“Do you think you chose the right cards?” Liana asks, breaking through my thoughts.
My eyes snap open, and I take a deep breath.
“Yes,” I say.
Liana shifts, crystals gently hitting together as the fabric rustles.
“The second of the crystal cards you’ve selected symbolizes loss and hope. Some of the chalices are pouring out their contents, lost to time and the vast space around us. You cannot get them back, but look at those who are still full. You must accept what you’ve lost, and rejoice in what you have.”
The interpretation confuses me, especially since the first name that comes to me is my brother’s.
“Mikal is not lost,” I say, my voice low and icy as I glare at the woman across from me.
She shakes her head.
“It doesn’t need to be a person. Estela, you have just spent a month tortured and humiliated every day. Perhaps you have… lost something.”
I press my lips together.
She picks up the next card. “You are in love with your mate. Your future will be blessed with every wish that either of you desires. It is a strong union—one strong enough to take on new challenges.”
I swallow. Teo has always been the better half of my soul. It truly was a gift from the gods that I was given him when I wasn’t prepared to be anything other than bitter.
Liana’s fingers trail over to the last card, pausing.
“The last card speaks of death. Of rotting riches and decomposing power.”
“Is that one foretelling Rholker’s fall?” I ask, unease curling in my stomach.
Yes.Death suits you, a dark voice whispers from somewhere deep within.
Liana tilts her head to the side.
“It could be…” she trails off, and a new feeling builds in my stomach.
“Could be what?” Sweat is gathering on the insides of my palms.
She takes a deep breath.
“I do not mean to speak doom, but we are planning to do many dangerous things in the next few months. Traversing the sea is not simple—neither is taking down one king, let alone two. The death could be someone else.”
I think of the worries that weigh down on me in the moments alone, the crass, bloody words spoken about my people. I think of Melisa’s sacrifice and her willingness to return.
What if it is she that will die?
Or you.
Taking a deep breath, my heart races in my chest.
“Melisa will go back to Zlosa to look for ways to free more humans and find out what Rholker is doing. I wish to give her something to part with.”
Liana listens intently, then nods, looking around the room at the reds, blues, and greens that twinkle. “What do you think would make an acceptable parting gift?”
I look around me, trying to recognize the names I’d learned before. Citrine, Fuegorra, topaz. Each has its own song. My eyes snag on a few stout pieces of beryl, the crystals that used to be in my bathing pool in my room.
I stand up and walk to the red stone, one that matched the dresses she wore when I first met her and stroke a finger along its surface.
All other songs fade, and deep in my gut, there’s the feeling of supreme rightness.
