Page 64 of Sonnets and Serpents
“Highness, you’ll want to hear this.”
Eliza scurried over to the desk, only to be met with Yvette’s grin.
“Silas was just telling me about your very romantic kiss.”
Flushing red, Eliza glared at Silas, but he was busy glaring at his professor.
“This is your fault,” he said. “The only reason I kissed her was to break the Cast, but it accomplished nothing.”
Yvette waved a hand. “You know as well as I that magic is as much about emotion and intention as it is about action. If you aren’t both in love with each other, then the kiss won’t strike the right chord for the Cast.”
“You could have told me that to begin with,” he griped.
“You didn’t seem interested in the details. As I recall, you were adamantly against any relationship with Her Highness, even one as simple as translator.”
Before she could talk any more about relationships, Eliza cut in. “You had something for me to hear?”
Sobering, Yvette touched Eliza’s bracelet, leaving a faint glow, a moment of light capturing a fingerprint. “I examined Silas’s bracelet again, at his request. There has been a change in the Cast.” After Eliza’s panicked gasp, she hurried to say, “Nothingwrongwith it, only a sad reality—the Caster behind it is gone.”
It took Eliza a moment to sort that out. “You mean she’s ... Are you saying she’s dead?”
“Casts remain upon death, but there is a ripple in the magic, as if it mourns the creator.” Yvette shook her head. “It means you can’t seek her out to end the Cast, and she would’ve had the easiest time doing so.”
“But you can do it,” Silas pressed.
“With a great deal of effort, and I have expended too muchtoday.” Yvette’s faint smile betrayed her words. “Besides, I believe I made my own terms clear when you first sought my help.”
“I think the kuveti took Henry!” Eliza burst out. “We’ve searched, but ... Is there any way you can find out if he’s in the prison? Baris said you have connections there.”
Yvette squinted at her husband, who whistled innocently.
“Connections... is not what I would call it.” The professor sighed. “Finding out if there’s a Loegrian prisoner shouldn’t be impossible. I’ll look into it. Give me a few days.”
Impulsively, Eliza hugged Yvette, regretting her boldness for only a moment before the Stone Caster gave her a return squeeze that may have bruised a rib.
“Thank you,” Eliza whispered, glancing up to include Baris in the gratitude as he approached.
When Yvette stepped back, Baris slung an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple before pointing at Silas. “If youare grateful, soft-bellied snake, then you buy papayas!”
“Maybe,” said Silas.
“And you!”
Eliza jumped as Baris’s thick finger pointed close to her face. The merchant grinned.
“When you need more Pravish words, you come to my stall.” He lowered his voice and leaned in like a conspirator. “And make him buy more papayas.”
Eliza laughed.
They walked back to the earthquake dorm in a gray dusk. Silas’s posture was relaxed, his hands in his pockets, his hair ruffling in the gentle evening breeze. Eliza breathed in the salt from the ocean and smiled.
When they reached the dorm hallway, she found herselfreluctant to go in her room. She paused, playing with a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a birthday gift for you,” she said. “I’d get you a book, but odds are you’ve already read it.”
Silas leaned on the wall beside his door, shrugging. “It doesn’t matter.” He tilted his head. “When I was growing up, my sister, Maggie, would always try to make a fuss. She’d drag me out on horseback to some little clearing for a picnic.”
Eliza raised her eyebrows. “Don’t horses hate snakes?”
