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Alyra’s talons pinched sharply into my shoulder.

‘… you’ve made it,’ Lyn was saying, her young voice reaching me from miles away, and only then did I realise that she must have been talking to me for a while. ‘Take a seat. People have some questions for you, as I believe you may have noticed.’

Right.

Questions.

‘Of course,’ I said, even the sound of my own voice a fraction distant. Thank the gods my limbs knew what to do; my body walked itself to the nearest chair as my mind adjusted tothe dizzying change in perspective, the grotesque discrepancy between the me I knew and the me the world was seeing. ‘Sitting. Such a wonderful thing to do during a meeting.’

Those who had jumped up in the heat of the argument at least had the decency to look a little ashamed of themselves as they hastily slunk back into their chairs. Lyn pressed her lips tight in a suppressed grin; Nenya threw me a quick, fanged smile. Naxi’s quiet greeting was more of a whimper.

Tared still didn’t look up from his nails.

Not even the shortest glimpse – as if he’d never exchanged his wryly amused glances with me during so many escalating meetings before, those conspiratorial looks reassuring me that I was not alone in my exasperation.

It was his motionless silence that did away with the surreal detachment of it all and plunked me right back into the reality of the moment – my annoyance focusing my thoughts, as always. Damn him, then. If this was how he wanted to play the game … Well, as long as he didn’t jump up to declare me a liar and a traitor, he and his grudges could go enjoy each other’s company for all I cared.

I was a godsworn mage, for hell’s sake. I was not a pawn in this game. I didnotneed his bloody approval to deal with this meeting exactly as I saw fit.

‘Wonderful,’ Lyn said as I took my seat, just enough bite in her voice to shut down several others who had already been opening their mouths. ‘Let’s see – where do we start?’

‘Seemed to me like you had already started a rather lively debate,’ I said, smiling sweetly with my glance around the table. ‘Very interesting arguments. Did anyone bring up the point that we’re not exactly ready to start breaking bindings yet?’

I shouldn’t have felt so good about the ripple of agitation that ran around the table – but hell take me, itdidfeel like a triumph, seeing their faces go blank for another moment.

‘I have mentioned the possibility, yes,’ Lyn said, a pointed undertone to her words that told me she had likely done so several times, using increasingly explicit language, with consistently little result. ‘What is your estimate of the situation?’

‘The main issue is identification,’ I said, leaning back in my chair a little more comfortably. Alyra impatiently shifted her balance to stay in place. ‘As far as I’ve been able to see, there are no labels or catalogue books to be found anywhere in the Cobalt Court. Which means I have no idea which of the bindings belong to which individuals.’

A few disconcerted murmurs went up on the other side of the table.

‘I see,’ Nenya cut in, glaring at the blond vampire who seemed about to launch into another dramatic monologue. ‘So what you’re saying is that, unless we want to risk matching random bindings with random people—’

‘I don’t want to end up with fire magic and some phoenix male’s wings, Nenkhet,’ one of the nymphs snapped.

‘Well, that’s the most optimistic outcome,’ I said, smiling even more sweetly. ‘We don’t even know whether magic can be moved around like that – whether some random binding could be compatible with anyone else. The fact that the Mother has never granted herself alf or phoenix powers seems to suggest it’s not possible, I’d say. Worst case, we might be losing all the magic in that binding or harm the receiver’s health.’

The murmuring had quieted into a back-and-forth of even more disconcerted glances.

‘And you don’t even have a theory of what exactly would happen?’ Valdora broke the brief silence, her lips pursed into her distinctive look of unimpressed annoyance. ‘I thought you said she was the authority on the matter, Lyn.’

‘I’ve had this magic for three days,’ I said coldly.

Her nose wrinkled impressively as she scoffed. ‘Some expert you are, then.’

‘For the gods’ sakes,’ Lyn muttered through gritted teeth. ‘Valdora—'

‘Oh, it’s alright,’ I said, clinging to my saccharine smile as if I might drown the wiry alf female opposite me with it. ‘I’m well aware I have plenty to learn. Why don’t you tell me how we’re going to solve this problem, Valdora, with your long and plentiful experience on the subject of texture magic?’

She froze for just an eyeblink too long. ‘Of … I beg your pardon,texturemagic?’

I smiled even more pleasantly.

‘Look.’ Her chuckle was joyless and sharp as the blade on her back – almost sharp enough to hide her confusion. ‘Clearly,I’mnot the most knowledgeable person here. I’m just saying we should perhaps look for some actual experts, rather than an inexperienced child whose loyalty to the cause is still unclear. That’s—’

‘A lovely idea.’ Had this been any other occasion, I might have flung the insult straight back into her face and reminded her that perhaps the head of the house infamous for its startling illiteracy rate was hardly in a position to doubt anyone’s scientific opinions on any matter. But Ihadfelt her pain with Zera’s bag in my hands, Ihadunderstood for just one heartbeat what old hurts were driving every word she spoke, and even if the words in question made me wish I’d brought Creon after all to make good on his threats, I knew damn well that retaliation would only make everything worse. ‘I would agree with you, if the actual experts existed. Which doesn’t seem to be the case.’

She narrowed her eyes at me, distrust written in every line on her face. ‘Of course you’d say that.’