“Were you never going to talk to me about this?” I tried to keep the anger from my voice.
“I…don’t know.” Roran took my hand and held it lightly.
“We are now,” Rilen said, tossing his twin a dirty look.
I didn’t let my smile show. They got it, and I needed them to be serious with me. For just a little while. Then they could go back to Rilen and Teabag.
They took my hands and walked quietly into the formal gardens of the temple grounds. I could see the new Masters’ Quarters being built on the grounds of the old one, and they were rising quickly. It was heading quickly toward completion, and I hoped it was a way for the people to have something to focus on rather than the hell that was at the Scar.
“What do you think is wrong with your magic, Kimber?” Roran asked.
Only the sound of our feet crunching on the gravel filled the air for a few strides. I started to ponder the question silently but realized they were here for me, to help me.
“I’m not sure.” I let out a sigh. “I know I have an amazing connection to the magic of S’Kir. That was evident in the cavern. Whatever I have now was enough to do what I was meant to do.”
I dragged in a hard deep breath. “So why does it feel like my magic is incomplete?”
Rilen twiddled his thumb with mine. “Is it the magic or the power?”
I laughed. “Hoping to share me with your brother again? No, it’s the magic. Between the three of you, I have no need of more power.” Guiding us to a bench on the side of the walk, they helped me sit while they remained standing so we could all see each other.
“Is there something in your past, perhaps?” Rilen asked.
Raising an eyebrow, I stared at him. “My past is about as boring as I am. My parents were Willow and Dixon Raven. They waited seven hundred years to have a child. They saw I wasn’t powerful, so they excused me from many classes to my detriment, and then died when I was forty-five in a boating accident. That’s about it.”
“Do you know why they waited so long to have you?” Roran asked.
“My mother was told that her daughter would be the death of her by a seer.” My eyebrows quirked up. “She was given a prophecy by a seer when she was very young.”
“Do you have that written anywhere?” Rilen asked.
“Um. It might be at the house.”
“House?”
Nodding, I pointed to the southeast. “My parents’ house. I’ve kept it all these years, thinking someday I could live there with a mate. It’s shuttered, and everything that was precious to them was stored there. I don’t go there often because it’s…lonely. I think if I live there, ever, I will need to pull down the walls and put up new.”
Roran angled his head, curious. “Why?”
“Because too many things happened there. Things that aren’t good memories. My nanny died when I was five, and my parents lived there when they died. The house still speaks of my mother’s decoration and my father’s hobbies.”
“They loved you very much, didn’t they?” Rilen’s question was quiet.
I shook my head. “In their own way, yes. But when I was young, they were not… affectionate. When I got older, it became easier to bear because I realized they didn’t know what to do with a child. They were not natural parents. As I grew, as I became my own person, it was easier for them to be my friend than my parents.”
How strange to think of all this.
Roran cleared his throat and asked the question again. “Did your mother save her prophecy?”
“Yes, I’m sure she did. It will be at the house.”
“How far from the city is the house?” Rilen asked.
“A half day by train, in the Middling Hills.”
Looking up at the sky, Roran nodded. “The raid is in two days. If we catch the next train to Middling Hills, we can be back tomorrow by noon.”
With a snap of my head, my eyes met his. “Right now?”
