Page 160 of The Crown’s Temptation

His expression tightened.

"I do not know everything. That is the truth. The Arroyln is Sarenal magic. It is powerful magic. Dark magic, made by ancient bloodlines for those of Saren descent.”

He sighed. “Sarens are known to have a certain…darkness within them.”

I thought of Dali.

“Speak plainly.”

“It may change things. Bring things forward that already exist beneath the surface. Feelings. Attachments. Instincts. Things you may not expect."

I was quiet.

“It could change you. Some say it can even change memories. Still others say it does nothing at all.”

“Could it split me in half like Dali and Maridale?”

“I do not think it is the same mechanism, but in truth, I do not know.” He sighed. “What I do know is that it will make you strong. Strong enough to not need any antidote. Strong enough to leave here.”

“Strong enough to kill Orsin of Yorali,” I finished.

He nodded. “Yes. Strong enough for that.”

"I would never ask you to choose it lightly," he said. "But I also cannot watch you get weaker every day and pretend we have unlimited time. You should know your options.”

CHAPTER 33

Stories and Slykars

The walk back from the shoreline gave me too much time to think.

I thought about Teorin watching me from outside my father's estate for years, carrying a plan he had agreed to, deciding something privately that nobody had asked him to decide. The wards getting looser. The question of what happened if they came down entirely.

The questions circled without landing anywhere useful.

The air was wrong. The path that had been quiet every other night was quiet in a different way tonight, the kind that had something in it.

They came from the water's edge.

Three of them pulled themselves up over the shoreline, green-grey, their hands long and slick, fingers bending at angles that made no sense. They did not rush. They watched.

The leather I wore made them hesitate.

I had no magic here. I had my hands and my training and the small blade I kept in my sleeve.

The first one lunged. I met it with the blade not to cut it down but to turn it, steel catching along its arm and forcing it sideways. It stumbled. I drove my shoulder into it and it went down hard.

The second grabbed for my arm. Its fingers brushed the leather and it hissed and jerked back.

Then the pounding started.

"You left them."

"They needed you."

"Colsar will stop waiting."

"You always fail."