I looked at him, questioning.
“I’m not sure how to describe fully,” he said. “As the High Lord of Spring, healing powers run through my veins. I know when something is born in its element and will thrive, and when something has found itself in a place it doesn’t belong. Your interactions with Caius, your ease, how you react…well, I’d say it’s like you were born for this place, Nyleeria. But that wouldn’t be quite right. It feels more like this place, our realm, was born for you.” His voice held the weight of a revelation discovered while speaking its truth.
How did one respond to that? Their realm, born for me? I went to open my mouth but closed it. Not even a fake pleasantry came to mind.
“I…I’m not sure what to say to that,” I said.
He continued to stare at me with verdant eyes that still held tiny remnants of leaflet brightness amid the deepened maturity of summer’s cusp. I didn’t feel his power wrap around me the same as Caius’ had, but it felt like he was trying to find answers by looking into me. I checked my core to make sure the spark was dormant—or as dormant as it could be in this place—and I found it still thrumming like a purring cat.
Thankfully, the dance shifted, and Myron released me to the king, who spun me and then pulled me in close as we continued to dance.
“Are you okay?” he whispered into my ear.
“I’m not sure.” Myron’s words had shaken me to the core, like my world had just shifted slightly and I couldn’t quite find my footing on this new axis.
My mind had stepped off that dance floor while my body continued to oblige the king’s silent cues.
Relief washed over me when the music ended, and I forced myself to give the customary curtsies to our partners, making sure to project good cheer as I did so.
Once off the floor, Myron and Fiora seemed keen to continue visiting, but I excused myself from their company, letting the king hold the conversation.
Tarrin followed me.
Despite the open ceilings and limitless fresh air, my breathing constricted just as it had when the king had shown me the map; I needed to get out of there before panic took over.
Stepping through the yawning archways, I felt their imposing presence mocking me as if they mirrored the magnitude of my own life’s unfathomable arc. The path I couldn’t escape, no matter how hard I tried.
I’d walked far enough that the celebration was a distant murmur. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see the expansive moonlit gardens. I breathed in deeply, able to discern the freshly cut grass from the flora underpinnings.
A hand touched my back lightly, and I screeched, whirling around to find Tarrin—I’d completely forgotten he’d followed me.
He stayed close, placing a hand back on my shoulder. “What’s wrong, Nyleeria?”
Panic bubbled up as I said, “They can tell, Tarrin. They know I’m different.”
“No. They suspect, but they don’t know.” There was such surety in his voice.
“How do you know? What’s the difference?” I asked.
“The difference, Nyleeria, is that if they truly knew, we would be in hot shit right now and you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation. As for how I know, the high lords are different with you. I’ve been watching them closely, as has Nevander, and I’m sure he’d tell you the same thing. You bring out a different side of them, even high lord to high lord. It’s like they drop their guard in your presence.”
“Truly?”
“Yes,” he said, pulling me to his side. I was grateful for him—the contact, the gesture of reassurance.
We stayed there long enough for the disturbed cicadas to continue layering their rhythmic whir over the evening’s otherworldly symphony before Tarrin said, “Ready to go back in?”
I smiled at him, flashing alike I really have a choicelook, then turned back to rejoin the celebrations.
Chapter 23
The Secrets of a Heartbeat
The king caught my eye from across the way as I reentered. He exchanged a nod with Tarrin before giving me a questioning look.
Are you okay?it asked.
Yes, I nodded to him. I could tell he wanted to disengage from the group huddled around him and come to me, but he seemed bound to the conversation.
