actually pass the assessments. And as much as you try to stay in the shadows, I’m not the only one noticing.” She paused. “Do we have an accord?”
The silence gave Esa her answer. The training was a good idea, especially since Imani did want to survive the assessments. While she didn’t plan on enlisting Esa’s help with the wards, she’d agree to almost anything right now to ensure her business remained unnoticed by anyone else.
“Excellent,” Esa said. “Now, I promise the second bargain will be easier for you to agree to.”
Imani furrowed her brows.
A wicked smile spread across the pixie’s face. “You’ll come with me to the Neshuin New Year party.”
“Only master witches and nobles get invites.”
“You’re a High-Norn elf, and even with the glamour dulling the typical luster of your kind, you’ve got your magic cunt. I mean, really ? You’re a fool if you’re not using it to its full advantage.”
Imani bristled. “I’m not having sex with anyone for you, Esa.”
“You don’t need to sleep with anyone for me … unless you want to, of course. I already have someone to go with, but his friend is dragging his feet. My date won’t go without him.” Her smile widened. “If I offer you up, I’m sure he’d be interested.”
“You fought tooth and nail when summoned here to Stralas, and now you want to go to a party with everyone?” This didn’t seem like an event Esa would be interested in, but again, Imani barely knew her.
“I don’t like my choices taken from me, especially by my government,” she said. “But if we’re forced to be here, we might as well have a bit of fun.” She fixed her eyes on Imani. “And I plan on having as much as possible while I still can.” Esa paused. “Agreed?”
While Imani didn’t like it, she had a soul draw for a reason. This could be the perfect solution to her hunger problem.
“Yes, agreed,” Imani answered right away. “Do you want to make this binding?”
“Well, you’d have to cast it since I don’t have a binding brand, so absolutely not, elf.” Esa huffed a laugh.
It was true. Imani had the advantage in a binding deal without a third party to administer it.
“Fine. But if, at any point, you want to drag more favors from me, think again.”
“Don’t mistake this as a soft spot for you. Just because we’re helping each other doesn’t mean I trust you. You’re up to something, and I don’t particularly care what it is. Keep your head down, train with me, and come to the bloody party.”
With those final words, Esa turned on her heel and disappeared around the corner, leaving Imani more hopeful than she had been in weeks.