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ACT I
THE GIFT OF SILENCE
Chapter1
Tenah
Focus.
The word pressed into Tenah Delemor’s mind like an icy brand, shooting chills through her nervous system.
Hard to focus with you lurking in my head,she retorted, words dripping with acid.
Mentally, she shoved at her wraith guardian’s invasive magic, visualizing shutting him out with an iron door. But it was futile. When Ames infiltrated a mind, it became his to manipulate. He could sift, alter, or melt whatever he discovered inside.
Restless, she shifted her weight on her folded legs, eager to get blood flowing again. Beads of sweat gathered along her hairline, begging to be itched. The late summer sun blazed mercilessly through the window, saturating the musty study with thick heat and illuminating the dust stirred up by Ames’s hasty shifting of antique furniture. He didn’t appreciate when she set things on fire, even if she swore it was an accident.
More frustrating than her uncomfortable position on the floorboards was the lack of sound. No chirping birds or annoying, buzzing insects outside the cracked window. No breeze rustling the leaves, now permanently shocked red by the invisible film of magic toxins that clung to the grim manor.
It was like death had already staked its claim. Everything about this patch of forest screamedwrong.
Well, death could take a fucking hike.
Focus, Ames said again in her mind.
With a huff, Tenah severed her connection to her physical body and projected her mind into the Void—the dimension between worlds. Vast, blue, and frigid, it was easy to believe she’d been dragged to the bottom of a lake or strewn out in the night sky. White slashes of magic danced around her, spanning as far as she could see. They glittered like stars, promising immense power for those capable of harnessing it.
She winced as the familiar, creeping fingers of danger tickled down her spine. Her body might not be present here, but she would still feel the sharp inception of dark magic that had long polluted this space.
Striving to achieve a sense of calm, Tenah pushed out a ragged breath.
A flash of movement caught her eye, followed by the stench of putrid breath. Liquid fear slithered through her veins as two ravenous eyes burst into existence, gleaming hotter than the forges in her kingdom’s capital.
Immediately, Tenah snapped back into her body. “Feingrot again.”
It was disgusting how hard her heart was beating against her ribcage. Her mouth curved down as she rubbed the sweat from her palms onto her pants.
Ames would read into every bit of her fear, and he would let it continue to haunt her until she came to terms with it.
“You know they cannot physically harm you,” he scolded.
“Tweak my brain to remember that then,” she muttered, rolling onto her back and spreading her limbs out on the fraying rug, a carcass ready for picking from vultures. “Before you even start in, I get it. You don't want to risk messing me up, but your pep talks really need to improve, Ames.”
She almost felt a prickle of guilt for her rotten attitude. She knew that venturing into the Void was worth the risk. Or at least it would be when she located the magic required to fix her father’s cursed mind.
The clopping of hooves broke their tense silence, and Tenah’s gaze darted to Ames. Framed by golden sunlight, he looked like some blessed spirit come to impart unwanted wisdom. Little flecks of glittering white light hovered around his ghostly form like snowflakes. His beautiful, haunting magic.
Mind magic might have been his thing, accessible only by his race of Ashens, but she’d learned how to read the slightest shifts in his features.
His brow twitched over his silver, pupil-less eyes. An uninvited guest then.
Tenah pushed off the creaky floorboards, hissing at the sudden rush of blood through her tingling legs. She hobbled over to the small window. Fingers clumsy from the overuse of magic, she fought to hoist it open enough to stick her head out.
A lone rider on a dappled horse cut through the maze of trees. They wore a charcoal cloak draped over bronze armor. Their hood was drawn, but the blazing phoenix crest of Vozar was distinguishable enough, pinned to the side of their leather boot.
King Sardoth’s elite guard.
Tenah’s hands curled into fists. What a day this was turning out to be. Like hell their king was going to ship her father off to the eastern isles for another war. She’d stolen whispers of brewing trouble on the evenings she’d snuck away to Firesteep, but she’d figured her father had earned his peace from slaughtering enemies. He’d sacrificed his health to protect strangers once. Wasn’t that enough?
