“Oh.” He pointed to Janel’s knee. “Please stop.”

She stilled her leg. “I’m sorry. So why did you want to see me?”

“Ah yes. One moment.” Brother Qown stood up and fetched a notebook. He removed the spell making the journal look like a boring treatise on fireblood genealogies of southern Koenis. “I apologize this has taken so long, but it’s been difficult research. I’ve been researching Quuros war magic—I’d have vivid nightmares if I dreamed anymore—but I’ve finally made some progress.”

Janel straightened. “Qown, I asked you to look into that years ago.”

He paused, wondering if he’d done the work unnecessarily. “Have you made any progress on your own?”

Her lips thinned. “No.”

He nodded. “Honestly, I’m not surprised. Now I’ve made some assumptions about why you wanted to know about war curses—” He paused to give her a significant look. Janel intended to win over the duke by curing the Spring Caves. At least, that was his theory.

She motioned for him to continue.

“—and as a result, I think what you’re looking for is a way to protect yourself from the ore called razarras. You already know how to protect yourself from Lysian gas—that’s the blue smoke—with the air glyph, but razarras is different. Quur unleashed this horror without a way to counter its effects. They just didn’t care. Since Quur knew how to cure tissue damage, any accidental exposures on the Quuros side would either be healed or considered an acceptable loss.”

“Please say you’re telling me the bad news, and good news follows right behind.”

“I’ve been able to find several methods of protecting yourself from the effects of the metal. Several reports suggest the risks of exposure to it can be blocked by, well, other metal. Dense metals like gold or lead are the most effective, but rock will also stop the poison. This is why the whole castle isn’t contaminated. Although I worry about our water supply. It’s only a matter of time before this poison leaches into the water reservoirs—”

“Qown,” Janel said, putting her hand on his. “Is there a way to remove it?”

“Yes, but it will require transmutation, which isn’t easy magic to learn or cast. Most mages, even wizards, never learn how. Someone would have to undo the magic Quur used to create the metal in the first place—and we’d need to do the same for the witch-smoke. Unless we plan to permanently tattoo that glyph on the entire Yoran population.” He paused and looked uneasy. “I, uh … it isn’t in my normal skill range. It’s also slow, so I’d be poisoned while doing it. I tend to work better with flesh and—”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m not expecting you to do this. I will.”

Qown stared at her. “What? Janel, you’re not that good at magic.”