The Fragile Threads of Power

In the present, Kosika continues with the ritual, guarded by the Vir. Every citizen makes three offerings of blood, and Kosika does so as well. She pours her blood into a fountain that holds a statue of Holland. When she finishes, she uses magic to open the fountain so that blood spills into the courtyard, splashing her white cloak.

Seven years earlier, Kosika awakes in the palace. A servant girl named Nasi offers her some fruit and explains what happened. After Holland’s death, the Vir have been attempting to keep the peace. They are afraid of what will happen in the power vacuum. However, Kosika is an Antari and could be the queen, ensuring magic and peace. Even her name means “little queen.” Nasi admits that the Vir probably could not keep Kosika against her will but tells her that she might be powerful enough to maintain order in the kingdom and keep the magic flowing if she chooses to stay.

Kosika makes the second of the three offerings of blood. A would-be assassin interrupts her, but she stops him with her magic, and the Vir capture him. She uses her Antari magic on him, and his blood pours out for a sacrifice to water the soil.

A year after being crowned queen, Kosika can’t sleep and wanders the halls. She sees Serak, one of the Vir, making devotions to a statue of the former king, Holland. He tells her about what Holland did for their world to save their magic and asks Kosika what she will do for them. Kosika is inspired by his stories and goes to the courtyard, where she resolves to plant a garden with magic. She tries to bring life to the thirsty soil but instead blacks out.

She wakes to discover that it has been days, and the Vir are preparing to announce her death. Serak tells her that there is not enough blood in her veins to water the soil, and she risked her life in doing so. She responds that they will all water it together.

The tithe ends at the Silver Woods. The crowd disperses, and she wanders into the woods on her own. She makes a fourth, private tithe at the place where she saw Holland’s body when she ran into the woods, though at the time she did not realize it was him. She feels content that magic is coming back to her country.

Lila wanders through Red London in pursuit of information about the Hand. She finds several graffiti marks throughout the city, but they all seem to lead in a circle. She finally realizes that they are circling sex work establishments, or as they are called in Red London, pleasure gardens. This is also the hint about gardens that the woman in Verose gave to her.

She stops in a bar in the pleasure district and buys a drink, asking the barkeep where someone would get magic items repaired. The woman tells her to look for Haskin’s. As she is waiting on her order, Lila plays with the coins she took from the pocket of the Hand member who died on Maris’s ship. She realizes that one of them seems uneven and that it has a code on it. It gives an address and a time: Six Helarin Way; Eleventh Hour.

Tes is horrified by the knowledge that the persalis is a waymaker and is busy destroying it. She is interrupted when two rough-looking figures, a man and a woman, barge in. They tell her they are here to retrieve the box their friend left and produce the ticket for the persalis. The woman pins Tes’s hand to the table and threatens to cut off her fingers. They threaten Tes until she agrees to fix the persalis, but she tricks them into bringing her another box from a different shelf. They tell her they will wait until she’s done.

Lila finds the house at the address in a beautiful, wealthy neighborhood. However, the house is empty and looks as if no one has been there for a long time. She is contemplating her next step when she realizes someone is following her. She attacks and defeats him, revealing him to be one of the queen’s men. She tells him to give a message to Nadiya: The next time Nadiya sends someone to follow Lila, Lila will kill them.

Lila makes her way back to the tavern where she and Kell are staying. He isn’t back yet, but she falls asleep on her own.

In White London, Kosika returns alone to the palace and finds it full of revelers. She is annoyed that they are having a loud party on a day of solemnity. One of the Vir tries to tell her she must stay, but Kosika sternly reminds her that she is queen and obeys no one.

Four years earlier, Nasi warns Kosika that the Vir are meeting without her. Kosika interrupts the meeting, and the council tells her they are discussing boring matters of state. She insists that she is queen and has a right to be part of the council. One of the Vir, Lastos, insults her and insinuates that she is a child with no real knowledge of the world. She tells him that he is free to leave. He continues to insult her but is killed by Serak, who calls him a blasphemer.

While Tes works on the box, the woman makes conversation with her. Her name is Bex, and the scarred man is Calin. The two dislike each other, but they temporarily work together because they share an employer. Calin suddenly notices the remnants of the previous doorway made by the persalis and calls Bex over to look.

Tes throws the box she has been working on at the two of them. It is an elemental bomb and destroys the spot they are standing on. She flees the shop and uses a spell she cast on the doorframe to collapse the building entirely, burying her shop and the pursuers in the rubble.

Calin wakes up under the rubble and pursues Tes. There is no sign of Bex. He finds Tes in an alley where she is frantically putting together the persalis. She manages to escape through it just as he stabs her. Bex finds him in the alley alone and tells him that her magic map shows no sign of Tes anywhere. She says that they need to tell their boss.

Tes finds herself in Grey London. It is soot-filled and dim and there is no sign of magic that she can see. She is in pain and bleeding badly from her stab wound. She wants to lie down and rest but forces herself to get up and walk down the street to look for help.

Nasi follows Kosika to her room and tells her that it was petty to have lost her temper with the Vir. Kosika retorts that everyone downstairs is an opportunist who follows her for what she can do for them. Nasi agrees that many are but points out that they respect and honor her because she is their queen. They reconcile, and Nasi leaves to send food up for Kosika.

Alone in her room, Kosika turns and greets Holland Vosijk, who has been appearing to her as a ghost that only she can see.