Cora had no answers to give. She glanced at Teryn, wondering if there was more Emylia could tell them. As far as Cora knew, she’d been a seer—a witch with strong clairvoyance—which meant she’d channeled the prophecy from images and put them into words. Had she seen how Noah would unite three crowns? What it meant for him to return El’Ara’s heart? There were so many ways those words could be interpreted. Uniting three crowns may already have happened when Cora considered naming him her heir. Or would her marriage to Teryn bring that about, as her husband’s nephew would surely link Khero to Vera, regardless of who was named heir? The three crowns themselves could refer to the two kingdoms Mareleau inherited plus Khero. Or it could refer to Vera, Khero, and El’Ara, united by his birth. Returning El’Ara’s heart could simply mean reforging Lela into a single kingdom. Or it could mean drawing the land back to El’Ara.
Cora’s mind spun with possibilities.
Mareleau spoke again, and this time her voice cracked. “What about the future? Is Noah supposed to grow up just to leave me to rule the fae realm?”
Cora met her friend’s tear-glazed eyes. “We don’t know, and we can’t worry about that now.”
“How can I not worry? This is unfair.”
Unfair.
The word lanced her chest, and she flinched.
Mareleau spoke again. “I never asked to be part of this prophecy. For my newborn son to be burdened with this responsibility. I never asked?—”
Mareleau’s voice cut off, her eyes wide as they locked on Cora’s. It was then Cora became aware of her own expression. Of the tightness of her jaw. The narrowing of her eyes. She hadn’t meant to glare at Mareleau. Hadn’t meant to react so sharply to her friend’s tirade.
Mareleau averted her gaze from Cora’s. “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask for this but neither had you.”
Cora said nothing, for what could she say to that? To the reminder that Mareleau may bear the true responsibility as the prophesied mother, but Cora had already been punished for it?
Cora hated the flicker of resentment that sparked in her heart. Hated the anger that continued to simmer.
A soft cry shattered the air, and all eyes fell on Noah.
“I need to nurse him,” Mareleau said, tone flustered.
“We’ll give you privacy,” Cora said, and she and Teryn rose from the bed.
Larylis gave his wife a questioning glance, but she whispered, “Stay.”
Cora’s chest tightened as she and Teryn headed for the door. She couldn’t help but feel anxious after that tense exchange she’d had with Mareleau. Desperate to mend the rift, she stopped at the doorway and turned a hopeful look to her friend. “I’ll come back later, all right?”
Mareleau met her eyes and gave her a soft yet tired smile. “All right.”
Cora let that smooth the edges of her nerves as she and Teryn left the room, his hand clasped comfortingly around hers.
15
Flames simmered around Cora. She could feel them more than see them, their heat scalding her hands, her cheeks. As for where she was, she didn’t know. A smoky haze clouded her vision, smothering her senses. Finally, a pinprick of darkness stood stark within her murky surroundings. She darted toward it. It grew with every step she took until it widened around her, forming a hallway. The smoke cleared, but the flames remained. Still, it was just the heat of them. A hint of gold flickering up the walls. No matter how she tried to focus on those flames, all she saw was reflected light.
Sweat beaded her brow and dampened her nightdress. She rushed farther down the hall, turning her attention right and left for any sign of where she was.
Then she felt it. A sickening unease. A deep and hollow knowing that something wasn’t right. She’d felt this way before, night after night, haunted by dark hallways. That was when she recognized the walls around her. Walls that had graced countless nightmares. Her dreams of Ridine, of the night she’d been condemned by her brother and banished from the castle by Morkai, had once been so pervasive she’d needed a sleeping tonic. That dream had run its course after she’d returned to Ridine and reclaimed her role as princess. Yet nightmares hadn’t ceased plaguing her. After last summer, her mind had gained new fuel for dark tableaus. Her brother’s visage fused with the body of a Roizan had visited her darkest dreams regularly.
While her nightmares always wrenched her heart, they no longer terrified her as badly as they once had. She could recognize that she was dreaming far faster, detach herself from her fear.
She halted her steps, acknowledging that this too was just a dream. A new manifestation but a dream nonetheless. Releasing a slow sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on her true body, on the bed she was nestled in. The heat of the flames distracted her, pulling her mind back into the realm of the nightmare.
Then a voice.
“We meet again, Aveline.”
Cora clenched her jaw, hatred boiling her blood. She opened her eyes. Duke Morkai stood before her, hands in his pockets, posture at ease despite the light of the flames still dancing up the walls. They turned his dark suit a flickering orange, illuminated the underside of his jaw.
Her fury continued to rise at the sight of him, but she felt no fear. Even here, in the bounds of this nightmare, she knew Morkai was dead. Teryn had witnessed the mage’s soul being consumed by light. It had devoured all that was left of him.
This was merely a facet of Cora’s mind, nothing more.
