Shaya’s eyes were thoughtful. “Yes. We gave her a very rare vase from the Rowan castle’s original art collection. Later, she said that she would also like to take back something representative of the Thorn Land, no matter how small, so I made arrangements for that. She was very insistent it be from that land. I believe it was some sort of copper plate, but I can find out for sure.”

“No need,” I said. “What matters is that we gave her something. And you did too, right?” That was to Dorian. He shrugged.

“Perhaps. I don’t pay attention to such trifles.”

I repressed an eye roll. Dorian might not keep up on his household’s day-to-day affairs, but I had no doubt some wily servant had made sure the rules of etiquette were followed on his liege’s behalf. And, in fact, I was willing to bet every monarch in the blighted kingdoms had followed suit.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” I asked Volusian. Everything was starting to fall together. “All the gifts we willingly gave are what are being used to maintain the Yew Land’s spell. They’re tied to our kingdoms and were given freely. The ‘freely’ part must be crucial. Otherwise, she would’ve just stolen random things. The gifts provide a physical connection to us that the magic’s being worked through, allowing the blight to continue so long as she possesses those objects.”

“That would be my assumption, mistress.”

“And they’ve probably got those objects under lock and key.”

“Another valid assumption, mistress.”

“Would destroying these objects break the enchantment?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Volusian. “With no tangible tie to your lands, the Yew magic users would have no way to maintain the enchantment over such a long distance.”

Remembering that there was always the potential for information that Volusian wasn’t readily providing, I racked my brain for other pertinent details. “Is there any other way to break the enchantment?”

“You could kill or incapacitate the magic users.” There was something about the way he said “incapacitate” that made it sound worse than killing. “However, destroying the talismans are most likely the simplest solution. They would all be kept in one place. The magic users can be scattered at any given time, and it is unclear how many are needed for the spell. If Varia has planned well, she will have more on hand than she actually needs, should something happen to one or two of them.”

“Well, that’s settled then,” said Rurik. It was clear he had less patience than I did for Volusian’s communication style. “We head over there and break all the gifts.”