Chapter Eighteen: Sylvia

Sleepless after the Aada, Sylvia notices a new silver vein running from knee to ankle, adding to the gold vein on her palm. She plans to ask Namsa about her cracking, statue-like veins and reviews Urabi assets: Hayagan to unsettle animals and Sahirs to transmute materials into weapons.

Mid-mantra, her surroundings liquefy and reform into Arin’s austere chamber. Arin, bloodied from Al Anqa’a, has been self-stitching. When Sylvia touches his shoulder, he pins and threatens her. They grapple savagely; she exploits his wounds to avoid being stabbed, but he remains relentless.

To stop him, Sylvia attacks his certainty. She claims the Jasad fortress fell before the messenger arrived and questions how four armies were ready so quickly. She asserts she would never have released Al Anqa’a and challenges the “magic-madness” narrative, arguing Rawain spent decades reshaping Nizahl against magic. She reveals she met Isra at the Summit and that Isra knew she would die.

Arin, silent and coiled, crushes a talwith bottle in his fist as the implications land. Sylvia presses the jagged neck to his chin, asking how many lies it will take for him to doubt his father. As the vision fades, she urges him to ask Rawain about the fortress, confident she has ignited his debilitating curiosity.