This, I will miss. If I were anyone else but Leonard Konig’s daughter, I might have considered going into costume design as a career instead. But Father would never let me, and frankly, I don’t want to. I want to be more. I want to be everything.
“I recognize value where I see it,” Father said once, after I started working for him. “And you should too, if you’re to take over this place one day. Recognize it and be on your guard against it. People like those friends of yours, they don’t see the world the same way we do. They will claim a part of it, and if you don’t work hard enough, they will claim your part of it.”
I narrowed my eyes, recognizing a threat when I heard one. “I’ll work harder, then.”
Father nodded. “See that you do. You’re by far the most talented person in this building, Liva. Don’t waste that talent. Don’t waste your birthright.”
I smiled thinly. “Yes, sir.”
I hated him, then. I hated him for pushing me harder than I thought I could be pushed, for seeing potential when I thought I’d dug to the bottom of it. But I loved him for it too. I loved that he believed my possibilities were endless.
Finn and Carter both use skill points and rolls to gather as much information as they can about the ward, only to find out what we already assumed. Devouring magic. Powerful and doubly warded.
“Three hells, what was the councilwoman hiding here?” Maddy grumbles.
She pushes forward a little to check for any other clues aside from the glyphs. Doors or trapdoors. Footprints. Anything.
In her haste, she trips, knocking into Finn and Carter.
She sends them off balance, breaking the spell Feather and Corrin are casting.
Disaster strikes.
Ever, the only one who has been walking around, crouches next to me, their voice low. “You see the signs light up to a bright red that extends from the glyphs. It follows a winding path through the sky. Then, the symbols flash.”
They back away toward the table and roll a die, their eyes flicking between Finn and Carter. When the die comes to rest, they tense up and shake their head softly. Next to me, Finn breathes out hard, as though he already knows what’s coming too.
And I smile. I know exactly what to do.
“When the spell is broken, the symbols flare. Feather, you are all but blinded. The others around you instinctively take a step back from the bright blue flash. But you stand directly in the path of the spell.” Ever’s voice fades. They swallow and reach for the three effect dice that are part of their game master’s kit, the dice that they only use when shit is about to go down. “One moment, the rest of you see Feather standing there. Next, as you blink and struggle to regain your vision, there’s only bright light and it flares ever higher—”
“Wait,” I interrupt. I waited for an opportunity like this, to show exactly what I’m worth, and that it happens now, like this, is all the better. “I push Feather out of the way.”
Finn snaps his head toward me. Ever raises their eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
Lente isn’t a magic user or a fighter. She’s weak compared to the others. But that’s not the point, is it? Here, I can be a hero and a villain both, if I want to. After all, we’re all complex and complicated. We are all the exceptions to our own rules.
I know Finn doesn’t trust me to do right by him, but he’s wrong. I’m no monster. I’m as loyal to my friends as they are to me, and I would help him through a rough spot any day. It’s what I’m doing right now. I just don’t care for getting dragged into fights that don’t concern me. I don’t play other people’s games.
“I’m sure. I know what I’m doing.”
Carter and Maddy only stare at me. Ever licks their lips. “Okay…okay.”
I nod at them and purposefully ignore Finn’s uncomfortable shifting next to me. “Don’t worry. What are the chances it’ll go wrong?”
They roll the dice. With three ten-sided dice, there’s only a miniscule chance that all of them will roll a deathly effect.
There’s a collective intake of breath when they do.
Oh.
Ever clears their throat. And again.
Everyone stares at me, and I go hot and cold all at once.
“Lente, you feel the light pass through you. You’ve never been at the receiving end of a flare like this. The light seems to burn through you, through your body, through your bones, through your thoughts. It’s as if you’ve walked into a fire and it consumes you. It gnaws at your edges. It burns into who you thought you were. You scream. You struggle to keep standing—or maybe you’ve fallen already. You don’t know what’s left of the world around you, but you want to curl up and disappear inside yourself.
“Everything slows.
“You feel pain. With every breath and every movement. It’s everywhere. It’s everything. There’s no escaping anymore.
“You hear screaming. It comes from all around.
“Then, nothing.”
Silence.
Ever looks at the others. “The three of you, you see Lente fall. You see the ward go off, fiercer than anything you’ve encountered so far. And your compatriot, your healer—your friend—is devoured. Lente is gone.”
Everything grinds to a halt. I have to try to remember how to breathe. Sure, character deaths have happened. But not on this level, not anymore. We’re more powerful now, and we planned this whole weekend around the game. This…
This wasn’t meant to happen.
“Wait…”
“You mean gone gone?”
“But…”
“She can’t be.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do? Is there a body? Are there any signs of life?”
“She can’t be.”
I open my mouth and close it again.
Well. Frack.
It hurts. I didn’t anticipate how much it would hurt. I knew it was going to happen in some way—I knew I had to say goodbye to Lente this weekend—but I never considered how much it would hurt.
“Liva…” Finn sounds shocked. “I… Sorry? Thank you?”
I wince.
