Page 105 of Crown of Briars
“Tislora will make an elixir.”
“Yes, you mentioned that before. But can you tell meanythingelse? What is causing these Necro Shadows? If it’s not you behind it, who is it?”
The words rose to my lips, eager to burst free after all these years. But my mouth clamped shut of its own accord, controlled by the magic of that damned sorceress.
“All right.” Sybelle raised her hands in surrender. “Can you nod or shake your head? Is that allowed?”
Slowly, I nodded.
She exhaled in relief. “Good. Is someone else controlling the Necro Shadows?”
Mother of Shade, how was I supposed to answer this? After a moment, I nodded.
“Do you know who is controlling them?”
Another nod.
“Do you know where they are?”
I shook my head.
She started to pace, one arm curled against her chest and the other raised so she could chew on her thumbnail. “Do you know how to find them?”
Again, I shook my head.
“Hmm.” She walked the length of my bedchamber, her eyes distant as she worked over the information. Then, she stiffened and turned to face me. “Is this person dead?”
I nodded.
“Shit.”
I chuckled without humor. “Shit indeed.”
She laughed, then ran a hand through her hair. I was momentarily distracted by the way the chestnut tresses fell around her head in tousled waves, wild and free.
She looked stunning, despite the pallor of her face and the tangles in her hair from running through the Noxen Forest.
“Everything I’ve read about fae magic says it cannot supersede the fae’s lifespan,” she said. “So it doesn’t make sense that someone can conjure magic and thendie, and that magic lives on.”
I said nothing. Even if I could speak, I wasn’t sure what to say. The sorceress had possessed untold power, unparalleled by anyone my court had ever seen before. It was very likely she’d been strong enough to maintain this spell even beyond the grave.
And it was also quite possible the books Sybelle had read from were untrue.
Sybelle’s wide eyes fixed on me. “Was this person fae?”
My mouth pressed together, forming a thin line. It had been nearly a thousand years since the spell was cast. The clans of witches had died out since then. Technically, they had fae blood in them, but it had been a distant line. Distant enough for there to be a division between our species.
I looked at Sybelle and shook my head.
Her lips parted in surprise. “Not fae,” she whispered to herself.
I cocked my head at her, fascinated by her process. She began pacing again. I noticed she chewed on her fingernails or her lip when she was concentrating. That faraway look in her eyes was identical to how she looked when something piqued her curiosity.
“You hesitated,” she said, pointing to me as she paced. “Which means there might have been a reason to sayyes, this person was fae. If this happened long ago, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say the bloodlines mingled later on. So…” She gasped and whirled to face me once more.
“A witch,” she said with a triumphant smile. “The person who cast the spell was a witch, wasn’t she?”
Damn. My eyebrows lifted, and I gazed at her, impressed and awestruck. She was much more brilliant than I gave her credit for. “Well done, human. I’m not sure that this helps you, though.”
