Page 173 of The Thief and the Traitor Bride

Locke went to retrieve it as Eron and Brit sealed up the passage. “So that’s how you’ve been moving back and forth,” Nore said, watching.

Locke settled on the ground at the Viper’s feet, resting her head against his thigh. He moved his hand to stroke her hair. “It was the best and safest option. Brit is a materialist—it was no big trouble to do some secret redecorating.”

“Who else knows?” Nore asked.

“You’re very concerned with who knows every little facet of my life, Nore,” Locke said.

Nore raised an eyebrow. “It’s my job, Your Highness.”

Locke took a contemplative bite of her honey cake. Finally, she said, “Those gathered here. Garna. My healer.”

“Your attendants? Your guard?”

A pause. “No.”

“And you trust your healer?” Nore asked pointedly. “That they cannot be bought?”

Locke turned that cool gaze on her. “With my life.”

“Leonie is not a threat,” Kier said. “But that is also not the matter at hand.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Eron asked, coming to sit on the sofa next to Terlo.

Nore looked at Cas and Terlo, but both were watching her. She didn’t like this—she liked working alone; she did not like needing to share information with so many, creating so many stress points that could easily fracture.

“Cas?” she said.

He nodded. “We’re going to perform a sort of land-binding ceremony, Your Highness. That should be able to show us how the power is anchored to you, and to the Isle. And, if possible, we are going to try to re-anchor the power to the bones of your ancestors on the mainland, allowing you to exist as a conduit rather than a control.”

“And why would that work?” Kier asked, which proved that he hadn’t fallen asleep.

“The medallion,” Nore said. “The one that Locke is wearing now. That is drawing on power from the Isle directly, without either of you controlling it. If there’s a way to tie Idistra’s power to a fixed point like that, it allows you to direct it without the volume of control Locke has now—and the side effects. In the past, the non-well members of the family, sent to marry across Idistra, acted as anchors, too. The destruction of the Isle and Resurrection severed those bonds, so if we’re able to replace them, we can strengthen the network and decentralize control. But… it’s dangerous and could go wrong.”

“If we can mirror whatever that medallion is doing,” Caspian continued quickly, “then we can give Idistran power a more stable base.”

Locke wasn’t looking at either of them. She had pulled the medallion from her shirt and was running her fingers over the design. Knowing what it was, Nore didn’t know how she could stand to wear it.

“What do we need to do, then?” she asked.

“We need two of each type within the system,” Nore said. “Two wells, two mages, two typics, and you. And we should be able to disperse power, then re-root it—we’ll need a safe space where we won’t be interrupted, where we can work securely in secrecy…”

Kier had opened his eyes and was now looking at Locke, sharing in some silent conversation. “I know a place we could use,” he said finally.

“Absolutely not,” Locke snapped. “We are not tethering the root of Idistra’s power to your parlor.”

“What about the Ghostwood?” Nore asked.

A pause. A long, weighted moment. “That would be appropriate,” Locke said finally.

“Two of each, you say?” Brit asked. “Who will do it?”

“Terlo will need to read the ritual, and I will need to reorient the threads,” Caspian said.

Eron nodded. “So, Kier and Brit are mages, then Ola is a well, and I’m a typic, but we’ll need another typic and another well…”

“Get Scaelas on it,” Brit said, which earned them a long, withering look from Locke.

“Leonie might agree,” Ola said. “Though, she’ll probably also tell us we’re stupid for trying.”