He sounded amused as he said it, but Jae couldn’t help but think of the bouquet under her sleeping mat, of the feeling of growing flowers up out of nowhere, and the Curse erupted in her head as she panicked. She tried to swallow it, tried to think of any other truth she could say, but when she opened her mouth, her voice betrayed her and she said, “I have, Highest.”

Elan stared at the girl. She was cringing, all but cowering, her face twisted up in fear. He looked around the garden but didn’t see any other splashes of color. “Where?” he demanded.

“They were here,” she said. “I—I hid them.”

“Blood and bones, why? Where did they come from?”

Her voice shook as she said, “I didn’t want you to see them—to see any of it. Not ever. Because I grew them—I did it.” She clamped her jaw shut, winced from something Elan couldn’t see, and a moment later spat, “With magic.”

Magic. That was so impossible that he actually gaped, his mouth open as he stared. No one had magic anymore, except what the Highest needed to guard the Well. And even if there were still magic, it wouldn’t come from some filthy Closest girl. She must have been mistaken, somehow.

But Aredann had always held secrets. And there was no denying the flower by the fountain, or that Closest couldn’t lie.

“Explain,” he said.

Her voice grew stronger, the tremble vanishing, as she said, “I saw some of your papers. There was a drawing of this fountain.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t,” she snapped. “No one asked me.”

“But surely you could have said…” He frowned. The Curse was strict, but it must have made allowances for this kind of thing. He just couldn’t think of any. “But what happened? How did you…”

“The magic was locked in the fountain, and I unlocked it.”

“How?” he demanded again, eyeing her carefully. Everything she said had to be true—the Curse wouldn’t allow anything else—but she wasn’t saying much of anything at all. He added, “Tell me everything you know.”

She narrowed her eyes but did as he’d ordered, explaining that she’d bled into the fountain and it had caused her fit—but that it hadn’t just been a fainting spell. And she told him about everything that had happened since, how she’d managed to will flowers into existence. That she could summon water out of weeds.

“Show me,” he ordered.

She stared at him for a long moment, and he couldn’t read her expression. Finally she grabbed a weed up off the ground, held it in her hands. She didn’t seem to do anything, except her gaze went unfocused, her expression went soft. But then she held her hands out to him.

There were tiny pools of water in each.

“Impossible,” he breathed again as she stooped and let the water fall onto the flower. He turned to examine the fountain, but it looked exactly like it always had: dusty and dry. He plucked the thorny weed from where she’d dropped it, and winced as he tore his hand the way Jae had described. He pressed his hand down onto the fountain trough and waited.

Nothing happened.

“Why didn’t anything happen?” he asked, frowning down at the fountain.

“I don’t know,” she said.

He pressed his hand down again but didn’t feel so much as a tremor, and certainly didn’t see any of the strange things she’d described.

“That makes no sense,” he said. Surely he should have seen something. If there was magic in the fountain, it must have been meant for him or another member of the Highest families. “Why would it work for a Closest and not for me?”

“I don’t know,” she repeated.

“Curse it,” he said. “That’s ridiculous. The magic, if this is magic, wasn’t meant for you. It’s too dangerous. But at least I found it now, before we leave….”

Jae looked away from him, silent but scowling, her arms crossed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you,” he assured her. “The magic is too important; you’ll have to come with me when we all leave Aredann.”

She didn’t look relieved. If anything, the opposite—her eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened into a thin line, and she was glaring at him as if she were Avowed and he were one of the Closest, as absurd as that thought was.

“What?” Elan asked.

“You’ll save my life. But you’ll leave my brother to die. My brother, my friends, everyone I’ve ever cared for—all dead. And you assume I’ll be happy that you spared me.” Her voice was venom, the words as sharp as the thorns on the vine.

“Well, I can’t bring them all!” Maybe he could bring a few more, but no one would understand why. Jae had magic, but there was no reason to bring anyone else. Their deaths were what would save the rest of the world, bringing the population back down far enough that the Well could serve everyone. It was a grim thought, and he could understand Jae’s anger, but there was no other choice.

Or there hadn’t been. But maybe now there was. Elan had been sure there was something at Aredann that would help him find the Well, and that would be the key to saving lives. And now there was magic. In traitorous hands, yes, but still magic.

“The power you found…could you use it to find the Well?” Elan asked.

“I don’t know,” Jae said.

He glanced at the flower again. It was impossible, growing out of the dust, surrounded by bone-dry ground. Surely if Jae could bring it to life, create flowers out of nothing, she could do plenty of other things. He’d have to find out what, learn more about it, but all the stories about the War were of mages who did incredible, impossible things. Surely finding the Well would be easy enough.

And magic appearing like this, even if it was in the hands of a Closest girl, had to be a sign. It wasn’t what his father and the other Highest had planned for Aredann—but they hadn’t known the estate held magic. Elan would have to bring his father here, show him what Jae could do, convince him.

But he’d have to be very, very careful. Convincing his father of anything was next to impossible. A flower and a palmful of water wouldn’t do it. Elan would need Jae to know precisely where the Well was first, and be able to prove it, somehow. Once Elan had that ready, he’d send for his father. Until then, he’d keep this secret. If Desinn or even Shirrad found out, they’d send for his father immediately—and Desinn, at least, would try to take the credit for it. But this discovery was all Elan’s, and if he handled it right, waited until he was certain he was ready, it would get him back into his father’s favor.