Chapter 12
Time slipped away quickly until I lost all sense of it. The Heart was vast, but my fears kept me close to the castle. Lioran asked for me daily. He slept through most of my visits. I sat with him still, watching his chest rise and fall.
Gratitude overwhelmed me. The healer’s magic gave him a second chance. Without it, he could have died.
Magic hummed in my veins—it called to me, but I couldn’t respond. The book remained tucked away. I couldn’t bear its answers.
I admired the dazzling sunlight that reflected off the stream as it wound through the Heart. A small waterfall trickled into the stream at the backside of the castle. Its song lulled me into a rare moment of calm.
“Lioran wants me to train you.” Cora’s sharp tone cut through the silence. “To help you channel your magic.”
Apparently, he hadn’t been awake long enough to see how much she loathed me.
“I have no interest in tapping into my magic again,” I said. “I’ve destroyed enough already.”
She watched me carefully.
“What do you want from me, Cora? Do you want me to stay away from him? To leave?” We both knew there was nowhere I could go.
“You wouldn’t be here unless he trusted you.” Cora’s shoulders settled as her breath escaped her lips. “I don’t want you to go. Seeing him there…like that, it broke me.”
“And you blame me?”
“No.” Her voice softened.
“I would never have crossed the divide knowing that it would lead to all of this. Every day I see him lying there—”
“Every day?” she repeated, as if she didn’t know.
Had I said too much? My shoulders rounded as I looked back at the waterfall.
“I will train you, because your magic is a gift. It may be essential to the balance of the lands.” She tucked loose, red waves behind her ears.
“I can’t control it—I caused so much destruction in Evyn.” My eyes flooded. I steadied my breath, wishing the tears wouldn’t fall.
“Until you learn to control it, it will test you in ways you can't imagine. Ways none of us can stop.” The lull of the waterfall crept back into my head. The sound steadied me.
Deep down, I knew she was right. I wouldn’t be able to ignore my magic forever, but the thought of facing it again was too much to bear.
“We will start tomorrow.” Her voice softened.
I hadn’t even accepted, but it didn’t matter. She had already decided. My chest tightened as I reluctantly nodded.
I pressed open the door to Lioran’s infirmary room.
“Aelira.” The corners of his mouth curved slowly into a gentle smile as he sat upright in bed. He quickly straightened his lips, trying to hide his discomfort.
“You’re sitting.” For a moment, he seemed whole again.
A chuckle escaped his lips and then he winced. “It’s good to see you.”
Sunlight crept in through the window, illuminating Lioran’s eyes. Shimmering silver sparkled within them again. I slid into place next to him in a chair already pulled by the bed.
He reached for my unbandaged arm and traced the newly formed pink scar. “It’s healing nicely.” The hairs on my arms rose and the gemstone radiated warmth. I slid the stone over on the cold silver chain. “Your necklace is beautiful. A family heirloom?”
“A gift from my father…my fae father.” I clutched the stone. I held my breath for a moment. “I don’t really know much about it.”
“May I see it?” he asked.
For a moment, I hesitated before I unclasped the necklace. I wound up the silver chain before setting it in the palm of his hand.
“It’s an onyx—an earth grounding stone.” The light caught on the facets of the stone, illuminating the black stone. “A fitting gift for someone with your magic.”
“Do you think he knew what my magic would be?” He held the necklace back out to me.
“It’s possible. Some fae can see the future through visions like Cora.” His voice trailed off as he yawned loudly. He was struggling to keep himself upright.
“She knows the future?”
“Only what the stars show her—fragments of moments that have yet to pass.” He shifted himself and his fists clenched as he stifled a moan.
“Can I help you?” I extended my arms to him.
“I’m fine.” With an exasperated exhale, he leaned back into the pillows behind him. “I keep asking to get out of here, but no one will let me.”
“Maybe it’s because you can’t sit still.” I adjusted a pillow that shifted behind his back. My hand caught the side of his arm, lingering over his tattoos for a moment too long. “Is there anything I can do? I have plenty of free time today.”
“Sit with me a while longer.” His dark curls hung over his eyes. I wanted to brush them aside but resisted as I nestled into the chair beside him. “Maybe in a few more days I’ll get out of here. Then we can walk around the Heart.”
“When you’re ready, I’d love to see it. Fyn said I should stay close to the castle for now.”
“My men haven’t returned from ensuring the borders of the Heart are secure yet. I’ll feel better once we know the threat hasn’t extended here.”
