Page 18 of Memory of Ashes

Eleandor knelt beside Amelia. “I’ve seen glimpses of your world.”

“How?”

“Energy has memory.”

He spoke as though seeing a memory meant understanding it. Amelia knew from handling ancient fragments that evidence could mislead when separated from its context.

He looked towards the king, who nodded his permission for him to continue.

“You… your kind… you don’t know the extent of what you’ve done.”

“What have we done?” she asked Eleandor.

“In your memories, I saw humans digging deep into the earth for Lifesource and exhausting it.”

“Lifesource?”

“You call it something else. It’s a clear mineral of the earth that has an ice-blue shimmer.”

“Chrysonium. That’s our name for it,” Amelia replied.

“It isn’t yours. It belongs to us,” the king said, his voice close to a snarl.

“It belongs to the earth,” Eleandor said quietly, glancing at the king. “You’ve felt the consequences. The earth quaking beneath us.”

“They’re happening here too?”

He remained silent.

“I don’t understand. How would that affect you?”

*

Casyl led her back to her room. They walked through the long corridors lined with small sconces.

Her room was on the first floor this time, and she was now constantly guarded. Escape was impossible, and even if she did, she wouldn’t know where to run. The world outside was just as terrifying.

They reached her room. The guards stood aside as they entered.

“What are you going to do with me?” she asked Casyl.

He walked over to her, holding her gaze. She stood firm before him.

His eyes ignited, and without warning, he pressed his fingers to her temple. The pain pierced her skull, milder than before, but it still made her flinch.

It stopped.

When she opened her eyes, curiosity had replaced his confusion.

“Interesting.” He held her chin in his hand, turning her head, studying her from different angles. “You can block.”

“I can block what?” she asked.

“The first time you did it, I wasn’t sure what had happened, and then I saw you do it to my father—and again just now. I’ve never seen it before. You’re a Voider.”

“But I’m human. We don’t have powers.”

“You do.”