There were many things I had done in this life; nothing wasn’t one of them.
My heart screamed in my chest, seething.How dare she?
Yes! I want to explode, I shouted back.I want to go up in smithereens, I want to be everything.
Finally, my heart murmured.
The hollow place in my chest filled up to the brim. The kernel of light finally erupted. Something in the deepest parts of me unlatched, and a torrent fled through me all at once. My knees buckled at the sensation, but Hesper caught me before I could hit the ground.
The earth quaked below us, a shudder so deep that the neatly stacked, freshly repaired terra-cotta garden pots toppled over, sending shards everywhere. Bits of hay rained down on us from the roof. Even the windows in the cottage shook, rattling violently in their wooden frames.
Hesper held me away from her, her eyes going wide. My bones were burning, my chest was exploding, and she was smiling. Why was she smiling?
The quaking ceased, eerie silence following in its wake.
What the—
Thorny bushes erupted from the ground, the sheer force causing clumps of dirt and rock to catapult into the sky. Hesper covered me with her body, shielding my head from falling debris.
But the force was so powerful, not even Hesper could hold her balance. We both fell to the ground, holding on to each other for dear life. Was it the Prince? Was that why Hesper was acting so strangely? He was near and the withering magic was taking hold again?
No, my heart chided.
Well, what was it then?
Finally, the eruptions ended. Stillness fell onto the cottage once more; the birds picked up their morning song as if nothing had happened. Hesper hoisted me gently off the ground, and I was met with the most astonishing sight.
The broken, craggy garden gate was now covered in thick, thorny rosebush vines. There were no blooms yet, just the vines themselves. But based on the buds already pulsing, they would bloom very soon. The thorns themselves were long, black, jagged things.
How?I asked.
You, my heart answered simply.
“Well, would ya look at that, princess?” she said, amused at the chaos. Her anger had all but disappeared, if it was even there in the first place. “That’s what I thought.” She clicked her tongue and actually gave herself a literal pat on the back.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, unable to fully comprehend the sheer chaos everywhere. How could this have happened?
“You, Clara Thorne,dohave magic.”
“Gar—garden magic?” I asked, dumbfounded.
No, my heart said merrily.
“Heart magic, actually.” Hesper said, surveying the thorn jungle.
“What the hells is that?” My voice trembled.
“It is its own kind of magic. A kind for creating, giving, weaving, beginning.”
I could not have been more confused right now.
“Thanadyn had heart magic before his downfall. Eldrene also bore heart magic and possessed and harnessed that magicto the highest degree before her sacrifice. But other beings in Starfall were known to have it, too. It was certainly rare, as it is not a diluted form of magic, and it often manifests differently depending on who wields it. Before Thanadyn’s magic turned inward, he healed inner wounds. As for Eldrene, hers manifested itself as protection.”
Oh.Yes, okay. Sure. Why not?
The most evil being in the land had the magic I, apparently, had running through my veins. Eldrene, aGoddess, did, too. Yes, this made perfect sense, and my brain wasnotmelting out of my ears.
I wanted to tell her that this was impossible. But my heart thundered in my chest, and the place where what I’d thought was garden magic used to live hummed happily. There was an odd, warm feeling inside of me—like I’d just gulped down too-hot soup.
