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  My heart threatened to burst out of my ribs. The sharp tang of smoke filled my nostrils.

  “Cynet,” I breathed.

  I found his mouth and got lost for several moments in his embrace.

  Finally, I sat up, pulling away from him. “What took you so long?”

  He cradled the back of his head with one hand and reached up to stroke my cheek with the other. “I had some business to take care of. By Dera, you looked gorgeous tonight. I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

  I straightened my uniform. “I noticed. If you keep that up, your father’s going to insist on a chaperone day and night.”

  His fingers crept under my chin, tickling my neck. “I can handle my father. Can you handle your mother?”

  My breath caught in my throat, but I answered firmly, “Of course!”

  He started to sit up. “Then I guess we’d better get going.”

  The fear was like a spear thrust. I wasn’t ready. I leaned into him, giving him a sultry look. “Do we have to? Can’t we just stay here tonight?” I put a hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer. “I’d make it worth your while.”

  He stiffened and pushed me away. I saw by the set of his mouth that he was displeased. My fear threatened to crush me.

  “You know we can’t do that, Alswyn.” He stood up and grabbed my arm, pulling me roughly to my feet. “I’ve already put the black walnut in the fire. Get your coat. Let’s go.”

  For the first time, I realized that he had changed into his own warrior’s attire. His white fur coat was draped across the arm of one chair. Smoke wafted from it, though it wasn’t singed. Cynet would have arrived the same way we would depart, through the magic of black walnut ashes in the fire.

  My heart sinking into a mixture of trepidation and longing, I moved to the wardrobe and reached for my own coat.

  There was a knock at my door that made us both jump. I frowned at Cynet. They couldn’t find him here in my quarters, or there would be dire consequences.

  But Cynet didn’t seem worried. A familiar glint came into his eyes, a hungry look that I recognized. He was eager to work magic.

  “Let them in,” he whispered. “They won’t see me.”

  Instead of the white fur, I grabbed a wool robe and threw it around my shoulders, wrapping it over my uniform. I yanked off my boots and shoved them into the wardrobe, closing the doors.

  When the knock came again, I called, “Who’s there?”

  Bridei’s voice answered. “Alswyn, open the door.”

  I moved across the room. When I glanced back over my shoulder at Cynet, he wasn’t there. His coat was missing too. I swallowed hard, hoping his magic would keep him hidden.

  I turned the heavy brass handle of the door, pulling it open. Bridei stood just outside. She was dressed in a robe similar to mine, a dark wool with fanciful stitching along the sleeves and neckline. Her red braids were pulled back on top of her head, the ends spilling down her back. Her face was round, like Father’s, and the pout on her lips reminded me of him when he was angry. Her delicate auburn eyebrows arched suspiciously upward as she peered past me into the room beyond.

  “Mother sent me to check on you,” she said.

  I pulled the robe more tightly around me, hoping she wouldn’t notice the lumps the plate made. “Why?” I pretended to be annoyed. After months of practice, lies came easily to me. “I’m just retiring for the night. Does Mother think I’m sick or something?”

  Bridei crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe. “Maybe lovesick. You don’t have Cynet hidden away in here somewhere, do you?”

  I almost caught my breath, but I stopped myself. If the only thing Mother suspected was my disregard for propriety, then I was safe. She didn’t know where I truly went each night.

  “Of course not!” I snapped. “I know the protocols. I wouldn’t shame Mother and Father that way. Now, it’s getting late, and I’m tired, so if you don’t mind—”

  Bridei slapped a hand against the door as I tried to close it. “Maybe you should stay in my room, just until the wedding.”

  My anger flared. Bridei had no right to insinuate I was lying, even though I was. I wouldn’t let her appoint herself as my chaperone.

  I opened the door wider, glaring at her. “Search the room yourself, if you don’t believe me.” I knew Cynet’s magic well enough that I had faith his illusion would hold up against close scrutiny.

