This must refer to the Blade of Alessa, the only blade that might be able to kill the king.
Others kept mentioning it in random ways, and if I knew the fates—though who truly did? —they were teasing me with it.
I couldn’t make any sense of the next lines that mentioned something held by trees, but the bit after that pointed to finding something. Maybe I was wrong to assume this meant the blade. I should share the riddle with my aunt and seek her insight.
Iasar and Amronth hadn’t told me to keep it a secret.
Split between realms where the horizon meets the world beyond,
Half 'neath stars where dreams unspoken are drawn.
It waits where a blood-red sun does sink;
In dawn’s embrace—it's there you must seek.
Where wasthis realm and how could I get there?
Blade of Alessa. Blade of Alessa. I’d read a bit about it inEmber’s Shadow, the book Reyla had.
I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling.
Did I dare?
I had to get answers, and I’d bet anything that book had them.
I flitted to the hallway outside Reyla’s door and crept closeto the panel, pressing my ear against it, listening. When I didn’t hear movement, I used magic to unlock the door and eased inside.
Sneaking into my friend’s room to spy felt wrong, but what else could I do? We’d gone from best friends to me doubting her, though I could blame the doubt on Madrood.
Someone betrayed me. It couldn’t be Reyla.
Could it?
With my heart a thunderstorm in my ears, I closed the door, locking it once more. The click jarred through me, making my heart come to a quick halt before it fluttered like the fairy pinned to wax in Ivenrail’s bedroom.
I shoved down a swallow and moved slowly into the sitting room.
Someone sucked in a breath, the sound coming from near the fireplace that danced with merry flames.
Tiptoeing closer, I peeked over the back, finding Reyla sound asleep on the cushions with the flames flickering across her pretty features. When I was thirteen and built like a sword with all its sharp edges and not a hint of softness, when my dark hair seemed dull in comparison to her reddish blonde, and when I lamented that no guy would ever want me, I’d envied my friend. Her beauty drew people to her like a fledgling dragon called to the warmth of a sunbeam toasting the corner of its pen.
It was only as I got older that I could appreciate what I had rather than what I didn’t. The strength of my arms. My endless resolve. My determination to do what was right.
Through everything, this woman had been my steadfastfriend. Even when she and Kinart were together, she’d make time for me, offering moments when we’d sit and chat or play a game of dice at the bar. Times when she’d lay her head on my shoulder and tell me she loved me.
And here I was, creeping around her room because, for the first time, I wasn’t sure I trusted her.
Fuck it. I’d look for the book and when I didn’t find it, which I was certain I wouldn’t, I’d leave. She’d never know I was here.
I turned away from her and hobbled across the sitting area and through the open bedroom door, rushing to the closet where I suspected she’d left her pack.
There. It slouched in the back below racks of pretty dresses and simple tunics and pants, a complete wardrobe created by Vera’s magic to make my friend feel at home.
My pulse thrummed in my throat as I hurried over to the bag and stooped down in front of it.
I could leave now and tell myself she’d never had the book. Or I could find out if there was something bigger going on here than faulty vision.
I unfastened the top and eased the fabric open.
