Chapter 45
Alifair mentally reviewedthe awful dream about her death, which could be irrelevant since so many things had altered from her dreams and nightmares.
In the nightmare where blood poured from a gash in her stomach, she had not been tied up like this. There was still time left. How could she get free? Magdelina’s gift would not help her even if the woman were not pregnant. Neither would Rez’s ability, which required her to go into a trance to foresee a path for the community.
They both stared at her as if waiting to hear how she’d discovered the secret to life.
Rez had never put so much faith in Alifair to see her in the same league as her powerful mother.
Magdelina had told her to trust her gift.
Alifair could do nothing while watching their hope-filled faces. She closed her eyes and focused. With nothing to cut the ropes, she had come up with a wild idea, which was only better than nothing.
Stop with the negative energy, she told herself.
Focusing on the ropes, she dug around for a spell her mother might have used on ropes but could not recall one. Her mother had been born Romanian and taught Alifair magic phrases as she trained. Looking back at her years of practicing, Alifair admitted she hadn’t been the best student because she’d thought her mother would live to an old age.
All that time wasted when she could have gained more tools in her magic kit.
“Alifair.” Rez’s voice came out softly.
She opened her eyes. “Yes?”
“Stop putting pressure on yourself. Your mother used to say you would one day unlock your gift to its true potential, but you tried too hard to be perfect. None of us are. She was amazing, but she had her own misfires. If you have an idea, just try it. We will be no worse off if it does not work.”
Alifair had never seen her mother fail, but her mother may have kept those times to herself. She hadn’t dwelled on what would not work. Had that been why her mother had often told her to hold onto her wins and leave the losses behind?
She nodded and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as the pressure on her chest eased. Closing her eyes again, this time, she envisioned all the ways she might affect the ropes.
Could she make them stretch or loosen?
If she got the spell wrong, the rope could tighten and cut her hands off.
Nice pep talk, idiot.
As her mind calmed, she heard her mom saying, “Keep up your Latin studies. If you can’t pull up the words of my family’s language, that is your fallback.” What was the word for loosen? Or maybe elongate? If she’d learned them, they would be buried in her mind beneath all the useless information stored there.
Try harder. She curled her fingers, fisting her hands into fighting mode. How could she say stretch the ropes? Two words bubbled to the surface.Funes extendere.It translated toropes stretch.In modern day, it would bestretch the ropes.
Licking her dry lips, she began whispering, “I commandfunes extendere.” Nothing happened. Too timid for an order, but she was trying not to embarrass herself in front of two powerful peers. On the other hand, why be concerned about embarrassing herself when she wouldn’t be living much longer?
Good point.
If she hadn’t sounded serious about a chant or spell in the past, her mother would give her a sharp look and ask, “Do youreallywant that to happen?” That had been the Romanian version of stop being a wimp.
Putting grit in her voice, Alifair called out, “I commandfunes extendere!” She kept saying it, feeling a surge of power rising in her middle.
