“Iamthe prophecy’s echo,” she said. “I was born in the year of the Rift's first tremble. The Watchers themselves awakened my sight. I saw the veil flicker and weaken when Thaelyn was born. I saw Vornokh return in a dream before your name was ever carved into the royal lineage.”
Silence fell like a blade.
“What does it say?” Thorne asked finally.
Queen Elyria lowered herself to sit on the edge of the bed opposite him, her fingers resting lightly on the silken coverlet near Thaelyn’s arm.
“That’s when the storm-blooded heir and the shadow-forged flame will be reborn through the dragons that were once lost. The balance of the world will tilt. Fire and storm must bind, or break what was severed in the Sundering. And to heal the Rift, one must fall, for the other to rise.”
Thorne stared at her. “Fall?”
She nodded once. “That is the price. That is the pain foretold.”
He looked at Thaelyn again. Her face was pale, but not lifeless. Her brow furrowed slightly in sleep, as if she were hearing things far away.
“I won’t lose her,” he said.
“Then you will fight the fates themselves,” the Queen said softly. “As Serenya once did.”
He looked down. “Was it worth it for her?”
Elyria’s voice cracked, just slightly. “Serenya saved Vornokh.That was her choice. Her sacrifice ended the war, but it cost the realm the continent of Aeromir. It nearly killed Vornokh.”
Thorne’s hands tightened. “Maybe Thaelyn’s stronger than Serenya,” he whispered.
“She is,” Elyria agreed. “But so are you.”
They sat in silence for a time, listening to the faint wind against the stained glass.
“Tell me truthfully,” Thorne said, looking up. “What can I do to protect her?”
The Queen’s expression gentled. “You already are. You see Thaelyn, not as a weapon, or the heir of Aether, and not the dragon’s chosen one. You justherfor who she is.That is your greatest strength, and will be your greatest weakness.”
Queen Elyria rose stepping closer to him. Her fingers brushed the edge of his jaw.
“There is more I haven’t told you,” she said. “Of my own power. Of what I’ve hidden from the King. I was not always so heavily watched as I am now.”
He blinked at her.
“I once walked the Vaults of Vaeren,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I spoke with the last Seer of the Watchers. He gave me a choice: to remain silent or to be silenced.”
Thorne’s breath caught. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because when the time comes, you may need to choose the path no one else will. And if you do, you must know you are not alone.”
She glanced at Thaelyn again. “Neither is she.”
Queen Elyria turned to go, her hand resting a moment on the carved wooden frame of the door.
“She will wake soon,” she said. “When the bond calls to her again.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Thorne asked.
The Queen looked over her shoulder, a faint smile touched her lips.
“Oh, it will. Nyxariel is already pacing outside the palace walls. Vornokh will not let his mate suffer long.”
With that, she left, the door closing softly behind her.
