Page 130 of Reign of Light
Something happened.
Something is different.
Taking a step closer, my eyes search his. “What do you think it means?”
He rubs his palm over his slackened jaw. “I don’t know. But it has to mean something. The magic was always intentional. I have to believe that includes the fountain.”
“What if…” My voice trails off as I try to remember every thought I had about the fountain and the magic. What we just learned from Edmond turned everything we thought we knew upside down, and I’m realizing that might happen once again.
But what if it is exactly how I thought all that time ago?
I squeeze my eyes shut and take a quick breath before starting again. “When I first found the fountain, the way the fountain looked surprised me. It wasn’t the same as the story that led me there. It was broken…not flowing. I thought it was a sign that the magic had dried up, and even if I figured out how to call the Guardian, itwouldn’t work. But it did, and when I went to Berrendahr, the fountain looked the same as the one here. Before, when you saw it, nothing had changed. It was the way the story had depicted. What if it deteriorated because of Dane?”
His eyes snap to mine, and I can see him working through the possibility. My stomach rolls and my skin tingles as my thoughts come tumbling out of my mouth.
“Dane cheated the magic when he became the Guardian. The person who tried to take from the island was the one in control of it all. What if that changed the magic? Dawnlin didn’t trust him. What if it was because of him all along?”
“And now he’s gone,” Weston murmurs.
“Now he’s gone,” I agree, and I can feel the excitement raging inside me, begging to come out. “He’s not the Guardian anymore. Edmond is. Someone who truly cares about Dawnlin and the myth staying alive is back in control. He made sure we knew about the healing waters. He truly wants to give people hope. He’s not someone who was trying to take for himself.”
His hands rest on his hips as he nods slowly. “The island knows. It knows the threat is gone, and it doesn’t have to protect itself from him anymore.”
“Exactly. It trusts Edmond now. Not only is he the new Guardian, but he has been there before. He was worthy, Weston. It’s no longer being cheated.”
“Maybe the next person who finds it will actually have hope,” he grumbles. There’s a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. We all had hope, but couldn’t save who we came there to save, all because of what Dane planned, and what Storm and Brynne did to ensure it happened. They all plotted to steal from the island and use the magic for their own gain. Everyone else came there with genuine intentions, but because of them, the island hid everything to protect it. Dawnlin didn’t have to protect itself any longer, not unless someone new and untrustworthy camealong. It had Edmond now, the most honorable and observant man that could be in charge of guarding the magic.
But what ifeverythingis different now? What if now that the magic is safe and restored, all of us who Dawnlin denied could have a second chance?
“Weston,” I murmur, biting my lower lip nervously before looking up to catch his eye. “Do you think we should go back?”
His hands find my face, his thumbs brushing my cheeks as he tilts my chin up to see me more clearly.
“Lennox, you’re the queen now. We can’t go back.”
“Not to stay,” I say quickly. “We’ll never be trapped there again. Edmond wouldn’t allow it.”
“Then what are you saying.” It’s not a question, more of a statement, a plea for an explanation.
I inhale shakily as tears well in my eyes, and his face softens at the sight. “I buried my father today. The entire time I wondered how soon it would be until I had to do this all over again with her. I know I said I would talk to the healers tonight about letting her go, but then I saw the fountain and I…” I trail off, my eyes searching his face, trying to find any sort of reaction to what I’m saying, but he gives nothing away. “Weston, I can’t give up yet. I have to try one more time. I have to know if I’m truly not worthy of helping her.” A sob bursts from my chest, and he leans forward, his gaze intense as his eyes bounce between mine.
“I don’t care what Dawnlin says, you are worthy, Lennox. We all were.”
I sniffle, letting the tears fall freely down my cheeks, and he swipes them away with his thumbs. “If we all were…are, then we have to go back. If we are right, and it was all because of Dane, now that he’s gone, maybe we can save her.”
His jaw works tightly, and a fire lights in his eyes. “You want to leave and come right back?”
I nod as much as I can with his hands still clutching my face. “How long was Edmond gone? When he left for your mother?”
Weston’s eyes trail away as he thinks back to his childhood. It was so long ago, back during a time that clearly was emotionally tumultuous for him, so he might not remember. He may have blocked out all the details surrounding his mother’s death, except for the ones that come back to him when he sleeps.
“It was only a day, maybe two, although he spoke as if barely any time had passed at all. We know time doesn’t match up. It’s possible he left and came right back after the mountain.”
“If we do the same, then we would only be gone for a day. We can easily disguise our absence as grieving in my chambers.” The words fly out of my mouth as my excitement heightens. “I haven’t chosen my advisors yet. I need to leave someone in charge.”
“Tell me who and I will notify them while you change.”
I look down at my still-sopping dress, having completely forgotten from the new development that the fabric is still heavy with rain and sticks to my skin. Weston is always two steps ahead, because changing to go back to Dawnlin had been the farthest thing from my mind.
