“Here it is,” she said. She hobbled over and set it down, then wiped off a layer of dust, making Elena cough.
Inside the tin were two papers carefully folded into small squares. Jasmine delicately picked one up with two fingers. Slowly, she unfolded it and set it before Elena.
Elena peered at it, her heart hammering.
There was a drawing of a woman in a wide stance. She held her arms out before her, one hand curled into a fist with the other flat and open.
The seventh form: the Goddess. Become the fire, the light, for the entirety of the world.
And then, at the bottom:Give it love. It is as alive as me and you.
Elena looked up, her eyes wide. “What is this?”
“I think you know.”
She looked back down and unrolled her own scroll with trembling fingers. She took the parchment and held it to the place where the paper was torn. The lines bled into each other perfectly.
It was the final form.
“Your mother would send me scrolls—secretly. She kept her findings from Leo. I don’t know why, but she thought that, one day, he would stop her. She’d draw a little flower on each, a jasmine, and have them sent to me. And I’d write back to her—on paper—with my thoughts. Where to search next. I couldn’t go to the Royal Library, but we’d meet in the city when we could. Until the day she sent me this letter.” She tapped the parchment. “Aahnah came here just after I received it. She showed me this same scroll, with the same torn corner. And then she revealed the missing form to me. She wouldn’t tell me where she found it. She took back the diary entry and dance scroll, but she left the rest with me. To keep safe. And after that night, I didn’t see her again.” She gazed at Elena, and there was a dark, hard look in her eyes. “She didn’t trust your father with this. I hope you understand the gravity of her decision.”
She opened Elena’s other hand and set the second paper square in her palm. Elena stared at it. It felt insubstantial. It felt like nothing.
“What is it?” she asked.
“A letter. Something that will keep you safe during the time of reckoning,” Jasmine answered.
More riddles.Elena shook her head. Her hand closed around the parchment.
“What else did my mother know?” she asked. “What did she learn after all that time in the library?”
“Oh, child,” Jasmine said. This time, she was the one who wrapped her hands around Elena’s. “Your mother came across something horrible. But she would not tell me about it. She just said that learning it changed everything. Then there was the Ashanta ceremony and…” Jasmine’s voice faltered.
“And she died,” Elena whispered.
Jasmine’s eyes grew blurry with tears. She nodded.
Elena sank back in her seat. A sense of sickening dread filled her, and a question emerged in her mind, one that made the warmth leave her body.
Did she jump into the flames to hide what she knew? Or was she forced to jump to keep her from sharing?
Elena could not find it in herself to move. The only person who could influence Aahnah had been her father.Did he…
She felt her throat go dry. She did not believe it, of course not, but… Elena shuddered. She could not deny her father’s ruthlessness. A Ravani never allowed a person to come in the way of his kingdom. It was one of the first lessons Elena had learned as a child. A Ravani held true to the throne. A Ravani was her kingdom, and nothing else.
“Thank you, Jasmine.” She paused, meeting the older woman’s eyes. “And thank you for keeping this safe for all these suns.”
She stood and gathered the papers, hiding them underneath her cloak. “I have to go.”
“I’m sorry I could not tell you more,” Jasmine said, but Elena was already moving for the door.
She stumbled into the square, blinking furiously in the harsh afternoon sunlight. People, sounds, the city—they all seemed so far away. She wanted to wail. She wanted to drag her father to the Eternal Fire and shake the truth out of him. She was so tired of secrets. Elena swayed on her feet.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yassen. He looked up from where he leaned against the wall, but instead of meeting her eyes, he looked straight past her—and horror swept across his face.
Elena turned just as the sound of pulse fire ripped through the air. She fell on her hands. Screams erupted through the square. A guard toppled over, blood blossoming from his chest.
There were distant shouts, panicked orders. Someone grabbed her arm, and Elena gasped. Ferma loomed over her, screaming, but Elena’s ears were ringing, and she could only watch her lips move, dazed.
