“Do you recognize geomancia when you see it?” Do?a Ursulina asked.
Reina nodded—a lie.
“And void magic?”
“Magic from the Void is forbidden,” Reina said in a little breath, her instincts clawing at her neck with the prickling to run away.
“By those who live in fear, maybe. But down here, no one needs to know what we do. I didn’t become who I am by being a coward.” Do?a Ursulina scoffed. “You’re a nozariel. You know of the god Rahmagut.”
Reina bared her teeth. Her tail swatted the air behind her restlessly. “He’s not a god. He’s a demon.”
“Look at you, fearing him like the Penitents who pray to the Virgin, thinking She’s capable of protecting them. You denounce his godliness.”
Unease gripped Reina again. She hated the way Do?a Ursulina could hold her prisoner with a mere stare and mock her. “Gods don’t hurt people.”
Her grandmother’s lips curled. “You have so much wisdom, for a duskling.”
Reina squashed the urge to sneer.
“Maybe gods don’t care for people, but they give us the tools to protect or hurt each other,” her grandmother said. “While you join the Penitents in worshipping some virgin who promises miracles, Rahmagut makes miracles happen for those who seek the way. If you ever doubt it, just think of your heart.”
Reina crossed her arms, disgust worming up her throat at the ore’s ragged sensation.
The older woman laughed. “That is why I want you to recognize spells and curses drawn from the Void.” She gestured at Reina’s thrumming chest. “What else do you think could have been strong enough to repel the rot of tinieblas and keep you alive?”
“This is void magic?” The voices grew deafening, so much that Reina brought her hands up to her ears. Blocking them didn’t arrest the chanting, for they came from within.
She was the darkness. A creature of flesh and iridio, amalgamated by her grandmother.
Do?a Ursulina nodded, satisfied. “Just one of all the things we can achieve with void magic. There are far worse spells—even curses that turn people into tinieblas. Let this be your first lesson. I want to hear you say his name without fear. I want you to tell me who he is, in your own nozariel words.”
Reina’s nostrils flared. Every instinct told her to stop, to flee. Everyone knew that the more his name was uttered, the more he was being invited to perch on their lives and leech off their happiness. She forced herself to ignore the whispering of her heart.
“He’s the opposer of Ches. When Ches banished him, he created el Vacío.”
“Why?” Do?a Ursulina barked, “Say his name.”
“Rahmagut, the nozariel conqueror who coveted Ches’s power and who ascended to oppose him.”
Do?a Ursulina nodded for Reina to keep going.
“Rahmagut, who violated the natural order of the world, and for that, Ches cast him out.” Reina licked her lips like the name spiced her mouth. “So he created a new domain to rule over: el Vacío.”
Do?a Ursulina leaned back with a sneer. “Such slanderous tales. Who am I to judge a god? Who are you? I believe what I see and what gives me tangible results. Rahmagut became godly because he utilized the iridio that landed on this world lifetimes ago. He harnessed its magic and left its trace behind so that we could harness it as well.” She gestured at the star map as if it would enlighten Reina. “Feleva seized the fallen star as her property and used the mines to make herself the richest woman in all Venazia. Now here we are, listening to the whims of her son while his coffers grow fatter. Do you think Don Enrique prays to Ches? Or to the Virgin? His only god is gold and power. And one day, when Rahmagut gives me his favor, Don Enrique will be worshipping me.”
The memory of Do?a Laurel and Don Enrique joined flesh to flesh pierced through Reina’s mind. He definitely worshipped something, and it wasn’t Do?a Ursulina.
“Do I have to worship Rahmagut like you?” Even as she said it, Reina couldn’t stop the words from sounding bitter. “Is that what having this heart means?” If that was the case, then Ches had already forsaken her.
Do?a Ursulina regarded her with amusement. And, perhaps, with a tinge of satisfaction. “Don’t fret. Your next task is to get close to Laurel and Celeste. They’re already predisposed to trust you. Use that, for me.”
Reina frowned but kept her mouth shut as expected. She held nothing but warmth in her heart for the ladies of the house. She would do it gladly, while maintaining her loyalties.
“And stop fearing the power of iridio, which is the only thing keeping you alive. Let me worry about Rahmagut. After all, I am the only one in this house worthy of his attention.”
Reina followed Do?a Ursulina’s gaze to the star map. The stars’ position in the sky and their labels provided no context, yet her heart’s reaction told her this was the center of her grandmother’s plans and desires.
“Now go. Tonight’s a new moon. When the night is darkest and the stars are brightest, fetch Don Enrique and bring him here.”
Ice ran down Reina’s spine.
“It is time Rahmagut makes a return to this world.”
7
Rahmagut’s Legend
Later, once the whirlwind of stars over the estate shone brightest past the curtains of ?guila Manor, Reina ascended to the third floor. Darkness draped the corridors tall enough to accommodate the antlers of its inhabitants. Reina watched her own shadows apprehensively, holding a lonesome candle in palms slick with perspiration, as she hesitated outside Do?a Laurel’s chambers. She had already gone to Don Enrique’s quarters and found no reply when she knocked. Missing him in his room had been a relief, for she couldn’t fathom how she would look him in the eyes after what she had witnessed. Now she’d have to look at Do?a Laurel instead. Reina didn’t feel any better about it, but she would swallow her embarrassment if it was what it took to become a crucial element in her grandmother’s life.
“Come in.” Do?a Laurel’s voice traveled through the heavy wooden door. She was slipping on a sleeping gown when Reina stepped in. The caudillo was not with her.
“It’s Do?a Ursulina, mi se?ora. She says there’s something Don Enrique must see tonight.”
“There’s no need to be so formal, Reina.” In the darkness Reina could still see Do?a Laurel’s smile, her short black hair tousled. “Enrique left a while ago.”
“Where to?”
“I think he’s gone riding in the mountains. Let us go for him. I’ll come with you.”
Do?a Laurel covered herself in a ruana and lit a candle before sweeping out of her room. Reina trailed behind her.
“The caudillo rides at night?” Reina asked conversationally as their espadrilles slapped the polished floors.
Do?a Laurel’s cheeks glowed under the candlelight. “He took a gray stallion on a ride through the woods, like the Virgin did in the holy books. Penitents stole that from an old valco custom—valcos believe it is a rite for conception.”
“A rite for conception?” Reina parroted.
Do?a Laurel faced her just as they arrived at the second-story landing. “We’re trying for a boy—we’ve been trying for ages,” she said with gentle humor. “Do?a Feleva said she rode both times when she conceived Enrique and Javier. So, if it’ll get me with child, I’ll accept every superstition valcos cling to.”