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“You’ll become like those dark mages.”

“It is what we fear. You will not find a mage in this land who can truly recall every moment of their life before the war, and very few know what happened right after. But there are times when spell casts seem darker, when hope seems fewer. All we truly know, through writings, is our Blood Sacrifice was of House Ravenwood, and would return before the fiftiethFrostfell.”

“Winter,” she whispered. “Right? Frostfell is when it snows here?”

Destin grinned. “Yes. Weeenter. Is that a mortal word?”

Adira nodded. “I’m a little stunned, but I’m beginning to call them mortals too, like it’s natural.”

“It is natural. That is what they are,” I said.

“Yeah, well, try living amongst them without knowing magic existed, and see if you can make the switch so easy,” she bit back.

I tossed back the final gulp of my wine and used my sleeve to wipe my mouth. “I would never live among mortals.”

She rolled her eyes and I was certain I heard a softassunder her breath.

“Des—Prince Destin.” She laced her fingers on the table. “You want me to touch this cursed wrist band and if it shows something—like I’m a blood mage—what good would that do for this forgetting spell?”

“All curses are done through blood. Naturally, that made blood mages also curse breakers. Don’t mistake me, I’m not saying touching that arm ring will break our curse, but it could begin to unravel what was done.”

“Tell her the other reason you would like the blood mage, Brother.” I grinned when Destin frowned in my direction.

Adira waited, pinning the crown prince with a look of annoyance.

With a sigh, Destin went on. “We must find the missingskallkrönor.”

“What is that?”

“The skull crowns.”

“Brutal.” A twitch teased the corner of her mouth, like she might be fighting a grin. “And you don’t have it, I’m assuming.”

“There are two,” Destin said, somber, reserved. “Theskallkrönorbring a deep connection to this land. Spells and magic are strengthened. A king or queen would grow stronger in all the areas that benefit Magiaria—battle, healing, and the elements.”

“How were they lost?”

“To protect the land against the cruel ones, the crowns weretaken, hidden. We do not know where or by whom. Even though the cruel ones were destroyed, their curse remains, and without the deep connection to the land, we cannot stop the spread.”.

“What my brother means is, he is the heir, but without his crown, he can only use the strengths with which he was born, and it is not strong enough to ward off the spreading blight.”

Those bright eyes narrowed like verdant blades. For a moment I thought she might admit to the prince what she’d witnessed on Swindler’s Alley, but she kept quiet.

“Kagesh speaks true,” Destin admitted. “The degeneration will turn Magiaria into a world of brutality, selfishness, and greed.”

“But you don’t know for sure that would happen?”

Destin smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. “Our seers have dreamt it. I have dreamt it.”

By the skies, I was living it. Without a prompt, I rubbed a palm over my thigh, as though sensing the ache in the slow-spreading darkness.

“You hold a lot of stock in dreams then?”

“Many truths are blessed to the mage people through dreams. You will come to know that, I’m sure.” Destin paused, his fingers drumming the table for a moment. “So, the trouble is if Magiaria succumbs, our people will want to take power from other realms. It will be a compulsion.”

On this, I agreed. Even without the degeneration in my heart, when a desire to take up arms arose, it was damn near impossible to resist the lust for glory and battle.

“The other realms of magic,” I said, voice low, “will do anything to prevent another war. They will come against us, and if we are corrupted, they will destroy us. Magiaria will become another plot of endless wilds, and the mage folk will be nothing but sagas and folklore.”