Kalisa opened her eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Joden watched as Kalisa’s eyes flooded with awareness, then narrowed with loathing, focusing on him. “Lord of Light, spare me,” she rasped. “A Seer.” She coughed as she struggled to lift her head from the pillow.
“Auntie,” Mya moved, supporting her and offering a cup of water. “Save your strength,” she urged.
“G-g-guardian,” Joden struggled with the word. “Y-y-you m-m-must—”
“Must?” Kalisa glared at him, ignoring Mya. “Who are you to say ‘must’ to me? A Seer newly come to power,” she scoffed, and then cleared her throat. “Have you come to scold me? Berate me?” Kalisa’s lip curled as she spoke. “I will not aid you, Firelander. Or the stupid child at your side.”
Gasps rose around him, but Joden stayed focused on Kalisa. “Y-y-your oath as G-g-guardian re-re-requires you r-r-release y-y-your charges,” Joden fought to slow his words and get his tongue out of the way. “O-o-or you will w-w-wander the snows, l-l-lost—” he drew a breath, trying to finish his thought. She’d wander lost in her own hate.
“Who are you to tell me what my oath requires?” Kalisa’s eyes raged at him, spit foaming in the corners of her lips. “Who are you to tell me, a Guardian of Xy, anything?”
“Xy-xy-xyson,” Joden could barely force out the word.
“Xy-xy-xyson,” Kalisa mocked him, then her lip curled. “Bastard always was a meddler.” Her face crumpled in pain. “If he’d only left us alone—” she hacked again, as if her pain caught in her throat.
“Drink,” Mya urged, but Kalisa pushed the cup away, water slopping over the sides.
“I have warded my charges for years, watching over the generations, day after day, month after month,” Kalisa’s eyes filled with tears. “Weary decade after decade, waiting for one to bear the sign. Every son, every daughter in my line, but my warrior blood faded through the generations.”
Anser was staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. “Auntie, how long have you lived?”
“Cheesemakers.” Disdain dripped from Kalisa’s words. She snarled at Anser and Mya. “All of them. None bear the gift and never will.”
“Auntie,” Anser said, straightening his spine. “You don’t mean that.”
Kalisa stared at Lara. “But your babes, now. Your children and those that will follow—”
Lara, pale and trembling, drew herself up. Keir was behind her. He stepped forward. “What about our children?” he demanded.
“They were born on the night the power returned,” Kalisa’s eyes grew distant, and her voice dropped to the barest whisper. “Too early to know, too early to tell, but they may bear the gift.”
“She had a fit that night,” Mya whispered. She sat on the bed, her arm wrapped around Kalisa’s hunched back. “On the night of the royal births.”
Amyu shifted next to Joden, stepping forward closer to the bed. “Do you mean the golden light?” she asked. “I can see it.”
Kalisa snarled, “I know. I can see it in you, child. You have the gift.”
Amyu leaned forward. “Please, Elder, show me. I can learn to—”
“I swore an oath,” Kalisa trembled with rage. “Never to use it again, never to touch what was left. I could take up the power, rid myself of this withering, aged—” She coughed again holding up her swollen hands. She curled her lip at Eln and Lara. “Joint cream and teas. Bah.” She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t, I can’t—”
“But I can,” Amyu started.
Kalisa screamed. Joden reached out to steady Amyu as she flinched back, his hands on her shoulders, wishing he could shield her from this.
“You?” Kalisa shrieked, dropping her hands, rage in her eyes. “Never. Never will a filthy Firelander touch my charges.” She coughed, clutching at her chest. “They were created for Xy and Xy alone. I will keep them safe and free of your taint. Only the pure blood of Xy will fly these skies. Never, never, never—”
She clutched at her heart and gasped out the last few words.
“Uppor w-w-waits,” Joden said. Keir stiffened but Joden kept his eyes on Kalisa.
She paused, then her face crumpled. A long moan came from her, that seemed to take all her breath. “Uppor, beloved,” she wept. Then she gasped, and threw her head back.
Eln moved then, with Lara, to aid Mya. They eased Kalisa back down on the bed. There was a rattle, a struggle for another breath.
