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There was a curious shiver to the air, and soain, not quite visibly Some aspect of his nature? Ah, but of course; if Usein had indeed reneged on soeance, too I looked at her, wondering if she knew just how dangerous it was to cultivate a godly enehtly with sweat as she watched hi Yes She knew

"You used us," she said

"As you usedods to see hoerful you’ve become, Usein? Show him"

Usein made a frustrated sound, part fear and part annoyance But she went to one of the wall shelves and pushed aside a book, exposing a previously hidden hole She reached into it and pulled so There was a low clack fro, and then the whole wall swung outward

The power that flooded forth staggered otten the new size of ainst a nearby table, which was the only thing that keptwaves felt like … like Nahadoth at his worst No, worse Like all the weight of every real down, not on my flesh but ononto my forearms where they trembled on the table, I realized: I had felt this horror before

There is a resonance, Nahadoth had said

I o of itself I fought to remain corporeal, since I wasn’ he0em"t sure I’d be able to re-form if I didn’t Across the rooainst the door fra But elated, too

"What …?" I tried to focus on Usein, but ht blurred "What is …"

She stepped into the hidden alcove that had been revealed by the opened wall There, on a darkwood plinth, sat anotherlike the others It seelass Its shape was eoht hurt the face of whoever donned it It was larger than a standard es and extensions at jawline and forehead that re, down, down, through a vortex whose walls churned with a roar that could shatter the mortal realm --

Usein picked it up, apparently heedless of its power Couldn’t she feel it? How could she bring her child near so so terrible? There were no torches in the alcove; the thing gloith its own soft, shifting light Where Usein’s fingers touched it, I saw a hint of lass turned to smooth brown flesh like the hand that held it, then faded back to glass

"This mask -- or so Kahl tellsat me Then she narrowed her eyes at Kahl, who nodded in return, though he was looking decidedly unco at that stoic face of his "When it’s coodhood upon its wearer"

I stiffened Looked at Kahl, who merely smiled at me "That’s not possible"

"Of course it is," he said "Yeine is the proof of that"

I shook my head "She was special Unique Her soul --"

"Yes, I know" His gaze was glacially cold, and I re my enemy Had the same expression been on his face then? If so, I would have tried harder to earn his forgiveness "The conjunction of th, all at just the right tiestured toward the rew blurry before he lowered it "Godsblood and aries of chance And more, all bound into that mask, all to i down on the carved wooden face that served as its stand "Yes And the first mortal who put it on burned to death from the inside out It took three days; she screaet near enough to end heris evil"

"Merely incoood nor evil But when thatnew … and wondrous" He paused, his expression turning inward for a moment; he spoke softer, as if to himself, but I realized that his words were actually aimed at me "I will not be a slave to fate I will embrace it, control it I will be what I wish to be"