“I’m from both kingdoms,” he announced, and my mouth gaped open as I stared at him.
As soon as Savannah took a step back, Tezya let his golden markings fade into him.
The mortal girl only stared at him in shock, not understanding why she’d just listened to him. Honestly the entire tent was openly staring. No one said anything as an eerie silence stretched through the tent.
My heart stopped at the vulnerability in what he was doing. What he was laying out before everyone, at the risk he was putting himself in.
Sie stood, his eyes focused solely on Tezya. “You have compulsion,” he finally said what was on everyone’s mind. Like he needed to hear Tezya confirm it to believe it, even though we literally justsawhim use his abilities.
Even I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around it, and I already knew. But knowing it and seeing it were two entirely different things. The first time Tezya used his compulsion in front of me, I was in a daze, but now I couldn’t deny it.
Kallon swore next to me, and across the room, Peter’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head.
“Yes.” Tezya nodded. “I’m half Luxian and half Tennebrisian.”
Minutes seemed to tick by, until someone broke the silence again. “I thought…” they started, then audibly swallowed. “I thought a baby wouldn’t survive from both kingdoms, how are you alive?”
“It’s a lie they started back on Allium during the Ability War. I think the kingdoms used it as a method to control us. They wanted separate rules, and there’s no better way of guaranteeing that than by fear. So like I said, I think we need to figure out what the prophecy is.”
“Okay, so how do we uncover it?” Dravenburg asked.
Tezya stepped up to the map. “I was hoping you’d tell me. It’s sealed inside my mother’s tomb. From the visions Dovelyn had of her death, she saw her seal her grave in blood, and she only did that when she was hiding something.” He swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he said, “I think the prophecy is buried with her.”
It was an effort to keep my mouth from dropping. I felt for Dovelyn. I couldn’t imagine being forced to watch her mother’s death through her visions, knowing it was because of what she told her. But I was more shocked Tezya was willing to unbury her for it.
“I know you know where she’s buried, Dravenburg. You have to see the benefit in recovering it.”
“It’s too far away,” Dravenburg said after a minute but still didn’t point to where it was on the map. “And I’m the only onewho knows where it is. I can’t leave my children or the camp when this is the most vulnerable Brighta has ever been.”
“You don’t have to,” Savannah said. Dravenburg’s hazel eyes glared at his daughter as she continued. “I may have stolen the files you have on their mother,and,” she said as she enunciated the word, “I may have snuck out and found the grave’s exact location.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” her father growled.
She shrugged. “I was bored and curious.”
“How far away is it?” Kallon asked, speaking for the first time since Tezya announced he was from both kingdoms. She honestly seemed the most shocked out of everyone in the tent, and that was saying something.
“About a day on foot,” the human replied.
“You’re asking to lose two days of travel to and from, and however long it takes to try to uncover it once there. It’s better we stay here and train,” Dovelyn said, but she was grasping at straws.
“Only one day of travel,” Tezya amended. “Once there, Kallon can work on setting up a portal for us to return to the outskirts of the camp. We wouldn’t need a lot of people. Everyone else can keep training—”
Dravenburg cut him off, finally turning away from glaring at his daughter. “No.”
“It’s worth the risk,” Tezya shot back.
“The risk of my daughter?”
“I can take care of myself, Dad,” Savannah snapped. “I know the way there with my eyes closed. I’ll be fine.”
“Things are different now, Savannah. You can’t just go hiking and wander alone anymore. This isn’t just a drop in visit. They’re fugitives now and both kingdoms are probably hunting them all down as we speak.” Dravenburg’s voice was starting to rise, and I could see the tension radiating from him by his stiff posture.
“I know that better than anyone,” Tezya said softly. “I know what the Lux King is capable of. I am asking to do this because I believe it’ll help. Even the shields of the camp won’t be enough to stop him. We can’t hide forever. He will find us, and when he does, if we do nothing, we won’t be ready.”
When Dravenburg still didn’t say anything, Tezya added, “I want to give our people the best advantage we can. I don’t want to wait until war shows up at our camp. If we do, there will be little we can do to keep it away from the humans. I want to bring it to Lux. I want the advantage. We need to be proactive. If this prophecy can give us even a glimmer of a chance at that, I want to take it. So yes, I believe it’s worth the risk.”
Dravenburg pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know how we do things in Brighta. A vote then. All in favor of seeking out the prophecy with a separate vote for what we find.”
