“I will tell—”
“Candles and lanterns for working into the night,” he gestured to the windows.“Heavy curtains for those windows.Sandstones, to prepare the floor.All must be ready, and perfect, before the spell can be cast.”
She blinked at him appraisingly.“Make a list,” Avice said.
“I don’t even have paper and ink,” Riven pointed out.
That brought her up short and she looked around, taking in the space for the first time.“I will see to that,” Avice said.“But our first duties are to the Bonded.”
Riven acknowledged that with a tilt of his head.“But we are commanded,” he said gently.
Avice’s eyes became unfocused.“We are commanded.”Her gaze sharpened.“I will see what can be done,” she said.
“Prepare your sisters,” Riven said as she turned away.“I may need to ask questions, about the Bond.”
Her back stiffened.
“To learn more,” he said.“About the spell.”
“As you say,” she acknowledged, heading for the door, taking the scroll box and her bag of tatting with her.
Riven plopped back onto his stool, feeling shaky, and he couldn’t say if it was from exhaustion or fear.But she hadn’t lashed out with a tatting needle, so all good.
So far.
They acquiesced toeverything without so much as a murmur.The space filled with all the ordinary supplies he could ask for.
Well, the jar of candied horseradish wasn’t actually a spell component.Riven grinned as he sucked on a small piece.
He had paper and supplies and time, to study the scroll.Because he’d placed their stool well, he didn’t even have to turn his head to see the women.See the bond that held them.He kept track of the days by the rotation of the Bondmaidens.They’d each appear in turn, with scroll box and some busy work, usually some sort of crafting.
Except Nora—she was always sharpening something.
What he learned confused him.Magic of all kinds required balance; it was one of the first basic lessons.For a spell to create a permanent structure, it had to have power, to be powered.Like the ward spells that needed to be renewed.
But this binding was permanent, with no outside source that he could see.Certainly the Queen had no magical abilities that he could detect.
How did it sustain itself?
It took him a while to figure it out.Whoever designed this spell was a real rat-bastard, and that was the truth.It used the life force of the babes themselves, building on their strength as they aged.
It was disgusting and yet, brilliant.But what would happen if one of the bound ones died?
And there was the brilliance again.Nothing flowed to the Bonded; the Queen would not be affected.But the others?
Riven chewed his lip raw, trying to find that answer.
He’d tried asking questions directly, about their bond, their emotions, and each time their eyes would grow dull and they would reply woodenly, “I am commanded.”The Bond clamped down, allowing no chance for them to worm free.As if the Bond felt Riven’s interest and acted to protect itself.
That thought chilled him to the bone.
He decided to take another approach and began asking other questions of his captive audience during the study sessions.He started with something simple and innocent.
“Kavage?”he’d offer the jug.“How do you like it?”
Each and every one of them stared at him and shrugged.Which was wrong; everyone had a preference when it came to drinking kavage.Or they didn’t drink it.
So he’d fix a mug in different ways, and hand it to them, and they would drink it.
