Chapter Thirty-Five

W hen Evienne opened her eyes, she found herself—rather inexplicably—in Hestia’s sitting room.

She was laid out on one of the plush sofas with a cool cloth on her forehead. Hestia stirred in the armchair across from her and looked up.

“How are you feeling?” Hestia asked, closing the book in her lap.

“Well I’ve been better, I suppose, but I’ve certainly been worse,” Evienne answered, her voice a rasp. “What happened? Did you carry me here?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I didn’t carry you here. We glanced,” Hestia said matter of factly.

“Glanced?” Evienne didn’t feel well enough to try to decipher what that meant.

“Yes, we bounced from one spot to another in the world; just popped back here to my home. I thought it would be better that we discuss whatever upset you so in private. Also, you were having a panic attack, and that’s never pleasant when out on a crowded street, now is it?” Hestia answered.

“Right…well ignoring the fact that you just told me you can hop around from place to place with some sort of magic…” Evienne began.

“Glancing, yes,” Hestia interjected.

“Glancing, sure. Aside from that, how did you know I was upset?” Evienne asked, sitting up.

“I felt you use your time magic, Dove,” Hestia said and Evienne’s blood ran cold. She had never told anyone but Orion about that facet of her magic.

Hestia held a hand up to stop her as she started to protest. “Don’t try that with me, Dove, I know what it was and it was the longest you’ve ever used it at once, so I had to assume you’d done it on purpose. Memory walking is no easy feat, so you must have had a good reason to attempt it purposefully today.”

“Memory walking?” Evienne asked, her voice belying her disbelief.

“Yes, Dove. I think it’s time we had a talk about your future,” Hestia said, not at all concerned with Evienne’s confusion. “I’ll start and then we can talk about what had you so upset, alright?”

Evienne just nodded, not even knowing how to respond to her mentor’s declaration. She had known this woman for fifteen years; she knew Hestia was no-nonsense, but this was drastic even for her.

“We will start with the Gevaud that you’ve been so diligently managing all of these years. They’re not ours , per se, but they were created by the wild gods as a sort of backup for us. When the world’s magic is out of balance, the Gevaud can sense it, and they pursue the source of the imbalance with mindless ferocity, as you’ve witnessed first-hand. In this case, they’ve sensed some sort of imbalance originating here, but we haven’t been able to determine what it is.”

“I’m so sorry, I don’t believe I’m following you—who do you mean by us ?” Evienne asked, wondering if she was, in fact, having some sort of fever dream.

“The Contrapensae,” Hestia said as if it were the most obvious thing.

“The Contrapensae…from the folktales?”

Hestia nodded.“The very same. Other Contrapensae have positioned themselves closer to the leadership of their respective nations; it seems keeping my distance has been my greatest mistake. I’ve been unable to truly investigate because of how tight a grip Aldith keeps on everything, and I thought we had more time,” Hestia finished, leaning back in her seat.

“Hestia,” Evienne said, a bit exasperated. “Are you trying to tell me that you are a Contrapensa?”

“Well, yes, Dove.”

Evienne stared at her, truly beyond words now.

“You, Evienne Elodie D’Auclaire, have been elected to take my spot on the Council of Contrapensae. Before you go asking what that is, I’m going to explain it all to you, so just relax and try to take it all in.”

Evienne nodded again.

“Good. The Council of Contrapensae was established ten thousand years ago by the now forgotten gods of this land. It is a group of nine immortals—one from each magical territory—that are tasked with maintaining balance between the magical forces in our world. We have several tools at our disposal to accomplish this task. One of them is glancing. Another is the memory walking you’ve experienced. We can discuss all of your abilities later, but suffice it to say, all of the non-blood magic you’ve been experiencing is a result of your election to the Council ten years ago.

“We select new members about a decade before their training begins. Sometimes the gifts manifest early in times of heightened emotions, but yours seem to be stronger than usual. We will sort it out during your training. You should also know that I nominated you, but the entire Council voted to select you. We choose successors from each territory based on their competence and integrity, and, as immortals, we have the luxury of time to wait until the right person comes along.”

Evienne just stared at her mentor and found herself fighting the urge to laugh. But no, Hestia was not the sort to make something like this up as a joke. So Evienne paused, reviewing the facts that had just been laid before her.

“So you’re truly a Contrapensa?” She asked.

Hestia nodded.

“And I’ve been… elected… to be one too?”

“To replace me one day, yes,” Hestia answered.

“What happens to you when I replace you?”

“Then I am finally allowed to fade from this world knowing I have done right by its magic for the last thousand years,” Hestia said, not missing a beat.

