Kaida inclined her head. “I can bring resources from the White City, but I will not be able to carry an army.”
“I know, and I don’t expect you to. I’m hoping that we merely need to distract Cephy and her demons.”
“From what?” Reeve asked.
“As I said, I need time to figure out the details. Kaida, I’d like to talk to you in private.” Rachael swallowed past the newly formed lump in her throat. “I think you can help.”
“I cannot promise I will have answers, but I will tell you what I can.”
Rachael wanted to ask about her visions anyway. She’d do that first, in case Kaida wasn’t in a mood to talk after Rachael asked about what Vail had said.
“Thank you. Let’s pack up and move to the shore. The sooner we can get off Kaethe, the better.”
No one objected. Rachael wasn’t sure what was bigger—Cephy’s wounds or her anger. She didn’t want to sit around to find out the hard way. She was nervous about the possibility of the snake, but she’d seen what Cephy had become. How bad could a monster snake be compared to that?
When they reached the shore, Rachael kept walking. Her Sparrows stayed behind to build the raft, but she didn’t want them to overhear hers and Kaida’s conversation. Perhaps Kaida would be more amenable if it was just them. The others had adjusted well enough to Kaida being a dragon, but how far would their loyalty go if it turned out Kaida’s blood could end the war? Or worse, that Kaida wasn’t willing to part with it?
Rachael closed her eyes. How she’d changed. Since when was someone not wanting to die a bad thing? How could she hold that against anyone? But she was getting ahead of herself, and she didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Perhaps all Kaida needed to do was cast a spell too complicated for mortals.
But if it was that simple, why hadn’t Kaida done it sooner?
“Are you all right?” Kaida asked once they were out of earshot. “We have not had a chance to talk. I am sorry. The Mothers should not have been able to take you while I was close to you.”
“It’s okay. I’m the one who stormed off, and I asked to be alone.”
She felt foolish for having acted that way. She was a queen at the brink of war with the Dark One Himself; she couldn’t stomp her feet and throw a tantrum every time something didn’t go her way. Of course, this hadn’t been a small misunderstanding, either. She should have reacted better, but she wanted to meet the person who knew what to say when they learned that one of their most trusted advisers was actually an unimaginably powerful ancient beast that breathed fire and cast spells so difficult they defied most people’s understanding. As a Mist Woman, Kaida had always been more intelligent and more gifted than anyone else Rachael knew. Now Rachael couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“Do not blame yourself. Few would have reacted better to my confession. In truth, I did not know how you would react. It was part of why I did not tell you.” For a moment, Kaida looked… sheepish. “I should have handled it better, but dragons are not social creatures.”
Rachael didn’t know how to deal with Kaida looking sorry, so she pressed on. “Do your sisters amongst the Mist Women know?”
“Some, but I would never tell all of them. Yoko and Natalia know, but most in our head coven in Maishi Hou do not.” Kaida smiled. “Ohira Kei is our official leader; she figured it out. The others do not need to know.”
If Kaida had misled the entire coven of Mist Women—the smartest, most talented sorceresses alive—maybe Rachael didn’t need to feel guilty at not having known.
“I understand why you lied.” She frowned. “On this occasion.”
Kaida gave Rachael her beautiful, mysterious smile promising secrets. “I thought it was a good sign that I am still here and not banned from your group.”
Rachael doubted she had a choice. From what she’d seen, Kaida could and would go wherever she wanted when she wanted. What was one mortal ruler to a dragon?
But they’d wasted enough time. “I wanted to ask about something you mentioned.”
“And I will answer to the best of my ability.”
“Back on the ship to Krymistis, you said my visions would cost me my life or my mind one day.”
“I said there was a chance. It is not definite.”
“Did you see this happen often? In the old empire?”
Rachael wished she could read the Mist Woman better, but Kaida’s face was as elusive as ever. She’d had a long time to practice deceiving humans. Rachael didn’t want to hold it against her, but she couldn’t forget it either.
“It happened every time, I admit,” Kaida said. “But that still does not mean you will not be an exception. The gift has evolved since the old days, as all things must. We cannot know for certain how yours will react.”
Rachael knew when the odds were against her, but she appreciated Kaida’s lie nonetheless. She had a feeling Mist Women didn’t try to comfort regular mortals often. As for dragons, Rachael could only guess at their habits.
If she was headed for certain death, there was only one other hope.
“Is there a way to get rid of my gift?”
“None that I know of. But I sense this is not why we walked all the way out here.”
While they talked, they had continued along the beach. Cale and the Sparrows were disappearing behind a bend. Malia was clearly visible across a small stretch of water. It wasn’t far away, but she didn’t know how deep the water would be or what monsters lurked beneath the waves.
Rachael swallowed. If she was still alive when this war was over, she’d worry about her gift draining her life then. Concerned about it as she was, she was also excited to get answers from Kaida.
“When I was imprisoned,” Rachael said, “the Dark One blocked my gift.”
“And you sensed the intrusion?” Kaida asked. “This is remarkable progress.”
