32 Eira #2
and you started casting this and that, every type of magic I could possibly think of!”
“I can only imagine how well you reacted to that,” Eira sighed sarcastically, shocked that her whole life had been a lie. Being a viscountess, of course she didn’t need magic, but Eira had to wonder what had motivated her to hide it from everyone. She had a sneaking suspicion that in the past
she must have known that her magic was strange and unusual, or else why wouldn’t she have shared it with everyone? Maybe that
was why hiding her magic had come so easily even after she’d forgotten her past . . . it was muscle memory for her too.
“We had a fight about it in Lindow a few weeks after we ran,” Evangeline recalled. “We’d been on the run, operating the best
we could as two noblewomen hiding from the Iron Empire, and when we finally had a moment to breathe . . . well, we fought.
It was messy—you tripped me with vines in our campsite.”
“I didn’t!” Eira gasped, hand to her mouth. Both Hugo and Evangeline still wanted to be around her despite the lies she’d
told them all, and that gave Eira some peace.
“You did!” Evangeline laughed. “And then I threatened to have you killed, at which point you made some sort of comment about
me not being the crown princess anymore. We didn’t talk for a whole day after.”
“What was our plan? After we ran?” Eira asked, curious now.
“At first we were going to run to Corisia, since my father had brokered such a strong alliance with them and I had the betrothal
lined up.” A betrothal. Evangeline should have been married by now. Eira wondered to who, but bit her tongue. Evangeline didn’t
need to explain everything to Eira; she’d have her memory back soon. She hoped.
“Why didn’t we?” Eira tapped the glass holding her drink thoughtfully. This part, though, this part she was curious about. Memory magic was such an extreme solution to the predicament they’d found themselves in in Cilirien . . .
but how had they gotten there?
“We heard word in Lindow that they had a truth-sense witch in Archport. They were questioning each and every person that got
onto ships going to Corisia. We would have been found out.”
“Oh.” Eira nodded before remembering something she’d been thinking about as they rode through the wilderness the day before. “I’ve been wondering . . . why did the truth-sense witches give the others up? I . . . I’ve never understood why they turned on their own kind.”
Evangeline looked at Eira, sadness in her eyes. “The Iron Empire promised them immunity, that their magic wouldn’t be outlawed.
Then, when they weren’t useful anymore, they killed them too.”
Eira should have known. The witches had only wished to live, and she couldn’t blame them for that. Eira knew she might have
done the same if she’d been in their position. But she wondered how many truth-sense witches had quietly rebelled and kept
other witches alive. She wondered if she’d be able to find them—and how many were hiding their powers, like she had been.
“You know, Lindow is actually where you had the idea for the memory spell,” Evangeline continued. “We were originally going
to use it to go over to Corisia and pass through the truth-sense witches at the port, but then someone recognized me because
I was foolish and hadn’t turned into a rabbit when I should have, and we had to run the opposite direction.”
“That sounds awful.” Eira shook her head, sensing something that felt like the Flow she’d used earlier rise within her as
if it wanted to be used. She pushed it down, confused.
“All of it has been awful, Eira,” Evangeline said, her hand playing with the locket she never took off. “You don’t remember,
but Astra’s people have changed since the Iron Empire rose. They’re afraid, there’s less magic to help people, it’s darker
and more dangerous . . . I feel like I’ve failed them.”
Eira hadn’t considered how Evangeline must have felt, raised from birth to be the next queen of Astra, only to have it snatched
from her by a bloodthirsty regime whose first act was to kill untold numbers of her people.
“I’m sorry,” Eira said, putting her hand on Evangeline’s, her eyes brimming with tears. “Is that the actual reason you don’t want to leave Astra? Because you feel like you’ve failed your people?”
“Eira, of course I don’t really want to go to Osnia,” she whispered, fingers of her free hand tapping on the table gently.
“I’m just scared of losing what little I have left.”
“What do you want?” Eira asked.
