Page 55 of Queen’s Gambit

Chapter 16

Roksana

The last ten days were a testament to the patience I’d never realised I had. Rey was having me watched. Not in an obvious way, but under the guise of court protocol, a guard or two always trotted at my heels. Even now, deep within the university, two veterans stood at a respectable distance while I looked for chairs they could use. I gave up, cursing.

‘This will take a while,’ I said, shifting my weight. ‘Find yourselves somewhere to rest.’

‘There’s no need, My lady,’ the older one answered, eliciting a heavy sigh as I pressed on the door handle to Tova’s workshop.

‘Irsha, you’re early. I’m not ready yet,’ Tova called from behind the pile of papers.

‘Irsha? You’re expecting him here?’ I asked, walking inside and pinching my nose at the pungent smell.

‘Any time now, and why the sour face? I told you we had a breakthrough.’ Tova gestured me closer.

‘Breakthrough or not, I’m sending cleaners in. So, gather your papers, or we’ll see who ends up with a sour face,’ I argued and leant over the table. ‘Where’s Lily? With Irsha?’

‘No, in the University’s guest quarters. She tires easily now, so Inga took her to a side room, while Irsha organises the trip.’ Despite the dark circles under his eyes and a beard that had seen better days, Tova bounced with excitement.

‘What trip and how much should I be worrying?’ Tova’s grin spread even further. I grabbed his dirty jacket off the chair and tossed it to the floor, then sat down and rubbed my temples. ‘What did you discover?’

‘Everything. Well, almost everything.’ He grabbed a drawing and crossed to me. ‘Lily is a gem. She translated this gibberish, but even better, she noticed Niersen’s changes, and now we can replicate them.’ He pointed to the bone key at the centre of the diagram. ‘Remember me mentioning the blood?’

‘So we’re going to kill Niersen?’ I asked. There would be only one outcome if this trip Irsha was organising involved blood.

‘Yes. That fae is a genius, and an idiot. Svarog’s sweaty ring. Can you imagine? He tied his bloodline to the pillar’s magic.’ Tova chuckled, and something dangerous flashed in his gaze. ‘He wanted to have something over Tangra, fair enough, but this plays into our hands so well. His blood in the bone key can activate and deactivate the pillars, and although it’s an untested theory, it should also work on the gate.’

I took the parchment from his hand, staring at it as if I understood. The lines blurred before my eyes. Or maybe my hands were shaking?

It couldn’t be that simple. Kill one rotten bastard to save Dagome? All while allowing my childhood friend to avenge the woman he loved. That couldn’t be right.

‘What’s the catch?’ My finger traced the complex, spiralling runes in the centre of the parchment.

‘We need a fresh bone, taken from a living person so it’s still infused with Aether. Irsha said that wouldn’t be a problem.’ He sighed, taking the schemata from my hands. ‘At least we know what Tangra is willing to do to succeed.’

Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem. Irsha would relish severing Niersen’s limbs while the bastard was still breathing.

‘Assuming we have a bone and the blood, what next?’ I asked.

‘I remove the marrow and fill the hollow with his blood. Then use wax to seal the hole. Then you… ehh… I mean, a mage must inscribe these runes into the bone to activate the spell.’

He pulled out a long strip of paper and wrapped it around the broken bone key. The runes scribbled on it aligned perfectly with the residue on the yellowish ivory. ‘See? Like this.’

I closed my eyes. The paper in Tova’s hands rustled when he unwrapped the bone. I would have to take it with me. Memory is one thing, but I couldn’t risk making a mistake.

‘Alright, assuming I activated the key, what then?’

‘Then you ram it into the gate’s keyhole, breaking the wax seal. And we’ll find out whether my theory was right or whether I condemned us all to death,’ Tova said with unusual nonchalance.

As my eyebrow rose, he tightened his grip on his beard, then pulled it. A few strands remained in his hand. Why was he so unsettled?

‘The key masters die at the pillars. Is there a way to avoid it? ’ I said, remembering what Rey told me. The warmth vanished from his brown eyes. ‘Are you sure shutting the gate won’t be temporary?’

‘I’m not sure. The keys need his blood to work, but they also need Aether. With the pillars siphoning nature’s energy, I guess the Aether feeds on the living.’ He fixed me with an unyielding expression. ‘I’ll find out what’s causing it and how to make it last. No one will die for my ignorance.’

‘That might not be enough. We need to destroy the gate, not just shut it down. Is there anything in those scrolls about dismantling it?’ There was no point in dwelling on what-ifs. I could only hope my vivamancy would protect me as it had against the wraiths. ‘Any Nebra cypher that can be smashed to smithereens?’

‘Not yet, but I found something else that might help.’