“You’re acting sane today. Please tell me what the duke did to you isn’t responsible for this pleasant change.”

She winked at me. “Don’t worry, dearie. It won’t last.”

I didn’t find that reassuring.

She spider-walked her fingers over the crystal wall. Black lines branched out to cover the glass. Writing, but nothing I knew how to read.

“What does it take,” I said, “to become a god?”

“Oh, it’s not so hard.” The spidery glyphs branched out, flowed into passages. The fact I couldn’t understand them didn’t stop me from feeling like I should. “At least, it wouldn’t be hard for you.”

“I don’t want to be a god,” I said.

“Everyone wants to be a god,” she retorted, her voice hot. “The reason my ‘master’ hasn’t asked is because he doesn’t realize I know how. He didn’t gaesh me. His grandfather didn’t even gaesh me. You know who did? Cherthog.”

I looked over at her, eyes wide. “What?”

Her chuckle turned nasty. “He’d been one of my students. Never liked him. It was just after Vol Karoth killed the rest of the Eight. After I made my breakthrough, Cherthog turned up on my doorstep with this little blue rock, about this big.” She held thumb and forefinger apart to demonstrate. “The Stone of Shackles. And that was that.” She held up the bear cub with her other arm. “Isn’t that right? Who’s been a bad boy? Was it you? Yes, it was you!”

She saw me staring at the cub, must have seen the question in my eyes. “You know you can’t be too specific with a gaesh command or you’ll kill the person, and if you’re too vague, you leave loopholes. Cherthog wanted to be hidden from the Quuros. And Suless did that for him, didn’t she?” The old crone waved a hand. “To Hell with them all. None of them appreciate me. Kaen’s no better than Cherthog. He’d make himself a god if he thought he could.”

“Kaen hates the gods. He thinks it’s his destiny to find Urthaenriel and kill the Eight Immortals with it, remember?”

She continued weaving her words across the wall’s clear surface. “Because he thinks they aren’t doing their job. Which is a fine way of saying he’d do a better job. When people pull down their idols, they never hesitate to put themselves on those same pedestals.”

I started to feel dizzy, looking at the unfurling words … “What—what are you doing?”