Page 88 of Only Flames Remain

She turned toward us at our approach, a wide smile spreading across her face. Her teeth didn’t exhibit the telltale point that Vireth possessed.

She was Veytari.

“Noor, this is Aveline. Aveline, meet my mentor, Noor.”

Noor smiled up at me, the skin around her eyes creasing. She grasped my hand in hers, patting the back of it. “It is wonderful to meet you, Aveline. I have heard many wonderful things about you.”

Her touch sent a shiver across my skin, the sounds of bubbling water filling my ears as the world tilted. Enora moved to catch me, her hands gripping my shoulders to keep me upright as my hand remained gripped in Noor’s.

The wave of dizziness hadn’t cleared.

As I peered into Noor’s gaze, her eyes turned suddenly milky—a white cast covering her iris and pupil. I tried to pull my hand back with a gasp, but her grip on me was tight. Her skin was suddenly cold against mine. Her lips moved with silent words, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

Within the blink of an eye she dropped my hand, her eyes snapping closed.

I pulled my hand against my chest, rubbing the sore skin of my wrist as Noor’s eyes popped back open once more. They had returned to the deep jade they had been mere moments ago.

“What was that?” Enora exclaimed, turning me toward her so that she could assess me and ensure I was all right.

I blinked rapidly, righting myself as the wave of dizziness subsided and I was comfortable standing on my own two feet again. I turned toward Noor, whose expression was one of utter shock. She pushed away from the desk aggressively, her spectacles falling to the ground with a crack. She shook her head back and forth rapidly.

“It can’t be. It simply cannot be.”

“What can’t?” Enora asked, approaching her. “Why did you not tell me you were a seer?”

A seer? Is that what Noor was?

What was it that she had seen when she had touched my skin? My brow furrowed in confusion as Enora grasped the woman’s shoulder, holding her upright.

“Noor, what did you see? What were you shown when you touched Aveline?” she asked gently.

The woman shook her head back and forth, words stuttering out of her mouth. “It isn’t…mine…to…tell.”

“What isn’t?” Enora pressed.

A heavy silence fell over us as Noor composed herself. She straightened, her affect reverting to that of the composed historian I had met moments ago. She turned to Enora with a smile in her gaze, her eyes flitting to me only briefly.

She took a deep, steeling breath.

“I see a great many things, my child. It is of no consequence. How can I help you ladies? I know you didn’t come to the library to avoid the party, what with these beautiful dresses!” There was no trace of the strange moment that had passed between us, her voice even and the lines of her face smoothed.

Enora’s own brow crinkled in confusion. “What just happened?”

She merely shook her head, leaning down to grasp the spectacles that had fallen from the bridge of her nose. “It was merely a coincidence, my dear. I saw nothing that relates to either of you, rest assured.”

Her cheeks were warm and flushed, a smile painted across her lips. Nothing about her betrayed that she might have seen something unsettling. Something about me.

Enora’s mouth dropped open to speak, her confused gaze pinned on me.

“We were wondering if you had any masks? For the masquerade ball tonight. I’m afraid that wasn’t one of the things we traveled from Myros with, and there was no time to visit the market to procure them.”

I wanted to believe it was merely a coincidence that she had a vision when she touched my skin, but I wasn’t so sure. It was evident that she had no intention of telling us, and there was no point in making the situation even more uncomfortable for all of us by pressing.

“Ah! Yes! That I can certainly help you with,” Noor replied, turning toward the filing cabinet against the wall to her right. She rummaged through it, casting aside a great number of strange items you weren’t likely to find in a library. Finally, she procured two masks from beneath the clutter. One was gold, one was black. Both were painted with intricate floral filigree.

“Will these do?”

Enora and I exchanged a glance before nodding. Thankfully, Enora moved to take them from her. I certainly wasn’t about to touch her skin again.