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So, that failing, he needed a loophole. An out. Something to make sense of all the dreams. And the only thing he could think of was her innocence. If she weren’t truly a mage, and this was only a political ploy to remove her, then Nefrana would still will him to protect her.
She was innocent. She had to be.
“Thank you, sir,” he forced himself to say. He would have to change tactics here. “I seek only to understand our enemy better. So you say these great knights hunt only mages?”
“Yes.”
“And why are they taught what magic does?”
“To track them better. Their knowledge helps them locate and identify mages.”
That sounded like a polite way to say hunt. Jav tried to hide the way his shoulders tensed.
Rifan continued, not noticing. “But they also have another way. Sometimes, they carry a tool—a Devoted Stone. It has the power to detect magic. There are perhaps two dozen of these powerful stones in the whole world, and we are blessed enough to have one here. Have you seen it?”
He shook his head. He had learned of the existence of Devoted Stones in his studies, and he had the general notion that the temple had one in its possession. But he had never actually seen one of them, much less how it reacted to magic. “How does a rock help?”
“Oh, it is no mere rock. You’d know if you’d seen it in action. When in the presence of magic, the stone itself glows with an orange light as warm as these sacred flames lit for Nefrana.”
“Why have I never seen us use it?” And had anyone actually used theirs to verify Alekur’s claims about Iseris?
“Mages are exceptionally rare around here, so it’s not needed. The king doesn’t like us to carry it around as though we have some kind of infestation.”
“Of course. Well. I can only aspire to such lofty honors as those great knights.” In truth, the idea turned his stomach, even more than it already was flipped upside down at this point, but he had to say something to get rid of Rifan, to end this torture.
“You’re doing the right thing. Magic causes those it infects to suffer greatly. The evil gives mages terrible, dark nightmares. You’ll see it by the exhaustion and worry that always clouds their eyes.”
He stared hard at nothing, eyes unfocused. Iseris did always look worried. Haggard, even. He remembered the apple he’d given her just hours ago. She’d eaten it like a starving, terrified rabbit as they ran. Why was she so afraid?
Afraid because she knew something he didn’t? What else could he have missed about her? Alekur’s words floated back to him. I’ve seen her watching you, too.
And… these were not the thoughts he needed to be having right now.
Fortunately, the priest mistook his silence for contemplation. “It will be good that it is you with her at the end. And then she’ll be in Nefrana’s arms, free of the contamination this world so unjustly forced on her.”
Nostrils flared, Jav forced out another breath. Alekur knew that wasn’t how it would be. And so did Jav.
This priest had clearly never drawn blood himself, had never tasted death. But Javarin had. What would Jav’s last memories of Iseris be?
If he did as they asked, it wouldn’t be her lying peacefully in a glowing golden embrace like it was in the paintings. She would lie in a pool of blood.
Which was why he had to prove this was all a mistake. He had to know for sure. So he wouldn’t wait. He’d find that stone the knights used right now.
Of course, what if she was a mage? He’d have to kill her then. He gritted his teeth. He should know what he was going to do, how to do it, and be prepared, in case it was true…
Suffocating her wouldn’t leave him with a gruesome, bloody memory, but there’d be the memory of the struggle. That’d be hellish enough. That would be neither quick nor merciful. Yes, that would be a selfish way to kill her, unless perhaps she had some vanity about how her dead body was discovered. Knowing her, he was fairly certain that was not the case. Should he ask?
And he was going to be sick all over the white stone floor. No, no, this couldn’t be happening. She had to be innocent. He couldn’t have missed it after all this time.
He swallowed hard and took another deep breath to quell his body’s rebellion. If Rifan had the inkling that he was ill, he might encourage Alekur and the queen to replace him with a different knight more suited to the job.
But the only thing he could agree with them on was that it should be at his hand. He had to be the one.
The priest rose to his feet, as if concluding his work was done. “I know, I know. The goddess’s work is hard, and her tests are never easy.”
Rifan did not know. But Jav didn’t care to point it out to him. Instead, he rose—shakily—to his feet.
“Perhaps this is why it has fallen to you—because it was you who most needed to be tested,” Rifan continued.
