My hands settled back on the ground; the destruction rough against my palms.
There was no coming back from this.
I closed my eyes, desperate to be somewhere else.
Thoughts of my mother’s lavender field drifted into my mind—a place where my hands tore the lavender free, but it only regrew. I thought of the roses that unfolded beneath myfingertips. The memory of their smell still lingered in my nose as if I was still there breathing it in.
Fire stirred in my veins, hot and unrelenting. My fingers met something new and stiff.
My eyes opened revealing the source of the perfume as it wafted toward me. It was stronger than my memory could have ever recalled. Lavender stems shot up from the soil. New life bloomed—the decay restored to emerald. The enchanting tune became soft and calm.
The gemstone ran warm on my skin.
Lioran ran his hands over the restored blades of grass.
Fyn kept his distance, his eyes widening.
Lioran’s dark curls flew over his eyes as he shook his head. He braced himself on the nearest tree.
“You…” Lioran swallowed hard. His fingers still trailed the lavender—checking to see if it was real.
I couldn’t have done it.
My feet squelched in the mud as I shifted.
Lioran’s glare bore through me as if he suddenly saw something in me that terrified him. He ran his hand along his clenched jaw.
“You have magic...” Lioran exhaled, uncertainty flickered in his silver eyes. He took a step closer to me and stopped.
“I don’t.”
I couldn’t. There was nothing magical about me.
I was only Aelira—a mostly human princess.
“We both saw it.” Fyn’s head tilted.
No. It wasn’t possible. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Or had it?
The lavender field—I ripped it free, but it regrew. The roses bloomed.
It wasn’t just happening—it was me. I looked down at thetips of my fingertips. They were still tingling. Each inhale wouldn’t fully take, my body weakened.
What if I couldn’t control it? What if I destroyed the land more? I pressed my palms together, drawing them in toward my chest, too afraid to touch anything else.
Fyn exhaled forcefully; the sound startled me. “It’s not just any magic, Lioran...”
Lioran glared at him, commanding him into silence. Was my magic something horrible?
“I destroyed it all.”
“You have not yet learned how to control it.” He slowly approached me. “But when you do—it won’t be like this.” He extended his hand, but I didn’t take it.
Lioran lied to me about who he was.
“Lioran…” Fyn’s voice was slow and hesitant. “Her magic is like?—”
“I will find someone to mentor you.” Lioran reached again for a flower. He pulled it free from the soil and he brought it to his nose.
