Daughter of No Worlds

Instead of Serel, Tisaanah finds Vos, the stablehand who unwittingly allowed her to escape from Threll. He has been tortured because of that mistake: His nose and some fingers have been cut off, and his face bears scars from cuts and burns. Under torture, Vos confessed to Serel’s involvement in Tisaanah’s escape. Serel was sent off to fight in one of Threll’s wars, and Vos assumes that he is dead by now. Vos is so enraged at what he has gone through that he never wants to see Tisaanah again.

Zeryth explains that Esmaris’s son, Ahzeen Mikov, used his father’s death as an excuse to start a war with other Threllian Lords. Tisaanah urges Zeryth to do something. When he counsels patience, she becomes angry, but she soon remembers that she can’t afford to offend her most powerful ally. She agrees to be patient in furthering her cause to free the enslaved people of Threll.

Later, in the cottage, Tisaanah tells Max that she wants to stop the bloodshed in Threll. Max is still upset at the ordeal of Tisaanah’s examination and wonders why she doesn’t feel the same: “Why aren’t you angry?” (234). When she admits that she keeps her rage tamped down because it is boundless, Max is glad: “He smiled and said, with the viciousness of smoke and steel, ‘Good’” (237).

When Tisaanah and Max are invited to a celebration at the Orders headquarters, Tisaanah intends to draw attention. She wears a red gown cut low in the back to display the hideous whip scars left by Esmaris’s beating: “I’d show them what they were ignoring. I’d show them what their complacency meant” (240). Sammerin and Moth are both dumbfounded by her attire, especially since Moth didn’t know that Tisaanah had been enslaved. The ugly reality of what is happening in Threll confronts everyone at the party. Tisaanah dances with Zeryth, trying to bait him for his unwillingness to end enslavement in Threll, but he smoothly avoids a confrontation.

Max arrives late to the party. He recognizes and approves of Tisaanah’s tactics: “The first step is to force them to confront the reality […] People don’t like to do that, but I saw it happen tonight. Even in Zeryth” (251-52). Back at the cottage, Max and Tisaanah share an emotionally intimate moment, but both of them recoil at being vulnerable, so they retreat to their respective bedrooms.

The following morning, Tisaanah receives a note from Zeryth asking her to come to the Towers for a meeting, and Max agrees to take her to the Capital. On the way, Tisaanah mentions that Zeryth intended the severe examination as a test. At the word “test,” Max becomes worried. He makes Tisaanah promise not to agree to anything Zeryth proposes but refuses to explain why. Instead, Max volunteers to help her liberate Threll, even without the support of the Orders. Tisaanah argues that she needs the magic of the Orders to back her.

Zeryth and Nura are waiting in his office tensely. They congratulate Tisaanah on passing her examination, which has proven that she is capable of being the Host for the most powerful weapon possessed by the Orders: “a form of raw magic […] many times more powerful than any natural power of any Wielder that walks Ara, or beyond” (266). They need this weapon to win the war against the Ryvenai rebels. This magical weapon will enter her bloodstream, and she will wield it until it is removed. The weapon is selective about its Host and has chosen Tisaanah.

Nura hints that Max was the last Wielder until he became uncooperative. Zeryth points out that this power is all Tisaanah will need to liberate the enslaved people in Threll, but he also promises the help of the Orders. Tisaanah hesitates, recalling Max’s words. However, she agrees as long as Zeryth swears a blood pact—an unbreakable oath.

Tisaanah insists on specific wording for the oath, which takes hours to hammer out. She agrees to five years as the Wielder in exchange for two demands: Max must be freed of all his obligations to the Order and the record of his crimes expunged, and Vos is to be given money and medical attention for the rest of his life. There will be a preliminary two-week mission to Threll for Tisaanah’s training; during this time, Tisaanah can free Serel if she finds him. The full assault to remove the Threllian Lords from power will take place after she wins the Ryvenai War. Everything is set down in writing: “Three inky pages detailing everything that I have ever wanted […] three pages that sold me back into slavery” (272).

Zeryth then leads Tisaanah to a small room containing two hospital beds. A comatose man lies on one. His arms bear scars from many previous blood pact cuts, but he seems oblivious. Zeryth explains that pact magic is brutal: “This is going to hurt like hell. But I promise that you’re not going to die, even if it feels like it” (275). He slices into the man’s arm, does the same to Tisaanah, and performs a spell that causes blood and magic to transfer from the unconscious man to Tisaanah. Before she passes out from the excruciating pain, Tisaanah repeats the word “home.”