“To Reyla,” she said in a singsong voice. “Give it to Reyla.” Taking my hand, she laid the chain, the ring, and the tiny key on my palm, securing my fingers around them. “I cannot . . . imagine why I forgot when it is now . . . so clear.”
“How could she know about me?”
“Mother had . . .” Swallowing hard, she winced. “A touch of foretelling.”
The door to the library banged open, and Calista and the healer hurried into the room, running this way.
The healer stopped beside us, her wide-eyed gaze taking inValera lying on the floor. “Please allow me to examine her, my queen.”
“We should go, my queen,” Calista said, tugging on my sleeve. “Let the healer help her.”
“Yes, yes, please.” Surren frowned at the staircase and the area on the loft above where Valera and I had spoken.
The other guard hurried down the stairs and spoke quietly with Surren.
“Nothing,” Surren growled. “I smell something suspicious here. Bad magic . . .” His eyes sought mine. “We must return you to your warded room as quickly as possible.”
“I want to stay here with Valera.” Rising to my feet, I tucked the chain inside my pants pocket.
“I’m taking her to my clinic,” the healer said, lifting the librarian from the floor with magic. “I’ll need to examine her first, of course, but you could . . . visit her tomorrow.” Her shoulders curled inward. “Not that I’d ever tell our queen what she must do.”
“Go,” Valera said, her hand straining out toward me. “Don’t . . . worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
I took her hand and squeezed it, stroking her forehead. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, my queen. I don’t wish to be a bother.”
“You’re not at all.”
Her smile rose, though it was clear she was in considerable pain. “You’re sweet, my queen. Sweetness empowers but beware of those who will try to use it against you.”
What an odd thing to say when she was injured. “Thank you.” I wasn’t sure how else to reply.
The healer took her from the library, and my guard escorted me back to my suite.
“You just missed her, my queen,” Moira said when I stepped into my sitting area.
“Missed who?”
“Queen Mother Erisandra. I told her you wouldn’t be gone long, but she refused to stay.”
That woman would never wait for anyone. I didn’t want to see her, so it hardly mattered. Dinner tonight would be soon enough.
I told my ladies to remain in the sitting room, stating I was going to lie down until dinner. Sitting on the bed with Farris flopped beside me, I tugged the ring and key from my pocket, laying them on my palm. The ring was pretty.
Foretelling, huh?
To think that Isodine, Valera’s mother, had somehow known I’d end up at Evergorne. Why insist on giving me the ring, however?
The key held my attention, and it didn’t take long to remove it from the chain. I slid off the bed and stuffed my hand beneath the mattress, tugging outEmber’s Shadow, then diving back to retrieve the small book with silver ravens on the cover.
It wasn’t there, not even when I lifted the mattress to look beneath it.
I stormed into the sitting area. “Did any of you see a small book?” I asked my ladies.
They all stared at me blankly.
“One of the romances?” Moira finally said.
