“I’m sorry, Teryn,” Emylia whispered. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I didn’t realize you could see me again.”
“Well, I can, and you are intruding. This is a private conversation.”
“Wait…” Cora’s voice had him opening his eyes with a resigned sigh. “Are you…talking to Emyliaright now?”
He supposed there was no better time to tell her. “Yes.”
“How?”
“Ever since I returned to my body last summer,” he explained, “I’ve been able to see spirits. Emylia is the only one who has communicated with me. She’s been watching over you.”
Emylia clasped her hands to her chest. “Tell her I’m sorry.”
“She says she’s sorry.”
“Tell her this is all my fault. Tell her I don’t know how I’ll make up for what I’ve done. Tell her I?—”
“Emylia,” he said, a warning in his tone, “I get it.” Then to Cora, he said, “She feels incredible guilt for her part in channeling the prophecy. She hasn’t been able to move on to the otherlife and hopes she can atone.”
Cora’s expression hardened, and he didn’t miss the way her fingers curled into fists at her sides. Then she averted her gaze to the fire and folded her arms over her chest. “It was a mistake, but I can’t hold it against her. Nor can she be blamed for the actions Morkai took based on the conclusions he came to.”
Her voice sounded dry and rehearsed but it seemed to appease Emylia. Her form ceased its trembling. “If there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me,” Emylia said.
“She wants to help,” Teryn conveyed.
“Has she learned anything useful as a spirit, now that she’s been freed from the crystal?” Cora asked.
“She confirmed that the current King Darius Solaria of Syrus is indeed Morkai’s father.”
“That’s hardly news,” Cora countered, though her words lacked bite. “We already guessed as much. Does she know what his plans are? Is he using Norun to wage war on Khero?”
Emylia shook her head. “I don’t know about his current plans. All I know is that he sought El’Ara and likely still seeks it. If he’s learned what Morkai discovered—that Lela is the Heart of El’Ara—he might seek to invade Khero to gain access to the Veil, with the goal of finding a way to cross it. Since the Veil surrounds the entirety of Lela, he might not stop at targeting Khero either. He might try to conquer Vera too, just to ensure he can freely search every inch of the Veil.”
Teryn conveyed Emylia’s words, then added to Cora, “At least we know he’s physically weak. And that he doesn’t know what you know—that unicorns can pierce the Veil and that a worldwalker can use them to enter El’Ara.”
“Yes, but there is an additional concern,” Cora said. “The prophecy stated that the Veil would tear when the true Morkara was born. The latter has happened, so we must assume the former has too. Valorre suddenly got all his memories back this morning?—”
Her words cut off, and Teryn was certain they were thinking the same thing. “Darius might have his memories back too.” He looked at Emylia for confirmation.
She shrugged. “Morkai said his father had been cursed to forget El’Ara, but he didn’t say how or why. It could have been the Veil that had made him forget.”
“Which means a tear in the Veil could return his lost memories,” Teryn said. Seven devils, if Darius had his memories back, if he could recall the land he’d once left, the land that had once been a piece of El’Ara, could he worldwalk straight here? Cora had told Teryn about the war she’d learned of in El’Ara, and how Darius had used his power to bring in human armies. Did that mean he could worldwalk with multiple people in tow? Did he even need to ally with Norun to accomplish his goals?
Cora took in a sharp breath. “What if the Veil was also the cause of Darius’ physical weakness? What if…”
A chill shot through him. She didn’t need to finish. If Darius was no longer weak, they might soon face a formidable foe.
“What does this mean for us?” Cora asked. “What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know.” They locked eyes, and his shoulders grew heavy. There were still so many unanswered questions. Some Teryn wasn’t ready to voice; primarily, if they had to choose between war with Darius or complying with him, would it be better to simply give him access to the Veil? Would it really be so wrong to condemn El’Ara, if it rid the human world of such a great threat? Or was Darius as ambitious as his son? Would he use his power as Morkaius of El’Ara to harm the human world too? Teryn knew one thing; there wouldn’t be any easy answers.
“At least we hold intel he doesn’t have.” Cora kept her voice low as if she feared the very walls would carry her secrets to their enemy. “He doesn’t know about Mareleau and Noah. He doesn’t know about my and Valorre’s ability to cross the Veil.”
Teryn nodded. “We should do whatever we can to stop word of Noah’s birth from spreading. If Darius finds out a royal child was bornunder the black mountain, that could be all he needs to put the pieces together.”
“You’re right,” Cora said. “We need to keep his birth a secret. Hopefully we can stop rumors from spreading before it’s too late.” She turned on her heel and marched toward the door.
Teryn caught her hand in his, halting her. “Where are you going?”
