“Temptation is strange, Lady Tea—it crawls out of unexpected places. The idea that she could shape magic to her own desires may have held some appeal. I assume it was a cause for shame among the asha, and most information surrounding her death was buried quickly.”

“That might not stop others from trying to make shadowglass.” Khalad spoke up. “People never believe paint is wet until they have touched it for themselves. Somehow I don’t believe Aenah or Usij were willing to wait and let Stranger’s Peak pass judgment on them.”

Likh frowned. “So you’re saying we need to at least hide the bezoars?”

“That’s been worrying me for some time,” Kalen said. “Why not collect them sooner? Surely they could have gathered all the bezoars before we ever came into the picture?”

“I think it’s because of the resurrection seasons of the daeva,” Khalad theorized. “They tend to be staggered—the taurvi takes seven years, for example, and the nanghait three, and so on. There’s never been an occasion where all seven daeva could be resurrected to take their bezoars at the same time. When the savul can have its bezoar harvested, the zarich’s would be close to rotting. The azi had not been sighted since the Great Heroes’ lifetimes, and gods only know where Aenah found it.”

“Not anymore,” I argued. “First Minister Stefan said the nanghait had been resurrected earlier than expected. I think someone’s discovered a way to raise the daeva before they’re supposed to.”

“Then it must be a recent discovery,” Khalad said. “Aenah and Usij never raised their daeva earlier than their cycles. Druj must be the culprit.”

“Does a rune like that exist?” Kalen demanded.

Agnarr paused. “Yes, it does.”

“What happens to the daeva after you incorporate their bezoars into shadowglass?”

“They fall under the thrall of whoever holds the shadowglass. Their owner’s death before its completion will simply condemn them to their usual demise, to await resurrection once again. Their mortality becomes permanent only when magic truly disappears.”

I considered that. “So they’ll be docile if their owner commands them to?”

“What exactly are you getting at, Tea?” Kalen asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know yet. But surely, surely there’s a way we can. Lord Agnarr, I saw a vision inside the mountain.”

Agnarr traded glances with his daughters. “Rarely can an asha pass one of the trials,” he murmured. “Much less two. You are only one of four in history to have ever done so.”

“Almost isn’t the same as being successful,” I said brusquely. “I saw Kance’s soldiers fighting blighted Drychta. Have I seen the future? Was Stranger’s Peak responsible for my sight as well?”

“For better or for worse, our mountain rewards the worthy, my lady. Duty offers brief glimpses of what may come, and Honor offers strength.”

“And that is all the assistance I can expect?”