  Bridei’s expression mirrored mine. She stepped into the room and walked in a slow circle around it, looking everything over carefully. I almost expected her to lift up the edge of the rugs on the floor, as ridiculous as that would be. But she didn’t. Before she left, she paused in the doorway again.

  “Training is first thing in the morning,” she snapped. “Don’t be late again.” Then she left, almost stomping down the hall to her own chamber. I could hear the echoes of her footsteps for several long minutes.

  I closed the door, and turned around, leaning back against it with my eyes closed.

  “You are brilliant.” Cynet’s voice was closer than I expected. I jumped as an unseen hand brushed away my hair from the side of my face. Lips began to nibble at my earlobe, and little shivers went through me. I still couldn’t see him.

  “I’m tired of lying to them,” I whispered.

  “When we’re married, when you and I reign together, we’ll bring the worship of Dera to the people. Then there will be no more need for duplicity. Until then, please be patient, my love. You don’t want to spoil all our plans.”

  I nodded quietly and gave in to his caress. If only it could last longer than a moment.

  Cold seemed to rush in on me as I felt him leave my side. He reappeared, walking back to the firelight.

  “We really must be on our way now, love.” He held out a hand invitingly to me.

  I knew he was right. There would be no cuddling by the fire this night. In the worship of Dera, that’s not what a fire was for.

  I hustled to the wardrobe, exchanging the robe for my thick bear skin coat. I could feel his impatience as he watched me pull the boots back on then grab my broadsword and spear from their hooks above the mantle.

  When I took his hand, I said, “I’m ready.” But I didn’t feel ready at all.

  Cynet’s smile was tight, no longer the benevolent prince for whom a servant girl had baked a special treat, or even the lover who had kissed and caressed me only moments before. Now he was the emissary of the goddess Dera, the worker of ash magic strictly forbidden by my people, my sponsor in the dark arts, my teacher and mentor.

  He pulled me forward, and we stepped into the center of the fire.

  CHAPTER 2

  We exited hundreds of miles away from the castle, in the steep reaches of the mountains even further north than my father’s fortress. Although I had been here nearly a hundred times in the last several months, the shock of transporting so quickly still sent me reeling.

  Cynet steadied me with a hand on my elbow. But I shook him off. It was high time I started acting like the King’s Champion he promised I would be once he took over his father’s throne.

  I reached behind my shoulder to pull out my broadsword and held it in my right hand with my staff in the left. I stepped away from the burnt patch in the snow where we had emerged.

  The moon was high overheard, just more than half full. It brought a glow to the snow covering the ground, making it easy to scan for tracks. Even animals were sparse at this altitude, and I found few marks of their passing.

  The tips of the mountains rose in a ring above our heads. The black rock was riddled with white glaciers and frozen waterfalls. The biggest danger came not from people who might impossibly climb this high in winter, but from avalanche or hidden drops beneath the snowbanks.

  When danger prickles your neck, you can be sure disaster will follow. One of my mother’s favorite quotes echoed in my head, but served only to remind me that I was trampling her cherished beliefs by once again coming here, to this forbidden pl
ace.

  I pushed the guilt away by reminding myself that I was doing this for Cynet, my future husband. Mother told me when I was betrothed that marriage meant forsaking your former ties to devote yourself to a new life with your spouse. She didn’t know how prophetic her words had become.

  “All clear?” Cynet asked impatiently.

  I gave him a sharp nod and followed as he led the way around a craggy outcropping, down across a cove, and up the other side. I kept my sword at the ready and delved occasionally into snowbanks with the staff. But Cynet knew the way better than I did and avoided any hidden dangers.

  We soon approached the wall of a cliff covered by a frozen waterfall at least five feet thick. It fell away from the shelf on which we stood a hundred feet into a ravine lost in shadow below.

  Cynet stopped and pulled a box from a pocket of his coat. He opened the lid and scooped out a small amount of the cream inside. Rubbing it along his hands and face, he passed the box to me. I set down my weapons and followed his example. The cream smelled sharp and tangy. I had made it myself from the ashes of honey locust thorns, one of the early tasks of my apprenticeship. The cream was kept warm by a coal hidden in the bottom compartment of the box. It would grant us access to Dera’s domains and protect us from the enchantments there.

