“Yes.”
Cora was hiding something.
She had a vision and wouldn’t tell me about it.
I deserved the whole truth, and this time I wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The fireplace blazed in my chambers as I buttoned the front of my silver riding tunic. Juniper hung the dripping gown in the window, shaking her head. “Have some tea, my lady. It’ll warm you.” Her tiny frame seemed childlike in the grand doorway to my chamber as she slipped through.
The leather book relaxed in my hands as I undid the wrap. I needed its guidance before Cora arrived. All of my energy went toward the book as I let the tea warm me.
“Why is Lioran unworthy?”
Lioran is the future King of Nythrel.
He can't offer you the future you deserve.
I am thankful for the protection he has granted you.
He must realize he can't keep you.
He couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t even want to. I replayed Elric’s words in my mind directing them all to the book.
All magic comes with a price.
You must be balanced or it will take its toll.
The greater the magic, the greater the cost.
“And Lioran? Has he been lying to me this entire time?” I choked on the words as my chest constricted.
I can't read him.
I can only read you and what you choose to share with me.
Look inside yourself for the answers.
You have an excellent sense of who people truly are.
The clearing in Evyn and the rose petals—both times I destroyed the land with my magic because of my turmoil and uncertainty. Lioran told me that he hoped we both could save the land. He didn’t deny what he said to Pyrran. If this was all a part of his plan, why would he tell me any of it?
“Aelira?” Cora knocked on the door. I slammed the book shut and set it aside.
“Come in,” I called, sitting back in front of the fire. She peeked around the door, red hair glittering in the fire’s warmth. Her green eyes were still, but skeptical.
“Fyn sent for me.” Cora knelt beside me in front of the fire—her eyes searched mine. “He told me how he found you. What happened?”
I stared at her for a moment, too afraid to ask anything at all. The onyx’s heat radiated through me a gentle reminder of my strength when everything around me felt so cold.
“Did you have a vision I crossed the divide?”
“Yes, I had a vision of someone crossing the divide. We knew you would come but didn’t know who you were.”
“You told him whereto find me?”
“He sensed you before you crossed. He wasn’t sent there to wait for you. In fact, I told him not to go.”
My nose scrunched as my head pounded. “You didn’t want him to find me?”
