The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(66)

The boy asha looked up. “Oh…I’m not—I’m not a girl.”

“My apologies,” Agnarr said gently. “Your heartsglass is not afraid to speak its honesty, and I only follow what it expresses. But if that troubles you…”

“No. No, it doesn’t. Th-thank you, milord,” the asha stuttered.

“There are other things you are afraid of, Lady Tea, that you do not say. You are afraid for your brother, estranged as you are.”

I started.

“I see it clearly in your heart. Your brother walks a thin line between the lands of life and death. To use shadowglass means to give up the Dark. But to give up the Dark means to give up your brother, and that you will never do.”

I nodded, speechless, trembling at how quickly Agnarr saw through me.

“Our people guard the secrets of Hollow Knife. It is to our benefit that the world knows little of shadowglass. You have no intention of taking its power for your own—I see that much.”

Khalad spoke up. “Why haven’t you completed the spell yourself?”

“None of our people draw the Dark. We can channel all runes but those. It was deliberate—our blood does not share in the curse of Little Tears. We can accomplish shadowglass without an outsider’s help no more than they can succeed without ours.”

“Lady Mykaela helped you?” I found myself asking.

“The zarich rarely makes its way this far north, but on one occasion it drew close to our territory, long before the Dark asha Sakmeet made Farsun her home. I promised to gift her the best of our horses at the zarich’s passing. But Lady Mykaela was not fit for our purpose without her heartsglass. Though she has reclaimed it, she has been greatly weakened.”

“So Mykaela knew about shadowglass?”

“No. There are trials Dark asha must agree to take before we impart our knowledge. She knew nothing.” His eyes settled on mine. “You are the first to come to us armed with that knowledge. Have you come to volunteer?”

“What would she be volunteering for exactly?” Kalen asked suspiciously.

“There are two key components of shadowglass—the light and the dark. To attain the light, the essence of the Five Great Heroes must be distilled into a silver heart. We have perfected a technique over the centuries, which allows us to forge one without taking a life.” He looked at Khalad. “I believe, Heartforger, that you and your master, Narel, had discovered our method.”

Khalad nodded, awed. “It only looks easy in hindsight.”

“The other is the dark, and that is a far more dangerous route, one that only Dark asha can safely create.”

I nodded slowly. The words came easy from memory. “Present yourself with a heartsglass of black, where love’s blood had shed over, and seven daeva’s bezoars. Boil the stones separately, and drink a vial’s worth of their waters. Weave Compulsion in the air; its heart shall reveal itself to you. Take it into your heartsglass—”

“And be born anew,” Agnarr finished. “The process will not be gentle.” He smiled at the incredulity on our faces. “We are all connected. Sea and sky can influence each other, though they never meet. The words you speak come from the same legends we honor.”

Wordlessly, Khalad rose and went to our packs, rummaging until he found a heavy pouch. Returning, he upended its contents on the ground. Bezoars rolled out. The taurvi’s stopped beside my foot.

“Where did you get this, Khalad?” I gasped.

“From the Dawnseed apothecary. Mistress Salika’s mother suffered from the early stages of dementia, and she was kind enough to give me the remains of the taurvi’s bezoar in exchange for a healthy heartsglass. And here is the aeshma’s from the year before, and the bezoar of the savul you fought in Daanoris. And of course, the zarich’s from Istera, and the nanghait’s from Yadosha.”

“But how did you get all these?” I asked.

“First Minister Stefan didn’t care about the nanghait bezoar, quite frankly. King Rendorvik offered the zarich’s back to me. And as for Empress Alyx…” Khalad cleared his throat. “She doesn’t know. I swore Salika to secrecy.”

“Khalad!” Likh gasped.

“They imprisoned Tea, Likh. I knew the elders would seek it out sooner or later. I couldn’t talk to Alyx without one of them in attendance, so I took it before they could.”

“And the aeshma?” Kalen asked. “It was slain in Odalia, Khalad. By rights, Kance was supposed to have it.”

Khalad sighed. “He gave it to me two months ago, when I visited him last. He thought it would be more beneficial in Tea’s hands than in his.”

“Kance said that?” I whispered.

“But what do we do with them?” Likh demanded. “Are you going to let Tea use her own heart?”

“If I volunteered,” I asked, thinking, “what can I do to keep my brother alive?”

“Tea!” Kalen exclaimed.

“The First Harvest kills those who do not bear the shadowglass,” Lord Agnarr said, “not even the Great Heroes were exempted from that tragedy, and all save Rashnu the Just perished. Including Vernasha herself. But to one that possesses the light and the dark, the First Harvest is like mother’s milk. Distill the juices of the First Harvest into a familiar’s heart, to take back what death had decreed.”