Chapter 9
What Magic Took First
The stamped grain made relief look like bribery. Elara went to the market and opened the sacks herself while citizens shouted that an exile was buying loyalty.
Venn's men cut the suspension ropes above the square. A stone awning fell toward the workers.
Elara used the crown.
The awning stopped inches above Mara. The price was immediate: Elara forgot the coastal house where she had raised Tavin. She knew they had lived somewhere; the rooms were gone.
Tavin recognized the blankness in her face. In front of the crowd, he described their kitchen until she could stand.
Then a woman in the market screamed that she had remembered who ordered her daughter's name removed. Every face turned toward the palace.