“Lovely to see you again, Lord Hailin.” Oh, I hated her seductive voice.
“My gift to you for saving the lives of my youngest children is this, Prince Hailin: you may choose,” the king said, speaking of his daughters as if they were mere cattle.
In that one second it took for him to answer, everything stilled. The air. The time. Even the world seemed to halt in anticipation. The only thing that didn’t was my heart, hammering loudly in my chest.
His next four words shattered me, just like how the glass jar filled with carob sweets had shattered against the carpet. “I choose Princess Maryam.”
I told you, the cruel voice whispered at the back of my mind.
So my threat wasn’t Yasmina after all. It was Maryam—the eldest of three, the tallest of three, the most desired of three—that I should have been worried about.
Was sheher—his soulbound? He chose so fast.
Aegir’s crushing words continued. “A child will be birthed from her, and your oasis will be replenished. But when the time comes, King Belzari, when the time comes that Silch would require your need, I expect you to provide me with your men, your warriors, and your Sand Wielders to join me and my men in whatever must be done to protect Lyrantheia, before it becomes nothing more than smoke and ash.”
I caught the words Aegir proclaimed—the bargain—but my brain couldn’t register their meaning. My mind simply shut down after hearing “Maryam.”
And just like that, I saw myself in the form of a useless housefly, trapped inside the deceiving soft surface of the mouth of a carnivorous plant, imprisoned to my slow death.Fool. A continuous whistling noise rang in my ears, and I swore that the four grand walls swayed. My watery eyes fluttered.
I came here to open my heart to him, the same heart that he now broke for what I knew was beyond repair.
The meeting went on but I couldn’t grasp what was being said. I made an effort to stand, bracing one hand against the wall to steady my quivering knees. Nadya gently held my other hand, and I was brave enough to show her my wobbling face. Her heavy look of concern told me she knew how deeply he had shattered me. I shook my head at her and she gave me a small nod. I knew what she meant:Go, I’ll cover for you.
I continued downstairs, holding on to whatever I could, and made my way to the southern entrance. I longed for a fresh breath, a cool breeze—just like the cool air that often surrounded Aegir—but I was instead greeted by dry, oppressive stillness.
At first, I walked towards Semuel’s stable, but then—then I ran. I ran as if I were being chased by a clan of hungry hyenas that snarled and laughed at my back. Tears slid down my face, their salt sticking as they quickly dried against my cheeks in the arid heat.
I dropped to my knees near Cinnamon, hugging her neck as I wept.Stupid. I was nothing but utterly stupid, and a godsdamned fool. The Phoenix was right; he couldn’t have used a better word to describe me.Fool.
I needed something to hold on to, I needed something to keep me from losing my mind, from losing myself. I had to know, I had to find out, and so I reached for the vial of black liquid and without a second thought, I downed its contents.
CHAPTER 37
Blackness.
Blackness and onyx darkness, as black and dark as the liquid I had just consumed.
I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open. Although the strain I felt behind them suggested they were. I realised I was lying on my back and so I forced myself to sit down, or at least I thought I did. It was impossibly tenebrous. Too silent, too empty.
“Hello?” My voice reverberated around me, each passing echo sounding fainter, distant. I blinked once, twice, forcing my eyes to adjust to the stygian surroundings. I tried to coax my vision into responding, but nothing. Not even an outline.
Was I blind?
I blinked again and when my eyes opened, she was there.
I wasn’t sure what was worse, the thought of being blind or the sight of her. The Seer’s ghastly face was a mere inch away from mine. Her pale ivory skin against that gloomy void pained my eyes. I looked into her own, amber, snakelike, slitted eyes. She smiled at me. A wicked smile that showed me her carious teeth, surrounded by black gums and lips as dark as ash.
My whole body went still in shock. The mere glimpse of her had me catatonic. I could do nothing except steal a sharp breath, and even that I ended up regretting. The reeking smell that oozed from her mouth entered and burned my lungs.
She snickered. A short, screeching cackle that scraped my temples.
“For what reason have you come to me, child?” Her voice sounded hissed; it slithered into my ears.
“I have questions, and I seek answers,” I managed to choke out.
“Tell me your name, child.” Another hiss.
“I’m…Cordelia Wildheart.”