  After I finished applying the cream, Cynet put the box away and knelt at the very edge of the rocky outcropping. His lips moved, but I couldn’t hear the words he spoke. This was a spell reserved only for the sponsor of a new recruit, and I wouldn’t learn it until it was my turn to find new followers for Dera to educate. The thought of my family being forced to submit to Dera brought on a sharp stab of guilt that I had trouble pushing away as the waterfall evaporated into smoke.

  The door to the Black School was revealed. It was tall and narrow, made of burned wood that looked more like a long piece of charcoal than a door. It was studded with silver and decorated with twisted carvings that seemed to scald my eyes. I looked quickly at the ground and strode swiftly past Cynet when he opened the door and held it for me.

  He caught me around the waist before I reached the steps going down. His breath was hot on the back of my neck as he hissed in my ear. “This is your future, Alswyn. Stop refusing to look it in the face.”

  I swallowed hard as he forced me to turn around to the door he still held open with one foot. The snow sparkled in the moonlight outside. The prints of our passing left oblong shadows on the smooth surface. I shuddered with a sudden longing to go home, to forget about this night and all the nights that had come before it, to curl up at my mother’s feet and cry until there were no more tears to shed.

  Instead, Cynet grabbed my chin between sharp fingers and forced my face up until I was looking at the door. “Study it!” he commanded. “Memorize it! I will expect you to draw it from memory two days from now.”

  “Yes, Master,” I managed to mumble around the pain in my jaw. His fingers would leave a bruise. But as always, his magic would erase the visible signs of it, if not the pain.

  My eyes began to water as I inspected in the blasphemous carvings. My father’s work was beautiful, taking inspiration from nature and the creatures that lived in the hills around our mountain home. By contrast, the door to the Black School was riddled with monsters and demons, half animals and humans mashed together to form grotesque shapes with expressions full of rage. I blinked rapidly to clear my vision until I thought I could reproduce the images at will.

  “I’m finished, Master.”

  Cynet turned my head and kissed me forcefully. His teeth caught my lower lip and bit hard enough that I tasted blood. When he pulled away, he was smiling again. He brushed a strand of hair from my face. “Now, my love, you’re ready.”

  I shook my head, beginning to tremble with the fear that washed over me. “I need to go through the properties of elder ash again. My last spell was weak. Dera will reject me if I don’t—”

  His hand moved back into my hair, his fingers tangling painfully in it. I could see the annoyance overtaking his expression. I shut my mouth before it became complete disapproval.

  “There’s nothing you have left to learn,” he said slowly. “You are brilliant at memorization, Alswyn, the best student of anyone I’ve sponsored before. You know the properties of wood ash almost better than I do. Your spells are perfectly executed, but they lack the magic Dera can bestow. Most recruits have taken Dera’s vows by now. She will be displeased if you refuse to accept her any longer.”

  My heart sank into the toes of my boots. He was right, of course. If I wanted the brilliant future he’d outlined for me, I had to move forward. I had to take the final step that would forever separate me from my family.

  He tilted my head down and kissed my forehead, a soft gesture he hadn’t made since the announcement of our betrothal.

  “Don’t be afraid, my love. I need you by my side. This is the only way we can rule together. You will become a powerful sorcerer, maybe even as strong as I am. Don’t you want to conquer the world with me?”

  “Yes,” I whispered. I closed my eyes against the desire. “Yes. Of course I do.” I let the familiar dream wash over me. Cynet as the high king with me as his champion, crushing the Quahtl with the might of Dera. We would be the most powerful rulers the world had ever known. But more than that, I would be with Cynet forever.

  My voice was firmer as I said, “I’m ready now.”

  Cynet’s easy smile lit his face. It was this expression that had attracted me to him in the first place.

  From the pockets of his coat, he pulled out a stick of wood. I recognized it as black walnut.

  “What’s going to happen?” I asked, still apprehensive.

