Page 6 of Witchlight
Cam blanched, setting off the pale spots on his face. He looked sick. He looked frightened. “You’re… right. Of course you’re right, Your Imperial Majesty. I’m sorry I even suggested such an idea. I wasn’t thinking.”
Vaness’s iron faltered. “Well…” Her gaze flicked to Vivia’s.
And Vivia pursed her lips in a way that said:We discussed this, Vaness. You’re supposed to be nicer to everyone.
“You… should… not be sorry, Cam.” Vaness tried to smile. It was terrifying. “It was a good idea. In theory. Just one that I fear is too risky. But, Idoappreciate you thinking in new ways.”
Think beyond,Vivia thought again, and she frowned once more at the door. At its bewitching glow. At the carvings she could almost—although onlyalmost—swear she had seen somewhere before.Probably in the under-city or the Cisterns.Lovats had so many secret corners and ancient passages.
Including the underground lake surrounded by foxfire that only she knew about.
“We’ll station guards here,” Vivia said, finally withdrawing from the door. “I’ll let Shanna choose who—unless you’ve an opinion on the matter, Your Imperial Majesty?”
Vaness rolled her eyes. “Of course not, YourRoyalMajesty. I trust your Fox captain to choose wisely.”
Vivia smiled and opted not to point out the thirty-seven times (and counting) that Vaness had very openlynottrusted Shanna’s wisdom. “Thank you, Cam,” she told the boy as she released the ferns and backed away from the limestone. The magic’s charge receded. “As our esteemed Marstoki Empress here just said—”
Vaness sniffed primly.
“—it’s good for us to be thinking in new ways. So keep your ideas coming, please.”
“Hye, Majesty.” Cam saluted, fist over heart. “I’ll try.”
“I know, Cam. You always do.”
It had become their nightly routine to sit beside the Origin Well and watch the sun set over the Jadansi. There were so many people who wanted a piece of Vivia’s time. They demanded it even, these vizers and captains, sailors and soldiers and shop keeps. Then there were the supplicants too—and the sycophants, whose flattery was more dangerous than their desires ever were.
So Vivia’s time beside the Well was sacred.No one,not even Cam, was allowed to interrupt it.
The Empress of Marstok always sat on a stool on the left; Vivia always sat on a stool on the right; and together, they watched the day end in the west and the night awaken in the east. The Water Well burbled behind them. The sea’s breeze gusted ceaselessly, and the river that the Well fed into churned and chopped.
So much water. And all of it calling to Vivia.Listen to us, Little Fox. Use us and control us.
Vivia wished she could. Every hour, every second, the hunger ached inside her. A craving that could never be sated. A love that must remain unrequited.Come, Little Fox. Be one with us, like you used to be.
Vivia knew if she relented, it wouldn’t beshewho was in control. Because that had already happened against the Dalmotti navy. It had been too much. Vivia and Vaness had barely come back from that deluge of water and iron taking over their minds.
So, ever since, Vivia had avoided the salty, enticing currents in the Jadansi shouting her name. She’d avoided the river and the Well just behind. She could bebeside,but she could never go in.
How Vaness kept iron always upon her body, Vivia could never comprehend. Then again, Vanesswasthe Destroyer of Kendura Pass. Her power had manifested young, and perhaps the thought of being without the iron frightened her more than the thought of iron claiming her soul.
It hadn’t escaped Vivia’s notice how often Vaness rubbed at her Witchmark. A square tattoo for Earth and a single vertical line for iron.
And whenever Vaness rubbed, Vivia automatically did the same. Like right now, her thumb massaged the upside-down triangle with a wave inside.
She dropped both hands to her sides. “I want to go through the door,” she declared, lifting her voice over the breeze.
Vaness didn’t look away from the flaming sky. Her hand didn’t stop pressing at her Witchmark. “No.”
“Ahtset,”Vivia countered, angling toward the Empress. They spoke in Marstoki, as they always did on these nights. Silly as it might seem, Vivia felt she owed the Empress. In all ways, Vaness had made a true effort to adapt to Nubrevna: she wore the clothes, she braided her hair, and she spoke Nubrevnan all day long.
So a few words in Marstoki? It was the least Vivia could do. Besides, it was good practice for a queen.
“Don’t dismiss the idea, Vaness, simply because you’re worried it’s a trap. What if it’snota trap? What if the door just opened up because the magic is fickle—and what if itstays? Then imagine the strategy we could have on our hands.”
“I am imagining,” Vaness said flatly, “and all I see is violent death.” Her left bracelet slithered up her arm to form a band near her shoulder.
“Because you’re assuming the mountain is the same as when you went through it. But what if it’s like when Cam went through? What if it’s not collapsing, and hecouldnavigate us to Lovats? It’s a brilliant idea—you have to admit that. Just as it was brilliant of the Raider King.”
