No.
I bit my lip.
“She said no.”
He sighed.
“Kirianae sil laethe. Kirianae ik thay’ell, mira sil.”He looked at me. “Try again.”
I closed my eyes.
Touchstone, please?
Almost immediately, I saw an island with cinnamon skies, a bay with brilliant green waters, and streams that flowed uphill. Vines of purple and spice on the breeze. I saw stars in the heavens and nights with no dawn. I saw Luna, Lyrik, and Lore. I saw Forge and Ember and a tree—no,thetree, the RuneTree that had been cut down by the enemy. Once again, I saw the hawk, asleep in its branches, and I knew now, without a doubt, that it was Thanavar, and that somehow, he was connected to this tree the same way he was connected to this ship.
Kirianae ik thay’ell, Gavriel sil.
Be wary. Be wise.
Kier Gavriel.
I snatched my hand away, gasping for breath. My throat was full of chimeric, and my hands glowed like beacons on an ocean.
“You are wylde,” he said, closing the lid of the chimeric-filled chest.
I wasn’t on the island. Where was I?
“No, that was my mother,” I said in a voice barely there. “I learned Arcana in Berryburn Yard.”
“You deny yourself,” he said. “Wylde is good. There is less you must unlearn.”
That was the first time I’d ever heard it like that, and I turned, seeinghim with new eyes. Memories coursed through my mind, and my body responded, runescars glittering and hot. He could have plucked me like saltgrass. He could have slain me with a word.
Suns, I would have let him.
He glanced down at my arms. The runes had crept past my elbows, and these new ones gleamed with gold.
“How do you feel?”
Heat stained my cheeks.
“Dizzy,” I said.
“No,” he said. “Tell me how youfeel.”
Runechaser.
“Alive,” I breathed. “Kier Gavriel.”
He stiffened.
“What did you say?”
“Kier Gavriel,” I repeated. “What does it mean?”
“Where did you hear that?” he growled.
“The chimeric,” I said. “It talks to me. Or maybe that’s her. I don’t know.”
