Vicer waited for us to catch up to him. “They flee long before the ceremony,” he said. “Whole families disappear in the middle of the night—along with anyone loyal to them. Sometimes, they fake their own deaths. There are hybrids with a gift for illusion who can help there.”
“And those without the coin they need are eventually caught using their power or found attempting to flee, or worse.”
Vicer just nodded, turning away.
I glanced back at my brother. Tibris’s face was hidden in shadows. When he took his next step into the blue-green light, he looked older than his twenty-seven winters. “There are only a few with the ability to mimic the priestess’s mark, and most get discovered, slaughtered by the king,” he murmured. “This…this was my plan for you. I wanted to get you to the city, get you marked, and then we would find somewhere new. As a family.”
“How could we have afforded it?”
“I was working on it. Hiding money away. Vicer has someone who owed him a favor. And…I had a few ideas.”
I gave him a gentle elbow in the side. “I’m still mad at you for not sharing those plans with me. But I love you.”
He sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. And I love you too.”
“Tibris?”
All three of us froze. It was Vicer who relaxed first, and Tibris’s mouth curved in a wide grin.
“Gudram?” Tibris released my arm and turned to slap his friend on the back. Vicer just sighed.
“One of his contacts. They’ve only met once but worked together for years. This will take a while.”
Someone bumped into me, mumbling an apology, and Vicer jerked his head, gesturing for me to follow him to lean against the cave wall.
“Do you think we can do this?” I asked.
Vicer kept his gaze on the market. “I’ve been a part of the rebellion since shortly after I arrived in the city. This is the first time many of us have felt hope. If we can get both Asinia and Demos free… I don’t have to tell you that it will strike a blow to the king’s reputation. It will bolster those who doubt the rebellion and allow us to strike where the king thinks he has no weaknesses.”
“This Demos…how well do you know him?”
Vicer sighed. “He’s a hard man but a fair one, and he has done more for your people than anyone else I can think of. I worked under him until he was arrested—it was pure luck I wasn’t there when the king’s guards raided our headquarters that night.”
Pure luck? I had to know I could trust Vicer. He’d been in the city for years now. How could I be certain he wasn’t sending me to my death? “Who did you lose, Vicer?”
He turned and gave me a faint smile. “I understand. You need to know I won’t betray you. You always were the calculating type. Smarter than you were given credit for.”
I winced and he laughed. “It’s not an insult.”
But he’d said it like it was.
Vicer heaved a sigh. “When I first moved to the city, I thought my life was finally beginning. The gods had given me back more power than most, and it was the kind that would be useful.”
“What can you do?”
He glanced away. “I don’t like to talk about it. I…can’t. Not yet.”
“It’s okay.” I’d only recently been able to talk about my own power myself. And I hadn’t been forced to use that power for the crown every day.
Vicer seemed to steady himself. “I arrived, eager to do the king’s bidding. For those who have a purpose, we’re blindfolded and taken somewhere outside the city. There, we have a separate ceremony. They said it was to thank the gods for our power. But directly after, I noticed I had more power, and that power seemed to grow each day.”
“Because that power was useful to the king.”
“Yes. At the time, I thought the gods had blessed me more than most. I embraced life here. I went to the best parties, wore the most fashionable clothes, drank the most expensive wines. Then one day, at one of those parties, I met a woman.”
His eyes held such desolation, a lump formed in my throat. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“No, it’s okay. I…I should talk about her more. For a while, I couldn’t even say her name. But everything I do is for her.”
Dread rippled through me. “She was a hybrid, wasn’t she?”
He closed his eyes. “Yes. I didn’t find out until months later. Guards stormed our home. One moment, she was in my arms, and the next, she wasn’t. I was taken to be interrogated by one of their truth-seekers. When they found I had no knowledge of what she was, I was freed.” He opened his eyes once more, and they blazed with fury. “Because my power was still useful. But the love of my life had been taken. By the time they let me go, Gods Day had passed. I never saw her again.”
The color had disappeared from Vicer’s cheeks, and he looked drained. Almost lifeless.
I took a shaky breath. “What was her name?”
“Rosin. She was Margie’s daughter.”
That explained why they’d become so close. And why he trusted her so deeply. Reaching out, I grabbed Vicer’s hand.
“I’ll do whatever I have to. For Rosin.”
He squeezed my hand. “For Rosin.”
Just a few hours later, Vicer stood waiting outside the rebels’ headquarters. He handed me a piece of parchment, and I stared at the royal seal. I’d known Vicer had contacts in the castle, but this looked so…official.
“How?”
“We have someone with replication magic.”
I’d heard of replication magic, even in my small village. Not only was it incredibly rare—and therefore valuable—but those with the power of replication were almost always taken to the city to work for the king. It was an open secret that some people with this magic were able not just to replicate, but to make small changes when necessary. That meant my identification was legal—at least as far as the guards would be able to tell.
Such magic would be incredibly useful. Weapons, food, clothes…where did that power end?
“Are you ready?” Vicer asked, jolting me from my thoughts. He hadn’t seemed nervous until this very moment, but the tension on his face rekindled my own.
Tibris slapped him on the back. “We’re ready.”
Nerves fluttered in my stomach.
We don’t have time for your insecurity and self-doubt.
How Lorian would laugh if he knew just how much I was relying on those words.
In another life.
My chest tightened, and I shoved the memory out of my mind.
Vicer nodded at us. “A carriage will take you to the servants’ entrance. Your identification will be checked at every stop. Keep your eyes down, your attitude meek,” Vicer addressed the last to me. “No matter what the guards say to you.”
I sighed. For Asinia, I could be meek. After all, I’d had plenty of practice at every Gifting and Taking ceremony in our village as I’d fought not to draw attention to myself. “I will.”
He opened the door, and I surveyed the carriage. Thankfully, it had a horse. The driver leaned against the carriage and waited, a scowl on his face.
Margie had followed us out. “Good luck,” she said.
I met her eyes. Hope gleamed at me, and I wanted to hunch my shoulders under the weight of it. But I held her gaze. “Thank you.”
Within a few moments, we were sitting in the carriage, watching as the slums gave way to townhouses and green parks.
“You know, with your dark hair, we look more alike now than we ever have,” Tibris said casually.