The pain is electric,slicing through my skull the moment the vision fades. Wyll found a loophole, and slowly the full picture is coming together. Avilyna looks so much like Camyla. Those eyes, windows of a soul I already know, and similar to Alek’s. She’s not just some girl.
She’s the lost princess of Kallahan.
The rules of the game just changed, confirming the giant, flaming target on her back, the kind you can’t miss.
“It’s always when I start thinking you’re hopeless that you pull some clever shit out of nowhere,” Caleb says with a sigh, shaking his head. Those two have always been like cat and mouse. Constantly trading jabs, yet somehow always complementing each other.
The fact that no one remembers her only deepens my suspicion. There’s a spell, something powerful, strong enough to wipe her from collective memories. There’s something wrapped in smoke and mirrors around Avilyna. So, I keep my mouth shut. No point in poking that hornet’s nest, yet.
“Ouch. That really hurts my feelings, Cal,” Wyll chimes in with an exaggerated whimper, clutching his chest as if he’s been shot. But if Wyll hasn’t figured it out yet, he’s about to. That’sWyll for you, he plays dumb, but he’s a sneaky little bastard with more tricks up his sleeve than anyone suspects.
I roll my eyes at both of them. “Her mother was probably part of the Sergeant groups the Queen kept close by. And it looks like anything directly connected to her is hidden. The question is, why?”
I might suspect who she truly is, but why erase her from everyone?
“Guess we also have to figure that out,” Wyll replies, already stretching out on the couch, one arm tucked behind his head. “In the meantime, I’m taking a nap. You guys wake me if the world ends or if there’s pie.”
After several minutesof waiting for the girls, I finally break the silence, while Caleb still stares at the chessboard like it's gonna tell him its secrets. “Where the hell are they?”
And right on cue, a voice I’m getting way too familiar with calls out, “We’re here!”
“About damn time,” I growl.
“In the living room!” Wyll shouts back. They stroll in, Avilyna leading the way, followed by another girl I swear I’ve seen before. Long pink hair braided into pigtails, the healer uniform giving her away.
“This is Sakura Sato,” the Sensei’sdaughter.
I narrow my eyes. “You already knew what she was?” I say, my voice is more questioning than greeting, sizing her up.
Everyone here heard the rumours about seers. They can glimpse the future, but it carries a heavy curse; their visions are both a gift and a burden. Sakura’s distant gaze tells me she’s seenthings no one else can, and that makes her dangerous. She’s no simple healer.
“Oh yes, I did,” Sakura replies dreamily, barely acknowledging any of us. Too busy eyeing the room.
Avilyna tilts her head, “How’d you guess that?”
“She tested you on your first day; it’s mandatory.” I deadpan, lucky it wasthatgirl, anyone else would’ve reported her in a heartbeat. And if that had happened, Avilyna’d be in a cell right now, getting questioned, picked apart. Probably tortured for scraps of intel. Just the thought of it makes my chest tighten, my heart pound loudly, a damn drumline in my chest.
What the hell is happening to me? This is worse than turning. At least that torment makes sense; it is a means to an end. Everyone can probably feel it, the tension thick enough to choke on. Vi’s frowning at me, reading my face like one of her stupid books. I’ve got that look again, the one that saysstay away.
Wyll steps in, “So, since you’re the healer.” Sitting up and fishing a joint out of his pocket, “How do we jog someone’s memory when it’s been wiped clean?” He lights it up, all calm. Nalaka stares at him, totally baffled.
“Wait… you smokeinside?”
Wyll takes a slow drag and shrugs. “My place. My rules.”
“Well, the quickest way is for Avilyna to awaken,” Sakura says, fingers lazily drifting over the ivory keys of the piano tucked away in the corner of the living room. “It’s kinda like how someone wakes up after inhaling faerie dust, a total blank slate. But at least for them, it’s only temporary.” Not the comparison I would have used, but to each their own.
“There’s gotta be something she can do in the meantime,” Caleb says, leaning in.
“Visiting places tied to important memories might help,” Sakura adds. “Memories are tied to emotion. Familiar spots could trigger something.”
“I’ve been trying that,” Avilyna says, arms crossed tight. “Before I got here, all I had were nightmares. But now… In Kallahan, it feels different. Familiar, but blurry. I’m grasping elements but not yet the big picture.” She hesitates. “It’s like I don’t know where I’m headed until I’m there. Then something clicks, a sixth sense telling me what to do. It’s hard to explain.”
We lock eyes.
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
If she’s Lyna, Sammy’s Lyna, I’ll help her remember, for him, for me. So another person can keep his memory alive.
