I rolled my eyes. “You knew there was more than one. That there could be multiple cornerstones.”
“Yeah, but I never expected to meet one,” he said. “And am I the only one thinking about how Vadoma knew that? She didn’t know you. She knew of you. How could she know who your magic would react to?”
That… was a fair point. “Huh. I never thought about that.”
“Knight Delicious Face has brains and brawns,” Tiggy said.
Ryan preened a little at that. Like a show dog.
“Maybe it was her visions,” I said, though I was loath to give any credence to that. I still thought her more of a fortune-teller than an actual seer. Maybe the star dragon had been a fluke, and everything else she’d done was smoke and mirrors. The Great White had said I wasn’t ready, but how did I know that had even happened? And the warnings about Ryan’s death. For all I knew she’d been manipulating me from the beginning, showing me only what she wanted me to see.
Stone crumbles, Zero had said.
And it did. But not if it was an illusion. Not if it was sleight-of-hand street magic.
“We shouldn’t trust her, kitten,” Gary said, pulling me from my thoughts. “Nor him, though he seems… enthusiastic. I think he’s harmless, but you can’t be too careful. We don’t know what Vadoma’s been feeding him all these years.”
Gary was right. Throwing caution to the wind would only end up getting us in trouble.
The problem?
That’s pretty much how we operated.
WHEN WE walked into Mashallaha a few hours later, we were greeted quite differently than we’d been the first time. Where we’d initially been met with distrust and derision, the gypsies now welcomed us as if we were the long-lost brothers of the clan. It was rather alarming, this change, because I couldn’t prove its veracity. These were the same people who had looked upon me with disdain because my skin wasn’t as dark as theirs. These were the people who had shunned my mother because she chose to love outside the clan. These were the people who didn’t seem to want to lift a finger to help us in any way.
I didn’t know if it had to do with Vadoma announcing that Ruv was my cornerstone before we left, but I thought it was a possibility. My suspicions seemed confirmed when Kevin and Gary and Tiggy had brightly colored scarves draped around their necks, similar to the one around mine, but Ryan was all but ignored. We’d been gone for just over a week. Which meant Vadoma had had eight days to fill her peoples’ heads with more of her rhetoric.
Oh man, were we gonna have some words.
To make sure he wasn’t separated from us or left behind somehow, I grabbed Ryan’s hand tightly, making sure he was at my side. There were grimaces on the faces of the people around us at the sight of him, but they continued to ignore him.
Welcome home, they said.
We knew you’d succeed, they said.
You have tamed the desert dragon, they said.
We’ve never known such joy, they said.
An illusion.
It all felt like an illusion.
We were herded toward Vadoma’s home. I would have preferred to shower and change out of my dusty clothes, to curl up in a bed with Ryan and sleep the rest of the day away, but we weren’t even given the option. I went with it, knowing the sooner we saw her, the sooner all of this would be finished. I wanted to leave Mashallaha as soon as possible. Tomorrow, if we could. We had a long road ahead of us to the mountains in the north and Castle Freeze Your Ass Off. Randall would be expecting us before too long.
I also needed to speak to Morgan, to let him know what had happened. And I wanted to hear my parents’ voices. To let them know we were alive. That we’d done what we’d come to Mashallaha to do.
So, yes. The very last thing I wanted to do was see Vadoma.
But it didn’t matter.
She was waiting for us in front of her carriages, Ruv at her side. He’d cleaned up, face scrubbed, wearing soft-looking trousers. He was shirtless and had a red-and-green band wrapped around his right bicep. He was smiling quietly as we approached.
Even Vadoma looked happy, which was weird. In the time that I’d known her, she’d never looked happy. Not like she did now. It was disconcerting, like she knew something we didn’t. It reminded me of a predator.
We were ushered to the front of the crowd, the gypsies gathering behind us. I kept my hand in Ryan’s, silently daring her to say anything about it. And I wasn’t going to be the first one to speak here. If this was a game to her, then I was going to try and maintain the upper hand.
I didn’t have to wait long.
“Welcome back,” she said, her voice carrying out into the crowd. “I have been informed of your success.”
I remembered my training. I bowed my head in deference. Morgan would have been proud. “We did indeed achieve what we set out to do.”
“And the desert dragon has committed itself to your cause?”
“He has, yes,” I said.
She didn’t even flinch at the warning in my voice. “Then you have begun the journey that has been placed before you. I have seen this path. I have seen the future and the possible outcomes. This is but one step in your ascension.”
“My ascension?” I said, confused. “Into what?”
Her smile widened. “Into the wizard that you are supposed to become.” Her eyes flickered over my companions, resting on Ryan briefly before she looked at me. “Though I’m sure the components of your journey can still be… negotiated.”
“Oh, is she trying to be undercover salty?” Gary muttered behind me. “Because Gary is starting to feel the need to bring the pain.”
And because I didn’t think Unicorn Rage was something we wanted to deal with right at the moment, I said, “Perhaps you and I can speak in private. To discuss these… components.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ryan whispered.
“Trust me on this,” I said quietly. “I know what I’m doing.”
He snorted. “You never know what you’re doing.”
“Rude,” I said. “But mostly true.”
“But of course,” Vadoma said. “There is nothing more I want than to speak to my grandson about the future. Come, chava. As for the rest of you, we have much to celebrate! Let us show our guests how much we appreciate the lengths they go to for the people of Verania.”
The gypsies cheered around us.
They sounded bright and happy.
It still felt like an illusion.
WE WERE alone when she said, “You must be tired after your travels. I won’t take much of your time.” She sat behind her desk and folded her hands in front of her.
I sat in the chair across from her desk. My legs were sore. I had sand in places I didn’t want to think of. And so I don’t know that I could be blamed when I said, “You can drop the act now. We’re alone, and we both know I’m not buying what you’re selling.”
She chuckled. “Is it so hard to believe I am happy for your return?”