Page 207 of Axis of Fire

“Well... except Tarven and Airis.”

A laugh escaped her.

“Those two are convinced they’re immortal.”

“To be honest, I’ve never really believed in protective jewelry either,” I admitted.

“That mindset might work in Vuduarus,” Stasia said as she led me into another narrow street.

“But in Istarus, every talisman possesses its own unique ability.”

She continued explaining the different types of talismans while I remained quietly on guard.

What if she was leading me straight to Harold?

“And most of the time,” she continued, “the mage doesn’t choose the talisman.”

“The talisman chooses the mage.”

I raised a brow.

“What does that even mean?”

“Don’t tell me one is just going to fly into my hands.”

“Every talisman reacts differently,” Stasia said with a shrug.

“Honestly?”

She smiled.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The farther we moved away from the fair, the quieter Magicslan became.

Now I finally had time to admire the narrow stone streets lined with cozy little houses wrapped in ivy.

Most of them were enclosed by low wrought-iron fences.

And every single one was surrounded by a perfectly tended flower garden.

“Do all parts of the city look different?” I asked suddenly.

“They do,” Stasia replied. “We’re in District V6 right now. It shares the same architectural style as Districts E3 and A2. The next three districts have a completely different style, and so do the three after those.”

“Why are the districts named like that? I can’t figure out the logic behind it.”

“Each district is named after the first letter of one of Magicslan’s ruler’s children,” Stasia explained. “The number represents the order they were born in. So, for example, V6 is named after Violetta, the ruler’s sixth child.”

“Twelve children?” I asked quietly, unable to hide my surprise.

“Seriously?”

I wanted maybe two someday.

But twelve...

“Well, considering he’s been married twice, twelve is actually pretty reasonable,” Stasia said casually. “Don’t forget—mages live much longer than humans.”