Rather than answer, I stepped inside the tent.
Rummy followed.
The woman didn’t even look up. Not at first. It took a few moments for her to even register that we’d entered the space at all.
I cleared my throat. “Excuse me?”
The healer finally straightened the documents on the desk in front of her and gave us her attention. “Can I help you with something?”
“Actually, yes.” I stepped closer.
The tent was tidy, an odd contrast to the chaos around us. Other than the desk, it was almost completely empty.
“Do you remember us?”
Her face remained annoyingly expressionless. “Of course I remember you.”
Rummy stiffened at my side. “You’re the one who healed me,” she breathed.
The woman’s jaw tightened, the first hint of emotion she’d shown since we walked in here. “I am. It’s good to see you’re walking, girl, but what are you doing here?”
She peered down to her papers, as if the documents were more important than anything we had to say.
I clamped down on my temper and kept my voice even as I replied. “We’re here looking for information.”
“Information on what?”
She was either pretending to be dense, or she simply wanted to make this as difficult as possible. It wasn’t surprising, considering the last time I’d seen her, she’d spoken in riddles and partial truths.
“On the rebellion. On the king. On what in all hells has been happening in this place!” My frustration got the best of me at the end.
She sighed, lowered the papers, and returned her bored look to us. “What you saw out there wasn’t explanation enough about what’s going on? Take a look around you, boy.”
“It explains that people are in need and clearly aren’t happy, but it doesn’t tell us why.”
She eyed Rummy, her brown eyes darkening, and scoffed. “You should go. Get out now while you still can.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” I took a step closer, the impulse to puff my wings a fraction hitting me. But I couldn’t, since they were hidden. “Not without answers. And if you can’t give them to us, we’ll have to find them elsewhere.”
“You won’t find the answers you’re looking for.”
Rummy took half a step forward. “And how would you know that?”
The woman’s eyes flashed, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I fought the urge to pull Rummy behind me. This woman had healed her. She wasn’t a threat to us.
“Destinies entangled in a sinister snare,” she said, her voice monotone.
Every instinct told me to back out of here. But my feet were frozen in place and my blood ran cold.
“Overcome these pleas of passion and despair.”
Rummy swayed beside me.
“Where chaos reigns and hearts beat, through the veil of love and deceit.”
“Wh-what are you saying?” Rummy demanded, a hint of fear bleeding into her sharp tone. “What does that mean?”
The woman simply repeated the words, using the same cadence the voices in the Whispering Caves had set.
