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I pursed my lips, leaning back against the marble countertop to stare at her.
Does she know what I want? She sounds like it.
“Out with it, Elix. You already interrupted my exercises.” The impatience in her tone motivated me to speak my mind.
I inhaled and blurted out what was on my mind. “Do you think… I mean…” I cleared my throat and tried again. “I heard that Queen Mirielle had some success in ridding herself of the darkness inside her, along with the other orphans who were under Agnan’s control.”
Cirilla nodded. “Yes… or at least we hope that’s true,” she agreed. “I think it’s safe to say it worked in Queen Mirielle’s case, anyway.”
“Maybe you could help me the way her enchantress helped her.”
Cirilla wasn’t the least bit surprised by my ask, which, frankly, surprised me.
She really was waiting for me to come and ask her this.
“We can certainly try,” Cirilla agreed. “But…” She trailed off, and my heart sank at the qualifier. “You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?”
“Queen Mirielle and the others don’t have dark DNA imprinted in their makeup. Agnan was a dark magic warlock. It’s not something that can be washed out of me.”
“Except for Lysandra, apparently,” Cirilla agreed. “Which is why she seems to be the only one who turned against Zen and Mirielle. Or so I assume. I wouldn’t know without spending some time with her myself.”
Hope twinged inside me. “Is she the only one?” I asked. “Are you sure?”
“According to our sources at Silverhold, all the Anti-Order is appalled by Lysandra’s actions. She seems to be the only one still angling to keep up with the Order of Souls, but I don’t know how she expects to do that on her own.”
“That’s a relief,” I said excitedly, but Cirilla held up a hand.
“Don’t break out the champagne yet. The Order of Souls started with one dark being recruiting. That’s all it takes. For all we know, Lysandra is out there right now, gathering numbers elsewhere.”
It was a sickening thought.
“You really think I’m destined to be just like her?” I whispered, tears of frustration burning behind my eyes. Cirilla set her glass down on the marble countertop without taking another drink and took my hand.
“Of course not,” she answered firmly. “If I did, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now. You’ve had twenty-four years to show your dark side, and you haven’t. For all your power, you’ve maintained self-control. I don’t know if we can ever truly rid you of your genetic makeup, Elix, but we can start a regime of cleansing that will help.”
Her wise purple eyes locked with mine. “But you must know that there might come a time where you will have to choose between your king and your sister. Are you willing to make that choice?”
I swallowed the stone forming in my throat, my heart sinking at the terrible option of seeing anyone harmed in the mess of all this, least of all someone who shared my DNA, but there was no question who I would choose if push came to shove.
“Yes,” I replied hoarsely. “My loyalty is to Jace. Always.”
After our discussion,Cirilla gave me a schedule to follow, and I attacked it with fervor. It was grueling, but I wanted this to work.
I woke earlier than Jace, before the sun even touched the horizon, and ran the grounds. Sweating, with my heart pumping, I joined Cirilla in the small dining room for an entire pot of runeshade tea.
“A whole pot?” I asked in dismay the first time she made me drink it.
“Do you want to do this right or not?”
I obliged her, sucking back on the bitter-sweet liquid, watching as strange wisps of black fell off my lips in the aftermath of almost every gulp. It had scared me, watching the ebony streaks stream from my mouth. I gasped and sputtered, my eyes popping at the sight.
“What is that?” I asked the enchantress, but she never said it aloud. The Royal Guards were always too close in earshot.
“You know what it is,” she sighed, shaking her head.
I swallowed thickly, shamed by what was occurring inside me, without me having any control over it.
I’d usually retreat to my suite for a shower and meet Jace for breakfast before he would head out to meet the ministers. He headed into Geldon every day now, hoping to get some lead on Lysandra as he conferred with the heads of the various departments in Goldhaven. But my sister had disappeared into thin air, it seemed.
