“And then what? You would have made a choice for me?” I gripped the leather beneath me.
“Cora, maybe we should give them a moment,” Fyn said.
She was inches from the door when my words broke the silence. “This is what you saw? What our relationship started?”
“Yes. I only saw a glimpse of it originally, but it keeps replaying…and slowly building.” Her head hung low—she looked only at her feet.
“How did us being together have anything to do with this?” I asked.
“He’s connected you to your fae side. He awakened part of your magic. It was the start of it all.” She slipped out the door and didn’t look back.
Fyn left with her, without saying another word.
“You knew she had a vision about us, and you didn’t tell me,” Lioran scolded me.
“I didn’t know why. She said if she told me, it would influence things. Maybe she meant influence us being together...But that’s impossible. I chose you.” I leaned back into the couch, my heart racing. “I need to decide. You can’t choose for me.”
He sat back beside me, his hands bracing my arms. “It’s too dangerous.” His hand extended, settling beside mine.
“If I can do this—I need to consider it. I left an entire kingdom behind—they’re my responsibility. My sister is still there.” I had barely spoken of Ashlyn to Lioran. Thinking of her left me in tears.
He pulled me in closer as I spoke. If anyone understood the duty to protect others, it was him. His hands settled on my back. “They’re not your responsibility—you do not need to solve this on your own. Cora’s visions sometimes shift. There will be another way.” He kissed my forehead.
I closed my eyes, clinging to his with warmth, before Cora’s words settled again.
Cora’s palm trailed over the rose petals. I had searched everywhere for her.
“I want you to help me—so I can be prepared.” I hadn’t even decided if I would do it. “If I choose it.”
“Just because I saw it doesn’t mean you need to do it.” Her hand took mine. Cora’s eyes were red, as if she had been crying. “I believe visions are one version of the future, a fate we may choose. Nothing is binding you to that fate.”
“I didn’thave any magic left?”
“It took it all.” Cora’s voice softened.
A single dew drop hovered on the edge of a petal. I poked it and it trickled down the petal. “All the decisions I’ve made…everything I’ve dragged Lioran into. I doomed my people when I crossed the divide.” I folded my hands across my chest. My fingers stiffened as I felt the pain of it all settle.
“You care deeply. Not just for yourself, or for Lioran, but for our world. It’s why the stars chose you.” With her words, the weight lifted, a subtle shift that steadied me.
I reached out and hugged her. Her hands squeezed around my back.
“Thank you,” I whispered to her.
“For what?”
“Believing in me.” I smiled.
“Only you can decide what is right for you. Don’t let others define your choice.” A glimmer of hope reflected in her emerald eyes.
Chapter 23
Lioran rode to Othryl with a supply shipment, and I avoided saying goodbye. I needed time that only space would allow.
Fyn tried to assure me Lioran wasn’t angry, but I wasn’t sure I believed it.
Cora and I spent endless hours working with plants, trees, and the dirt itself until I felt the magic run deeper in my veins. I could call on it with little thought, but even with my newfound ease, it took from me still. My daily pain was a constant reminder of what I would give every time I used my magic.
The corridors of the castle echoed with each aching step. My heart throbbed in beat with the sound.
