When Cyrene and Maelia finally made it back to the castle to retrieve their belongings, dawn was just peeking over the horizon. Orden had offered a map of the tunnels and a small pony to help them back through the maze of tunnels since Cyrene was still weak. It went faster than Cyrene remembered it taking the night before, but everything had felt like slow motion yesterday.
They left the pony near the entrance to Krisana where Younda had agreed to retrieve it, and then they found the stairs she and Ahlvie had gone down last night.
Ahlvie and Rhea were collecting their belongings in the city while Cyrene and Maelia maneuvered through the castle.
Maelia wrapped an arm around Cyrene’s waist and helped her up the stairs. When they reached the strange door Cyrene had entered before with Ahlvie, Maelia released her.
“Wait here,” she whispered, holding a finger up. She peeked through the door and looked around into the hallway. A minute later, she waved Cyrene through. “I’ll see you in a few minutes to collect your bag.”
Cyrene nodded and then hurried out of the tunnels. Her side didn’t feel quite as bad as when she had woken up. Part of that must have been from eating something to restore her energy and the nasty concoction Younda had made her drink. Her body was repairing itself at an alarming rate. It was almost like the night after her near death escape in the underground lake.
She moved as quickly as she could handle through the empty corridors. She held her breath as she walked through the castle, hoping that she wouldn’t run into anyone. Younda had offered her a clean white dress out of her wardrobe, but it hardly fit like her own gowns, even pinned up. It had to do though. She couldn’t have worn the destroyed dress from the previous night.
Cyrene turned the next corner and went into her room, closing the door behind her. She pressed her hand into her side and sighed heavily. It still hurt like hell. The Braj had been right about that.
After walking into her bedchamber, she opened her wardrobe to the sea of dresses hanging perfectly. Her red cloak from Edric was sitting there, untouched. She hadn’t had a chance to wear it since leaving Byern. Her fingers moved through the beautiful material. Memories came back to her of the first time she had received this wrapped gift in her chambers.
Her heart thudded. This was all she would have of Edric when she left. She should leave it because she knew that whatever had happened, or had been about to happen, was going to be long over once she left. She hadn’t come to his chambers last night and with her gone all would be lost between them. She didn’t know how long she would have to be in Eleysia, and she was sure that he would soon forget about her.
Yet as she looked at the beautiful cloak, she didn’t think she could do leave it. Even if she was leaving Edric behind, she knew that she would always remember him just like this. The easy smile in the rose garden, the glow of his face in the setting sun on the beach, the desperate kisses on his ship—those were things she never wanted to forget.
With a soft sigh, she finally folded the cloak and placed it into the last bit of space in her bag. While she might not need it, she couldn’t go without it. She couldn’t leave without taking a piece of him with her.
Cyrene hefted her bag out of her wardrobe with a grunt and removed the leather pouch containing the book and letter. She had a few minutes before Maelia would return to collect her bag. She knew it would be risky, opening the book here, but a part of her desperately wanted to know if the dream had been real.
She was leaving everything she knew and loved behind to go to Eleysia based on this book, the words of an old peddler, and a fantastical dream about the ancient Doma court and Viktor Dremylon. If she could read the words, then she would know that she was on the right path.
Her hands trembled as she held the book. Her future lay before her. For a split second, she desperately wanted it all to be a dream so that she would wake up to find that she had just made Affiliate, and then everything would right itself. There would be no book, no riddles, no strange dreams. Then it passed, and she was desperate to know and understand this power humming just beneath her surface. This power strong enough to kill a Braj…could be strong enough to do much, much more.
With a weighted sigh, she cracked open the delicate binding and stared down at the shimmery sharp font on the first page. She blinked twice, more in shock than anything. This time, she didn’t even have to concentrate to decipher the meaning. The words were as clear as day and as beautiful and vibrant as the first day she’d looked upon them, but now, their meaning sang to her as if she had known it all along. It spoke of the Doma society and the magical powers that linked them all together.
This was the proof she had been searching for. Her powers truly existed.
Now that she knew the true importance of the book, she never again wanted it out of her possession. It would be terrifying if it ever fell into the wrong hands. She slid the pouch over her head, so she could keep it on her person.
Jolted out of her thoughts about the book, the door to her rooms creaked open. She rushed out to the main chambers to find Maelia with a small Guard unit bag slung easily over her shoulder.
“We need to get going if we don’t want to be seen. The servants are already moving about,” Maelia said.
“Yes. You’re right. Here’s my bag,” Cyrene said. She handed over her bag, but she kept the book and letter carefully hidden in her pouch.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
After reading the Doma book and living through the Ascension ritual with Serafina, she was surer than ever.
“Yes.”
Maelia hauled Cyrene’s bag over her other shoulder. “Okay. Well, I’ll meet you with the horses.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“Good luck in the tunnels.” Maelia gave her a quick hug before disappearing through the door.
Cyrene hastily changed out of Younda’s dress and into one of her sturdier blue dresses. Her gaze moved around her luxurious rooms as she finished up and prepared to leave. It was hard to believe that she and Edric had walked on the beach just yesterday. It was even harder to believe she had promised to come to his rooms. Everything had changed in one night.
Soon she would be out of Byern for the first time and on her way to Eleysia.
Sorrow choked her, and she swallowed back the tears. She had wanted what Edric was offering her, yet she had made her decision when she left with Ahlvie. She was making her decision again as she was leaving now. In another life, she could have been the girl happy to be at the beck and call of a king, happy to be a mistress. But that other girl wouldn’t have heard destiny knocking, and she wouldn’t have answered.
She couldn’t stay in Byern for Edric. She didn’t know what was awaiting her in Eleysia, but she knew that it was necessary to go there. It would lead her to discover the extent of her abilities and find out the truth about this new world she was walking into.
Cyrene carefully closed the door to the Pearl Bay Chambers and whispered, “Good-bye, Edric.”