A scream shredded the smoke and silence.
That same female who had whimpered earlier had burst off her chair. People surged toward her as she bucked on the ground. Vomit spewed from her lips, all over a woven rug. Her eyes rolled back into her head, lapis irises completely disappearing. She collapsed onto her side, tremors wracking her body.
Horror rooted me to my seat.
“Someone get her in a hot bath!” the Korona shouted.
Two Sightkeepers rushed to hoist her, their white armor gleaming as light expanded in the space. But at their touch, she thrashed like a wild beast.
“Stop them! Make it stop!” Her shriek raised all the hairs on my arms. Nails clawed at her face.
Heraphia’s breath hitched, but she didn’t move from her cross-legged position. “They need to restrain her.”
“Aye,” her keeper agreed, palm waving in a steady rhythm like someone wasn’t convulsing right in front of us.
“What is happening?” I asked, unable to look away as a third male came in to capture the Seer’s hands.
“She is dying,” my attendant murmured with a finality that landed like a lightning strike.
No one was in a state to receive a vision any longer, every person in the room focused on the female.
I didn’t even learn her name.
Her body gave one more violent jerk, blood spraying past her lips, and then she went limp.
The Korona rushed to her side, placing hands on either side of her head. “Fuck!” she screeched, spinning on her heel and stomping a few feet away. “I couldn’t snatch whatever she Saw.”
Anger boiled in my veins. This Seer had justburned outand the Korona was more upset that she couldn’t discern her last vision? I started to rise from my chair, but a slap of white shoved me back.
“Don’t, Sylaira,” Heraphia warned, her ethereal magic winding around me. Almost like a hug, if one could call restraint anything kind.
Tears pricked my eyes as I whirled on her. “How are you okay with this?”
Her shoulders slumped inward, and she sighed. “It isn’t the first time I’ve witnessed a death.”
“How many?” The words bit out of me. I had to know. Had to understand how cruel the rulers of our realm were. I thought we were supposed to be prized pets, but it seemed we weremerely cattle whose output was far more important than our lives.
“I lost count.”
That promise I’d made to myself all those weeks ago returned.
That someday, I’d have power, real power, and I’d be the storm the crown feared.
Perhaps in the wreckage of who I used to be, I’d find the female capable of changing the path of the realm.
Because this? This was insanity. Unacceptable.
And I wouldn’t stand for it.
Bile crept up my throat. My scribe offered me a glass of water. I accepted it with shaking hands. A few sips settled my stomach.
Yet it didn’t temper the maelstrom brewing inside me.
Others who had been here much longer than me were already returning to their magic. The Korona had disappeared, along with a handful of others, to dispose of the dead Seer.
At least she’s no longer here to watch over me.
Because I wasn’t certain the thunder in my heart wasn’t also visible on my face.