“I found him. In my mind, I mean. I reached out, directed my gift, and brought down his barrier. I called a vision before he erected a new wall.”
Kaida stopped and raised a perfectly formed eyebrow. “You are a remarkable girl, Rachael. May I ask what you saw?”
“A woman. My vision didn’t last, but she seemed… relieved, maybe, to see me. I think she was trying to reach me.”
“A woman? What did she look like?”
“I’m not sure. I wasn’t interested in her hair.”
Kaida chuckled. “Of course, but perhaps I know her. If she reached out to you with her gift, she might be able to help.”
“I doubt it, she said she was from the empire’s capital. She’s dead now, isn’t she?”
Rare surprise ghosted across Kaida’s eyes. “You reached this far into the past?”
“I wasn’t trying to. I felt a vision struggling to break through and directed my gift towards it. I didn’t know what it would be.”
“Are you certain you cannot remember what she looked like?”
Rachael heard something like yearning in Kaida’s voice. She had never considered that Kaida might miss the old empire or the people she’d known. They had died so long ago, but a dragon’s memory had to be impressive.
“She had brown hair, I think. There were books everywhere, like the messiest private collection. She looked as surprised to see me as I was to see her. I assume she was a sorceress since she managed to find me.” Rachael paused. “Was this common back then? Could seers reach specific people in the future through their gift?”
Something odd—recognition, maybe—played behind Kaida’s eyes. “Not normally, no. She must have known about the prophecy and tried to reach ‘the Sparrow that Sees Ahead’.”
“But why?”
Kaida thought for a moment. “Perhaps she knows something that will help you. Can you do it again?”
Rachael snorted. “I don’t think so. I tried, briefly, but I couldn’t sense my gift like I could in the prison. I’ve never been able to. I don’t know what this progress is, but I don’t think it’s reliable.”
“You have your ne
cklace now. Have you tried to channel your gift through it?”
Rachael hadn’t known it was possible. “How would I even do that?”
“Calm your breathing. Close your eyes.”
Rachael did as she was told. For a moment, it took her back to sitting with Ailis. She wasn’t convinced this would go any further.
“Do you feel your gift?”
Rachael reached inside herself to find her gift.
“No.”
“Now feel your necklace. Not with your hands, just with your mind. Can you sense it around your neck?”
“Well, yes. It’s a physical object.”
“Do you feel the magic inside it? Let us stay quiet for a moment. I will not distract you.”
Rachael sighed, but did as Kaida said. Her necklace was there all right. Now that she focussed on it, it seemed heavier against her skin, but she didn’t sense any magic. Not ready to give up, Rachael breathed deep. Listened to the calming sounds of the ocean. Small waves gently rolling over the sand. Her gift had felt… warm. Comforting. Familiar.
Something deep inside her stirred but didn’t respond. Like an old friend watching her from across the street without waving back.
She focussed on her necklace again and the gift Kaida said was inside the gem. Her mind circled the stone, caressed it, embraced it—and felt a small resonance beating inside it. Her gift echoed, faint but there.
“Kaida, I feel it.”
“That is good. Focus on that. Lead it to your gift.”
Rachael breathed deeper. A thin hum came from her necklace. A deeper hum came from inside herself. As gentle as she could, she beckoned both closer.
Warmth stirred through her as her gift responded. How had she not felt it before? It was right there, powerful and ancient and uniquely hers. She saw her traces on it, etched into its light surface like runes into her armour, coiling and floating along the clouds of her magic. The magic inside her necklace answered. She saw them both so clearly, laces of white mist reaching towards each other until—
“That is enough.”
Rachael’s gift shied away and disappeared. Her eyes snapped open, and the sun’s brightness made her squint. The sparkling reflections on the water and the whiteness of the sand almost blinded her.
“I almost had it!”
“I believe you, but look. You are bleeding.”
Rachael’s hand tentatively touched her nose and brushed away a thin sliver of blood.
Her insides froze. Was this how it happened? The death of her mind and body?
“The same happened in the prison right after I called the vision.” Her voice and legs shook. “It’s killing me, isn’t it? If I keep having visions, I will die.”
Kaida nodded. “I am sorry.”
“But why? What good is this gift if it kills me?”
“The old sorcerers believed it was about balance, and I agree. Those who had mastered their gifts could call forth visions whenever they wished. They saw their enemy’s movements, prevented ambushes. That kind of power demanded balance.”
Rachael swallowed. “So, it took their lives.”
“Imagine the difference it would have made. The longer you have your gift, the more powerful it becomes. It would have ended wars long before they were ever planned.”
“And that’s bad?” If Rachael could have stopped this before she’d ever left Blackrock, she would have.
“Think of it this way,” Kaida said. “History is a tale told by the victors. Tyrants could have ruled the world because their seers were older.”
Rachael shivered. “This balance never let them age to become too powerful in the first place. It gave them a temporary advantage, but never ultimate victory.”
“I do not say it is right. Many seers died doing good. People who had no influence in the war died or went mad because their gift demanded it. But I do not choose. In this regard, I am but a pawn myself.”
“Did they know you’re a dragon? The seers you knew in the old empire?”
