“I don’t make a habit of speculating on such things, my lady,” Martin said, but I saw the corners of his mouth creep up.

My vote was for Thibault the Corpulent.

I turned back to the book and flipped to the portrait of Anushka. “Martin, why would she have broken the mountain while she was still in the city? Why risk her own death?”

“No one knows for certain, my lady.”

“And if she was powerful enough to break a mountain, why didn’t she break herself out? Why did she suffer through everything that went on down here for the four weeks it took to dig out, and then curse the trolls?”

Martin shrugged. “It is not in my nature to– “

“Speculate, I know.” I frowned at the book. It simply did not make sense for her to have broken the mountain while she was in the city unless it was some act of suicide. “Could a troll break a mountain?”

“One troll?” He shook his head. “No. Not possible.”

“What about several working together?”

“It’s feasible, I suppose.” He didn’t look very happy at the direction I was going. “But that isn’t what happened. The witch broke the mountain, waited until safety was in our grasp, and then uttered the curse.”

“Are curses anything like troll magic?” I scratched my head. “How is it possible for her to still be alive after so many years? Are you even certain that she is?”

Martin’s face pinched together – apparently I’d offended him. “Troll magic is not the same as human magic, which is to say witchcraft. Not the same in the least. And we know she is alive because the curse is still in place.”

“But how?” I persisted.

“Blood magic, my lady. The dark arts.”

“What do you know about it?”

“Little. It is human magic that draws power from the spilt blood of sacrifice.”

I frowned. “Is all human magic dark? Is blood the only source of power?”

He cleared his throat. “No. My understanding – which, I must reiterate, is limited – is that blood magic is not the norm. Most witches draw power from the earth by tapping into the power of the four elements.”

“What can they do with their power?” I persisted. “Other than curse trolls.”

Martin looked uncomfortable. “A witch can affect the world with the words she speaks. Heal other humans. Convince them to do things.”

My whole body jerked. “What do you mean, ‘convince them to do things’?”

He shrugged. “I mean what I say.”

What he was telling me was alarmingly familiar. “The ability to convince…” Did that mean? The countless times I’d been able to convince the inconvincible scrolled through my mind. Could it be that what I had always attributed to willpower was something else entirely? Sweat broke out on my palms. “Where does troll magic come from?”

“The fifth element: spirit.” He tapped his own chest. “Our magic comes from within. Witches are merely conduits of the earth’s power.”