Her lips parted, cracked from days without water, and her voice emerged as a rasp, each word seemingly dragged from the depths of some great distance.
"Three...becoming one," she whispered, the words hanging in the air between them like smoke."The barrier cannot hold without...three becoming one."
Roran leaned closer, relief and confusion warring within him."Thalia, it's me.It's Roran.You're safe in the infirmary.Do you remember what happened?Do you know where you are?"
She didn't seem to hear him.Her fingers clutched at the blanket, then at empty air, before finally finding his forearms and gripping with surprising strength for someone who had been unconscious for days.The electricity that had been dancing between her fingers now coursed through her hands and into his skin, but where others might have been burned by such a current, Roran merely felt a familiar tingling warmth—his storm-caller blood recognizing its kin.
"Three becomes one," she repeated, more insistent now, her nails digging into his flesh."Ice to bind, storm to strike, earth to heal."
"Thalia, you're not making sense."Roran placed his hands over hers, trying to gentle her grip without breaking the contact that seemed so important to her."What are you talking about?"
The ice on the bedframe cracked suddenly, shards falling to the floor like broken glass before reforming, spreading further up the wall behind the bed in intricate patterns that resembled nothing so much as ancient runes.The vines grew more agitated, curling around the bed legs and reaching toward Thalia as though drawn by some invisible force.Through it all, electricity continued to flow from her hands into Roran's arms, the current growing stronger with each passing moment.
He recognized the strength of the electrical discharge—if Thalia had grabbed anyone who wasn’t a storm-caller, they’d be on the ground from the force of the shock."Thalia, you need to calm down.The magic—it's getting stronger."
Footsteps pounded in the corridor—multiple sets, running fast.Mari burst through the door first, followed closely by Celeste, their mother's usually composed features tight with a mixture of fear and desperate hope.
"She's awake!"Mari cried, rushing back to the bedside."Mother, she's awake!"
Celeste moved with the practiced efficiency of a healer who had seen too many crises to be overwhelmed by emotion.She pressed a hand to Thalia's forehead, fingers searching for her pulse at the throat, eyes narrowing as she took in the magical manifestations surrounding her daughter.
"Her heart is racing," she reported, her voice clinical despite the tremor that ran beneath it."And her temperature is elevated—at least two degrees too high."She looked up at Roran, questions in her eyes."Has she spoken?Is she lucid?"
Before Roran could answer, Thalia's grip on his arms tightened painfully, her gaze locking with his.For a moment—just a moment—clarity seemed to return to her eyes, the strange blue light receding.
"Roran," she said, his name emerging as a command that demanded attention.His heart leapt at the sound, hope surging through him like a wave—only to crash against the rocks of disappointment as she continued, "The boundaries weaken.Three becomes one.The seal fades."
"What does that mean, Thalia?"he asked, leaning closer, desperate for some sign of recognition, some hint of the woman he knew."What seal?"
Her eyes seemed to look through him, beyond him, to some distant point only she could see."Ancient foundations.The Founders' Price.If freely given...if the price is willingly paid..."
The door burst open again, admitting Luna and Ashe.Both women froze momentarily at the threshold, taking in the scene before them.Then Luna was moving, her usual affected distraction replaced by focused urgency as she approached the bed.
"She's conscious," Luna observed, her eyes cataloging the ice, the vines, the electricity still arcing between Thalia and Roran's joined hands."But not present.Not fully."
"Get Kaine," she said to Ashe without turning."He'll want to be here."
Ashe nodded once and was gone, her long strides carrying her swiftly back into the corridor.A stab of annoyance shot through Roran at the mention of Kaine—of course Luna would think of him first, would assume his place at Thalia's side was as important as Roran's own.The feeling was petty, unworthy, and he pushed it aside as quickly as it had come, focusing instead on Thalia's increasingly agitated state.
"If the price is willingly paid," Thalia insisted, her voice rising with each word."Three must become one to hold back the tide.To rebuild what was broken."
"What is she talking about?"Luna asked, leaning forward with keen interest."This sounds like—"
"I have no idea," Roran admitted, frustration edging his words."She keeps repeating the same fragments.Nothing coherent.Nothing that makes sense."
Luna's brow furrowed, her sharp mind visibly working through possibilities."Three becoming one...the three magical disciplines perhaps?Cryomancy, storm-calling, and root-singing?"She gestured to the ice, the electricity, the vines."The physical manifestations certainly suggest as much."
Celeste had procured a cup of water from somewhere and was now trying to coax Thalia into drinking."Small sips," she murmured, her healer's hands steady despite the fear evident in her eyes."That's it, my brave girl."
Roran, still caught in Thalia's grip, managed to shift his position to help support her head as she drank.The contact seemed to calm her somewhat, the frantic energy that had been building since she awoke gradually ebbing.The ice stopped its rapid spread, the vines curled back toward the floor, and the electrical current flowing through her fingers diminished to a gentle hum.
"The ancient seal fades," Thalia whispered, her voice steadier now but still distant.Her gaze met Roran's, and for the first time since she'd awakened, he felt she was truly seeing him."The Deep Tide rises.What was bound will be unleashed."
"What seal, Thalia?"he asked softly, hope kindling again at this sign of lucidity.
Before she could answer, the door crashed open with enough force to rattle the hinges.Kaine stood in the opening, his broad frame silhouetted against the corridor's torchlight, his face a mask of barely contained emotion.Behind him, Ashe appeared winded, as though she'd had to run to keep pace with him.
"Thalia."Her name emerged from his lips like a prayer and a demand combined.He crossed the room in three long strides, shouldering past Roran with enough force to break Thalia's grip on his arms.The sudden separation left Roran feeling bereft, the absence of her touch a physical ache that matched the spike of irritation at Kaine's presumption.
