divided its soul into three, to prevent any thief from taking the whole.
And he will do more, she thought. He is that desperate.
All the while, Leos Dzavek had continued to press forward, driving her into a corner. His flesh could not hold her spirit, but his magic could. She had to escape into Anderswar, lure him far away from the Mantharah, and hope Valara Baussay discovered Lir’s third jewel in time. It might mean her soul trapped in the magical plane, but she could not risk his capturing ruby and emerald both.
She was about to murmur the invocation to magic, to make that leap, when a ripple of shadow and light caught her eye. Valara Baussay stepped over the threshold into the study.
“Leos,” she said softly. “You forget yourself.”
Her spirit shape was little more than a brush of darkness against the ivory walls. Her eyes were bright and fierce. Two dark patches—her tattoos—stood out clearer than in the flesh.
Leos swiveled around to face the intruder. “Andrej.”
His voice was like the hiss of metal over stone. His lips thinned to a sharp line. He and Valara stared at each other, their expressions a mirror of like emotion. A wolf and a fox, Ilse thought. Two beautiful, savage animals.
“Give me the ruby, Leos. Give me Rana.”
“No. I have need of it—to protect my kingdom.”
“So that you might send more ships against mine? I cannot risk that.”
Leos smiled faintly. “Ah, yes. You said much the same, that other time, when you tried to persuade me to yield to the emperor. A month later, you led his army against me.”
The old challenge and response had grown more bitter over the passing centuries. Ilse circled around to the far end of the room, thinking she might take advantage of the situation while their attention was locked on each other. Dzavek glanced toward her sharply, but when Valara Baussay glided closer, his attention flicked back. His hand tightened around the ruby, which gleamed dark and ruddy, so that its light spilled through his fingers like blood.
Valara paused. Her chin jerked high. She lifted her right hand in a fist and muttered a phrase. A dark blue fire poured through her translucent skin.
Dzavek’s mouth softened into a smile. “You have Asha.”
“And you, Rana. We are well matched.”
Wolf and fox stared at each other. The bitterness was gone, the only emotion left a cold calculation of the other. Then, so swiftly Ilse did not see the gesture until complete, Valara swept both hands up. Her lips were already moving in the invocation to magic, but Dzavek acted only moments behind.
“Ei rûf ane gôtter. Komen mir de strôm unde kreft. De leben unde tôt.”
Magic burst against magic. For one instant, the air burned bright and still, so still, it was as though the world’s hourglass had paused in turning. Then, a gout of cold fire rushed outward. It tore through Ilse’s spirit essence. Blinded, she fell back against the wall. This was like the moment when flesh translated to spirit, dissolving, caught by the winds of magic. More and she would vanish altogether.
… ei rûf ane gôtter. Ei rûf ane Lir unde Toc, ane bruodern unde swestern …
All three jewels were shouting, great ringing tones that echoed from the walls. The winds of magic did not lessen. They streamed around and through Ilse, but no longer tearing at her essence. She could see nothing—the fire burned brighter than before, if that were possible—but she heard and tasted and smelled the magic, felt the signature of all three jewels pressed against her ghost form. Daya, the strongest, like a brand upon her finger. Rana, dark and angry. Asha, a river of silver. They spoke a language beyond her comprehension. Older than Erythandra. As old as the world itself, born from the Mantharah when Lir and Toc made love.
… komen mir de strôm. Komen mir alle kraft …
The words vanished into a crescendo of bright tones. Ilse heard them, saw them, silver shaded with dark and edged with the sharpest of light. Faint, oh so faint, she caught a glimpse of Valara’s signature, the fox slipping between, and once of Leos Dzavek’s. Then the magic of the jewels overwhelmed her again. As from a distance, she heard a single bell tone, and the word, Now.
Now.
The air cracked, the world divided. Her vision turned black …
… silence … emptiness … the faint tattoo of her own heartbeat … the green of magic rolling over her skin …