As Vladim moved to turn the locks, I heard Genya whisper. "You definitely owe me a kiss after all this, Don't think I won't hold you to it."
I laughed lightly. "We'll see."
"There is no seeing, you will, if I have to be the one to do it then so be...
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"I SEE," I SAID, "DOES HE ALSO PLAN TO BUILD a summer home there?" Baghra seized my arm again, "this isn't a joke!" There was a desperate, unfamiliar edge to her voice, and her grip on my arm was nearly painful.
What was wrong with her? "Baghra, maybe we should get you to the infirmary—" I started but Alina was sighing shakily, "she's not sick,"
"You must listen to me, girl." Baghra spat. "Then talk sense," I said. "How could anyone use the shadow fold as a weapon?" She leaned closer to me, fingers digging into my flesh, "By expanding it."
"Right," I said slowly, trying to extricate myself from her grasp. "The land that the Usea covers was once green and good, fertile and rich. Now it is dead and barren, crawling with abominations. The darkling will push its boundaries north into Fjerda, and south to the Shu Han. Those who do not bow to him will see their kingdoms turned to desolate wasteland and their people devoured by ravening volcra."
I gaped at her in horror, shocked by the image she had conjured. The old woman had clearly lost her mind. "Baghra," I said gently, "I think you have some kind of fever." Or you've just completely lost your mind. "Finding the stag is a good thing. It means that Alina can become stronger so that we can destroy the fold."
"No!" She growled out in frustration, "He never intended to destroy it. The fold is his creation."
I sighed. Why had Baghra picked tonight to lose all touch and reality? "The fold was created hundreds of years ago by the black heretic, you idiot!" I said, but a part of me was slowly beginning to see the picture clearly.
"The Darkling is the black heretic." Alina said, grabbing my arm again, "of course he is." I said and yanked myself away from the two.
"I'm going to go find you a healer and then I'm going to bed." I said to Baghra but she only glowered and said, "Look me in the eyes girl,"
I sighed but did as I was told, my patience at an end. I felt sorry for her, but this was just too much. "Baghra—" the words died on my lips.
Darkness was pulling in Baghra's palm, the skeins of inky blackness floating in the air, "You do not know him, Freya." It was the first time she had ever used my name. "But I do."
I stood there watching dark spirals unfurl around her, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. Searching Baghra's strange features, I saw the explanation clearly written now, I saw the ghost of what must have once been a beautiful woman, a beautiful woman who gave birth to a beautiful son.
