Page 53 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

She’d pointed to it, but Row had claimed he’d seen nothing, and when she went to search, it was already gone. Part of her thought her mind must be playing tricks, but now she wondered if there had been more to it. Over the years, she spent plenty of time alone in the swamp, exploring as far as her tether would allow, but had she seen things others couldn’t?

“What about you?” Zarya asked, addressing Hari. “Do you see things, too?”

“No,” he replied. “I haven’t seen anything.”

Zarya considered Meera’s claim. What did this mean? Zarya stared at the line of tattoos ringing Meera’s neck. The mark that was supposed to keep her magic contained.

“Do you ever feel… something?” Zarya asked, lowering her voice as though someone might hear her.

“Something?” Meera asked.

“Magic.” Zarya breathed the word, which hung suspended in the air like a beacon and a warning.

“I don’t know what magic feels like,” Meera said, though Zarya sensed Meera wasn’t being entirely truthful about that.

Zarya touched her chest. “It’s like a burning here.” She then moved her fingers to her forehead, remembering what Row had said about Aazheri feeling their anchors in different places. “Or here.”

Meera placed her hand flat against her heart. She blinked her dark eyes once, twice, three times like her eyelashes were coated in mud.

“Maybe,” she said, so low that Zarya could barely hear her.

Yasen made a sound of surprise, and everyone looked at him.

“You can’t tell anyone that,” Yasen said, his expression fierce. “If anyone knew you could feel magic, your life would be over.”

“I know that,” Meera said, her eyes going dark. “I don’t know what my sister was thinking when she told you this.”

“It’s okay,” Zarya said. “We won’t tell anyone. I promise. Your secret is safe with us.”

Yasen nodded his assent, but Meera’s shoulders remained hunched to her ears.

“Can you tell me what you feel?” Zarya asked. “Please.”

Meera shrugged and then picked at a splinter on the rough wooden table.

“It’s nothing much, but sometimes it feels like it’s… sparkling inside me? I can’t think of any way else to describe it. It feels like something is trying to break free.”

“Can you perform any spells?” Zarya asked. “Have you ever tried to use it?”

Meera’s gaze shifted between Zarya and Yasen, her brow lowered.

“It’s okay,” Zarya said. “I swear that nothing you say here leaves this room.”

“I have,” she replied, her voice shaking. “I know I shouldn’t, but it burns inside me. Sometimes, it hurts.” Tears began to fill her eyes, and Zarya reached over to clasp Meera’s hands.

“I’m sorry. I wish… there was something we could do,” Zarya said as she eyed the tattoos around the woman’s neck. Here was another mystery to solve—had anyone ever successfully removed these marks? Were there vanshaj who had escaped this noose?

“What do you think it means?” Meera asked. “That I saw them, too?”

Zarya shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I’m determined to find out.”

“Why?”

“Someone kept me from my magic once, too. And there’s a reason that you and I can see it.”

Meera pressed her lips together and nodded. “Are you… like me? Vanshaj? How did you escape this life?”

“I’m not sure,” Zarya said. “I don’t really know who I am.”