Page 146 of A Baron of Bonds
“I don’t know why you’d lie about this, but I do believe you’re capable of it.”
“I’d rather you believe me, but whether you do or not, it remains true. I was born with great power that Arcaynen had never seen before, and I chose to share it because I was a fool. I shared it with the forest I loved, the sister I loved, and the man I loved.”
I gulped water from Revich’s cup. “Prove it. Find a way to prove that what you say is true, and then I’ll believe you.”
“You will not like how I prove this to you.”
“Try me.”
“My sister can confirm the truth. Someone you already trust.”
“Your sister still lives? Just as ancient as you?” I wrapped my arms around Revich’s neck as his swept over my back. I would cling to him as my lifeline as I tried to understand exactly what the Blightress was saying.
“She was given some of my power, so yes, she lives, just as ancient as me.”
I settled myself into Revich’s lap, my face pressed to his neck, holding him tightly. “Give me her name then.”
“Thalia was the name given to her at birth. Now, she now goes by another, and I believe you know her for her cinnamon buns.”
Chapter 60
Rev
Karus chewedon her bottom lip, her arms folded across her chest, one leg over the other at the knee with her foot jostling up and down. She stared across the kitchen at the dough tucked into a cold tray for Lia’s morning cinnamon buns.
I had never paid much attention to Lia’s magic. I’d assumed she was simply a channeler, brought to the Fortress to train, but not passing the conduit trials, had stayed to use her magic as the Fortress cook.
I had not guessed she was the sister of an ancient, evil woman who not only plagued my forest, but plagued my love, and threatened our home.
I paced, eyeing all of her tools, all of her stone slabs and gold utensils, coming to the conclusion that by not paying more attention, I had not figured out that she used lapis magic in her cooking.
“It’s a bit early for you two to be up and about.” Lia’s voice came through the door to the servant’s quarters.
I turned from studying the stone oven to address her, tossing the book in my hands across the counter. “Lia, we need to talk.”
She read the title,To Train a Conduit: A History of the Conduit Trials,and sighed heavily. She bundled her thick, blackhair back into a knot at the top of her head, a dark contrast to her pale skin, and picked up the book. “How do you know about this?”
“The book you wrote as Thalia Lighton or the fact that you’re Visalia’s sister?” Karus asked indignantly.
“She told you?” Lia shook her head, closed her grey eyes, and raised her brows. “That was not her secret to tell. Though, I’m not surprised. Why did she tell you this?”
“Lia, are you working with the Blightress? Are you helping her in any way?” I doubted it, but I needed to ask.
She huffed and moved to her tray of cold dough, lightly touching the round pastry and then whispering a spell to the metal tray to begin to warm it. “Of course not. I have not spoken to my sister in five hundred years. I am simply the cook in the Fortress.”
“You are much more than that.” Karus rose from the small table and came to Lia’s side. “You have lived for how long, Lia? You’re a lapis conduit? A powerful one?” She shook her head. “I don’t think you’re malicious at all. I think you’re hiding.”
“I am not hiding, I am merely living. I have done great things, seen terrible things. I just want to feed people and be left to live.”
I cleared my throat, shoving my hands in my pockets to feel the rhyzolm. I’d never once used it to gain knowledge of Lia’s power, but it hummed now in my palm as I faced her and said, “We don’t wish to change that, but we ask for your help. The Blightress insists on telling Karus her story through their connection. Is it true she gave her magic to Felgren? To you?”
Her shoulders dropped and she bent her head. “Go sit down, both of you. I’ll make us a nice cup of tea and something quick to eat, and we’ll get this out of the way. I won’t talk about my past on an empty stomach.”
Karus frowned at me, and I shrugged one shoulder.
She slumped over the table, her chin in her hand, her fingers drumming on the surface while she gazed out the window at the smallest sliver of sun peeking over the earth.
I clasped my hands in front of me, watching Lia put things together. She set down a kettle, three cups, and a plate of dried meat along with Karus’s favorite cheese.
