Page 135 of The Jasad Crown
Sorn stared at me a long time. Eventually, he looked over at Diya. I fought back a twinge of reluctant pity for the Heir. Longing and devastation had ravaged him, clear as day in his drawn expression.
Sorn chuckled softly. “Thank the Awaleen you and Arin are on opposite sides of this. The combined force of you could bring the rest of us to ruination.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, damn you. Yes. Wake her, and Orban will open the trade routes.”
“Just open?”
Sorn’s jaw worked. “Open and protect the trade routes.”
Finally, a victory. A mostly bloodless win. I struggled not to grin at the Jasadis.
Not a win yet, I reminded myself. First, we had to wake Diya.
“Lateef.” I inclined my head toward the sleeping figure in invitation.
Lateef rounded the bed, moving to the side opposite Sorn. He took a deep breath and laid a hand on Diya’s forehead. Sorn’s shoulders stiffened. It seemed to take considerable effort for him not to smack Lateef away from his Champion.
“His magic is generalized,” I explained. “He can use it to heal her.”
Moments passed. Lateef’s eyes moved rapidly behind his closed lids. Namsa shifted her weight, tension lining her brow.
Not a single twitch from Diya.
With a heavy exhale, Lateef opened his eyes and drew away from Diya. “I checked every organ, every vessel in her body. No ailment prevents her from waking. Physically, she is in perfect condition.”
Disappointment, brittle and volatile, tore through Sorn’s features. “Thank the tombs you came. I don’t know what I would have done without even more useless information!” With a low oath, he shoved his chair back and stood. “Get out, all of you. You failed to uphold your end of the bargain. Leave the premises before I allow my khawaga to finish you off.”
I rose, tongue heavy with insults ready for launch. Before I could utter any of them, a quiet voice spoke over us.
“Perhaps I can try.”
Maia stepped forward, trembling hands knotted in her tunic. “If it is not a physical malady, the cause of her ailment might be a different kind of blockage.”
“Mental, you mean?” asked Namsa.
Maia nodded. “By your leave, Your Highness.”
“You want to use your magic to rummage around hermind? Absolutely not.”
I thought fast. Our opportunity to win Orban was slipping out of reach with each passing second. “It could be the reason, Sorn. The elixir we drank in the third trial was intended to draw us into an illusion. Soraya’s poison used magic to redirect the illusion, but since Diya doesn’t have magic, she couldn’t follow. She might have gotten lost.”
Sorn swallowed. “So if she’s lost—if she is wandering around her own mind, this girl can pull her out?”
An excellent question, and one I hadn’t stopped to consider. The only time I’d known Maia to use her magic was to sever my consciousness before I hurt Efra on the cliffside.
“She is our executioner,” Efra said. At Sorn’s recoil, he added, “Not that her power is limited to executions, of course.”
If Efra opened his mouth one more time, I would pull his lower lip over his head and kick him through the nearest window. Why would he lie? Maia, the Urabi’s executioner. Imagine! Baira’s blessed bones, it was a wonder Sorn hadn’t burst into laughter.
Maia lifted her chin. “My magic allows me to enter a mind and expose its deepest, most closely held fears and secrets. I can alter its reality and convince the mind that it has died. The body usually follows soon after. My magic kills bloodlessly and mercifully. It is truly one of life’s foremost marvels, the unknown powers our minds wield over our bodies.”
“Marvels,” Sorn said, a bit dumbly.
I didn’t bother to hide my open shock. She was a lahwa. There hadn’t been a lahwa in two hundred years, and nobody had been too sad to see the rare magic die out.
The Urabi and Mufsids must have devoted every resource to chase Maia down when they found out she existed. Not only could a lahwa read thoughts, but if she wished, she could read every thought I had ever had. Twist and reshape them to fit her goals, restructure the inside of my head like a bored parent moving furniture around the house.
