Chapter 29 #3
Then she remembered Karine’s cryptic words. “The key to your prayer in Golheim will be.” They had assumed the answer lay within the Library of All Things, the most logical place. But in truth, the answer had been Mrs. Ilden this whole time.
Alissa sighed. She was supposed to feel relieved of finally learning the truth, but instead, she was completely overwhelmed.
“How did you know all that, Mrs. Ilden? We have read hundreds of books, and none of them mentioned this story.” Eldric crossed his arms. He was so furious, his face was almost the same shade as the red curtains behind them.
“I’m a Ksaren, dear, so were my ancestors.
And although the kingdom wiped all traces of the truth from our books, my family carried it as a secret for generations to prevent us from using magic.
This realm aims to extinguish our kind. If they find out there are any of us left, there will soon be none. ”
“Listen to me carefully,” Mrs. Ilden warned, her gaze fixed on Alissa and Freyah.
“You cannot tell anyone about this. You two are a threat to the Crown, to the secrets only you can expose. If they discover you are from Bryniard, they will kill you without hesitation.” She took a deep breath, her expression grim.
“In fact, they might already know it, if the door-to-door search they are conducting for you is any indication.”
“What are you talking about?” Eldric asked, his shoulders tense.
“Iron Claw soldiers came to my house two days ago, specifically asking for your names. They’re sweeping through Golheim searching for you. I thought you knew.”
“They know we’re here,” Alissa stated, petrified. The stakes of knowing the truth revealed that they were in much more danger than they had anticipated.
“Do not underestimate the Iron Claws, dears. Contrary to what our people believe, their duty to this realm is to keep the true story of Bryniard a secret at all costs. They have no integrity, and they are merciless.”
Even as a Royal Guard, Eldric had never suspected the Iron Claws’ true purpose for the Crown.
It all made sense now, why they guarded the walls when no monsters lurked beyond, why they were involved in the export from Bryniard.
Hell, Eldric hadn’t even known they exported ale from Bryniard until he was tasked with picking it up this one time.
It dawned on him that if he hadn’t been assigned to transport this shipment, Alissa and Freyah would likely have been killed.
Panic surged, bile rising in his throat. “We need to go. We must leave the capital before they find us.”
“If you need a place to stay for a while longer, I know somewhere you can hide,” Mrs. Ilden proposed.
“Thank you for the kind offer, Mrs. Ilden, but I think the safest option in our situation would be to leave immediately,” Eldric said, looking at Alissa and Freyah to make sure they agreed.
But there was still one thing Alissa needed to find out before going back to her loving child. The most important piece of the puzzle. “Do you know how I can break the curse and save my daughter and the rest of Bryniard?”
For a moment, the woman flinched at her seat, and Alissa thought Mrs. Ilden’s answer to her question would be a no.
“You know… my family has tried to save your town for generations, but after all our investigation, we have come to the conclusion that only a mage with Zeity power could break the curse. Unfortunately, our blood has only ever carried Ksaren power.”
Alissa frowned. “Does that mean that if I don’t have the Zeity power you speak of, then my child has no chance of surviving the curse?”
The teacher nodded, her lips in a thin line. “Unfortunately, that is what we believe, yes. If you are lucky enough, you will have what it takes.”
Alissa felt sweat trickle down her back.
She glanced at her hands and realized even her palms were damp.
The chances of success seemed even slimmer than she could have expected.
She hadn’t been convinced she was a mage to begin with.
But now, to save Dhalia, she would need not only magic in her veins, but a particular kind—the magic of flesh and time.
“Let’s assume she is indeed a Zeity mage. What then?” Eldric sat at the edge of his seat, his feet tapping nonstop.
Mrs. Ilden took a deep breath. “We believe the only way to break the curse is to bring back the universal balance Thayan had destabilized when he brought Karine back to life.”
They were confused for a moment until Freyah interrupted. “What does that mean?”
“It means Alissa will need to take the life of someone she loves with Zeity power in the same place a life was given all those centuries ago.”
Alissa felt her heart thunder and her legs fail. Eldric and Freyah exchanged glances; the heaviness between them carried unspoken words Alissa immediately understood—both of them would be willing to surrender their lives in the effort.
“I will surrender my own life then. It is decided,” Alissa stated, determined.
“That will not suffice, dear. Taking your own life would not have the same effect as sacrificing a loved one. Not in bringing back the order of things.”
“Wouldn’t she be breaking the Magic Edictum by killing someone else?” Freyah asked.
“Not in this case because she would be, in fact, reversing a mistake of the past.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Alissa yelled in desperation.
“It doesn’t have to make sense, dear. Magic rarely does.”
After a while sitting in silence, Mrs. Ilden began explaining everything her family had uncovered about the curse and how they could supposedly break it. She wrote down each word meticulously in handwriting that Alissa wasn’t sure she would be able to comprehend.
Alissa watched everything in complete numbness.
She glanced at her friends. Behind their focused, determined gazes, she knew they were as horrified as she was.
She had thought finding all the answers she had been looking for would bring some sense of relief.
Alissa could never have imagined that the truth would bring her more panic than anything else.