Page 100 of Enchanted Crown
“That night as well, though the storm will have passed,” the queen answered, unbothered by Amory’s suspicions. “You will leave for Dra Skor tomorrow evening. Now, you eat,” she told us, “I will speak for a bit before I, too, need some rest.”
I picked up my fork, anxious for whatever she would tell us. Whatever more she would say.
“Visions come to us often in the night but can come to us in the day also. The first vision I ever received was of an inky blackness in the waters of Corsha.”
I stilled. For some reason, the power of Corsha’s Enchantmentwas reminding me of that damned forest in Wylan. The forest whichknewwhat my father had done.
“Had that first vision come to me in the night, my mother may have written it off as a nightmare of a child, as we do dream normally too. It can be hard to sift through.” She inhaled deep. “But this was so specific. So she took me before the royal regent of our island, who eventually brought me here. I never went home. My vision was paired with others’ visions and over the next week, we pieced together what would happen. Corsha’s Enchantment is most powerful when we use it together, much like I imagine it works in your countries.” She took a sip of her water. “And much like I am sure happens in your countries too, there can be imposters among us who come forward with what we think is a vision but is really just dressed up greed.
“It was chaos in the months that followed my first vision. We all scrambled trying to work with the visions, not against them, and find a way to survive the impending darkness.” Another pause. “Many of the possible outcomes we received were bleak. We can project the vision of a deserted Corsha so easily because we saw it often not as a projection, but rather a possible outcome.” She turned to Amory. “We did not warn the other countries because we did not have the time, and we could not mess with too many of the variables with all that hung in the balance. Our interference could have very well caused Dra Skor’s ruin.”
“We were ruined anyway,” Amory snapped.
“For a time, yes, but not permanently,” the queen argued calmly.
“Amory,” I said gently, fearing Amory might lose her cool for once. “No one is trying to diminish what you went through in those nine years. All you lost. That was my father’s doing though. Not Queen Aurelia’s.”
Amory looked at me a moment and gave the queen the slightest of nods to continue.
“We managed to evade the dead king’s evil, but still we worked tirelessly, trying to find a way back out of the darkness. Trying to escape the reaches of the evil. All the dead king’s spies.” She pushed around her own food with her fork. “Of all the Enchanted in Corsha, of all the visions and possible outcomes we received in the years which followed, only one path promised our survival.” Her eyes went to mine. “The brother kings.”
“So you saw Krew as king of Wylan and Keir as king of Dra Skor?” John asked. Of all of us, he seemed to be taking this best.
“I did.” She nodded. “At first of course, I just saw a vision of the two of them taking down their father. One with a bloodied sword in hand, the other with a crown.”
I tried my best not to choke on my bread.
“I didn’t understand how it would help us, I just saw it often enough and vividly enough, I knew it to be vital. But I did not see it in time enough to warn you of anything going on in Wylan, I’m afraid,” she explained. “The first time we saw it, it was days before we got word that it had happened. And I have seen only a few such glimpses since. The brother kings offer not only their countries, but the entire realm, an era of prosperity and growth.”
She took another sip of her drink. “Our countries were given our Enchantments to complement each specific country, but I don’t believe we were meant to be kept apart by geography like we are now. The future that I see is bright, a mesh of all our Enchantments strengthening us all. That is why I was so excited to see Prince Keir here on our shore. It meant the end of Corsha having to hide. The brother kings are rising.”
“I will merely be king consort in Dra Skor,” I told her honestly. “Not the true king.”
“You were always meant to be king,” she countered. “And a king who does not cling too tightly to his crown is a good king. Just as much as your dragon queen was to be queen, you were fit to be king. There were many alternate paths for you both, more thanonce I thought that particular vision would never happen.” She smiled. “But you both refused to give up on one another. The fates did not collide, but the two of you did rather splendidly. And here we are.”
I gave my head a shake. Her words all made perfect sense, but at the same time, all of what she was saying was beyond wild. The Enchantment of Corsha was a hard thing to grasp. Even for them it seemed.
“Proximity helps our visions, however, I have been focusing on things in Dra Skor in my meditations lately. Before any of you asks, I do not know for certain what path your traitor will take yet, only that she keeps moving. There are sadly just too many possibilities, and it is too far beyond my reach.” She turned to Amory. “I know you are upset we did not warn the others of what was about to happen. I understand. But I would like to offer a few things to your country to make up for it. A few peace offerings.”
Amory’s eyes went to mine briefly before going back to hers. “Such as?”
“I understand that you will need to isolate this traitor in order for the visions of your success to come to be. I do not know the name of her conspirator, but I did see a flash of a winged panther with her in a vision once.”
Amory cursed beside me. “Tell Esta. At once. It’s Silas. He is the only winged panther shifter healed as of this point in the lottery.”
“The same Silas who serves on Malachi’s team?”
She gave me a nod.
Esta.
What’s wrong?
The queen of Corsha has informed us that the winged shifter working with Morana is the winged panther named Silas.
I felt her rage, her fury too great to allow her a response.Is it true?she finally asked.
I can’t entirely explain it, but yes, I believe it to be true.After a moment I reminded her,Do not handle this alone, Es.
