Isabel shrugged. “I guess it’s all a matter of perception. He believes that I’m his puppet, a tool he can use to undo my husband. That belief will allow me to get close enough to strike.”
Trajan shook his head. “He’ll kill you.”
“Perhaps,” Isabel said quietly. “But I have nowhere else to go.”
“Why?” he asked.
Isabel hesitated, unsure of how much she should reveal.
“He’s infected me with his dark magic,” she said. “Even now, it’s working to subvert my free will and turn me against everything and everyone that I love.”
Trajan sat back, staring at her intently.
After a moment, Isabel decided she had a few questions of her own. “Why doesn’t my magic work?”
“So you admit to being a witch,” Trajan said, sitting forward again.
Isabel shrugged. “Of course I’m a witch. I’m a triumvir of the Reishi Coven.”
Trajan frowned in confusion, appraising Isabel intently before speaking again. “Magic is forbidden on Karth. It has been since the end of the Reishi War. My father heard reports that you used magic to kill a man. That’s why we were sent to capture you.”
“If the House of Karth outlawed magic, then how have you stood against the Regency for so long?” she asked.
“The Regency also prohibits magic,” Trajan said. He paused, staring at the table as if weighing how much to tell her. “Only the witches of the Sin’Rath Coven possess magic on Karth,” Trajan said, “and they are widely believed to be a myth—a story parents tell their children to make them behave.”
Isabel stopped chewing and stared at Trajan, her mind working furiously to understand the implications of his statement. “But you know otherwise,” she said.
“Yes, the Sin’Rath are very real,” he said. “I do not trust them, yet they hold great sway over my father.” He stopped as if he’d said too much.
“Trajan, I can help you kill Phane, but I need to know what I’m dealing with here. Did you capture me at the behest of this Sin’Rath Coven?”
“I believe so,” he said. “The order came from my father, but he has been working very closely with the coven since the Regency attacked and scattered our forces into the jungle.”
Isabel leaned forward intently. “Why won’t my magic work?” she asked again.
He regarded her for a moment before nodding as he withdrew a vial from his pouch.
“The jungle contains a great many plants,” he said. “This is nectar of the malaise weed. It diminishes a person’s emotions. It’s commonly used to aid people grieving for the loss of a loved one. My father’s orders were very specific. You are to be dosed with malaise-weed nectar once per day. I don’t pretend to understand why, but I was told that it will prevent you from using your magic.”
She sat back in her chair and breathed a sigh of relief. At least the loss of her magic was only temporary.
“Why don’t you trust the Sin’Rath?” she asked.
“I will tell you a story,” he said. “Some years ago my eldest brother spoke harshly of the Sin’Rath. He told me how he resented the influence they held over our father and how he intended to reject their counsel once he ascended to the throne. Then he went to meet the witches for the first time.” Trajan paused, lost in thought.
“He returned a changed man. He was enamored with them, spoke of their great beauty and wisdom, pledging to work hand in hand with the coven for the greater glory of Karth. My brother was not prone to sudden changes of mind; he was a very deliberate and thoughtful man. But one meeting with the Sin’Rath and he was under their spell.”
“So you’ve never met them,” Isabel said.
“No,” Trajan said, shaking his head. “My mother forbade it. I believe she secretly hated and feared them, though she never spoke openly of it. I’m to meet the Sin’Rath for the first time when I arrive with you,” he said as he stood.
“I need to think about everything you’ve told me. If you truly are Phane’s enemy, then perhaps together we could bring him down. There will be more time to talk on the trail. We’ll leave within the hour. Your equipment will be returned to you, but your weapons will not.”
“Fair enough,” Isabel said. “What about my armor? The jungle’s a dangerous place.”
He appraised her for a moment before nodding.
Chapter 4
Trajan and his twenty men moved through the jungle with the same kind of ease that Isabel could travel