Vi ran her hand along the banisters as she ascended through the quiet passageways. The castle felt unnaturally empty. Servants weren’t buzzing around and guards had seemingly limited patrols. It felt like a great beast, now slumbering, waiting until it would rise once more to be the bastion of the West.
Elecia had sent no shortage of maps of Norin and architects’ drawings of the castle to Vi while she was in Soricium. She had deemed it “important for Vi to learn her heritage.” Vi’s chest tightened at the thought that she’d never have the opportunity to properly thank her cousin for how she’d prepared her.
Vi went up and up. She stepped through doorways and underneath carefully embellished archways. High above the royal family’s quarters was the library. It was hexagonal in shape and extended five stories up with nothing but bookcases lining each wall. Had the original builders of the castle of Norin known of the Archives of Yargen? Were they aware of the distant influence that still held sway over their aesthetics?
Making her way up and around the library with a side stair, Vi paused at a doorway wedged between two bookcases. It was unassuming and unlocked.
The thick scent of roses assaulted her senses as Vi stepped out into the rooftop conservatory. Western breezes filtered through open windows in the high glass panels that capped the garden. The quiet sound of trickling water added a layer of serenity that had Vi’s tense shoulders relaxing. She began to walk the gardens, looking at the various flora and fauna—mostly Western roses, Fiera’s favorite.
“You’re here.”
Vi turned, meeting Fiera’s gaze as the woman stood in the doorway. Fiera blinked with surprise, but it passed quickly and was replaced with a knowing smile.
“I am.”
“I was wondering when you’d come.”
Chapter Seven
“Forgiveme for breaking free of your prison.” Vi’s attention shifted, turning to the sword still strapped to Fiera’s hip. Her whole body ached at the sight of it and Vi barely held herself back from giving in to a moment of weakness and just ripping it from Fiera’s body.
“Part of me suspects I should be pleased that you have.”
“I mean you no harm.”
“So you’ve told me, and so you’ve illustrated.” Fiera took a step forward and lifted her hand. “Shall we stroll?”
For a quarter of one lap of the lush garden, they didn’t say anything. Vi kept glancing at the woman at her side while Fiera kept her gaze forward and relaxed. Still, her hand remained on the sword hilt.
“I sense fate in you,” Fiera said finally, “in a way I have never sensed in any other.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean.”
Fiera paused only long enough to glance at her from the corners of her eyes. “You’re a poor liar.”
“Don’t mistake half-truths for a lie.” Vi chuckled. “I don’t understand what you mean when you say you ‘sense fate.’”
“Yargen has chosen me to see along her lines,” Fiera started, leaving Vi to wonder if her deflection had been so easily dispatched. “Sometimes, I feel compelled to look along those lines—more so than other times. Sometimes, I don’t need to peer along the lines at all to know that someone or something has great importance in those designs.”
“Or perhaps you are sensing places and moments where fate has been changed,” Vi suggested, narrowly avoiding the termApex of Fate.
“A good way to put it.” Fiera gave a small nod. “You… you are the embodiment of that feeling. When I see you I feel I know you—like somehow I’ve always known you.”
Fiera came to a stop and Vi with her. They faced each other, nearly identical in height and build. If anything, Fiera was slightly more curvaceous than Vi. But otherwise, they could be mistaken for identical twins at a glance.
“Perhaps it is because I look at you and see my face.”
“An oddity, indeed.” That was something she had no idea how she could explain away—not even with half-truths.
“Yet, this feeling runs much deeper,” Fiera continued. “When I have tried to scry into the flames for you, I see nothing. The sight has been absent since we met, all other sensations dulled, save for you.”
“But you told Richard Le’Dan you foresaw our meeting?”
Fiera laughed softly and shook her head at the mention of Richard. She wore a tender smile on her lips, one tinged with sadness.
“Richard wouldn’t understand if I tried to explain it to him. He is not like you and me. He doesn’t understand these feelings,” Fiera said tenderly. “I told him that because I knew you would seek me out, as you sought me out the first time. My hope was that the more people I told of you, the greater the likelihood of you being led to me.”
“How?”
