I turned slightly in Auriel’s arms, our eyes meeting. “Do you know?” I mouthed.
He frowned, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
“The goal they share,” I whispered.
Auriel sighed, then quietly said, “I think I did once. But I don’t right now.”
“Should I try to heal you again?” I asked. His aura felt clear, sunny almost, not like the cloud it was when he first arrived. But maybe he still needed more of the red light’s healing to remember.
Auriel shook his head. “It’s not the same. I’m not forgetting exactly. It’s more like … the magic of the Afeya is affecting me. I’m not supposed to say. And even from my former position—I could learn things I wish to know, discover secrets—but it’s not a matter of asking, or looking up the information. It’s more amatter of watching. And I wasn’t exactly inclined to spend the little time I was not with Asherah, watching the courts these last few centuries.”
“What were you watching when you weren’t with her?” I asked.
His eyes drifted down my body then back to my face. “You know what.”
My cheeks warmed, and I looked away.
“The common goal between them will be told to us directly by the Queen,” Auriel said, “if she wants us to know.” His voice lowered. “And if she doesn’t? No amount of asking will change her mind.”
“Maybe we don’t need to ask. It’s not like the Afeya are following the rules. Mercurial’s able to do magic he shouldn’t,” I said. “He performs magic on his own all the time in front of me.”
Auriel frowned. “No, he can’t. There are many loopholes they find and abuse, but not that one. That’s not possible. The magic binding them is too strong. I promise you—they’re not breaking those rules. No Afeya can perform magic without a request.”
“But he can,” I hissed. “Unless … the magic he does serves some other purpose or request I don’t understand.”
Ramia whipped her head around, her eyes narrowed, before she turned back to the head of the water dragon, continuing to steer us toward Khemet.
“He’s working for someone,” I continued. “And he won’t say who. I’ve asked him, even offered to make another bargain, Rhyan did, too.” I frowned in frustration. “He refused us both.”
Auriel bit his lip, considering. “It’s not the Moon Queen he’s working for—not when he’s using magic,” he said. “It can’t be an Afeya. If they could ask each other for what they wanted—they’d never deal with Lumerians. From down here, I’m not entirely sure what he’s up to. But, if he is doing magic without a directrequest, it’s because he made a bargain with a Lumerian, or … someone who was Lumerian at the time.”
“At the time?” I shivered. “Like they’re something else now? Like akadim?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s someone who’s passed.”
I considered his words. “So you’re saying that Afeya can continue to do someone’s bidding after death?”
“Some bargains take time. Some may have been outlined to outlast the one making the request, whether that’s by Afeyan trickery, or the asker’s true wish, I don’t know. But the Afeya must fulfill their bargains, answer what is asked of them, or do what they promised when the contract is made, no matter what.”
But that still didn’t feel like the answer to me. Knowing Mercurial’s personality—his sudden ups and downs, the way he seemed to live completely governed by his own whims, I couldn’t imagine him just serving someone after they died. “Are you sure there’s no other way he can be performing magic on his own?”
Auriel’s eyes darkened with shadows. “I’m sure. Lyriana, trust me. Let it go. If I knew, I’d tell you. I swear. But as traitorous as he is, he’s not our problem right now. We need to be ready to meet Queen Ma’Nia. You should rest while you can.”
I gestured around us. “On a water dragon?” The dragon in question was currently looping its body over the rushing tides of the ocean. Between the waves splashing around us, the way the wind caught in the beat of its wings, mixed with the sound of its breathing, the water dragon was the loudest animal I’d ever been on. And as if to make my point, it shot up into the air without warning, screeching like it was a game.
I leaned back into Auriel, my fingers digging into his arms to keep from falling. My stomach lurched as the dragon dove back down, its waggling tail spraying us with water from behind.
No further words were needed as I glared. Point made.
Auriel shook his head, like he was trying to shake out the water now dripping from his hair.
“Okay,” he conceded, “maybe its not the most relaxing of transportation. But I do want you to be prepared. The Afeya …” He sighed. “Their ways, their culture, it’s nothing like you’re used to.”
I looked out at the water, and beyond, as the landscape passed and shifted. My thoughts moved to my friends and my family. And in the stillness, my heart hurt for Galen, and I was worried sick for Tristan.
But my stomach twisted without having any more information about Jules and Meera, and Dario and Aiden. Not since Branwyn had heard from Cal and Marisol. I still didn’t know if they were okay, if they’d been near Rhyan’s attack on Thene. And a now familiar ache in my arms—from being unable to hold Rhyan—was starting to pain me, but for Jules. I still hadn’t hugged her. My eyes watered.
“You see the waves?”Rhyan said in my mind.“The waves,”he said again, his voice a whisper.“Just watch the waves, rolling back and forth. Back and forth. Nice and easy. Just keep watching. I’ve got you. You’re all right.”
