Page 71 of Lady of the Drowned Empire
She had that look she got when she was focusing, when she was purposely trying to open her mind to hear something distant or private.
Was it Arianna? Or someone else who’d conspired against us?
“Lyr?” she asked, her fingernails cutting into my flesh.
“Ouch!”
“How drunk are you?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Not enough.” I was still coherent, still thinking of Rhyan, still seeing Naria rub her body against Tristan’s as they approached Turion Dairen’s seat.
“Lyr,” she said again, this time truly sounding terrified. Like something was wrong with me or something terrible was happening to me.
I looked down—was I bleeding? Nothing. No injury I could detect, no mark.
She pushed me all the way into her bedroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it before she was on me again.
“By the Gods.” Morgana cursed under her breath.
“Morgs! What’s going on?”
She ignored me, pushing at my dress and turning my necklace to expose the Valalumir mark. It had been a faint gold but was now glowing brightly again, almost as bright as it had been that first night it’d marked me. I braced myself, gritting my teeth, waiting for the fire to burn inside me.
But nothing happened. It only glowed.
Was that what had upset her?
“When’s the last time it did this?” she asked.
“Last week,” I told her. “With Rhyan. But it hasn’t glowed or warmed since.”
“Something’s wrong,” she said. “I think it’s done something to you.”
I swallowed, looking down at my chest again. “I don’t feel anything.” I pressed my palm to my heart and shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
“I can’t….” Her neck strained as she leaned forward. When she looked at me, her eyes widened, and her face paled. “I can’t hear your thoughts anymore.” Her eyebrows furrowed, and she waited a long moment, like she was listening. She frowned, looking like she was on the verge of tears. “I can’t read your mind. I can’t…I can’t get anything off of you. Not a single thought or feeling. It’s like there’s a wall around you.”
“What?”
“Do you feel any different?”
“No.”
“Fuck,” she cried. “Lyr, your mind has gone silent.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
All week I’d been at the Afeya library, reading, researching, coming up empty. Trying to find some answers, trying to find a way to understand what was happening to me. But after what had happened with Morgana, I was done reading. I was done playing nice.
I’d dealt with feeling like my insides were on fire and my star glowing at random with no explanation for why or how to navigate this. I’d received no word from Mercurial and no advice from Zenoya or any of the scrolls I’d reviewed.
And now, Morgana couldn’t read my mind. We’d tried to go back over the events of the night, to figure out the moment it had happened, but the dinner had been so loud, and she’d been drinking so much, she hadn’t noticed the silence of my mind until we were alone. Morgana’s vorakh was still well intact with everyone else she’d encountered, so we were sure it was just me.
Before there were any more unwarranted effects, I needed answers.
I marched straight up to Zenoya the next morning, realizing what I’d been missing all week long. I’d been so focused on Mercurial’s absence, I hadn’t realized another signifanct member of the Afeya had been mysteriously quiet.
“Where is she?” I asked.
