The concern on Darian’s face makes me envy the love between them. He allows her to lean against him, supporting her in an upright position.
He says, “She collapsed while she was gardening. I carried her in here, but then…”
He glances at her as if seeking her permission.
In response, Mai places her hand on his. “It’s all right… I can tell her.”
She turns to me. “I started to rain.”
Elise frowns beside me. “It started to rain?”
“No,” Mai says, “Istarted to rain.”
I’m sure I misheard. “You started to… what?”
In response, Mai leans back into Darian, turning her head into his shoulder, whispering, “Will you help me show them?”
“I will always help you,” he says, but he turns to us first, his expression stern. “She’s weak and I’ll only assist her to do this once. Then you have to get help.”
He wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her to her feet, pulling her upright. Her legs wobble, but he keeps her straight long enough for me to see what I need to see.
Her dress changes color halfway down, dark and saturated from her ribcage, but dry at her shoulders. Her hair, too, is completely dry, wispy strands floating around her. But her hands and feet…
Water drips from her fingertips and puddles around her feet. I can tell from how dry her head and shoulders are that the water isn’t falling from anywhere above her. It’s dripping from her fingers and toes. It’s coming from her.
I meet her eyes and I know there’s more. It was the rain that spoke to me in the Vault, and Mai always had an affinity with the rain.
Her fingers move. The change is so slight that I can barely perceive it, but then…
Everything slows around me. Elise is half-turning, her eyes wide, one arm rising to point at the water falling from Mai’s hands. Darian is about to speak, his mouth half-open. Then everything… stops.
Even the water droplets suspend in mid-air. Except for Mai and me.
“What did you do?” I ask, barely breathing.
“I used the power of the thunder to suspend time.”
“You what? But you’re not the Princess anymore. How can you channel the storm? That’s…”
“You have so much to learn about the power of the storm, but they won’t let me teach you. You’ll have to learn on your own like I had to.”
“Who won’t let you teach me?”
“Marbella, you need to listen to me. We only have a few moments. The rain spoke to me. Someone’s cursed the protocols.”
“It spoke to me, too!”
I edge toward her. Glimmers of lightning wrap around my fingers, but I push them down. Mai isn’t a threat to me.
She looks relieved that I already know. “Then you know your husband will be cursed to kill you.”
I suck in a deep breath. “The rain told me. But I don’t know what to do.”
She doesn’t hesitate. “You have to fight for yourself.”
“What?”
“Be your own champion. Win the challenges. Accept no male as your husband. It’s the only way.”
