Chapter 29

Zevander carries the spell-sleeping Maevyth into the castle Eidolon, struggling against her intoxicating scent and fending off his sister Rykaia’s curiosity. He locks Maevyth in a well-appointed dungeon cell, deciding she will be safer there and Dolion can manage her.

Dolion recognizes Maevyth as the Corvikae’s daughter and, using his last vivicantem, coaxes a metallic glow from a death sigil on her nape, proving her lineage. He reveals a sealed Corvi grimoire only a Corvikae can open and theorizes that her powers were passed down “baptized by death.” They discuss the antlered hunter Maevyth fled and consider whether the long-banished Cadavros might still exist in the mortal lands, weakened without vivicantem but dangerous if he finds a vein or the blood of seven to shatter wards.

To counter Dolion’s appeals for patience and training, Zevander shows him the chained floor door hiding Branimir, Zevander’s brother, now warped by sablefyre into a horned, bark-faced creature breeding infectious black spiders. After killing a spider and resealing the pit, Zevander exposes the black veining in his own face and admits his fear of sharing Branimir’s fate, underscoring his urgency to end the curse.

Dolion cites visions of past plagues and claims the Corvi once survived such horrors, arguing Maevyth alive may offer more than her sacrifice. He presses for training Maevyth to access her power and suggests seeking a Citadel bone scribe to read hidden histories in her bones. Zevander resists the risks and delays but grudgingly leaves Dolion to ward the cells, torn between killing Maevyth swiftly with the septomir and gambling on her potential to avert looming catastrophe.