13. Tezya
THIRTEEN
TEZYA
I found Dovelyn face down on the fields toward the outskirts of the camp. Her eyes fluttered open as I scooped her into my arms, but other than that she barely stirred. My senses rippled toward her. Her breathing was shallow and her skin was ice cold despite being drenched in sweat.
Shit.
I sprinted toward the healer’s tent, unsure what had happened to push her to the brink of passing out. I called to my fire, surrounding us in flames as I ran, trying to force some warmth back into her.
It took an hour of the healers pumping her with hydration before Dovelyn stirred again. Her body was still shaking, but her face was finally starting to regain some color.
A healer informed me she was severely dehydrated, and I hated myself for forcing her to train Scotlind. I assumed it’d serve as a distraction. She was hurting because of Brock. I just didn’t realize she hadn’t been eating or drinking because of it.
It was a stupid idea. I knew they didn’t get along. Maybe some part of me was hoping it could change, that if they spent time together, they’d realize they were more alike than they thought.
I was delusional.
“Tezya.” Dovelyn stirred.
I leaned over her cot, picking up the glass of water on the stand, before forcing her to drink it. She took a long sip, her fingers shaking slightly around mine as she gripped the cup and nearly finished it.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, scanning the healer’s tent, but didn’t elaborate.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I set the glass back down.
“For what?”
“For having you train Scotlind. I didn’t realize you weren’t taking care of yourself, Dove. I should have known. I’m sorry if it was too much with Brock…”
She shook her head a little too forcefully, then rubbed her temples. “I’m fine, Tez. We’ve all been through worse, and I am taking care of myself.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. “The healers said you were severely dehydrated. I know you’re upset, but you still have to eat.”
She scoffed, but it came out more of a huffed laugh. She threw her head back against the wooden backboard. “I am.”
“Then what happened?”
“Scottie tried to kill me.” I stilled, unsure what to make of that statement. Dovelyn slowly picked her head back up, her silver eyes meeting mine. “And she would have, could have. She almost did.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s fine,” she scoffed again, but a sly smile formed over her cracked lips. “I’m glad that’s all you care about though. Where your girlfriend is, instead of how your sister is doing.”
I didn’t comment on the girlfriend part. Scotlind wasn’t mine, even if I wanted her to be. “What happened?” I asked again. Regardless that neither one of them liked each other, I couldn’t figure out what would drive Rumor to murder. She had plenty of reasons throughout her life—numerous people who wronged her—but she never did. She didn’t have a vengeful bone in her body. So what did Dovelyn do that threw her over the edge?
“She tried to pull all the water out of my body.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, unsure where this was going. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to know more: why she almost killed Dovelyn or how she did it. I told her water was everywhere and in everything. Advenian blood was made up of sixty percent of it, so I knew it was possible. But to have that kind of control to separate it and with no experience…
“Tezya, she was seconds away from doing it when I erected a shield,” she admitted. “She was going to shift every drop of water out of my cells and drain me. You know how they always say if you can create instead of manipulate, you’re a higher rank?”
I nodded.
“Well it’s not only because creating takes more skill. Usually, anyone who can create an elemental ability naturally has more reserves.”
I nodded again, already knowing all of this.
“And you know that I have the largest air reserves?” she asked, and I knew she wasn’t saying it to brag. She was just stating a fact. Her Trials had all of Lux talking about her for years. Her reserves were off the charts.
“Yes, Dovelyn, I’m aware. What are you getting at?”
“Scottie’s water ability is stronger than my air ability, despite the fact that she can only manipulate. I think she’s a lot stronger than we think.”
“What makes you say that?” It wouldn’t surprise me. I remembered how she drained the entire pool back in Lux and that was fairly early into her training. It took most Advenians years to master their element effortlessly, and she was learning really fast, unnaturally fast. The way she was manipulating and moving water matched someone who had been training for decades, and she’d only just started weeks ago. But I was surprised Dovelyn had noticed. She wasn’t someone who was easily impressed.
“Because she would have killed me if she wasn’t accidentally saving me at the same time. My air shield was weakening. I was on the verge of dropping it. I think Scottie could sense it with her other ability. I would have died if she hadn’t used her enhancement to strengthen my shield. Her water ability would have overpowered my air.”
“Shit,” I cursed. If the King knew how powerful she was, he would be after her even more than he already was. And she used both of her abilities at once. It was incredibly hard to do and taxing beyond belief. If you wanted a way to completely drain everything you had, that was how you did it.
It was all the more reason to train her. I knew she was improving. She could decide what ability to focus on in controlled settings with her enhancement and was starting to pick up on different powers, but if she were to fight in this war, I didn’t want to risk her accidentally making the abilities of whoever she was up against stronger. She had a habit of losing control when her emotions were heightened, and I didn’t want to give anyone an advantage over her.
“Why?” I asked.
“Why, what?”
“Why did she try to kill you, Dove?”
She was silent for a long moment that I didn’t think she was going to tell me. Her eyes were searching mine, debating. I knew she was keeping secrets from me. She and our mother had been my entire life, but I was done looking the other way. I waited for her to collect herself.
Then she told me everything.