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Was I really hearing this right? After the eruption and threats that Batian had given me, after the look of vitriol and disgust she had fixed me with during the fight… There was no way that I was hearing her correctly. Perhaps I was dreaming, and was simply still asleep on the cold ground.
“I gave you a compliment, Elara, I expect you to respond as a princess would.” The ice and disgust had already made a return. That didn’t last long. Before I could blink, however, that smile was back. Or it attempted to be, it was somehow worse that time.
“Thank you for such kind words, Mother.” Every word felt dead on my tongue as I stared at that smile.
“Seeing your determination is commendable, and it sparked an idea in my mind.” That haunted smile finally left as she turned back to the book, flipping it open to a page that she had marked.
The massive volume was full of that writing, and the page she had turned to was as packed, but in the center of the page closest to me a large ink drawing had been set into the lines of text.
It made about as much sense as the words, however.
The image of a girl was intricately drawn before a wide orb, the ring like a halo of a sun around her. Except it appeared to be more of a window, as though she was standing before an expansive city and not just the sun. The wavy lines were heavy and rough, shapes that could be buildings or mountains within the orb drawn as though they were out of focus. The girl's face, however, was delicately inked, the expression of calm fury clear. It was nothing but black ink on white paper, but somehow it gave me the impression that she was glowing as bright as the sun she stood before.
“What is that?”
Dalyah’s forced grin returned as she turned to the book. Her icy fingers ran over the heavy ink lines as though they were sacred.
“This?” She was clearly trying to sound innocent, but the bright light in her eyes betrayed her, that madness seeping through again. I wished she would stop trying to sound sweet or curious, it was sending every alarm in my head screaming, and all of that warm magic into a fury. Something was not right, although I had no idea what.
“This is an ancient book of prophecy, the language so old that only a few scholars from the Temple of the Sister know how to read it.” She looked at me pointedly, testing to see if it was familiar.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, forcing my face to stay blank, impassive. I wasn’t sure she believed me.
“Yes, it is. But it can also be dangerous. Words have meaning, you know.” Again, another look, but I forced myself to stare at the book, on the swirling letters that were so unfamiliar. Strange, I swore I could feel that glittering light trail over my skin simply by staring at them.
“Is that what this is, a prophecy of power?”
“This,” she stretched the word out, letting her finger run down the girl lovingly, that was until her nail dragged over her belly, the sharp point pressing deep and creasing the paper.
“This is the story of a girl who tried to use magic without a Catalyst and ended up severing the world.” Her nail lifted revealing a hole in the belly of the girl in the drawing. “You see, this girl didn’t have a conduit for her magic, but she chose to use it anyway. In doing so, she broke the boundaries between our world and that of the Fae, severing our world in half. Destroying everything and pushing us back into the hands of those wicked monsters.”
I swallowed, trying to ignore the knot that had formed in my throat, trying to ignore what exactly she had said.
“Broke the boundaries? What does that mean?”
“Give me your hand.” She cut off any questions, snapping the book shut again. Anything that had been left of that twisted smile was instantly gone. She was back to nothing more than ice and boiling hatred.
“Why?” There was no way in hell I wanted to give her my hand, especially with the way her spider-like fingers were stretching toward me, the tips of them glittering with what I was sure was ice.
“You’re hand, girl.” Ah, ‘girl’ had made a return too. It was as though some spell had been broken the second she looked away from the book. As much as she tried to pretend everything was normal, she couldn’t quite do it.
My heart pinched in a familiar fear. I pushed it away, forcing myself to look at her.
“What are you going to do? Does it have to do with that story” I nodded toward the book and she smiled again. It wasn’t that haunted forced thing she had given me before, or the tight lipped sneer I usually got, this was asthough she was pleased with something, or as though she was about to kill something. There was no joy in the look, only madness.
The ice wasn’t only running over her skin now, it was drenching me, the heat of my own magic skittering deep into my belly as though it was scared of it. I needed to get out of there, but I knew there was no escape.
“Seeing you fight, it gave me an idea. I am going to see if there is another Catalyst out there for you.”
“Another Catalyst? How would you know? How would you even find them?” Another type of fear was winding its way over my spine now. I didn’t need a Catalyst, I had magic all on my own now. Magic that she was now telling me would destroy the world.
Years of being told I was a Dri, that there was no Catalyst for me and now she would simply find one? Ridiculous, especially seeing that she of all people knew that I didn’t need one. That wasn’t information I was quite ready to share with her, however.
“Oh, I have my ways of tracking magic,” she paused, looking me up and down. I tried to swallow and look like a Princess and not like I was hiding some forbidden power inside of me. “I have ways of finding all of those lovely Catalysts, I assure you. I will know if anything is brewing for you. Or if anything dangerous in you needs to be destroyed.”
The cold chill twisted over me at that last word, at the way she hissed and stabbed with it. She spoke of magic as though it was the most vile thing she had ever beheld. No, as if magic from me was the most vile thing she ever beheld. As though whatever was in me needed to be destroyed. It didn’t matter if I had magic, it didn’t matter if I could use it on my own without a Catalyst as she could.
None of it mattered.
