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“Come over here and lie beside me, rest, so you can fight later.”
Something Anaria might have said, and I padded over to her, huffed, then flopped down, making it perfectly clear I was complying completely against my will. Tristan just shook his head and closed his eyes, but Adele leaned forward, her gaze fixed on the Oracle.
“She’s…summoning something from below us, something that has been…dormant for a long while. Maybe forever.” Her face scrunched up as she concentrated.
“Something that will…” She shook her head. “I can’t understand enough to translate. I thought she said a power that will birth a new world from blood, but that cannot be right.”
Tristan’s eyes flew open. “Anaria.”
I was inclined to agree.
The vibration overhead…could be an army marching to war.
And somewhere up there, Anaria would face them. Whether alone or with Zor and Raziel at her side, I didn’t know, but this was the moment the Oracle had spent an eternity preparing for. The bargain she’d struck with Anaria—with all of us—to restore the magic.
Somehow, I never thought I’d actually see it come to fruition.
“What does my daughter have to do with an ancient summoning spell?” Adele asked, her lips bone white. “And why, in the name of all the gods, are you looking at me like that, wolf?”
“Because while we were all led to believe the Oracle wanted the two kings out of the way so she could unite the three realms and place a queen on the throne, we’ve discovered her plans have changed,” Tristan murmured, his eyes bright when they met mine
On the other side of the barrier, the Oracle muttered and swayed, hair plastered to her forehead as the strain of what she was doing exacted a heavy toll. I didn’t know what was more surprising, that the Oracle was casting magic, or that she had to work as hard at it as the rest of us.
“The prophecy promised Anaria would give rise to the return of the wild magic.” Tristan moved closer to Adele, while I sat up, curling my tail around her protectively. “Not the Fae magic you know, but something older and far more wicked.”
“I thought…” She clamped her lips together. “Anaria was born to take Carex’s magic away, long enough for him to die. I’ve been rotting away in a cell, but I always assumed…something went wrong. She can’t mean to bring back the wild magic?”
“The very same.”
“My grandmother would speak of such things.” Adele sat up, her eyes fever bright. “No good can come of this. The wild magic…” She shook her head. “Wild magic cannot be controlled.” Her voice began to shake. “This magic…If this power decides to no longer share this world with us, we are all dead.”
“Your grandmother…Anaria’s great grandmother…was a witch?” Tristan examined her, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Adele’s gaze wandered to the Oracle. “Something I didn’t think prudent to mention to Torin…or herwhen I was recruited to join their cause. Witches are…not exactly trusted, in any of the three realms.”
“But they are in the High Barrens?”
“There are many things in the High Barrens that are different than here, but this is not the place to speak of them.” Her shrewd gaze never left the Oracle. “And yes, Anaria has witch blood. Not much, but it’s there.”
“No wonder she attracted magic in the first place. Such ancient power sensed a kindred soul,” Tristan murmured, and I dipped my head in silent agreement. Overhead, the rhythmic vibrations slowed, the walls going quiet around us.
Did that mean the army was gone, or the war was over? I flicked my ears forward, listening intently, but there was nothing, only a deep booming silence that stretched out forever in all directions.
“I have no real magic of my own, but knowing some spells protected me in prison.” Adele brandished her ruined hands. “Not entirely, of course, but they kept me alive long enough to see my daughter again.” Her smile softened.
“Enough to see the sun again, to know Julian’s plan…mad though it was, worked. He was a good male, your brother. You are very much like him.”
I wished I was in my Fae form so I could laugh properly.A good male.
Adele believed I was a good male. I snorted.
“You think you aren’t? Only someone whoisworthy deems himself unworthy. The truly arrogant always believe they deserve worthiness. Your brother loved you.”
Her blue eyes danced, despite this horrid place. “It was a long ride from the High Barrens to Blackcastle, and Julian loved to talk about his family, most of all. I know more about you, Tavion, than you probably would like.
“I know you couldn’t save your brother, and you’ve blamed yourself ever since. I know your father has never seen you for what you are. I know you care deeply for people, even when you hide it beneath pride and swaggering.” Painful memories, some of them true, but her caring smile never faltered, and I let that kindness sink into me, too.
Then the walls around us rippled, the earth undulating, dirt spilling over us. Tristan dragged Adele to the center of the room, and I planted myself between the Oracle and Anaria’s mother, lowering my head and bracing myself.
