Page 38 of Storm of Ink and Blood

“I don’t know if that matters,” Zarya said as she searched their faces. “Do you all really not see it?”

“See what?” Ajay asked, and Zarya blew out a breath.

“You, who stand here as some of the vanshaj’s most passionate allies, have all been brainwashed into missing the entire point.”

“Zarya…” Yasen said with a warning. She knew she was treading a dangerous line, but how could they all be so blind?

“The vanshaj are Aazheri, just like you and me.”

“The vanshaj have no magic,” Rania said immediately.

“No,” Zarya interrupted. “You’ve all been told that for so long that you’ve somehow internalized it as the truth, but they do. What they have are those tattoos that stop them from using it. I’m not sure how you all forgot that along the way.”

Once again, everyone went silent.

“They were the descendants of two of the most powerful Aazheri ever to live. Tell me, what happened to their magic?”

“They bred with humans, and it eventually died out,” Ajay said. “The markings have become only a precaution.”

“But not all of them,” Zarya said. “Not all of them lost it.”

“So, what are you saying?” Farida said. “If I don’t feel it, can you help me?”

“I think I can. It’s the ink’s magic I’m working with.”

Farida rolled her lips inward, exchanging a glance with Rania.

“I’m telling you this because I haven’t practiced on a person before. I haven’t practiced on someone with the tattoo—someone who’s had it for years and years. I’ve worked with paper, wood, animal skin, and, as you saw, my own arm. So I don’t know what will happen if I try with you.”

Zarya leaned forward. “And I’m telling you all of this because to even attempt it, I will have to use my sixth anchor—magic that has been forbidden for a thousand years. Magic that many claim is tainted and evil.”

“Is it?” Farida asked softly.

Zarya rolled her neck. “I don’t know.” She paused. “I don’t believe so. It didn’t change me. It didn’t make me someone else. All it did was offer me a different sort of power. It seems to work as both an amplifier to my other forms of magic, like my nightfire, as well as being valuable on its own.”

At that, Zarya lifted a hand and sent shadows from her fingertips, directing them to surround her. They wouldn’t be able to see her anymore, but she could see them watching her with a mixture of horror and tepid fascination. She pulled the shadows away, allowing them to retreat before she sat at the table looking at them, praying they weren’t about to turn on her.

They all traded cautious glances around the room before once again focusing on her.

“Gods,” Ajay whispered after another long moment. “This changes everything.”

FIFTEEN

“You could say that,” Zarya said, nodding at Ajay before she turned back to Farida. “I’m telling you all of this so you can decide. I don’t know if it will hurt you. I have no idea what it will do to you, but if you let me try, I might be able to remove the collar.”

Farida’s mouth opened and then closed as she clutched her throat again.

“I want it gone,” she said.

“I know you do. And I want to do this for you, but you must understand the risks.”

“Could she die?” Rania asked. “I won’t allow this.”

“I’ve just told you I don’t know,” Zarya said. “I won’t know the effects until I try on someone else.”

“You will not use her as an experiment!” Rania shouted, her fist pounding the table so hard it rattled the plates and cups.

“If it’s not me, then it has to be someone else,” Farida said, her gaze turning hard as she faced Rania. “She’s run out of ink. This is the only way forward.”