It was true.
I was not crazy, and Talon was not a liar.
A wave of dizziness had my hands clawing at the damp moss, gripping the earth to keep from falling falling sideways.
No one could find out. The High Court, the Priestess, Keeper Sora—if they knew what I had seen, they would execute us both. The stakes were no longer just my reputation; they were my survival.
And yet, alongside the terror, a spark excitement set my blood ablaze. Now that I knew there was an ancient, undeniably valid reason for the resonance in my body, I did not have to suppress my desire. I did not have to question why I burned.
The lake brightened for a fraction of a second, silver light flaring around his silhouette like a dying star. But as I blinked, the vision dissolved, the lake going still and returning my own shaken expression to me.
I sat back on my heels, eyes wide and breath uneven.
I had wanted certainty.
Now that I had it, the world felt like it was tilting on its axis.
* * *
I slipped through the side entrance of the Archives, my movements frantic and silent. I moved through the shadows of the library, my damp hem heavy against my ankles, dripping incriminating patterns onto the stone.
I was nearly to the heavy iron door of my sleeping chamber when a voice cut through the stillness.
“Kaelia.”
I froze, the cold of the stone floor seeping into my bones. I turned slowly to face Keeper Sora. She stood at the end of thecorridor, a single candle in her hand casting long, judgmental shadows across her face.
Her gaze dropped immediately to my knees, which were caked in dark mud and damp from the bank. She did not ask where I had been. She simply inclined her head, her expression unreadable.
“Come with me.”
I followed her into her private study, the air thick with the scent of old parchment and lavender. She did not sit. Instead, she went to the highest shelf, withdrew a weathered tome I had never seen, and faced me.
I did not care for her lying words.
I wanted to burn all of her fraudulent texts. I wanted to tell her that no words she could provide would undo what I had seen in the water, but I remained still, my teeth digging into my bottom lip until I tasted copper.
“The Veythar is planting ideas in your head that will get you killed,” Sora said, her voice sharp as a blade.
“I am not sure what you mean,” I said, attempting a coy tone.
Sora squinted, the corners of her eyes tightening in anger. “You need to be smarter than that, child, or you will end up like Thora.”
She slammed the tome down onto her wooden desk and pointed to the stool tucked beneath it.
I lowered myself onto the seat, my legs unsteady.
“You need to see what he is doing to you,” she said pointedly. “Because it has been done before.”
The ink on the pages began to shift, shimmering until they drew a silver thread of dust into the air.
“Thora was a normal girl, she came from a healthy home and even had an Elarthai.”
A pale-haired woman appeared, her silhouette glittering, her eyes turned toward a horizon that was not there. The faintwhisper of wind stirred through the room, carrying with it the scent of pine and rain. Beneath her feet, a forest shimmered into existence, its trees bending to an unseen force.
The scent of pine and damp earth thickened until it filled my lungs, real enough that I almost expected to feel soil beneath my feet.
“But, she fell for a lie.”