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Ana squeezed the tears from her eyes before drawing a deep sip of tea. It had an immediate calming effect, which of course had been Ludya’s intent. She always knew what Ana needed. “I’ve never been especially clever, Ludya, but I appreciate your confidence in me, however misplaced.” Her foolishness with the letters came rushing back, affirming her words.
Ludya observed her in silence. “You forget how I can see the threads.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Ana said. “But seeing ‘threads’ isn’t the same as divining the future. Don’t look at me like that. You’ve said so yourself, many times.”
Ludya folded her hands atop her lap. “I would argue it’s more useful than divining the future, for what good is seeing something you cannot change, as a diviner does?”
Ana was too exhausted for one of Ludya’s famous mazy lectures. “I would be forever grateful if you could just tell me and spare me the puzzles tonight.”
“You already know the answer, but I’ll indulge you, for I can see you truly arenotin your best form,” Ludya said. “Drink up. It will ease you into a restful night.”
Ana sighed before taking another sip. “I’ll need some grimizhnatea as well, when you can.”
“I thought you ended your affair with the publican?”
Ana never had to tell Ludya her darkest secrets. The vedhma had her own ways of knowing, and it seemed wasteful, and a touch insulting, for Ana to act surprised. “I did, but...”
“Ahh.” Ludya flashed a brief smile, a knowing one. “I’ll have some sent up in the morning with your breakfast.”
Ana lowered her face toward the mug and nodded her thanks. “So. Threads?”
“Threads,” Ludya said. “As you know, threads are not the present or the future, but possibilities. Possibilities have not yet been woven and thus can be cut, frayed, woven, or destroyed altogether. I have seen many, many threads dangling along the tapestry of your life, Anastazja, and they are all so different. So confusing. Some leave my heart in tatters. Others fill me with such swelling hope, it brings tears to my eyes.” She made a soft, clicking sound. “You already know I cannot guide you down the right path—the right thread to cultivate or cull. But it is imperative you know that thereishope. You can still weave a future that brings you and others joy. There are so many possible outcomes, I can hardly wrap my mind around them.”
Hot tears stung Ana’s eyes and poured over. “How? How can I do that when the creature has no weakness? No heart? Nothing to take or defeat?”
“You said she requires no sustenance. But even great evil needs air to breathe. Space to expand. What is Magda’s air? Her space?”
Ana could only shake her head. The day lay so heavy on her heart, it choked the breath from her lungs. From the emotional confrontation with Tyr and Magda in the market to the morose visit with Varradyn, the loss of Niko, and her father’s chilly reception, she had nothing left to offer anyone.
“Yourfear, Ana.Youranger. Resentment. All these things, she devours like a ghoul, and you give them so freely.”
“I cannot pretend to be what I am not!”
“Am I speaking to Ana or Nessa right now?”
Ana quieted and sat back in the chair. She laughed to herself with a roll of her eyes. “Ancestors keep us. Ofcourseyou’d know about Nessa too.”
“But do you know who does not? Magda.”
“Yet.”
“Tell me, when you are Nessa, do you feel fear? Anger? Resentment?”
Ana scoffed, but the question gave her pause. “I suppose I feel peace. Relief. Like I can be whoever I want.”
“Now imagine if you were like that around Magda.”
Ana burst into laughter. “I could never be that free around Magda. I realize you are all-seeing, but you really don’t know the half of what she’s capable of.”
“You mean the Ravenwoods.”
Ana tossed her head and nearly spilled the tea. “What do you know?” She leaned forward. “Pros, Ludya. Tell me. Tell me what she does with them when my part has ended.”
“I don’t know what she does with them, Ana, and that is the truth. What I do know for certain is not one has ever made it back to Midnight Crest. Have you ever been down in the cellar of the observatory?”
Ana frowned. “It has a cellar?”
“A deep one. Detached from the dome. Cellar may be the wrong word. Cavern perhaps? Magda spends a fair amount of time there, from what I know. I’ve seen...” Ludya’s brows furrowed. “I’ve seen threads that take you down there. What I cannot see is whether any discovery you make there helps you or hurts you.”
