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Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Epigraph
  6. BEGINNINGS
  7. PART I
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. PART II
  45. THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. THIRTY-NINE
  48. FORTY
  49. FORTY-ONE
  50. FORTY-TWO
  51. FORTY-THREE
  52. FORTY-FOUR
  53. FORTY-FIVE
  54. FORTY-SIX
  55. FORTY-SEVEN
  56. FORTY-EIGHT
  57. FORTY-NINE
  58. FIFTY
  59. FIFTY-ONE
  60. FIFTY-TWO
  61. FIFTY-THREE
  62. FIFTY-FOUR
  63. FIFTY-FIVE
  64. FIFTY-SIX
  65. FIFTY-SEVEN
  66. TRICKSTER
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. Also by Susan Dennard
  69. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  70. Newsletter Sign-up

Stix instantly grabbed for her waters, even as Ryber shook her head. Even as Stix felt Kahina touch the jade ring and fresh flames awaken in her muscles, her veins, her soul. But then flames ignited around Ryber—real flames from a Firewitch—and she vanished in an instant. The entire wooden stall did.

Stix screamed, Douse!, with her throat and her mind, but her magic couldn’t answer. Not while Kahina’s pain stabbed though her.

“Enough.” Kahina’s voice bent into Stix’s ear, crackling like a fire’s heartbeat. “I have your friend, Water Brawler, leaving you only one choice: tell me where the blade and glass are.” At this command, the pain in Stix’s body receded enough for her to see Kahina’s eyes, blazing with reflected flame.

And enough for her to frantically scour her mind for some other lie. Some other trick of words to fool Kahina and her blighted ring. Perhaps if she said the tools were somewhere in Saldonica. Or that she didn’t know precisely where they were. Or maybe if she said they’d been broken …

Stix never got to speak. Not before the Hammer lifted his arms, revealing a shattered blade and a shattered glass. “The girl was carrying them with her. They were right beside you all along.”

Somewhere in the flames that imprisoned Ryber, Stix thought she heard a muffled scream, thought she felt a wordless apology vibrate through what little water still remained in the arena. Which was wrong, all wrong. None of this was Ryber’s fault. It was Stix’s and Stix’s all alone.

Now Kahina had the tools that would destroy her. The tools Eridysi had made so Paladins like Kahina would never rule the land, while Paladins like Stix would always remain to protect it.

Kahina had the blade and glass. Kahina had won.

FORTY

The night was cold, the wind sharp. But the woolen cloaks Leopold had chosen for himself and Safi were thick, and Zander at Safi’s back blocked the brunt of the wind’s bite.

The only words exchanged in the past two hours had come from Leopold. “How do you feel?” he would ask. “Fine,” Safi would answer, hoping no lines snaked up her neck or across her face. Leopold always accepted her answer, though, and the Hell-Bards never noticed anything.

A good sign, so long as she continued to feel herself—and she did, even with the frost snapping at her organs. Digging into her bones. So long as she kept moving closer to Iseult, closer to Uncle, she could ignore this strain.

Snow fell all night. Soon, a thick dusting had replaced all melt from the day before and managed to wriggle into any exposed spots on Safi’s body. The tops of her boots, the edge of her collar, the tips of her sleeves. Until eventually, she was too cold to keep going.