“Ada and the others are still alive, Mother.” I leaned closer. “Time remains to save them. I have almost a full day before the Vicomte completely drains my Sisters. I know they’re at a Royal estate. Once I awaken, I’ll start combing through different sites as quickly as possible.”
Petra’s eyes opened wide. “You’ll do no such thing.”
I leaned back. A chill crept across my skin. What Petra was saying made no sense. “What do you mean, Mother?”
“Think with your head and not your heart, child. There are hundreds of Royal estates. You’ll never find your Sisters in time. But that totem ring inside the Vicomte’s vortex watch?” She pursed her papery lips. “Now that, you can find. You know where the Vicomte will be tonight, don’t you?”
“At the Montagne’s masquerade ball.” My words came out dreamy.
By the Sire. She’s right. To save the realms, I may have to sacrifice my friends. Bands of grief constricted around my windpipe. After all this work, I couldn’t leave them to die, could I?
“Listen to me carefully, Elea.” Petra’s voice took on the ring of authority. “You must get that vortex watch. That’s our people’s power. Our legacy.”
I hugged my elbows. This wasn’t what I wanted. My whole goal had been to find Ada, Veronique, and my other Sisters. Still, I couldn’t avoid Petra’s logic. Preventing the Vicomte from becoming the Tsar was more important.
My shoulders slumped. I just sentenced my Sisters to death.
Petra hauled herself up on her pillows. “Did you hear me, Elea? I want your word that you’ll get that totem ring.”
“You don’t want me to take in the power, do you?”
“Absolutely not. Who knows what that much magick would do to you? Your spells will be wild at best. No, just get the watch and return to the Zelle. We’ll figure something out.” She exhaled and leaned back into her pillow. “Perhaps we can find some way to redistribute the power. I refuse to believe that the Sire of Souls would allow his people to disappear.”
“I’ll do my best. And thank you for the advice.” My voice sounded anything but thankful, though.
“My plan doesn’t please you?”
“It’s not that. It’s just… I’d so wanted to return to the Zelle with my Sisters from the Midnight Cloister. We had plans, remember? You would train them as you had me. And I’d hoped to find other expert Necromancers as well. If you opened up the deep caves, there would be room for thousands here. The Cloister would be alive again.”
“It’s a fine dream, Elea.”
“I’d even thought that perhaps some of the Fantomes would come along for rehabilitation.”
“This hope of yours isn’t dead. Your Sisters weren’t the only ones with some Necromancer ability, you know. Any young mages you send to me will always be welcome.” A flicker of a smile crossed her mouth. “And if the Fantomes will subject themselves to enough compulsion spells to keep us safe, then they may join us as well. Are any interested?”
“Some might be.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “It’s nothing I can worry about until I get the totem ring, though. If the Vicomte rises to power, he plans to kill them all. If he doesn’t?” I shook my head. “I have no idea what will happen.”
Petra’s face stayed still as stone. “Focus on what you can control. Get that totem ring. Leave the rest to the Sire of Souls. He watches us, even now.”
“Perhaps.” I’d never told her that I met the Sire of Souls as well as the Lady of Creation. They only seemed concerned about the Tsar. “The gods may have interests, but I’m not sure we’re one of them.” There was no mistaking the bitterness in my voice. I didn’t care.
“Elea.” Petra’s withered voice took on some of its old bite. “Control yourself. Where is the girl I trained?”
I sighed. “A lot has happened since then.”
“You’re still friends with those Casters, aren’t you?” The way she said the word Casters it might as well have been plague.
I couldn’t lie to her. “Yes.”
“Mark my words. There’s a reason Casters and Necromancers exist on separate continents. Our ways of life do not mix.” She shook her head with disappointment, and it felt as if the marrow had seeped out of my bones. “You’ve been sending me bits of written messages and hiding the truth. You can’t do that anymore.” Fierce determination shone through every line in her face. “If you want to claim the totem ring, then you must forget the Casters. Lean into what I taught you. No more acting in a zuchtlos manner.”
Rowan’s words came back to me. He’d once told me that zuchtlos was nothing to be ashamed of. I lifted my chin. “I am my own person, Petra. My friendship with the Casters gives me strength. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without them.” I straightened my spine. “And without one Caster mage in particular. Rowan.”
Petra looked at me as if I were a Novice again, trying for the umpteenth time to do a basic spell and failing miserably. “Be careful, Elea. That’s all I ask. Everything rests on you now.”