“No. Even Emperor Awarnach did not know; although, there was one seer I thought suspected. Even so, she never said anything to me. I believe her suspicions came too late.”
Rachael took a deep breath. “In the ruins of Archos, Vail said we need a dragon to win. He seemed to believe it’s our only chance. Know anything about that?”
Kaida hesitated for only a second, but it was enough. She knew. “I do not. I am sorry, Rachael, I cannot help you.”
“You promised me there’d be no more secrets.”
“Did I? Or did you assume so because I revealed my true nature? Whatever the case, it is as I said. There is nothing I can do.”
“But—”
“It appears the raft is finished.” Kaida nodded to the Sparrows, and Rachael followed. She’d been so caught up in their conversation she hadn’t realised Kaida had led her back.
Cale and Reeve pushed the raft into the water while Ludo made his way over to them.
“Rachael!” He waved.
She sighed. Cale had told her not to believe Kaida if she claimed not to know anything, but Kaida had given herself away when she hesitated. Kaida was keeping another secret, and this time Rachael knew it was big. The kind that could end wars—her war.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cephy’s anger burst forth in a flare of hungry energy. The temple walls around her crumbled. Deep within, she sensed the Dark One’s approval. It was such a contrast to the Tramuran ambassador’s frown.
Arnost Lis grimaced at her. He looked like a fed-up father, tired of explaining himself again.
“If you’re quite done destroying what’s left of the temple, perhaps you’d care to explain why we’re not going after them?”
A prison of dark flames shot up around him, and his maddening frown vanished. He was lucky she let him live; he had no idea how close to death by her magic he’d come, or how often.
“Do not tell me what to do, Lis. Don’t make me regret letting you live.”
The ambassador was cocky, smug, and as arrogant as pretend nobles came. Who did he think he was, ordering her around? He was no king. He wasn’t even a minor lord.
He was nothing next to her.
She had seen the appeal of letting him live at first. He hated Rachael; Cephy had hoped to use that. Rachael wanted nothing more than a family, and this man—misguided in his hatred as he was—was better than nothing.
Or so she’d hoped. She regretted taking him with her.
“Let me out,” he said from his prison. His voice wasn’t so confident anymore, and she revelled in it. “Let me out, and we can talk about this.”
“Don’t you dare treat me like a child. Don’t you dare think you can control me.”
He scoffed. “You are a child. If you were my daughter—”
She tightened the confines around him until he couldn’t back away anymore. The fire had to burn his arms, but he didn’t flinch. Much.
Her gift came so easily to her now. It had grown thanks to Aeron, but the Dark One had enabled her full potential. Magic could do so much. Control and release. Imprison and liberate.
Tear down and create anew.
And yet, her people were prisoners in their own homes.
“Did I ever tell you what I did to my father? He belittled me, too. And my mother. We both had the gift, and he loathed that. He hit her. He beat me.” She smiled at the memory. “So, I burnt him down in his own home.” She soaked up his silence, knowing the power her words had these days. If her father could see her now, he wouldn’t dare hit her or her mother. They could have run away from him. They might have lived a happy life together, practising their talents without fear of punishment. “If you were my father, you’d be long dead, but that doesn’t mean I’m not tempted. I suggest you watch what you’re saying.”
She let him go, pleased to see the tension in his body release. He’d been scared. He took her gift and what it could do seriously.
As they all should.
“Since you’re
so keen to give the orders,” she said, “what do you think I should do?”
“Go after them.” He was shaken, but she still heard his arrogance. “You’re a host to the most powerful being either side of the Mists. Go and kill them. Or do you still feel friendship towards the witch queen?”
Flames teased the ground by his feet—a reminder that his prison was never far away.
“I suggest you stop calling her that, ambassador. Or do you need another reminder why the gifted are superior to you?”
He grimaced. “No.”
“Good. I can’t go after them and kill them. Don’t you think I’d already have done it if it were that simple?”
He swallowed. “Of course.”
“So why do you suggest it? Do you think me stupid?”
“No.” Each time he spoke he struggled more, like a child put in his place after having been caught stealing sweets.
“The Dark One isn’t strong enough yet, and in case you’ve forgotten, Rachael has a dragon on her side. The Dark One is powerful, but this isn’t His home. If we were in the Mists, He wouldn’t need to recover, but it’s this world He wants. Or have you forgotten all that?”
He glared. “No.”
“Excellent. Then perhaps you’ll make a more useful suggestion next time or keep quiet altogether.”
She let him sit on his anger as she looked out the window. Rachael could run; there was nowhere she could go where Cephy wouldn’t find her.
Her Mothers told her Rachael was on the way to Malia. Arnost Lis wanted to be the one to kill her, but it made no difference to Cephy. The ambassador, the snake, herself—she needed Rachael’s blood, not her final breath. As long as her body still held some of it, she’d be satisfied. The Dark One insisted on killing her Himself—using Cephy, of course—but if the snake did the work for her… No, that wouldn’t do. She’d have to keep an eye on Malia, ensure the snake didn’t take the Dark One’s victory.
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