Page 202 of Daughter of No Worlds

“You never told me,” she murmured.

“I never told anyone. Only Sammerin knew, and I wouldn’t have told him either if I’d had the choice. It was clear from the beginning that I couldn’t control it. And anything from Reshaye is just… tainted. I wasn’t going to use or even think about it ever again.”

I chanced a glance at Tisaanah, cringing in anticipation of what expression might greet me. But she just looked thoughtful, sad. “But you did it this time.”

“You needed me.”

Her arms tightened around me, her face burying against my shoulder. “You controlled it.”

I had. That thought still boggled me. I wasn’t ready to address the possibility that I couldusethis thing.

“So did you,” I said. She had done what I never could: brought Reshaye back from the brink of a breakdown. And thank the Ascended that she did.

Our fingers slid to each other and intertwined.

“You were perfect,” she murmured.

And we lay there for another moment, allowing ourselves to ignore the looming shadows of vanquished monsters.

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Tisaanah

Nura was waiting for me when I returned to my own room, her hand on the doorknob.

“You’re up. I was just on my way to see you.” Her eyes ran from my toes to my face, cold and analytical, as if inspecting me for damage. “Recovered?”

I shrugged. “Enough.”

“Good. Because we can’t afford to stay here any longer.” She looked down, and I noticed that she was holding a crinkled envelope at her side. Her fingers tapped the edge of the parchment.

“Has there been news from Ara?” I asked.

“It’s war,” she snapped. “There will always be news.”

Well, that answered my question. She was in a worse mood than normal. Which meant yes, there had been news, and it was bad.

“We leave first thing in the morning. We can’t afford to waste time, and at this rate, we’ll surpass the time you were promised. So, get your bearings together.”

Her abruptness was jarring, especially considering that I hadn’t even seen or spoken to her since before we entered the Mikov estate. But I just nodded, even though the thought of returning to war made my palms sweat. “Fine. I will be ready.”

She began to walk away, but I called out, “Nura.”

She stopped. Looked over her shoulder.

“I have been thinking,” I said. “About the party.”

“What about it?”

“Ahzeen and Zeryth had met before. And I think it is obvious now that they did not part on good terms.”

Not a very nice person, it turns out,Zeryth had said of Ahzeen, once. What felt like a lifetime ago. And something more than a desire to prove his power had prompted Ahzeen to attack us the way he had. He was brash and arrogant, yes, but not mindlessly stupid.

Nura let out a small scoff. “Obvious indeed.”

“Zeryth sent us there knowing that Ahzeen was hostile towards the Orders. Towardshim.I think that he knew there was a high chance things would be… violent.” I leveled a steady, piercing gaze towards Nura. “Did you?”

She didn’t shy away from my stare. Didn’t look away. And didn’t answer — but the sneer that barely twitched at the corner of her lip told me everything I needed to know.

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