“I want revenge,” Evangeline answered, anger laced in every razor-sharp syllable. “I want to destroy the Iron Empire and take
back Astra. I want the throne that is rightfully mine.”
“I think that’s what Hugo wants too,” Eira said, looking up to the hallway where their rooms were and wondering if this conversation
would have happened with Hugo here.
“I know, and I hate that I agree with him,” Evangeline said as she shook her head.
“So how do we take back Astra?” Eira asked.
“We’ve been dancing around it, but I think we all agree—it’s Corisia. We need to try and broker an alliance with Corisia,”
Evangeline postulated.
She had a point. Hugo had talked a lot about the tension building between Corisia and the Iron Empire. It could prove the
perfect avenue to get Evangeline back on the throne—provided they were willing to give it back to her once the empire had
fallen.
“What if—” Eira started, leaning forward and pointing at Evangeline.
“What if they don’t want to give Astra back to me?” Evangeline asked.
“Yeah.” Eira smiled tightly.
“My father was close with their king, and our countries haven’t warred in centuries, aside from now.
If I had to guess, I think they have a problem with the Iron Empire, not my family.
I don’t think they want to rule Astra . .
. at least they didn’t want to before. I hope they haven’t changed their minds.
If that fails, I have old alliances and promises I can try to barter with. ”
“So we just need to figure out how to get in front of them without getting caught by the Iron Empire,” Eira said.
“Seems easy enough, right?” Evangeline snorted.
Eira took a bite of her food—mediocre, and yet warming as the cold seeped in through the tavern’s walls. Evangeline placed
her hand on Eira’s forearm.
“I missed you,” Evangeline said, her eyes looking straight into Eira’s. “I don’t think I’ve said it enough but . . . I lost
everything, and then I lost the only thing I had left—you.”
Eira put her fork down and placed her hand on Evangeline’s where it rested on her arm. “I’m grateful you stuck with me, and
I’m sure once my memory is back, I’ll be able to tell you I missed you too.”
Evangeline smiled, wistful and sad. Whether Eira liked it or not, there was still a part of her that was lost to Evangeline,
and Eira had no idea what that person was like, or how they would have responded to emotional vulnerability like this from
the princess.
“I don’t think I can do this without you,” Evangeline said.
“I’m right here,” Eira answered.
“No, the version of you with the political and social knowledge . . . you’re not just my friend, Eira, you’re my strategic
counselor. I don’t know if I can navigate Corisia without your memory.”
“Well, I’m getting my memories back if it’s the last thing I do, so we’re on the same page there.”
“Good. I just needed to make sure you know that I agree that retrieving your memories is a good idea,” Evangeline answered.
“I’m done for the night, I think. I’m going to go to our room—but I can’t leave you alone, or Hugo will murder me in my sleep.”
Eira didn’t want to go to bed. Eira wanted to talk with Hugo. No . . . more than talk.
Evangeline gave her a knowing look, but didn’t say anything else as they finished their drinks and paid their tab. They silently
walked up the stairs and through the hallways to their room before Evangeline stopped.
“You had feelings for him before too, you know,” she said.
“For who?” Eira played dumb, not wanting to acknowledge out loud what had been building for longer than she could remember.
“Don’t act stupid.” Evangeline rolled her eyes, calling Eira out. “You had so many suitors at court. Princes and noblemen,
all of them in love with your curves and your wit and your beauty—but you didn’t entertain any of them.”
“I didn’t?”
“You didn’t,” Evangeline continued. “But you would watch Hugo guarding us out of the corner of your eye as I watched you out
of the corner of mine.”
“If you hate him, why are you telling me this?” Eira shook her head.
Evangeline placed a warm hand on Eira’s cheek and smiled.
“Because I love you more than I hate him,” she said, smiling still. “Just go and figure this out, see if it’s something this
version of Eira wants.”
Evangeline opened their door and slipped inside, leaving Eira in the hallway alone.