“You’re a thousand years old? Wait, you’re going to die when I replace you?!” Evienne couldn’t keep the tinge of panic out of her voice.

“In a sense, yes, but it will be a relief after so many years of life, Dove. I am looking forward to retirement,” Hestia said, a gleam in her dark eyes.

“The Gevaud are yours?!” Evienne asked as it sank in.

“No, they’re not ours, they’re like our…cousins. Sent by the same gods for the same purpose should we fail in our duty,” Hestia said.

“Well if they’re here, then what’s wrong? Why haven’t you all fixed whatever imbalance is at play?” Evienne asked.

“As I said, we don’t know what it is. We can tell there’s something wrong, but we’ve not been able to identify the cause. We know something is off with the Tuanadair’s magic, but our efforts to correct the imbalance have been…unsuccessful,” Hestia answered with a sigh.

“I think I may be of some help on that front,” Evienne said slowly, her brow furrowed as she rose and began to pace.

·

H estia insisted on making a pot of tea before she would hear what Evienne had to say. It left her with a moment to herself to figure out what, exactly, had just happened.

One moment, she had been in Aldith’s mind, Léhiona’s unconscious face before her; the next she was hearing about forgotten gods and balance-keeping immortals, of which she was now one, apparently. This was not how she had expected today to go.

But the lack of balance, the presence of the Gevaud over the years, and everything Hestia had told her about the Contrapensae made sense when combined with what she had seen in Dominique and Aldith’s minds.

If Ichorna was truly responsible for the loss of the Tuanadair’s magic, that would certainly throw things out of balance.What Evienne still couldn’t comprehend is why. Why would Ichorna want to steal Beitar’s magic?

When Hestia returned, Evienne tried to start explaining what she had seen, but again Hestia silenced her, saying, “Please, Dove, calm yourself and have a cup of tea first. At least pour it before you start, just to humor me.”

Evienne poured her tea, the earthy floral scented steam kissing her nose as she took a sip.

“I saw what Dominique and the queen did to Léhiona after she arrived here,” Evienne began. Her mentor, if she was surprised, didn’t show it. She just sat in her chair, sipping her tea, her eyes locked on Evienne’s.

“They bound her, Hestia. With her wedding band tattoo. I thought Aldith loved her, but she used her, Hestia. I saw the dark magic they worked, and Dominique said something about Ichorna going dark? And some sort of connection? I heard Aldith say the Valsang she worked had been in her family for generations,” it all came tumbling out now.

“They meet under the Centrale Lumine still; I saw them there just this morning in Dominique’s memory. There has to be something going on there…I know there’s a secret guard rotation at the facility, so it must be for whatever is held in that room.” Her mind raced, trying to piece it all together.

“And I know the Tuanadair’s magic began to fade around the same time their first noble came here to be our consort.” Tears gathered in Evienne’s eyes as she spoke; it all made sense.

“I see,” Hestia said, sighing and turning to look into the flames in the hearth.“So Aldith did something—and presumably her forebears did as well—to her consort that has caused Beitar’s magic to go out,” Hestia said softly, deep in thought. “I think, Dove, that you ought to make your way to that secret room; seems like it shouldn’t be a secret any longer.”

Evienne had known from the moment she saw Dominique’s memory that she would have to infiltrate that space somehow. It was unlikely Aldith or Dominique would expect her to go poking around, but regardless, Evienne knew what she must do was incredibly dangerous.

“Let this be the start of your training as a Contrapensa, Dove. You must face this danger not only because it is the right thing to do to free the Tuanadair, but because balance must be maintained at any cost. You will go to any lengths necessary to achieve this goal. Do you understand?” Hestia’s intensity was unsettling. She had always been an unwavering teacher, but Ichorna’s rules had centered their blood magic training in the past. This was different.

“I understand, Hestia,” Evienne said quietly. Her tea had gone cold but she took a sip anyway, not sure what else to do with herself.

“You’ll teach me about my time magic though, right? It seems like it’s actually quite dangerous.” The thought occurred to Evienne and was out of her mouth a split second later.

Hestia laughed, “Of course, Dove, we’ll hone your memory walking, your husking, glancing, and even spell-cleaving when this crisis has passed. For now, trust your intuition to get you through; finesse will come with practice, as it does for all things.”

“So the horrible life-draining thing I’ve done has a name too?” Evienne rubbed her temples, all of this new information overwhelming her.

“Most certainly,” Hestia answered with a chuckle. She rose from her seat then. “Well, I think it’s time you go find that Tuanadair mate of yours and restore balance to Ichorna.”