Page 92 of Storm of Ink and Blood

He nodded. “I felt something that day, too,” he said, and Zarya blinked. “You were so relieved when I told you it wasn’t evil.”

“Excuse me?” Row interjected. “You said what?”

Rabin glared at Row and then turned back to Zarya. “It isn’t,” he repeated. “The only issue here is people’s prejudice.”

Row ground his teeth, his jaw hardening, clearly disagreeing with that assessment. After a moment, he tore his gaze from Rabin and returned his attention to Zarya. “Tell me what else you’ve learned.”

She then went on to explain her theory about the Jadugara and their lies about the sixth anchor. When she was done, Row couldn’t have appeared more stunned. “It’s been here all this time.”

“Can you feel it? You said once your power felt like it was brushing against a wall. Do you think that you might have it, too?”

“Me?” Row said, shaking his head. “No… I…”

He stopped and looked at her, several thoughts crossing his expression as though he was coming out of a fog. “Still, none of this explains why you’re here.”

“I’m struggling,” she said. “The process is difficult and dangerous and, most frustratingly, very slow.”

“And?”

“And I’m hoping that one of those mysterious books in the palace library might have some information.”

Row pursed his lips together, his gaze flicking to Rabin. “And you know the library contains a large number of rare texts stolen from Ishaan decades ago?”

“Exactly,” Zarya said. “I can’t get anywhere near the Jadugara, but if luck is on our side, then maybe something in that library can help.”

Row folded his hands and blew out a long breath. “I believe in this cause with all of my heart, Zarya, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“This isn’t about me,” she said. “You know that.”

She stared at him. He knew. He’d heard the prophecy in her mother’s stone. And he understood she couldn’t ignore that, even if she wanted to.

“Fine,” he said, though it was clear he wasn’t thrilled about it.

“Really?” she asked.

He cocked his head in a gesture that seemed to say he might not like it, but it didn’t appear that he had much choice.

Zarya shared a look with Rabin. “So, how do we access it?”

“You’ll need to find another way in. I can help create a distraction, but only strong rakshasa magic can open those gates.”

“You mean the magic of the most powerful rakshasa in Rahajhan?” Zarya asked, gesturing to Rabin, who lifted an eyebrow.

Row gave Rabin a narrow-eyed look. “You trust him to help you?”

She sighed and threw up her hands. “I suppose I do.”

That earned her a glare from Rabin, which she chose to ignore. He might have sweet-talked her the last two days, but she was trying to think with her head and not the unreliable emotions of her heart.

“Okay,” Row said. “I’ll pay a visit to the palace tomorrow and see what our best course of action might be, but I want it going on record that I don’t like any of this.”

Zarya cocked her head and wrinkled her nose. “Noted.”

Row blew out an exasperated sigh and took a long pull of his drink, muttering something under his breath that sounded distinctly like “nothing but trouble.”

THIRTY-TWO

Despite his reservations about their plan, Row held true to his word the next day. He intended to scout out the best opportunity to break into the library and ask Koura for help. He’d also been aiding in the vanshaj cause for years, petitioning his own kingdom to amend its inhumane laws.