  He moved his foot, and the door swung closed with an echoing boom, leaving us in darkness. “I will lead you to the chapel where you will travel to the Plains of Dera to offer your service to the goddess herself.”

  CHAPTER 3

  I tried not to faint as I walked out onto the training ground the next morning. I was late again. Bridei gave me a disapproving frown, but I ignored her. I was too tired to care.

  It felt as though I’d been gone for years, but Cynet insisted it was only one night. Time worked differently on the Plains of Dera.

  When I awoke on the altar in Dera’s Chapel, I was hysterical. The suffering I endured on the Plains of Dera was like a raw wound, a thousandfold more painful than the mark etched into the heel of my right foot that still stung whenever I took a step. Dera had whispered that it was necessary to prove myself before she would accept me. After a while, I’d forgotten why I suffered. I only knew that it would never end. But it did. And I returned.

  Cynet had held me tight for a long time and kept me from hurting myself as the emotions drained slowly away.

  When I was coherent again, he gave me a potion that restored my strength enough that he could take me home. He had helped me from the altar, picked up the wooden figure he’d been carving in my absence, and led me through the twisting dark paths of the Black School to the surface.

  Now the potion was nearly spent, and waves of exhaustion kept breaking over me, causing my step to falter. I didn’t know how I would fare in practice today. In fact, it only took two minutes for Fyn to get past my defenses and score a hit. I signaled that I needed a break.

  As I stumbled to the sidelines, I saw my mother’s sharp eyes turn in my direction. She’d be over soon to lecture me about what I’d done wrong. I started working up an excuse.

  “I’m sorry, Mother,” I began when I heard the crunch of her boots grinding the frozen snow. “I was throwing up all night, and—”

  “A good warrior knows when to fight and when to back down.” She sighed heavily and sat beside me on the bench. Putting an arm around my shoulders, she gave me a quick squeeze. “I didn’t come over here to reprimand you, especially if you’re ill. I just wanted to ... Alswyn, you missed the announcement this morning of my retirement.”

  I propped my head in my hand, ducking my face so s
he couldn’t see it. “You’re really doing it?” I mumbled. Then, in a louder voice, “I’m sorry I wasn’t at breakfast, Mother.”

  “It’s fine, Alswyn. That’s not what I—” She took a deep breath. I had seldom seen her so flustered. I peeked up at her. “I came over here to ask if you’re planning to enter the tournament. For King’s Champion.”

  I blinked at her, confused. “What about Bridei?”

  My mother’s eyes flickered away from me. “Bridei is a very good warrior, and she will make a wonderful champion, someday. But you—” She licked her lips and looked back at me with a smile that made the lines around her eyes visible. For the first time, I realized that my mother was getting old. The thought frightened me. “I’ve never seen such potential in a warrior before, especially these last few months. You’ve gained confidence Bridei doesn’t have. That’s an important quality in a leader. The people will follow you, and I believe your skill will outstrip my own someday. You have the potential to become the greatest warrior our people have ever seen.”

  I rubbed at my temples so she wouldn’t see the flush that heated my cheeks. What she had noticed was the result of my ash magic. If she knew the truth, she would disown me, rather than offer me her position. My feelings were a jumbled mess. This was exactly what Cynet and I wanted, to rise together into the ranks of leadership, but it felt wrong to betray my mother’s trust this way.

  Mother patted my shoulder. “Well, you think about it, Alswyn. You certainly don’t have to give up the spear when you’re married.” Her laugh had just a hint of bitterness to it. “I didn’t.”

  I watched her as she stood up and walked away. Dera’s mark in my heel throbbed. Words kept going through my head. What have I done? What have I done?

  “THIS IS PERFECT.” CYNET almost purred, he was so pleased. He moved the carving knife expertly over the chunk of wood he held in his other hand. It was the same figure he’d been carving when I returned from the Plains of Dera. Now that I was more coherent, I realized the wood was prickly ash, an extremely rare wood used for only one purpose. He was crafting a golem to conjure a demon.