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“You’re sorry?” A hysterical laugh escapes me. “You’re sorry you took everyone and everything from me?”
He shakes his head. “You don’t understand. I made a bargain.”
“A bargain?”
“I had to, Reyna,” Arluin continues. “Otherwise I’d have never been powerful enough to return to Nolderan. For us to be together. Your father would never have allowed it. I tried to explain, but you wouldn’t listen and jumped off—”
“Nothing can ever excuse what you’ve done,” I hiss. “There’s nothing more for you to say. I will never forgive you. Not even in ten thousand years.”
“Reyna—”
“Save it,” I snarl. “Ignira!”
A fireball erupts from my fingers, and I banish him from my dreams. All I wish is that he was real, and that I really did destroy him.
Warmth brushes my cheeks. Slowly, I open my eyes. The sunlight is so bright it momentarily blinds me, and I shield my eyes with my hand.
When my vision adjusts, I lower my hand and glance over at the tall window a few feet away from where I lie. Silken curtains flow down either side, swaying back and forth in the gentle breeze. They’re pulled open wide enough for sunlight to pierce through into the room.
I push myself upright, and the mountain of pillows behind me supports my weight. Thin sheets cover me and the strange, circular bed which I’m lying on. I roll back the blankets and peer down at what I’m wearing: a silken dress.
Where are my robes? Where is this place?
I scan the room, hoping to find some clues to explain my whereabouts. Zephyr is snuggled up at my feet and doesn’t appear disturbed by our current location. If he were, he wouldn’t be sleeping so soundly right now. A golden tapestry hangs on the right wall, forming an abstract depiction of dawn, and my enchanted satchel sits on the white cupboard beneath it. The room is too empty for me to piece together where I am. My robes are also nowhere in sight. Neither is the Void Prince.
With a frown, I reach over to my injured arm. My fingers find only smooth skin. I pull my arm closer and inspect it. There’s nothing there, not even the faintest of scars to show I was injured.
Natharius must have found me a healer in time. Unless I’m dead and this is Heaven. But that would be nonsense. The Gods only permit their most pious followers into their celestial palaces, if at all. For us magi, the afterlife consists of our souls becoming one with aether. And I’m very much corporeal right now.
I throw aside the blankets and climb out of bed. My footsteps are quiet across the strange, marble floor. Zephyr doesn’t lift his head. My legs are shaky at first, unused to walking, and I wonder how long I’ve been unconscious. I make it to the door but as I reach out, it swings open. I stumble back.
A girl appears, wearing white silk like me, and her dress contrasts her dark skin. Her eyes shine with golden light, brilliant like the noon sun. She grips my shoulders and steadies me before I can topple over.
“You’re awake?” she says. “I was just coming to check up on you.”
Still disoriented and half-asleep, I blink. The girl takes my arm and guides me back to the circular bed. “Who are you?” I ask as she pulls the thin blankets over me. “Where am I?”
“You’re in Esterra City,” she says.
I clutch my temples, trying to remember where that is on a map. Geography was never my strong suit. “Esterra?”
“Northern Selynis.”
“Oh.”
“And I’m Yadira, a priestess of this temple.”
“We’re in a temple?” I ask.
Yadira nods. “You’ve been here for two days. The High Priestess of Esterra assigned me to look after you.”
“Two days?” I exclaim, my eyes widening with horror. By now, we should be passing through the Ghost Woods. I need to find Natharius and leave. At this rate, Arluin and his necromancers will destroy Gerazad long before we arrive.
“You need to rest,” Yadira says when I try to get up. She holds my shoulder down with surprising strength. Or maybe my body is that weak. “You nearly died from poison, and you’re still afflicted by dark magic.”
“Dark magic?”
She gestures to my wrist. The tattered rags from my ballgown have been replaced by white silk. I hope the priestesses changed the bandage quickly enough that Arluin didn’t have the chance to glean my whereabouts. Maybe that’s how he knew I was injured when he appeared in my dream. “Even the High Priestess could not cleanse the mark,” Yadira continues. “She’s been looking through even the most ancient scrolls we have here in the temple, but she hasn’t found anything to cure you yet. She said you need to rest until she finds a solution.”
