She watches me in confusion, grabbing the plate and dragging it to her.When she flicks her blue eyes down at the earring, her thin eyebrows bunch as she shakes her head. “What’s this?”
I lean forward onto the table and whisper, “I found it in the hallway near her room.”
“Alright…?” Aelia squints at me, not following.
I nod my chin to the cup again. “There’s…there’s blood on it.”
She grabs a spoon, nudging the earring in the cup until she sets the spoon back down on the table. Farther away from the rest of her cutlery. I lean forward, barely able to reach and pinch the plate, drawing it back to me.
Aelia’s throat bobs, her eyes low on the cup. “What’re you trying to say, Lyra?”
As I get the cup in front of me, I meet her eyes. “It’s hers.” When she shakes her head, I press, “I swear it. She was wearing them the night of the ball.”
“What were you two arguing about before she went missing?” she asks quietly, blue eyes finally flicking up to mine.
My mouth parts as I shake my head and pluck the earring to place it back in my pocket. “I didn’t…it wasn’t me, Aelia. I swear I had nothing to do with it?—”
“Girls,” a voice purrs behind us.
My heart forgets to beat for a moment. I let go of the earring in my pocket, stilling my hand. Aelia looks up to someone behind me, and as I turn in my chair to follow her look, my breath catches in my throat.
Lady Bethany. Her hands perch on my chair. An insincere smile on her face as she looks from me to Aelia, then back again. Her eyes settle on me. “Lyra, you seem quite jumpy today.”
I swallow. Did I really flinch when she addressed us? My chest rises as I struggle to maintain any semblance of composure.
Can she see the panic in my eyes?
“Willow’s disappearance,” Aelia supplies quickly. “We’re all quite…nervous. And truthfully, I might’ve frightened her more with the stories about realmwalkers.”
Lady Bethany slides a hard look to Aelia, staying for a long moment. Her voice becomes more scolding than I’ve ever heard her use before. “What have I told you?”
“I-I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. It was poor timing on my part, really,” Aelia stutters, dipping her head.
Lady Bethany fixes her with one look before turning her attention to the table. She reaches over me, grabbing the teapot, and pours more tea into my cup. “There’s nothing to be worried about, girls. But if I hear you speaking anything more of Willow, or spreading gossip, there will be serious consequences for the both of you.” She sets the teapot back down, skewering Aelia with one last look before she’s gone.
Once she’s at a healthy distance, I ask Aelia quietly, “What are realmwalkers?”
She chews through her mouthful, leaving me in anticipation for a moment before she answers. “The spirits who can travel through each realm.”
“Each realm as in…somewhere other than Arterias and Vitalis?”
She twists her head slightly in disbelief. “Your parents never told you the lore of other realms?”
“My parents weren’t, umm…” I stab a piece of fish on my plate and bring it to my lips as I regard it before I say, “Well educated. Especially after my grandparents lost the coin they saved from creating dragonblades. We had to focus all our time and efforts on making enough for the family.”
Aelia’s face falls a bit, and I’m regretting having shared as much information as I have. She shared before that she came from an educated background.
She answers, “They say realmwalkers can find portals into other worlds. Worlds no one else has ever seen before. That the magic of our Gods transcends our own world, and that we’d be silly to think of ourselves as the only creations by the Gods. That other life is not out there…somewhere.”
I take a few more bites of food as she continues in a whisper, “But they say that realmwalkers often can’t return to their original home realm. They often get stuck in the one they slipped into, and many times, they forget who they were entirely. Adopting the realm they currently live in.”
My eyes widen at the new information. “That sounds more like a way to terrify children if they don’t eat all their vegetables.”
She shrugs and leans back, taking a sip of her tea. “I find it more fascinating than terrifying.”
Before I can think of anything else to ask her, Lady Bethany announces, “King Cyrus has arrived.”
We all stand in respect, brushing back strands of hair, perfecting our gowns. Praying nothing is left in our teeth as he descends the stairs into the dining room, followed by Devin dressed in his usual golden armor.
