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“Of course you did not,” she says as I give the woman my hands. Though I’ve known her for only one evening, it feels as though Lady Aedre and I are better acquainted. Silly, but true nonetheless.

Lady Aedre’s fingers wrap around mine as she closes her eyes. I watch her, thinking of the words she said on the way from the hall. Thinking of Aiken’s expression when I said I was leaving with her, as if he was concerned for my safety.

Thinking of what had nearly happened in my chamber.

Markedly absent from my thoughts . . . my husband’s death.

“Tis as I thought.” She releases my hands, pulls her own back and continues to stare. “Remarkable.”

“Do you . . . can you see things?” I am unsure, precisely, what the Garra’s capabilities are. None seem to know much aside from the certainty that they are exceptional healers. And that their ancestor’s blood must run through them in order to be considered Garra and not simply a skilled healer.

“Not precisely. Tis a feeling, is all. Most often, a fleeting one that I do not understand. But you . . .” She blinks. “I’ve a friend back home, in Murwood End. His name is Kipp Aldwine. You are somehow connected to him. And you bring hope.” She frowns. “When we supped, I was overcome by this feeling of contentment in your presence. As if . . . as if all would be well. A feeling that you had been chosen. I believe my instinct was correct.”

None of this makes sense to me.

“Chosen? For what?”

She shakes her head. “That I do not know.”

“I believe,” I say, thinking aloud, “perhaps you sense my sister in me. The queen. She is the chosen one of Edingham and will bring peace to this isle.”

I say it with so much confidence I surprise even myself. Tis an odd notion, to be sure. We are on the verge of war as certain as we were before the Battle of Hendrelds Hill. I’d been just a child then, but I can easily remember the same tensions that ran high between our kingdoms. As they do now.

“Nay,” Lady Aedre says, her voice firm. “Tis not your sister but you. I must think on this.”

She stands and begins to pace, her cream gown swishing around her feet. “I could ask my husband,” she says to herself, “but if he does not agree . . .”

I watch in fascination, interrupting just once.

“Lady Aedre?”

“Aedre,” she says, spinning toward me.

She is forthright, this Voyager. But I very much enjoy it.

“Hilla,” I offer in return, forgetting my original question.

“Listen carefully, Hilla,” she says finally, sitting next to me once again. “I will tell you something very important. But first, I would have your word not to share the information with any other.”

Looking into her eyes, I trust her more than I should. More than my father would think prudent. And perhaps even Cettina too. But I am not my sister, and so I must forge my own path, now as a widow. As a woman, for the first time in many, many years, who is free.

“Tell me, and I shall give it,” I say without the caution that should hold me back. I’m no Garra, for certain, but something about Aedre speaks to me.

“You must give me your word that you’ll not return immediately to Edingham. I know not how you will be needed here. Or what role you shall play. Only that you will be important in the days to come.”

She could have asked for anything else, and I might have done it. But to not return to my sister? She needs my counsel. I need to speak to her about my future. About all that occurs here, in Meria. So much must be done.

“Aedre—”

“I would not ask if it were unnecessary. Please, believe me as your mother would have done.”

My back straightens.

“Rumors of your mother’s reverence for my kind followed her for many years,” she says. “I met the queen once, many years ago. She traveled north to Murwood to pay respects when my mother passed away. My grandmother spoke highly of her, and the Garra, in turn, told us tales of your family. Of your mother, and even of you and your sister.”

“I am sorry for your mother,” I tell her, the connection between us strengthening.

“My grandmother has since passed as well. There are so few of us remaining. Please,” Aedre pleads. “Please vow this to me. I can guarantee your safety here at court. My husband will protect you.”