Chapter 29

Alone in her room, Medra studies The Dark Art of Eternal Bonds, planning a night ritual to expel Orcades from her soul. With Florence in the library and Naveen training, she blocks her door and chooses the Dragon Court as a place of power. The spell requires her blood and the blood of someone she loves or hates; she resolves to use Blake’s, intending to retrieve it from Coregon’s dagger discarded in the arena.

Under moonlight, Medra searches the coliseum until she finds the tarnished dagger crusted with Blake’s dried blood. Rejecting the arena’s violent aura, she moves to the Dragon Court’s grove, liquefies the dried blood with a simple spell aided by Orcades, and wavers emotionally when Orcades insists the union end to protect Medra’s life.

Medra mixes her own blood with Blake’s on the blade and recites the severing incantation. Nothing seems to happen at first—until she realizes the error: while holding the dagger, she inadvertently created an anchor, transferring Orcades into the blade rather than freeing her. Orcades ruefully accepts the magical mishap, calling magic a mess.

A sudden tremor shakes the Dragon Court, then subsides. As Medra regains her footing, Blake Drakharrow arrives, checks the courtyard, and manipulates a flagstone behind the red dragon statue to reveal a hidden, lightless stair. Medra conceals the now-empowered dagger and decides to investigate.

After wiping the blade and stowing it in her boot, Medra slips from the grove to the opening and begins to follow Blake down the secret passage, shifting her focus from the ritual’s consequences to the new mystery beneath the Court.