Page 134 of Forged in Fading

“No matter what happens, I need you to stay calm,” Alvara said.

He snorted. “Of the two of us, I doubt I’m the one to be worried about.”

“You may feel differently in a few minutes.”

Shouts arose, and as expected, a handful of guards swarmed them. One of the men shoved her to the ground and pinned her neck with his boot.

“You must not be here,” Sten said, and she did her best to ignore the obvious threat lingering in his words.

Alvara gritted her teeth through the pain. “I know how we can defeat King Einar. If I’m right, all we ask is that you let us stay and fight beside you. After the battle, we will leave. And if I’m wrong, you can continue to push the elves out and never ally with us again.” Yet another weighty decision to add to her tally, but she needed to gain their trust, and there was no other way to do it.

Sten didn’t speak, his assessing gaze weighing heavier than the boot crushing her. “You have our attention.” He nodded, and the man pinning her heaved her to her feet and forced her hands behind her back.

Boden remained silent and followed her with a flank of guards. The chief’s narrowed eyes tracked each of their footsteps, and doubt crept its way into Alvara’s mind. This power she was about to offer could spell trouble for future elves in the human realm, but because of her actions, she could see no other option for repairing the damage she had caused.

After a single nod from the chief, she launched into her explanation of the barrier plant, sparing no details, though not a single muscle in his face moved as she spoke. Maybe she had been wrong—maybe it wouldn’t be enough.

The chief uttered a few quiet words, and Sten turned to Alvara. “He ask how you know it work.”

“Because I’m going to test it on myself.” She reached out her hand to Boden for the plant, but his fist only tightened around it, his jaw clenching. “Please,” she whispered. “It’s the only way.”

His shoulders fell, and Alvara gently pried his fingers open and collected the leaf.

She held the plant in her open palm for everyone to see. “I’ll try it myself. Boden will attack me with his magic to see if mine sparks in response.”

“WHAT?”

Alvara ignored Boden’s outburst, twisting her mouth to keep from smiling. “Then we’ll know if it does what I hope.”

“You risk your life for this?” Sten asked as he studied the plant.

“I would risk everything. A life for the one I almost ended.” Alvara stared at the white veins on the crimson leaf she held while Chief Frigar and his men discussed her plan in hushed tones. There was a risk that it could be poisonous, but it was a little too late for that consideration now. She didn’t need to look at Boden to know he was fuming, and it would lead to a conversation she would have to deal with later. If there was a later.

“We agree. But only if it do what you say,” Sten said, leaving the obvious part unspoken. And if it didn’t do as she said, they would likely kill her.

She tossed the leaf in her mouth before her mind could convince her to do otherwise, and her face contorted as the acidic flavor spread on her tongue. Gods, it tasted like the sourest lemon she had ever encountered.

“What is it? Are you in pain?” Boden’s hands fluttered around her, his voice practically a screech.

Alvara swallowed the hopefully-not-poison and shuddered. “It’s just the taste, I’m fine. Though I don’t know how long it will take to kick in.” That was something she hadn’t considered—would it be minutes or hours? She didn’t feel any ill effects yet other than the bitter taste lingering in her mouth.

“Fine? It could kill you! And you’d like me to attack you? Are you mad? I know we need to fix the blood oath, but there had to be some other way. We could have talked about it more and done anything other than this.” He paced back and forth beside her, and she allowed herself to smile now.

She had come to love the way he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, especially when he was flustered or upset. Love? Oh gods, that was a problem for another day. “We didn’t have time. And this could be exactly what we need to…” Alvara squinted. The edges of his face had started to blur. “Exactly what we need to…” She stumbled, and Boden gripped her arm.

“Alvara!” His voice sounded strange, like he had been dragged under water by the selkie again.

She waded through sludge to reach for her magic, only to find…nothing. “It works!” Only months ago, she had wanted nothing more than to rid herself of her magic forever, but now without it, she felt odd.

Boden ran a hand over his face. “Thank Vitharen, it’s not poisonous.”

“Well, we don’t know that yet, but we’ll deal with that later.” Alvara moved toward the chief, though it felt like she was swimming through honey. The lack of magic left a shredded hole in her chest, and she both hoped and didn’t hope that the plant’s effects lasted a long time.

“What do you mean you’re not sure if it’s poisonous or not!?”

She waved a hand over her shoulder at Boden to shush him and focused her cloudy vision on Sten. “My magic is gone. I can feel it.” But she couldn’t just feel it, she needed to prove it. “Boden, attack me.”

He stood rigid, his lips pressed into a hard line.