She squeezed my hand in return, almost as if testing her own strength. She’d squeezed my hand a hundred times before. But never with this much force—this much power. It was almost painful. She didn’t know her own strength yet now that her magic was restored. It didn’t matter. She could squeeze my hand as hard as she wanted. She couldfucking break it for all I cared. I was glad to feel it. It meant she was okay. It meant she was stronger than what had just happened.
“Not long. Just a few minutes,” Meera said, her voice shaking. “Lyr? Are you okay?”
“I think so,” Lyr said, her voice shaky. “I think I …” Her cheeks reddened.
“Had a vision?” Meera offered.
She looked away, her lips pressed together. Her panic was rising, her fear of being vorakh. “Yes. Does this mean—by the Gods, am I—”
“No,” I said quickly, wanting to reassure her. “At least, we don’t think you’re vorakh. We’ve been putting the pieces together while you rested. Meera thinks you took on her vision.”
Lyr started to sit up. Quickly I moved my hand to support her lower back, and could feel her shivering.
“Still cold?” I asked.
“Freezing.”
“Sit with me,” I said, shifting closer to the fire and pulling her onto my lap. I drew my cloak around the two of us. Lyr needed more body heat, but I didn’t get the impression that stripping in front of Meera was going to go over well. Settling her between my legs, I whispered in her ear, “Hold the cloak closed in front of you.” She did and I used the opportunity to slide my hands inside her shirt, wrapping my arms around her, giving her as much skin-to-skin as I could. She melted against me, sighing under her breath.
“That’s better,” she said. “Now tell me how exactly I took Meera’s vision.”
“Well to start,” Meera said, “we’re not even sure it was you. We think it was the light of the Valalumir inside you. It has the power to heal.”
Lyr stiffened against me. “And you think that healed you?”
“Not completely. Just this once, but yes, I think so. Rhyan does, too. Our best guess is that the healing properties of the light allowed you to take it onto yourself. After you touched me, my vision stopped instantly, and I was warm. I’m never warm after. You know that.”
“True,” Lyr said slowly. “And I’m still cold. But not from you. I know how that feels.” She shivered. “Or I thought I did. Gods. Meera, I’d felt your cold before, but it was never this intense. Is this always how it felt for you?” Her voice shook.
Meera smiled gravely.
I wondered how cold Lyr had been in the past few years by simply being near Meera, and felt rage boiling inside me. For so long she’d had to deal with this alone. I’d seen firsthand the wounds she’d had to dress by herself. I didn’t realize there was another layer of suffering to what she’d endured.
“It’s okay,” Meera said. “I know what to expect each time. At least, usually I do.”
“But the light was in me the last time you had a vision,” Lyr said. “And I didn’t heal you then, or take your vision on.”
“The light was there,” I said, “but your magic wasn’t. Maybe that activated it.”
“Maybe. Okay,” Lyr said. I could see her mind beginning to accept our words, to rationalize and find the logic behind it as she always did. “Let’s say that’s the explanation.” She shifted in my lap. “How do we know it wasyourvision that I had? And not my own?”
“Well, was this what you saw?” Meera asked. “An arena filled with the Emperor’s sigil?”
Lyr nodded. “Yes.” Her voice was quiet. Too quiet.
“What happened, Lyr?” I asked. “What else did you see?”
She took a deep breath, thinking for a moment before she said, “I was in the Nutavian Katurium. In the capital. There were three wolves in the arena chasing me.”
I tensed, my blood boiling. “Ka Kormac?” I growled, completely unable to hide my fury.
“No. Actual wolves.” Lyr stilled, her hand on my arm suddenly tightening. “But … Gods.” She moved again, agitated. “Your visions are always symbolic, Meera? Right? I think that’s who they were. The three wolves. The Bastardmaker, the Imperator … and the Emperor.”
Meera looked worried. “What else happened, Lyr?”
“I thought they were going to kill me. I had no weapons, just an old shield I found.” She paused. “It came out of nowhere. It was ancient-looking, round and bronze. Just there on the field.”
Something stirred inside me. A memory. I felt the ghost of a shield in my hands. Large, heavy. And just as quickly as it appeared, the thought was gone.
