The Rest is Riddles

Chapter 15: The Book of Truths

She could see the link now, clear as day in her mind's eye. She steeled herself, gathering strength. If she just followed the link, hurled herself against his mental hold, with all the strength she could muster—

Emotions hit her, roiling and tumultuous as the sea in a storm. Terror, fury, self-loathing, indecision, regret, exhaustion, pain from the Oath-scar, the desire to free himself, once and for all—

He struck back like lightning; mental shields slammed against her, shoving her back. Words filled her head, a grated snarl:

STAY OUT.

If she'd had control of her vocal cords, Jane would have whimpered. The mental hooks dug in again, worse than ever. Instinct told her that if she fought back now, her mind might splinter into a thousand pieces. She stilled her mind, tamping down the urge to struggle.

At last, the sense of impossible pressure lessened. Nikolay's attention returned to the rule book, and a frown creased his forehead.

Jane almost blacked out with relief.

She had asked Casimir, during one of their lessons, about whether it was possible to read minds. She now understood his resulting look of horror, his comments about loss of self and sanity. She felt dazed, disoriented, her thoughts fragmented and slow. Her right arm burned with terrible pain, and it took her a minute to realize it wasn't real, but a passing sensation she'd caught during her foray. Was the Oath-scar really that painful, she wondered, and if so, how was Nikolay still standing?

Focus.

She sifted through some of the other thoughts she'd glimpsed. Nikolay had a plan, a loose one, but he was basically making it up as he went along—well, that makes two of us—and he was a good deal more afraid than he'd been letting on. And he was furious. Something he'd seen in Dalnushka's pool had unnerved him greatly...

Jane focused on the first thought. Indecision. He was still uncertain about what he wanted her to Write in the Book of Truths. There were too many competing desires, and not enough Writings. Could she use that?

Something she had heard Velos say in the cave drifted back to her, unbidden.

A god cannot control an avtorka or Write in the Book of Truths himself...

Sidor had said something similar, when he'd invaded her tent and she'd asked him why he didn't just write Eloise back to life. And he'd said it again during the bonus vision she'd seen in the Pool of Dreams.

Jane's heart sped up. It was a crazy idea... She'd have to be insane to try it...

And yet, what choice did she have?

Jane swallowed. She would have to be very careful. She didn't know how much of her thoughts he could sense, how much he might be able to see...

Nikolay was still scanning the rule book. Steeling herself, Jane focused once again on their mental connection.

What are you going to make me Write in the Book? she demanded. I know you're in this for yourself, no matter what you say. After I break your Oath scar, what then? Will you make yourself immortal? The new ruler of Somita? Or will you go the megalomaniac route and aim for straight-up Godhood?

She held this idea in her head, trying to shroud her bravado with all the panic and fear and horror she could muster, to convince him she was terrified of this outcome turning real.

That, Avtorka, is none of your business.

But there was a musing undercurrent to his tone that made Jane think he might actually be considering what she'd said. After all, it made sense. How better to fight the threat of Sidor coming after him than by becoming a god himself?

I knew you were an egotistical maniac, but that's just going too far! Jane called up her fear again—it wasn't hard to let him think she was afraid, when she was legitimately terrified. You wouldn't do it. You wouldn't dare.

She could tell her idea had taken root by the way his eyes didn't actually seem to be reading the rulebook anymore. They unfocused for a moment, staring into the distance, and then he recommenced studying the rulebook with renewed interest.

Jane tamped down a surge of hope. He mustn't know, he mustn't feel that she was pleased—she was getting ahead of herself—there was no guarantee he would actually fall for her trap... She had to be very, very careful.

He closed the rule book with a snap. Hand still on her shoulder, he marched her toward the second podium, where the Book of Truths lay.

The weight of enchantment grew stronger as they approached. Power swirled around the podium, making the hair on Jane's arms prickle. She could feel herself moving slower the closer she got, as though she was wading through molasses. Everything about this place felt old. An acrid scent hung upon the air, almost like blood.

Nikolay's hand on her shoulder, she noticed, was shaking. A sharp wariness had fallen over his features, a hint of fear. His eyes were fixed on the crimson inkwell. Without warning, he let go of her.

"Open the Book."

Jane tried to resist the command, but her body still refused to obey her. She stepped toward the podium and laid a hand on the Book of Truths. Its cover was smooth beneath her fingers, polished; it glinted night-black with multicolored undertones like a dragon's scale. Truths of Mir, read the title.

She slid the book open. Parchment crackled beneath her fingers.

"Fill the quill with ink," said Nikolay.

Her hand wrapped around the pen. It was cool beneath her fingers, heavy and hard to hold. It sank into the inkwell and emerged, red-black and glistening.

"For my first Writing," said Nikolay, "You will write the following, exactly as I state it..."

She tried again to resist, pushing back against Nikolay's mental control, trying with all her might to wrench herself free, to wrest back control of her recalcitrant limbs. Her right hand hovered, trembling, over the Book of Truths.

"Stop fighting."

There was an undercurrent of something in Nikolay's voice that made her pause, and in her moment of distraction, her hand lowered to the parchment. Terror swamped their bond. Her fingers shook so badly with her efforts to resist, it was a wonder the words came out legible at all, but perhaps that was also part of the magic of the Book of Truths, for as soon as she wrote a word, the letters straightened until they were perfectly shining and clear and legible. She wrote one word and then the next until she was at the end of the sentence, placing the final period in the scratchy parchment page of the Book.

And then, she looked at Nikolay.

And smiled.

~*~

A/N: Shorter update than usual this week—I'm sorry! I was originally going to post this chapter and Chapter 16 as a single chapter, but real life got a bit overwhelming and there was a limit to how much I could edit. I'm going to try to post Chapter 16 this Thursday and get back on the regular schedule—fingers crossed!

~*~

Questions from you:

Who is Zakhar?

He is the Kanachskiy sorcerer Jane defeated at the end of the first book. He led the sudok to attack the tsar's castle and gave Nikolay the Oath potion laced with poison. For her second godstest, Jane used a trick/portal to send him back to Kanach, and he lost a leg in the process—so she technically "defeated" him... but he is still alive.

Why can't they just make a blanket wish to fix everything wrong with the kingdom?

They could try... but that writing would be very much subject to interpretation. For example, the Book might decide that the best way to alleviate suffering in the kingdom was if no one in the kingdom was alive in the first place!