I recoiled and another crumbled turning to dust from my hand’s graze.
Something pulled within me, thrashing and whirling. Steeped in pain, my magic flowed chaotically. I clasped my hands together in my lap, terrified I would accidentally touch another.
“That’s most curious…” Elric’s voice startled me. “Are they questioning you?”
I wasn’t sure when he arrived. He always seemed to findme. “Aren’t you needed in council?” My voice trembled. I slid in front of the blooms I ruined, wanting to hide them from view.
“Not yet. I thought I’d take in some fresh air.” He gripped the stone flower box, peering around me. “It seems we are destined to keep running into each other. Some may say it’s the stars’ wish.”
The hairs rose on my arms.
“It all comes with a price.” He approached me slowly.
“What does?” I asked.
“Surely, Prince Lioran explained it to you.” He brushed the stray silver hairs from his face. “Or maybe he didn’t. I suppose he wouldn’t.”
“Tell me,” I commanded.
“If you wish it. Only because I believe you deserve the truth.” He ran his thumb over his fingernails. “We can all sense how fragile your magic is, Princess.”
He knew. We had trained in the open, but always concealed what I was working on when others were around. Lioran thought it was safest to downplay what I could do to protect me, yet he shared it with Elric.
My magic shifted through me, threatening to release itself again, but I stilled my hands at my sides.
“When a fae isn’t ready to channel magic, it will take just as much as it gives.” His gaze locked onto mine, pinning me in place. I wanted to protest it, to question him further, but I thought of Evyn and didn’t utter another word.
“When you use your magic, you probably feel yourself grow weaker.”
It was true. Training sessions left me longing for my bed. Sometimes I was even unable to think clearly afterwards.
“The greater the magic, the greater the cost. They are training you to restore. Are they not?” He sat on the stone wall next to me, assessing the damaged rose with hisfingers. “Restoration of these blight-burdened lands would be most beneficial for all, but especially the prince.”
“Everyone wants the blight reversed. Both realms would benefit.”
“Yes…but one’s very future hangs in the balance and a certain prince is about to be the king of a land that can’t sustain itself.”
I couldn’t understand how Lioran could trust him. Elric showed little allegiance.
“They are training me because I asked them to. I needed to learn how to control my magic.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to explain, but once my mouth opened, I couldn’t stop myself.
“It works even better when you think it’s your idea.” Elric took a step closer to me. “So, when the time comes and he asks you to make a sacrifice—you will. Without hesitation. Without thought.”
Lioran would never do that. He loved me. He believed in me.
“You’re lying.” I leaned back into the flower box, but swiftly pulled myself away from it again.
“You offend me. I came to find you to tell you the truth. To save you. And here you are, calling me a liar. I could just leave you here and let you figure out the rest.” He turned on his heels, but hesitated before taking a single step.
The words he spoke. He knew it all. It couldn’t be as he said. I couldn’t allow it to be. He finally stepped forward. “Wait!” I cried. If there was any truth in his words, I had to hear them.
Elric spun around to face me again. “Didn’t you wonder how he knew you were the disturbance at the divide? How he was there waiting for you?” Elric’s breath settled on my collarbone. “Lady Cora saw you coming and told him everything. You’re the answer to all his problems.”
“And they told you this?”
“Of course, he told me,” Elric said. “He isn’t keeping you a secret.”
A hard knot formed in my throat, silencing me.
