Page 45 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
"Then what is?" Ellie shouted at her back.
Kallie mounted the horse. "We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s move."
Ellie groaned but got on her horse without another word.
I’m in control. I am nothim.
Kallie awoketo the sound of rushing water. Her eyes sprang open, expecting to be drenched by a storm. But when she looked up, all she saw were white fluffy clouds and an ice-blue sky. She went to push herself up, and her hands sank into the soil—no, not soil,sand.
Kallie gasped and forced herself into a sitting position. Her gaze immediately flicked to the large boulder sitting at the edge of the lake. Her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach as she recognized the Whispering Springs.
"He’s not here."
Kallie spun around, and sand flew into her mouth from the movement. "Terin?"
Her brother leaned against a tree at the edge of the beach. "Hi, Kals," he said with a weak smile.
Her attention flicked to his hair. The long waves were gone. "You cut your hair," she said, standing up.
He brushed a hand across his head. "It was time."
Kallie brushed the debris from her hands and looked around, confused. There was only one other time she had been here inthis dream-state when Fynn wasn’t. "If Fynn isn’t here, why am I?"
"It was the easiest way to reach you. I wanted to let you know we arrived in Pontia."
"And?" Kallie asked, her heart pounding in her chest. Was something wrong? Was someone hurt?
"Andmother is outraged, to say the least," Terin said as he approached, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.
"Has she deemed you all traitors?"
Terin scoffed and flicked his hand dismissively. "No. That’s not why she’s outraged. Apparently, she was bluffing, knowing the threat would get us back home quicker. I should have listened to Dani when she said she was."
At Dani’s name, concern flooded Kallie’s body like a tidal wave. She hated sea-travel on a normal day, and she couldn’t imagine how the journey went for Dani while carrying. "How is Dani?"
"Her mother and the healers are currently suffocating her, but she’s doing well. Her mother is beside herself that Dani wants to leave already." A half-grin appeared on her brother’s face as if recalling something amusing. "Dani keeps trying to sneak away to join the council meetings to help figure out our plan of attack. Movement is slow on that front."
Kallie nodded in understanding. Then she recalled something else he had said. "Wait, if Esmeray isn’t mad that you all came to the mainland, then why is she?"
Terin’s mouth flattened into a thin line, and a knowing look passed across his face.
Kallie pointed at herself. "You can’t mean that she’s mad atme?"
Terin scratched his head. "She’s mad at me too, if it’s any consolation."
"Why is she mad at you? You did nothing wrong."
"For letting you go after Domitius. She doesn’t trust him, and she’s worried he will try to trick you."
She squeezed her hands into tight fists. "I can handle myself."
"I know. But she also knows who Domitius is. They have history."
"History?" Kallie asked, blinking.
Terin nodded. "She refuses to give any details about it, but she’s worried about you." Terin reached out a hand, but Kallie took a step back.
"I won’t turn around, Terin. I can’t."
