I am exhausted—but also worried, and thinking, wondering what’s happening to Renel.
And then, I don’t understand what’s happening here. At first, I thought Mirella had just fumbled her task, but now I’m wondering if she has her own plans.
What plans?
ASTRA
Everything’s spinning and the layer of ice Marlak created is moving like a boat even after we reached the island rocks. No, my head’s the one that’s spinning. Nothing’s moving other than this cursed magic inside me, poisoning my blood, my body, my mind.
But I brought us here, despite everything.
“Azur!” someone screams through the fog around my mind.
It’s Lidiane, kneeling by him, followed by Ziven and Ferer, who are standing.
“He needs a healer!” Lidiane says.
“We’ll find someone,” Marlak says, and I can feel his chest moving.
He’s holding me, and I just want to spend a moment here, rest for a while, rest until eternity, and yet there’s so much to do.
The others are already walking inside when I get up, even if I still think the ground is moving.
“Are you all right?” Marlak asks as he holds me.
“Dizzy. Sick.”
The corners of his eyes tighten with worry. “You’ll need a healer too.”
“No. I…” I lean on him, then try to focus even if my mind is still spinning, still strange. “I’m getting better.”
And yet down is up, up is down. I hold onto him as much as I can, grasping onto this reality I don’t want to give up, and yet my strength is leaving me.
“I need a bed,” I finally admit as I let my eyes close. Too much in too little time. Everything strange. More than strange. Terrifying.
MARLAK
Astra’s about to faint, so I carry her inside the house. In the kitchen, I see my brother sitting alone, a lightstone in front of him.
Renel’s eyebrows shoot up when he sees us. “Is she all right?”
I don’t know why he sounds concerned, and don’t have time to weigh that in, my focus on my wife.
“Not really.”
I take Astra to my bedroom. When I place her on the bed, she opens her eyes and looks around her. With no lightstone here, everything is dark except for the faint moonlight coming from the window.
“Did I faint again?” she asks.
“Again?” I kiss her forehead, hiding the worry in my voice. “No. Don’t tell me. Rest.”
“How’s Azur?” Her voice is slurry but she sits up, stubbornly refusing to rest.
“I don’t know.” And frankly, I don’t care, but I don’t want to tell her that. “We just got here. I’ll try to go to Serenade and get a healer. For you too.” Mostly for her, in fact.
“No.” She shakes her head quickly. “Do you really want me to tell them that I drankhisblood? Tell them what I am?”
I run a finger through her hair. Even in the dark, I can see some of the purple shade from my dreams, my heart aching seeing her so vulnerable, so weak. “We don’t need to give them details.”
