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I wondered who was going to care for the child if the old woman she seemed so attached to was about to pass on.
But then, I thought, trying to harden myself, it was none of my concern.
I kneeled down beside the low cot.
“Do we know her name?” I asked, looking back at Amara.
The healer had already lifted the tent flap to wait outside. Now she paused. “I believe she said Rachel, but I may have misheard her.”
My heart began to hammer.
No. It wasn’t possible.
“Do you mean Rychel?” I said slowly.
Amara tilted her head. “That may have been it. I’m sorry. Perhaps you can ask her again if she awakens.”
“I’ll do that,” I said.
I looked down at the elderly woman and softly placed my hand on her arm, noticing the fragile feel of her skin under my touch. Though a few streaks of black remained, her hair was mostly white. Her face bore the marks of countless years, with fine wrinkles tracing her features. She appeared ancient, her frail form seeming almost translucent against the bed.
“Rychel,” I said quietly. “Is that your name?”
The elderly woman opened her eyes. Beneath the mist of white, the veil of near-blindness, I spotted green in them.
My heart caught in my throat.
“Rychel,” I breathed. “Is it you?”
Eyes that had once been a vivid emerald looked back at me, full of pain and regret.
Her glasses were gone. As were the small horns that had matched Draven’s.
But the dainty, heart-shaped face. The sun-kissed, golden-brown skin. Those were the same.
The more I looked at her, the more that was familiar.
“What happened to you?” I could hardly get the words out. “Who did this to you?”
Cracked, wrinkled lips parted slowly into a small smile.
“I did,” the woman in the bed whispered.
“What do you mean?” I whispered back. I looked across the bed at the little girl crouched there so silently. “And who is she? Who is this girl?”
“My... daughter.”
“Your daughter?” I shook my head. “That’s not possible.”
“Think of her as my daughter.” Rychel’s eyes were passionate and pleading, just as I remembered them.“I beg you to. Please.”
I shook my head in frustration. All I could think about was how Draven would be striding into the tent at any moment. “What do you mean?”
“She is my child. She has no one else. Take her with you. Please.”
“That’s impossible,” I said flatly. “You don’t even know where we’re going.”
“Then send her somewhere safe,” Rychel breathed.
