“I would like to practice.”
She draws back, looking at me through slitted eyes. “I need no blessings. I care for the Enduar Court.”
“How can I practice?”
She waves a hand. “Find Teo.”
I shake my head, stepping toward her. “No, I’d like to practice here, with the wise woman who is experienced in such things.”
She lets out a long breath. “Very well.”
Then she turns to face me with her tall, lanky frame. Every inch of her weathered grace is beautiful against the backdrop of the crystals. She holds out her hands on either side and then lets them fall to the side.
“Give me a blessing, Lady Estela.”
I smile and then feel embarrassed. Reaching forward, I touch her shoulder.
“I bless you with…”
My words dry up. Scanning through every hope I’d have for this woman who, in so many ways, has cared for me with a depth I can’t ever adequately thank her for.
“With—” I try again, “With rest. With joy. That you will feel the depth of love those around you have.”
Her eyes are impenetrable as I look into them, trying to find some sort of confirmation that I was doing this right.
Then I place a hand on her forehead, and a glowing crack appears in her well-protected emotional barrier.
She blinks as I feel the weight of age, duty, and time seep into my soul. No one would look at her and think that she was anything other than fiery and well-lived, but there’s a heaviness that sags against me as the connection between us grows. Her eyes see the past and the future with a clarity I don’t possess. Even the fragments and pictures the Fuegorra gives her are so… perspicuous.
An air of ancient, sacred weight presses down, lightly accompanied by the screams of a dying people. One of the wraith mother’s vast crystal wings unfurls before me. Liana’s unbound hair scandalously billows behind her as she holds onto a saddle attached todrathorinna’sback. Her eyes glow like moonstones as she chants. Then the scales beneath her light up with the same power.
I can’t look away—can hardly pull back.
When I do, her eyes meet mine, fully aware of everything I felt. She looks down at me, waiting for me to speak.
But the words have run dry.
Every time we train, there is something new that I learn. A miraculous, hidden world revealed to my eyes.
“You rodedrathorinna. You are… powerful,” I say dumbly. An ache starts up in my chest as I think of approaching the wraith. The crystal beast draws me in with her power, and yet she has not asked me to return to her cavern.
Liana smiles.
“Of course I am, child. If you think you are ready to take on my soul, perhaps I have underestimated your powers. We should return todrathorinnasoon. As you saw, it’s been too long since she’s ridden into battle.”
I suck in a breath. “Really? I should tell you that she called to me when I returned.”
Liana cocks her head to the side. “That is a marvelous sign. What did she say?”
“She told me to wait.”
Liana smiles and brushes a strand of hair from my face. “Hmm. Then, sadly, you must wait. I apologize for promising a visit I cannot guarantee. Go, run along, and meet me here after. I still need help with the final crystal suit.”
“But I have more questions,” I protest.
My hand goes to the book in my pocket, and I prepare to pull it out, but she shakes her head, and her white bun glistens in the light.
“Later. I have more to work on.”
