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“We don’t have flowers like that back in Navalis,” I tell her. “Some, of course, but not enough to color an entire field. It must smell lovely.”
I don’t miss the pity in her eyes. “There is nothing quite like it, in my humble opinion. Perhaps on your journey, you can find a field and simply lie back in it for a while.”
“That would be wonderful.” I offer her a cordial smile. “Thank you for the water. I did want to freshen up.”
“Of course. Goodnight, Carleah.”
“Goodnight.”
She closes the door behind her, so I cross over to the bowl of water, which has now cooled down just enough that I can slip my hands into it. After splashing some on my face and drying it with a towel hanging on the side of the rack, I make my way over to the bed and lie down. My mind drifts with the peaceful sound of insects chirping outside the cracked window, and as I close my eyes, I imagine how lovely it must be to lie in the center of a field of flowers, unburdened by the weight of destiny.
* * *
A soft caress against my cheek rouses me from sleep. I smile and stretch, warmed by Fort’s body beside me. But when I open my eyes—it’s not him I see. Panic shoots through me, ripping me out of sleep with a violent jolt.
Smoke assaults my lungs as I gape at the destruction around me. The house is gone, burned to smoldering ash surrounding me. My lungs are full of smoke, my clothes singed, though I am not burned.
In the distance, someone yells. But the sound is cut short by a strangled gasp and the sickening crunch of bone.
A massive shadowy form moves in the distance, far too large to be a person. It towers over the trees, its gangly form hunched over. Even as I have never seen one, I know what it must be.
Giant.
I reach for Fort, but the small bed I lie in is empty, his sword tossed to the side. “Fort!” I scream his name then swing my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet hit the charred planks of what used to be the floor with a sting.
“William! Kira!” I call for them all while my heart hammers against my chest.
How did I sleep through this? How did this happen?
“Easy, Carleah,” a voice whispers.
I whirl, scanning the destruction as I reach for my sword that is still hanging on the edge of the bed. “Who’s there?”
“Your other half,” the voice coos. It’s masculine, though I do not recognize the speaker.
“I don’t—I don’t understand.”
“You are far more beautiful than I could have expected.”
“Show yourself!” I scream.
“Soon.”
“Now! What did you do?”
“This is merely a nightmare,” he says. “A premonition of what awaits should you refuse me.”
And then it hits me, and I feel like a fool for not seeing it before. “You’re the Son of Flame.”
“You do know me.” He sounds pleased, purring the words as though I just promised him the moon, stars, and everything in between.
“I do not wish to know you.”
“You will.”
* * *
I shoot up out of bed, breathing ragged. Hands grip my shoulders, and I struggle to break free of the hold.
