The torture chamber had been one floor down. There was a big temptation to go check on the situation there, but I’d already deviated from the plan once today. So, I kept going down the stairs, down to the fourth subterranean level. We met little resistance on the stairs but were swarmed with guards as soon as we headed down the corridor toward the room holding the gifts. It was closed with double doors, just as Kiyo had described to me. Hadic’s hands blazed with blue light.

“You know how to stop the blight?” he asked me.

“I think so.”

“Then do it. We’ll hold them off.”

All five monarchs seemed to be on board now, much to my relief. I had to assume their powers, even a little weakened, were more or less comparable to mine and Dorian’s. Could the two of us have taken on this force of soldiers? Probably. Or at least made a damned good showing. That seemed to favor the odds of this group handling everything.

“The room’s at the end of the hall,” I said. “Come to us when you can.” If the incantation didn’t work, I was going to have to try the brute-force method to shatter the enchantment.

Jasmine and I had to squeeze our way past the mob of guards and magic users, but fortunately, the monarchs did a good job covering us. Once we reached the double doors, we encountered a few more sentries, but the bulk of the forces were engaged elsewhere. Jasmine and I easily took this handful out and tried to open the doors. Unsurprisingly, they were locked. Rather than search for keys on the guards, I simply blasted the doors open. It was kind of therapeutic after my recent frustrations.

We hurried inside and came to a halt. It was exactly as Kiyo had described. A wide vault of a room with high ceilings. Two piles of objects sat before us, ranging from statues to jewels to cloth. One collection was quite small, the other sickeningly large. Each of those objects represented a kingdom held in thrall by the blight, every single one of those kingdoms suffering as badly as my own.

Jasmine darted toward them, the desire for destruction written all over her features. “Wait—” I called.

Too late. She hit one of the invisible walls protecting the stash and bounced off it, stumbling back and hitting the floor. Flushing, she got back on her feet and glared.

“It’s really there, huh?”

“Yup.” My ability to sense various types of gentry magic was erratic, but I could feel this, even though I couldn’t see it. It was strong—very strong. I wondered again how many it would’ve taken to build it.