“Me too.” I flinched at the thought of the attackers, at the thought of Thalen. My finger trembled against the side of the bed.
He slid his hand over mine, the warmth of his touch grounding me.
“You’re safe here,” he said. For a heartbeat, I sat with his tender touch.
“Lioran…” I looked out the window as I spoke.
Silence met me.
When I turned around, he was asleep.
The next morning, Fyn led me down a stone path further into the Heart of Lythira. Wildflowers sprawled in the dirt. Winding stairs led from the edge of the path up the trunk of a tree where homes stood. They reminded me of the cabins in Evyn, but these were grander.
“Cora is waiting for us.” Fyn barely glanced back.
My boots fell heavy on the stone steps as we ascended the spiral stairs.
My navy gown dragged on the stonework. The dagger swayed in its sheath, beating against my body with each step.
After the attack in the woods, I went nowhere without it.
I lost track of the number of stairs we climbed until Fyn stopped outside an entrance to one of the homes.
Fyn pressed the wooden door open. Cora lounged on cushions in the corner. The sun illuminated her red hair as she sipped her tea.
“I’ll be back for you later. Cora, Lioran has specifically requested you do not exhaust her.” He smirked.
Cora let out a little snort but didn’t promise not to. Fyn slid out the door, leaving the two of us alone together.
“What if I can’t control it?” I blurted. My nerves were ripping through me.
“You will figure it out—you’ve only just discovered it.” She set the teacup down on a small table. “Would you like some?”
“No, thank you.”
“Lioran said you made flowers sprout and bloom in Evyn. Can you try to use magic on this flower?” Cora removed a tightly furled bloom from the vase on the table. “Ask it to open up.”
I recalled the blooms in my mother’s garden, the flowers in Evyn and wished the bud would open—nothing happened. I tilted the stem of the yellow rose, my fingers gliding over the severed edge. Everything that responded to me—the flowers, the land, were all still connected.
“This flower is no longer a part of the land. It was cut to fill your vase,” I said.
“Let’s go outside then.” Cora led me through the trails further into the Heart of Lythira.
I didn’t know if I would be able to make anything happen at all.
“Try again.” She gestured to another yellow rose; its roots still embedded in the soil at the bottom of the stairs. I knelt beside the bloom, and with my hands cupped around it, I asked it to bloom. Silence greeted me.
Cora’s face was guarded.
She pointed to a different bloom and grazed her hand across it. “Magic doesn’t always work the first time we ask.”
The ground rumbled, fire pulsed through my veins into my fingertips—then it all disappeared. My thoughts returned to Evyn and the small patch of land I almost destroyed.
Cora tilted her head as she monitored me.
“Give yourself grace.” She crouched beside me, and her voice grew softer. “The journey is not always direct. There may be times when you can’t feel it at all.”
“Do you even know what it’s like? To be thrust into a different world and not know what any of it means?” I shook my head, sending my waves tumbling around my face.
“I used to have glances of visions of the future—fragmented bits that left out major parts of the story. I would tell my father to be helpful, but I would miss the details that mattered most.” Cora clasped her hands together.
“I worried no one would ever believe me. My father gave me grace when I didn’t give it to myself.
And now, I will give you grace when you wont give it to yourself, Aelira. ”
My shoulders bobbed. “I don’t know how to show myself grace. The King of Bailoc…” As I spoke, I remembered glimmers of his gentle spirit when he spoke to Ashlyn. He beamed with pride whenever he looked at Agan. He never granted me those moments. “Never wanted me there.”
“Let’s take a break.” Cora’s hand wrapped around mine. She tugged, lifting me to stand beside her. “Maybe we can go get a cup of tea.”
In silence, we strode down the crooked stones that lined the path along the water’s edge.
Across a thin bridge there was a sliver of land, and on it stood a willow tree.
Without hesitation, I split from her and followed the bridge to the tree—it reminded me so much of my mother. It reminded me of home.
The willow’s branches danced on the wind. I lifted my hand to catch a branch as it grazed my shoulder. The onyx grew warmer.
My fingers trailed the willow’s leaves until golden light trailed the veins. The branches extended, shifting my hand with them. I knelt beside the tree, the cool soil settled beneath my fingertips.
A hum radiated from it, cascading through my body in gentle vibrations. Green stems sprouted from the soil, raising my hands from the ground—shimmering light trailed with it. The light glimmered in the sunlight a haze of gold shifting to shimmering white as the sun’s beams shone on it.