Brightest light paves the way,
The protector rests where flowers lay.
Guard well the child unborn,
Lest all known to man be forsworn.
Another section of random spacing.
Flames of the forefather bathe her bright,
Start now the end of the fight.
When fire lights up the night sky,
It shall be time to reunify.
With a roar of thunderous cry,
Power’s might brings the last goodbye.
When souls torn asunder reunite,
That is when—the obscured word came next, but I filled in “power”—burns bright.
It really just seemed to say a lot about waiting until Orlaith had power—my channels, I supposed—and could use that power topush back the forces of darkness. There was suspiciously nothing about fixing the Veil. As a set of instructions, this was pretty lacking.
How was I supposed to figure out how to fix the Veil and stop people from dying ifthiswas what everyone had put their faith in?
I spent some more time staring at it, trying to make sense of the wrongness I felt, as if a layer of intent had been gently, carefully, placed upon this document. Intent for what, however, I had no idea. It had been protected over the centuries; maybe all I was sensing were those that had come before.
That night,as I fell asleep, an image of a woman came to me. Her hair was dark and curly. She leaned her hip against a desk, fixing me with turquoise eyes. “Find the truth, kiddo. The whole truth. Find it and save us all.”
Chapter
Seven
Thom has always described channeling like a river, where you’re the one directing the flow. But what happens when you ARE the river? What happens if the power doesn’t WANT to be directed?
—From the journal of Violet Andrever
The next morning, I risked a repeat of the previous day and showed up in the kitchen once more. I knew my training was to start today, but didn’t know much more than that. Whatever that inevitably entailed, I needed food.
“Your highness,” one of the kitchen maids squeaked as she saw me, dropping a curtsy.
“Please,” I said, my voice pained, “I’m just Lexa. And there’s no need for that,” I hurriedly added as more servants curtsied.
The hectic motion of the room ceased abruptly. Shit, that wasn’t my intention.
“This is all new to me,” I said softly. “Two days ago, I was just like you all. I know nothing of my place here. Or how anything works. This feels familiar to me. If it isn’t too much trouble, I’d just like some food. It was never my intention to interrupt your day, yesterday or this morning.”
The same matronly woman from yesterday bustled over. “If it’sbreakfast you’re looking for, then you have come to the right place. Sit, Princess, please.”
“Lexa,” I insisted.
Her face twisted with amusement. “And I am Granya.”
“Thank you, Granya.”
