Page 173 of The Eye of the Fifth
‘I do,’ Maida said fiercely. ‘Because I have bothered to see what no one else has. That he has been manipulated and used by his mother his entire life. Evenhedoes not realise the extent of the hold she has on him.’
Naal said acrimoniously, ‘And what if that boyhas manipulated and usedyou, Maida? Spawn of a viper… I imagine his words to be quite convincing.’
‘Nysari has poisoned your ears,’ Maida said darkly. ‘Gedeon has not once spoken of his family, nor tried to convince me of his integrity. But I see it anyway. I see a young prince who knew of no other path but the one he was set toddling on as soon as he could walk.’ She levelled Naal with a cool glare. Possibly the only Eternal who would dare do so. ‘Distrust of him aside, Naal, Gedeon is by all rights an Eternal now. An Eternalyouchose to induct into this Order. How can you hope to work with him if you refuse to trust him?’
Naal ran a hand through her short grey hair. ‘I have not forgotten the attack on Phaenon. I will never forget.’
‘Neither have I, Naal. And most importantly… neither has he.’
Naal sank into the chair behind the healer’s desk, staring at the mess on its surface without really seeing it. ‘I… I feel like I am failing, Maida. I could not protect Phaenon from the prince’s attack. I am failing at uniting Kyra with her Warden magic, failing at anticipating what the damned Empress will do next, and…’ Her breath hitched, voice catching in her throat. ‘I have failed my mate.’
That was what it all came down to. No matter what else swarmed her mind, Win’s face was always there at the forefront. A haunting ghost.
Maida perched on the table. ‘You are old, Naal. Much older than most in this world. But you have taken on too much responsibility in your long years. You are ourpramah,yes. But that does not mean you have to face the fight alone. Relieve yourself of this blame. It does not serve you.’
Though Naal heard every word, and knew her dear friend was right, only one thought grasped her attention now. ‘I don’t know where she is, Maida. I don’t know if she is even alive. But I would know, wouldn’t I? I would know if… if she…’
‘Yes,’ Maida said gently. ‘You would know if she were gone.’
It filled Naal with little relief, and she doubted whether Maida spoke from an absolute belief in what she had said, or just from consolement. Naal nodded all the same, collecting herself. ‘WhenGedeon is well again, I will meet with him and Sunsi. I will put my reservations aside and learn from them.’
‘A wise decision, my friend.’
Naal blew out a breath, then leaned her elbows on the table. ‘The curse… it is truly broken, then?’
‘Yes,’ Maida said, frowning into the flaming hearth. ‘I do not know how the girl did it, but not a remnant of it remains. I’d begun to believe the curse was unbanishable, butsheeliminated it. It ought to have been impossible. How did she do it? Kyra is certainly no healer.’
‘Her magic flares with her emotions. She has little control over it and acts on impulse. It is how she was able to wield the power to strike down Zuriel. She felt threatened and her magic reacted accordingly.’ Naal paused. ‘With Gedeon… I believe she was fearful. That deep fear ignited the power to save him. To bring him back.’
‘I was not aware they had any sort of relationship,’ Maida said, eyebrows raised. ‘But she walked into his fire with barely a glance back. She snapped Nysari’s bow like it was merely a twig. Did you see how her eyes darkened with fury? Why was she so intent on saving him? Why risk her own life to save his?’
Since the event, Naal had been pondering the answer to those questions, and the conclusion had been implausible. And yet any other made little sense. ‘Why indeed,’ she muttered.
???
Gedeon.
Kyra’s arm was bandaged, wrapped in cloth infused with healing ointments. Gedeon could not see the burn beneath it with his eyes, but his soul could. He would feel the remorse of that burn for an eternity.
Gedeon could have left hours ago. He’d been conscious for that long. When Maida had come to check on both of them, he’d pretended to be asleep.
He could not leave until Kyra woke. Until he knew, until he saw, that she was alive.
Her heartbeat was a distant drum in his ears. He knew it still beat, possibly as well as it had done before. But what if that drumbeat was a figment of his imagination? What if he was so desperate to hear it, to see her chest rising and falling, that his mind was playing along, appeasing the very thing he wanted most in this world?
Only when she looked at him again, only when he could see the beams of sunlight streaming through the forest of her eyes, would he believe that she lived.
That very sun had saved him. It had done what Maida never could. The curse was gone, that much he knew. Its icy grip was no longer wrapped around his spine. His magic was his once more, his power utterly free to do with as he pleased.
Shehaddone that. He’d felt himself dying, felt every ember of his flames consuming him, felt every ounce of darkness overwhelm his entire being. And then there had been nothing but her. Beaming sunlight, soft yet fierce. Vines and roots, tender yet unyielding, pulling him back. Pulling him home.
Impossible,Maida had called the miracle. He’d heard every word of her conversation with Naal. The healer had vouched for him, boldly at that. The sentiment may have warmed his heart, had he not been so emphatically awaiting Kyra to awaken.
When she did, when her eyes fluttered open and she blinked in her surroundings in a daze, Gedeon’s heart leapt.
His mind had not forsaken him to insanity. Shewasalive.
‘Good morning, Sunshine,’ he said gently, unable to help the slight pull on his lips.
