“You’ve been getting headaches?”
“Only since I stopped wearing it. I’ve worn it every day since he gave it to me; I never took it off. Not once.” Avalon chewed on her bottom lip as the captain and the Wraith waited in silence. “But headaches were a problem for me years ago. When he first gave it to me, I was sick in bed for weeks.”
Hadrian cut in then, his tone incredulous. “But you’re human.”
A smile tugged at the corner of the Wraith’s scarred mouth. “Is she?”
The captain’s fingers curled into fists. “What do you mean?”
But the Wraith’s full attention was on Avalon. “What if that bracelet never belonged to your mother?” he mused. “What if the king gave you that bracelet with a purpose, knowing full well that you would wear it as long as he claimed it had belonged to her?”
Avalon was already shaking her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. What would he accomplish by havingmewear iron?”
The Wraith’s gaze flicked to the bracelet Avalon still held in a loose grasp. “Maybe you should ask yourself that question.”
Avalon swallowed. And then set the band on the ground beside her. The captain and the Wraith were watching as she cleared her throat and said, “How do we break the curse with love?”
Everyone who’d loved Sable had been dead for years; Avalon could assume Balthazar and Rhea had been murdered when rumor says their home fell to the Dark Army. Hannelore died when Sable was nine, and Sable’s mother was also dead. As for Sable’s father…well, she had no idea who he was. Finding Levon was likely too difficult a task, and rumor said Killian had no memory of his sister, and therefore couldn’t possibly feel a level of love deep enough to set her free.
Avalon chewed on her lip, and when it became apparent that the Wraith had no answer, or perhaps wasn’t willing to give one, she mused, “Someone of higher power…” Her eyes flashed up to the Wraith’s, and she tried not to flinch at the otherworldly light that seemed to spill from deep in that gaze. “You believe Sable can remove those bands for you,” she stated. “You believe she is a person of higher power.”
The Wraith sat back, bracing his hands on either side of the wood, though he kept his chin dipped low, avoiding the daylight, as always. Finally, he nodded once.
“And what exactly do you mean,” Avalon said slowly, “when you sayhigher power?”
His eyes flicked between Avalon and the captain. “How much have you heard about the primordial gods?”
It was a challenge to keep her breathing steady. She had expected the conversation would eventually take this turn, yet it still made her anxious to discuss the possibility. “My nursemaid told me stories when I was a child,” she said. “She told me that when people believed the gods had abandoned them many years ago, it was simply because they’d reincarnated. That they were still here—just in different bodies. Perhaps even bodies that hadn’t been born yet.”
The Wraith looked at Hadrian. “You’re awfully quiet, Captain,” he accused.
A muscle twitched by Hadrian’s eye. “I don’t like where this is going.”
A ghost of a smile flickered across the Wraith’s mouth. “It doesn’t get any better,” he promised. “But at least the…girl…you’re attempting to free from that mask is no evil spirit.”
Avalon sat up straighter. “You’re saying Sable is a goddess.”
Sunlight glinted off the bands peeking from beneath his sleeves. “How much have you learned about Sable’s life?”
“Enough,” she said carefully. Regardless that he was feeding her seemingly valuable information, she still refused to believe they could fully trust him.
The Wraith prodded, “Enough to know that she was gifted with fire?” One of the first Fire Fey to walk Elderyn in centuries. Those who’d possessed elemental magic throughout world history were few and far between, and along with water, fire magic was so rare that it was a gift thought to be long dead.
Until Sable had come along.
Avalon gave a stiff nod. Her voice was a whisper as she concluded, “Hilandria, then.”
The Wraith’s mouth curved into a half-smile. “Hilandria,” he confirmed.
Nine Hells. That meant Sable was the reincarnated Goddess of Fire, blessed with the gifts Hilandria herself had possessed. Hilandria was the mother of the Firefolk; she had blessed her chosen Fey with a fraction of the fire magic she herself possessed. But over the years, magic had faded; the gods no longer blessed any newly born Fey, which was why the world had reacted the way it did when Sable was born. She was viewed as a savior—a miracle.
And if SablewasHilandria, then that meant… That meant the magnitude of her power was that of a god’s.
Limitless.
The Wraith rose to his feet without warning, and the captain and the princess copied. Hadrian’s fingers fluttered toward the hilt of his sword, but Avalon had too many thoughts buzzing inside her head to worry about protecting herself. Perhaps this was what the Wraith had wanted: to distract them.
Avalon and Hadrian watched in silence as the Wraith swiftly packed his things. “When your father sent me to find you, he informed me of a prophecy telling of Sable’s release from the mask. The curse can only be broken ten years in, on the summer solstice—the same day she was trapped inside the mask.” He gave a sharp whistle, and a night-dark stallion trotted to his side.
