“A few years ago.”
“You don’t seem too grieved.”
“Witches don’t have very close relationships with their daughters,” Miryo said. “The babies are raised by the Void Hearts, at the domain halls. My mother was transferred later to Trine; I stayed in Insebrar. We get ten years of schooling in a local hall; then they take us back to Starfall, and we spend the next fifteen years there.”
Mirage whistled soundlessly. “And I thought Hunters trained for a long time. We start at ten and finish at twenty. So you’ve just graduated, as it were?”
“Pretty much. Would have, if it weren’t for you.” Miryo felt less bitter over it, though, than she had.
“What happened?”
Miryo described the testing procedures, glossing quickly over the preliminary questioning and the Elemental trials. “And then they open the channel that was created in the connection ritual. It’s blocked, you see, until you’re mature and can handle it. And even then some can’t; the power kills them. I survived, but got blasted, and that’s how they knew you were alive.”
Mirage held up one finger to pause her for a moment. “What happened right before that?”
“Before the power? The Elemental tests. They’re tests of character; you have to be determined enough, but able to bend, and to stay calm, and to fight back when necessary.”
“I count four Elements. What was the last one, Void? What happened in that one?”
“They showed me a glimpse of the Void.” Miryo shivered at the memory.
“And what trait does that test?”
Miryo opened her mouth to respond, and froze. She closed her mouth slowly, then said, “Wholeness of self.”
“Interesting.” Mirage’s eyes narrowed. “This was shortly after Midsummer?” Miryo nodded. “I felt it. I was riding along the road, minding my own business, when I felt this weird… presence. As if an old friend was there with me—but gone an instant later. I barely had time to register that, and then I keeled headfirst out of my saddle and didn’t wake up for a day.”
“It hit you less hard, then; I was out for longer. But I was the one the power went through.” The skin between Miryo’s shoulderblades crawled. “Weird. I didn’t know it would affect you. Though I guess it makes sense. It’s probably a function of the same thing that’s sending my magic askew.”
“Which is?”
“The way it was described to me was, you’re a part of me. Of my mind. And it takes total concentration to work magic. Since you’re a part of me that I can’t focus, you make it impossible for me to control the power I draw.”
“Can’t you just not work magic?” Mirage asked.
Even the suggestion made something twinge, deep inside. Miryo flinched, and saw her doppelganger see it. She took a steadying breath, than said, “No. It’s… I feel it there, all the time. The Elements are the world we live in, you know. They’re all around us. There’s an energy to them, and I can feel it now, and I keep wanting to reach out to it. And it’s getting harder and harder to stop myself.”
“I’ll knock you out, if you need,” Mirage offered. Her tone was light, but Miryo had no doubt she meant it. Then the Hunter started in her seat. “Warrior’s teeth. I forgot about Eclipse.”
“Another Hunter?”
“A year-mate. I’m working with him on… well, it would take too long to describe it now. I’ve got to go talk to him. Otherwise he’s going to find out I was kidnapped by Thornbloods, and then there’ll be real trouble.”
She did not say it, but the words still hung in the air. Do you trust me enough to let me leave?
Miryo looked at her doppelganger, weighing it in her mind. This would be a perfect chance for Mirage to flee. But then again, she could hit Miryo over the head and stroll out at any time, if she really wanted to escape. So there was little reason to assume that she wouldn’t come back.
“This house is on Lilac Row,” she said finally. “Go left out the front door, and you’ll be on Lord’s Way.” Mirage nodded. “I’ll be back soon.”
Mirage got several streets away before the shaking overtook her.
She leaned against a wall and closed her eyes, trusting her instincts to warn her if trouble came. Her first thought, oddly enough, was that she should go back and apologize to those men in Enden.
Them, and damn near everyone else I’ve known in the past twenty-five years. Well, twelve really; I got to dye my hair black when I was a Dancer.
That was irrelevant, and she knew it. Her thoughts refused to behave, though. A suspicion she had been denying her entire life had suddenly burst into reality; that was enough to send anyone into shock.
Warrior’s teeth. I am a witch. Well, not a witch, but damn near. Part of me is. Goddess. I was expecting the other shoe to drop, but I thought it would have to do with the assassination. Instead, a steel-toed riding boot I never saw materializes out of nowhere and kicks me in the head.
And there’s a whole different kettle offish. Can I tell Miryo about the commission? Regardless, how am I supposed to continue with that and find a way out of this lovely mess we’re in?
A chill ran down Mirage’s spine, and she opened her eyes. Tari-nakana was tracking me. I wouldn’t want to bet this had nothing to do with it.
She needed some time to sit alone and think all of this through, but it would have to wait. The sun was setting; Eclipse would be taking Angrim apart stone by stone before much longer. Mirage pushed her roiling thoughts down, straightened her shoulders, and headed for the Cracked Oak.
The common room had been straightened up; there was no sign of the battle that had disrupted it earlier that day. None of the patrons so much as glanced up as Mirage passed through the common room.
Eclipse was not upstairs, although her lost sword was. Mirage swore and headed back down, strapping the blade on as she went. The innkeeper, when she hunted him down in the kitchens, had no idea where Eclipse had gone.
Void it. He’s gone after the Thornbloods already.
Miryo paced back and forth in the study, using the beat of her steps to organize her thoughts. That was the idea, at least. It was failing miserably.
How do I explain this to the Cousins ? How do I explain it to the Primes? I’ve got to find Ashin, and ask her what she knows. She knew that Mirage was alive—but there was more to it than that. She was anticipating something, I know it. But I have no idea what it is.
She kept pacing mostly as an outlet for the quivering that threatened to overtake her muscles. After all that preparation, steeling herself to kill her doppelganger, this sudden change in her path was more than a little disorienting. She had no second thoughts about her decision; she had known, when she looked in Mirage’s eyes, that she faced a person. Not a copy. And she couldn’t kill her without at least trying to find a different solution.
Dealing with the consequences wouldn’t be easy, though.
Miryo made herself halt, put her hands over her face.
She took two deep breaths, steadying herself. She needed to stop this nervous mental twitching and come up with a useful plan.
She didn’t make very much progress before a hand clamped over her mouth from behind.
“Do not move,” a low voice growled. “And don’t try to sing. I’ll take your throat out before you can get two words into your spell.”
Miryo felt a dagger point prick her neck and did not doubt him. She was torn between nodding to show her agreement, and remaining still, lest he think she was trying something. She decided not to move.
The hand vanished, but an instant later he was prying her jaw open and a shoving wad of cloth into her mouth. It choked Miryo, but she kept silent. When she was securely gagged, her attacker spoke again.