THE TAPESTRY BEGAN to glow bright white. It tore itself away from the wall and fluttered toward the stone covered ground. Caelan walked toward it, his hand glowing. He reached out and tapped the elegantly decorated petals of the flower.

There was a bright flash. Tendrils of smoke appeared, dancing in the air above the tapestry. A small sphere of white opened within the fabric, creating a small portal where the flower had been stitched in.

He stuck his hand inside the portal and then pulled back.

A very familiar looking spellbook sat within his hand. The moment it was free of the portal, the entire tapestry melted into the ground and disappeared. Caelan chuckled to himself and shook his head. He turned toward a nearby table and set the spellbook down. It immediately opened, allowing him access to its pages.

Ravenna cautiously approached the table, her gaze focused on the spellbook. It had been a while since she'd last skimmed through its aged-yellow tinted pages. A small knot twisted within her stomach. The spellbook was notorious for having a mind of its own — and it wasn't until she wore the spelled talisman that it completely unlocked itself for her. Now that the talisman was destroyed and Ravenna had very little control over her magic, she was unsure whether or not she'd be able to read its pages again.

Caelan stood over the spellbook, one palm pressed against the tabletop. His free hand hovered over the spellbook, his finger tracing along its pages as he read. Ravenna stepped up beside him and peered over his shoulder.

Surprise flooded through her when she realized that she could read the words that his fingertip touched.

Her eyes widened and a small, "Oh" escaped her.

Caelan glanced back at her and his brow furrowed with confusion. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"It is unlocked," she said. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. She reached out toward the spellbook and her gaze shifted upward, locking with his. "Do you mind?"

He did not hesitate. He stepped back, allowing her to move closer to the spellbook. A mixture of confusion and concern danced within his dark irises. He watched her intently as she turned her attention back to the spellbook and flipped through the rest of its pages.

Once she'd glanced at all of the pages, Ravenna stepped back, giving Caelan space to return to his spot. Her head shook slightly, disbelief plastered across her expression. His eyes skewered her face. "What is it?" he asked her.

"It is completely unlocked," she said. Her brow puckered and she rubbed at her face with one hand. "It is completely unlocked. I can read everything in it. Even though I no longer have the talisman. I don't understand."

He tilted his head and frowned at her. "Did it not unlock for you before?" Caelan questioned.

She shook her head. "It would unlock small pieces, sometimes," she explained. "One night I might be able to read a small passage. Another night I might be able to read an entire page. There were even some nights that I was unable to read anything at all. Never once did it fully unlock for me — not until I had the talisman."

This appeared to shock Caelan. His gaze dropped to the spellbook, a crease forming between his eyebrows. "That is very strange," he remarked. "It should have mostly unlocked for you once it learned your heart."

Ravenna grimaced. "Learned my heart? That is a little cheesy, isn't it?"

He chuckled. "This spellbook is conscious of those who attempt to look through its pages and also those within its proximity. This is due to a defensive spell that Tylat created. It was meant to prevent the powerful spells inside from getting into the wrong hands."

Caelan picked up the spellbook and held it within his hands. His expression seemed soft. "For example, if a human were to pick up the spellbook and attempt to open it, they would be unable to. And if someone with a corrupt heart were to pick it up, their access to its spells would be very limited."

"But that does not make sense," Ravenna said with a scowl. "It didn't unlock for me at all until I had that stupid talisman. And like you said, that talisman only amplified the negativity inside of me. It should have locked up even tighter. Not to mention, you said that Vyses read the spellbook too."

A dark laugh escaped him. "It must have unlocked because it sensed Vyses within you," he explained. "Which would make sense if your assumption that he gave you the ability to use magic is correct. The defense mechanism worked, but I believe that it weakened as the book aged. When I first gave the spellbook to Vyses, it judged his heart and unlocked for him."

A small sigh bristled past his lips. He stared at the book, his expression grim. "I do believe though that as his heart began to grow corrupt, that particular copy of the spellbook did as well. I do know that it locked for him initially — as he once approached me for help. I dismissed it as a malfunction of the defensive spell. I never dreamed that it was caused by Vyses's himself. Had I known, I never would have let you touch this book."

His gaze lifted and met Ravenna's. Sadness swam within his eyes. "I am not certain how it happened — but I now believe that the spellbook had a similar effect on him as the talisman did for you. He somehow managed to force it open and it only further strengthened the darkness in his heart as a result."

She frowned at that.

"I do not know how exactly. Nor can I prove it. But it would explain why the spell that he performed on Ellie backfired so. It also would explain his nightmares, as those too can be caused by close proximity to corrupted magic. Any spell that he attempted to perform from the book could have been incorrect, depending on how weak the spellbook's defensive spell was at the time."

Nightmares. Ravenna tried not to make a face. The very first one that she had experienced was in Caelan's hut — which would make sense if the spellbook had been in his collection of books and scrolls. She would have been within close proximity of its corruption.

"You did not get nightmares from it?" she asked him. "It was in your hands for a while."

Caelan shrugged. "No. Though it never would have appeared corrupt to me, nor would it have had an effect on me. It has always recognized me and unlocked whenever I looked at it."

"So even though he managed to force the spellbook to unlock, it is possible that the actual content inside was incorrect?" Ravenna stated grimly. "Even though it appeared to be completely unlocked as you viewed it?"

Caelan nodded. "Correct. It would honestly be almost impossible to tell whether or not the spells were wrong, unless you knew enough to know better. The spells inside would appear normal — just with a faulty ingredient or wrong measurements. And performing a spell incorrectly has great risks, both to the one who performed it and those around them. It is possible that aspect contributed as well to the corruption of both Vyses and that copy of the spellbook."

Ravenna made a face and lightly touched the crown of ice that rested against her forehead. It was soft to the touch, having changed in appearance once the talisman had been destroyed. "Huh, that would make sense," she said, her voice slightly off-key.

She had no doubt now that her crown had been a product of an incorrectly performed spell. Not only had the spellbook given her incorrect spells, but she had even substituted certain items that the spell had required.

It's no wonder the spell hadn't worked.

~

hey there friends!

I genuinely cannot express into words how much I appreciate your patience with me these last few weeks! I know waiting for updates is never fun and I honestly never expected to be unable to update. Thank you so much for putting up with me and for giving me time to kind of breathe a bit!!! ❤ I seriously appreciate you all so, so much!!

One thing that I did want to note is the update schedule for this book. If you missed the announcement that I made yesterday on my message board, I am going to switch things up a bit. Ice is going to start getting updated every Tuesday (instead of Wednesday). Another one of my books will be updated every Thursday. I reevaluated my workload and I think updating Tues/Thurs will be a little easier on my end. 

I hope this is okay!!! Again, thank you so, so much for putting up with me and for your continued patience and support! ❤ I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to read this book and for all the love you have shown it!! 

ash ❤

p.s. If you are interested, I also made a Tiktok! It's been a nice non-writing creative outlet. I've really enjoyed making the silly little videos that I have posted so far. Let me know if you want to see anything writing related on there too! ✏ 

The link is on my profile if you are interested! :)