I can’t help but smile at the nickname he’s given me, and what it truly means. Everything that has happened means so much more now that I can remember everything. “I remember all of it.” I stand up.
Siphonie comes up to me and pulls me into a hug and whispers into my ear, “I always knew you would. I love you.”
“I love you,” I tell her back, and then I look to Rhenor. “Lose the scowl — he knows you’re mad, but there are other things we need to figure out.”
Rhenor rolls his eyes, a feature I know must have come from Siphonie. “I know.” He looks at Thylas. “You are still an idiot, but I know you did what you thought you hadto.”
Anara stands up, brushing off the back of her beige leathers and looks at me. “It was you that caused the tremors, wasn’t it? Whatever caused the rings to regain their light and for your memories to come back — it’s all connected.”
Ereon’s eyes flicker up to her, burning with an intensity that leaves me uncertain whether it’s anger or desire. But he speaks with ice in his words, “Your shackles. How are they off? I tried for years to get them off.”
“My cuff is off too.” Thylas pulls up the sleeve of the tunic he wears. He raises our hands that are still connected and lifts up the sleeve of my cloak. “Riph shur.”
His spoken words trigger the release of the black bracelet, it falls, descending to the floor with a subtleclink. My magic swirls within me, unleashed with an even greater force as if it’s ready to burst. I raise my fingers to my face, allowing the water to pass through them.
“How?” I ask.
Thylas shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know ... I just wanted them off because —” His eyes quickly dart to Anara’s. “Doesn’t matter, the words just came to me.”
“That’s not possible.” Ereon grabs my wrist from Thylas’ grasp. “The cuffs are only able to be removed by my father, or when you leave Shaston.”
“Because he can’t control the magic outside of Shaston.” Anara approaches us, her voice firm as she declares, “I’ll tell you what I know.”
forty-three
Anara
For years I’ve waited to share my story, to have others understand what I endured during my time in Shaston — even before. I’ve been desperate, happy, made mistakes, and cried as my heart broke. I haven’t had a person I could truly confide in. Now the time is here, my fingers tremble and the words come out in whispers. Ereon’s eyes bore into mine as I retell how I made the deal to make him love me. How I used the last of my magic to ensureit.
“But why you? What is so special about those from Minasa?” It’s the Princess’ cousin who asks the questions. She sits in the tent’s corner, rubbing her swelling womb.
“He didn’t have to have me specifically, anyone from Minasa would have been sufficient. TheHasu— the original four beings created — equally bless and curse the Minasian people. We are descendants of Khaysus’ firsttoneo, Kya, before this world was made. Because of our ancestor, we are blessed with the flames in our veins but cursed with knowledge of time long ago and sometimes the prophecies of what is to pass. We eventually gain the memories from the first Minasians who walked on Ashonera, but it takes time to receive them.” I take a breath, finding my courage to speak the truth not told to those outside of my home. “When we die, our souls are restored again — over and over — in a never-ending cycle. At least for most of us.”
“You don’t die?” Rhenor asks, running his hand up and down Siphonie’s back.
“Oh, I die. I’ve died many times in fact.” A weak smile graces my lips as I think back to the many times I’ve left this world. Death never bothered me, because it is up to us when we live our final life. “It’s why we do not bear children with outsiders, so we can retain and restore the souls of our people. Outsiders’ blood can taint a returning Minasian’s soul, weakening it, and so it may take longer to receive the memories. If they receive them at all, but in the few cases in which it has happened, it was just the important memories that were recovered.
“My now-mother conceived me with someone not from Minasa, and my soul was brought back. We don’t know how the souls are chosen from one generation to the next, however, because of her decisions, I think that’s why I am here now. I think I have a bigger part in all of this than I realized. I have knowledge of the Minasians and can recall some events from my prior lives, but this existence is not the same as the ones before. I am not the same as before. My fire burns too brightly, my control is too uncertain, and my will” — I glance again to Ereon, who sits leaning forward with his forearms against his knees —“was weak enough to be put in this situation. Any other Minasian would have rather died a final death than make a deal with Khaysus’ puppet. I panicked. I was young, just regaining memories from my past lives.”
“So you knew of the prophecy?” Carnaxa asks as she shuffles around in her leathers. “You knew what would happen when I was brought here?”
I nod my head, ignoring Ereon’s eyes as he jerks his head up to look at me, like I’m a viper in his midst. “Upon the day the moon turns bright, the loyal heir’s death awakens eternal night. The waters will rise and the fires will blaze, then only the sacrificed can save,” I recite the prophecy from memory.
“I’ve heard it as long as I can remember, since the Great War. We were told the daughter of Antalis was the one who would fulfill it. I didn’t always understand what it meant. It wasn’t until I was older and remembered some of the true reasons that drove a wedge between Shaston and Antalis. I knew that to bring about what was foretold, the daughter of prophecy had to walk onto Shaston’ssands, a place never meant for the blood coursing through her veins. I won’t pretend to know everything, prophecies and memories don't work like that for me because of my mother’s choices. However, the moon was shining the day you crossed the border. I could see it from my cell. It was then I knew the mistake I had made, because it was then I knew it was beginning.”
“That’s why he needed you to use me,” Ereon states coldly. “He was worried I would leave Shaston and never return with Carnaxa. Because before you, I wouldn’t have. So he wanted me to have a reason to make sure I did whatever was needed to return with her. He used you as leverage over me. But that doesn’t explain what Atlas gains from any of this?”
“Your father loves making deals. I know he made one with Khaysus — it’s why he has the flames himself, just as I do.” I look down at my fingers, for the first time feeling ashamed to share the power. “The Princess needed to step onto the sands to wake up the magic — the madness, as you call it. Not everyone is blessed, some bloodlines are too watered down, but those who are, their powers are surfacing. Yours, for example, Princess. But besides awakening power, I know not what else he has planned.”
A wave of astonishment washes over Siphonie and Rhenor simultaneously, causing them to swiftly shift their gazes to Carnaxa. Carnaxa rubs where her bracelet was before speaking, “Why do I feel the power more intensely now?”
“The bracelets — obsidian is ground into the leather to dampen the force of magic. The bracelets can’t completely block the power if you’re strong enough; even those new to the feel of magic can stillaccess trickles of it when emotions are high,” I respond. “Before the Great War, this was a punishment reserved for criminals to prevent them from using their magic against others. King Atlas knew this and worried that, should magic awaken, there would be those who sought to overpower him. He made sure such rebellion could not happen inside the kingdom’s borders. Every chain and bracelet, along with the armor his soldiers wear, has melded ground-up obsidian. Even the walkway to the whipping post has been sprinkled throughout with obsidian. Over the years he’s grown complacent, lacking confirmation that everyone has something to weaken potential power, and that’s why the magic has been occurring sporadically throughout Shaston.”
“Wouldn’t that also render him powerless?” Carnaxa asks, her fingers fidgeting in her lap.
“It would, except he does well to avoid anything with obsidian.”
“Then how can I take the cuffs off if he is the only one who is supposedly able?” Thylas startles me, reminding everyone that he is here as he shuffles around the room removing everyone’s bracelet.
