Page 114 of A Cage of Crystal

He narrowed his eyes. “You confessed that you entered through the Veil. If that’s the case, how do you not know what it is?”

Her mind raced, but she found her answer easily. Keeping secrets and telling lies to cover them was as familiar to her as her own skin. “I know I came through the Veil, but I don’t understand what exactly it is.”

“You’re asking about the Veil?” Cora was startled to find Garot suddenly between her and Valorre. Before now, he’d been walking behind them.

“Garot,” Etrix said with the same warning tone he’d used on Fanon.

Garot shrugged. “What? She’s clearly not dangerous.”

“We’ve yet to establish—”

“The Veil is like a curtain between your world and ours,” Garot said, a smile stretching over his round face. His tone had taken on a whimsical quality, like a bard telling a tale.

That explanation did very little to clarify anything for Cora, but it sounded like a way back to her world. If she couldn’t use her magic, then perhaps she and Valorre could escape through the Veil—

Wait. Would Valorre even want to return with her? Her eyes flicked to him, trotting on the other side of Garot. This was his true home. The place he’d come from.

I stay with you, Valorre conveyed in that same clipped style of communication as before. She wondered if it was his magic or the translation enchantment that allowed their connection to remain. It didn’t seem like he could speak to the three Elvyn, and they hadn’t bothered to address him when they’d inquired about him having come from her world. Once again, her connection with Valorre defied reason. Well, all but one.

The witches amongst the Forest People had kept pets now and then, and some had even claimed an animal as their familiar. She’d always scoffed at the claim. To her, it was another unimpressive quiet magic she hadn’t put much value in. But she valued quiet magic now. Very much so.

Which made her wonder…was Valorre her familiar?

You are my home,he said, and she didn’t need her magic to glean his conviction.This is no more home. Sorry I brought us.

Her heart warmed and broke all at once.Are you in danger here? Is that why you left?

Don’t remember.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t take us any farther by Path,” Garot said, stealing her attention. “We can’t use themoraonce the Blight begins, which is why we’re proceeding by foot.”

Several words stuck out to her.By Path. The Blight. But one lingered in her awareness. No, it was…two. When he’d saidmora, she’d heard two words at once:moraandmagic. His mouth had formed anOto suggest the former had been in his language and the latter had been the translation. That was the first time she’d heard two words simultaneously. Did that mean…shesort ofknew the word in its native tongue?

Insigmora.

Morkai.

Morkaius.

All those words containedmorormorain some form, and they’d all come from the fae language, as far as she knew. She recalled thatMorkaimeantKing of MagicandMorkaiusmeantHigh King of Magic. She’d never been told there was any translation forinsigmora, but now she understood what part of it meant. Of course her tattoos were named for magic.

Now for her remaining questions. “What did you meanby Path? Was that the tunnel we walked through?”

Garot puffed out his chest with a proud nod. “I’m a pathweaver. I can navigate vast distances in a short time by weaving a portal.”

Her next question was on the tip of her tongue. She hesitated before speaking, ensuring her tone came out as nonchalant as she could manage. Anxiety still crawled up her throat while grief at losing her magic weighed heavy on her shoulders, but the hope of returning home once she reached this Veil helped her keep her composure. Or at least pretend to. “If I’m unable to return home through the Veil, could you take me by Path—”

“No,” Garot said, his grin disappearing. He glanced at Fanon, still leading their party from far up ahead, and lowered his voice. “Traversing worlds is something only a worldwalker can do. And worldwalking is a repulsive, invasive magic.”

Damn it. She supposed there was no point appealing to his carefree nature in hopes that he might offer her aid. Still, she appreciated that he was at least answering her questions. “What isthe Blight?”

“Did you not see it when you entered?” Etrix said from her other side. Though she’d first deemed him the kindest of the three, she was starting to realize he was the keenest too. “If you entered through the Veil, you would have seen it.”

“I was asleep on Valorre’s back,” she rushed to say. “I didn’t realize what had happened until I’d woken up and found us in the meadow. That was when Valorre told me he’d accidentally taken me home by crossing the Veil.”

He studied her for several beats too long.

“You’ll see the Blight for yourself soon enough,” Garot said, pointing a finger straight ahead. “We’re almost there.”

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