Page 50 of The Awakening of Essensia

She held his gaze but said nothing.

“That was the first reason.” A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “The second reason was you.” He leant forwards slightly. “We didn’t know who we were looking for, but we knew magic was stirring in the south. There had been no signs in Allen or Meer. I was starting to lose hope. Then you punched that recruit during your first trial, and the amulet told me I was in the right place.”

Vaelira frowned. “I already know most of that. You and Jurah were looking for magic. What you haven’t told me is why.”

“Jurah didn’t know. He still doesn’t. He insisted on accompanying me, but I never told him what I was looking for. The Queen wanted to send more guards, but Jurah argued a larger presence would raise suspicion.”

“Why hide your identity at all?”

“Partly for safety. Wasteland raiders would jump at the chance to take me hostage. He wouldn’t like it, but my father would pay whatever they asked to get his only heir back.”

“And the other part?”

He shrugged. “It let me walk around like anyone else, without the pretending that comes with the title.”

Candlelight danced across his face. His eyes met hers, asking for something she wasn’t sure she could give. She thought she could imagine what it felt like, to want a normal life beneath all that grandeur, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever understand entirely.

“Okay,” she said, keeping her eyes on him. “You said we were looking for magic. Who is we, if not you and Jurah?”

“Someone I’ve worked with for a while. He’s been helping with certain things. Two trusted guards were going to observe the trials anyway, so when I got my orders, it fell to me. He gave me the amulet. He said it had sensed a disturbance in the magic, or the magical links… I don’t understand it fully.”

Eli touched his chest over his shirt. Vaelira looked for the silver chain, but it was gone. “You’re not wearing it.”

“It was only ever borrowed.” He paused. “You’re the only one it’s ever responded to. The only one, in all the south.”

Vaelira didn’t bother mentioning that they hadn’t travelled that far south before heading back to the capital.

Her mind raced. As far as anyone knew, magic had died with the mages after the Great Fire. Vaelira remembered the flare of white light. The burn mark on Eli’s chest. Clearly, it wasn’t gone at all.

“I don’t understand,” she said, gnawing her lower lip.

Eli’s eyes dipped to her mouth, his gaze darkening.

Her pulse quickened, but she forced the thought away. Now was not the time. There would never be a time, not anymore. “I thought magic disappeared when the mages sacrificed themselves?”

“I thought the same thing until recently.”

“And the moonstone?”

He reached into his pocket, took her hand, and placed the smooth stone in her palm. He didn’t let her go. Instead, he placed his other hand over hers, warm and steady, as if willing her to take it this time.

A tingling sensation ran along her arm, but the stone didn’t glow.

“Maybe it was luck,” he said. “Maybe fate. But I think you were meant to have this.”

Vaelira raised an eyebrow. “You believe in fate?”

Eli laughed softly. “Gods no.”

She leant back, breaking their connection. “What exactly does it do?”

“I don’t know. It’s been acting strangely since we got here, pulsing now and then. I think it’s reacting to you, but I can’t be sure. I’m not the one with those answers.”

“Who is?”

“His name is Galfri. He’s the Head Librarian.”

“As in, the Royal Library?”