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“Two?” Matron Olsander laid a hand on Ilara’s chest and closed her eyes. She gasped, and her eyes flew open. “Amarus Above! You indeed do have more affinities!”
“My wings are from an angel affinity.” Ilara waved toward her violet eyes. “My irises also change color when it manifests, and a Nolus fairy told us it was the mark of an angel. He also informed us that angels have extraordinary healing abilities, and I want to try to heal the queen, but I need your help. I’ve never done this before.”
“A divine affinity, just like the prince.” Matron Olsander clucked her tongue. “Fitting, I suppose, since you’re mates. But I’ve never worked with an angel affinity. I shall do my best to help you learn it.”
“We must. It’s the only way we can save her.” Ilara pulled her tutor to the bed’s edge. My mother’s breathing had grown even shallower, her complexion now sallow. “Help me, please. She’s dying.”
Matron Olsander rolled up her sleeves. “I can see that she is. All right, Ilara. Let’s do our best.”
CHAPTER 23 - ILARA
Ikneeled at the queen’s side, Matron Olsander right beside me. My tutor’s affinity dipped into my body, scouring through my veins and feeling along my magic.
“It seems that your angel affinity resides here.” Her affinity swirled around the knotted light and dark power between my shoulder blades. Frowning, she added, “It feels immense yet tightly balled. You’ll need to coax it out. Let it unfurl within you. Do you feel this here?”
It felt as though a phantom finger brushed against a side of that cold power and blinding light. “Yes.”
“This seems to be where you need to pull. It’s almost like a ball of yarn, coiled very,verytightly. Mother Below, I’ve never encountered such dense power, but tug here and see what happens.”
I closed my eyes and did as she said, and slowly, it felt as though a stream of light began to untangle within me, uncurling until it was like a meteor streaking acrossthe sky. I tried to zoom it toward the queen, tried to coax it to heal her. But I didn’t know how.
Light continued to unravel from the dense ball until it blazed and unwound and barreled down my arms, toward my hands, and then...
My hands shone with white light, and a stinging pain followed. I gasped but didn’t try to coil the light back inside me.
“Yes, that’s it.” Matron Olsander shifted closer, her brow furrowing as her magic continued to prod within me. “This darknesshereseems to be the opposite of the light. Do you sense how it’s colder?”
I nodded, biting back a yelp because the light felt like fire, except unlike my fire affinity, the pain was agonizing.
“Are you in pain?” she asked, forehead furrowing.
All I could manage was a nod.
“What does it feel like?”
“Burning...stinging pain.” I gasped. “My hands and arms feel on fire.”
“How odd. Magic shouldn’t be painful if utilized correctly.” Her affinity again brushed inside me. “Perhaps these powers need to work in tandem.” Matron Olsander guided my concentration back to the heart of my affinity. “Usually, when an affinity has multiple facets, it means that they must work together. This sensation feels cold, does it not?”
I nodded. Sweat beaded my upper lip, but I didn’t cry out again.
“Call the cold forthhere. See what happens.”
I did as she instructed, letting the magic work on its own after gentle prodding from me at my tutor’s guidance. This was so different from when I’d healed my wing. Then, I’d simply coaxed my affinity, and it had seemed to know what to do, but now, when I was trying to heal another, I needed this power to leave my body, and I still had no idea how to do that.
But if my tutor thought I needed the coldness to ease this burning agony, I wasn’t going to argue.
As soon as I coaxed the darkness out, soothing coolness barreled down my arms, chasing the light that burned like wildfire.
I sighed deeply. “That helps immensely.”
Norivun and Nuwin both shifted at my side. Their auras pulsed around them, and I knew that each second I practiced with my tutor was another second the queen was dying.
“What do you think I need to do now?” Light still blazed from my hands, and I had no idea if that was good or not. “Sir Fieldstone insisted that angel powers can heal anything.”
Matron Olsander’s brow furrowed. “Are you able to extend these powers in tandem out of your hands? If this affinity can heal, common sense tells me you’ll need to engulf the queen with it.”
“I was thinking the same, but...how?” More sweat beaded on my brow.
