Page 65 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

“You are not dreaming,” the figure confirmed as if replying to her thoughts. Something solid punched into her gut and she felt like she couldn’t breathe.

It sounded like Cally.

“I am,” Emara croaked. “Please let me wake up,” she begged. “This is cruel. Please, let me wake up.”

“You are not dreaming, Emara.” The glowing figure laughed, and it sounded just like her laugh too. Emara’s mouth opened wider as her heart cracked open entirely, but no words or air came out or in.

“It’s me, silly,” the figure said. “I promise.”

Emara let out a laugh that turned into a sob. “It’s not,” she managed to say. “It’s not you. You are gone. You are gone.” Her legs shook, but she managed to lock her knees to keep standing.

“I am not truly gone. My spirit still watches over you.” Cally smiled, her beautiful face glowing in colours of soft gold. She was like a sparkling yellow diamond, and her features shimmered and glowed with each movement. Her eyes, her stunning eyes, were still blue, and she wore the same silky slip-gown she had dressed in the night of the Uplift, but it wasn’t stained with her blood.

It was pure white.

“H-how?” Emara tried to speak, but nothing really came out.

“I do not have long,” Cally advised, her shoulders squaring. “I have only gathered enough strength to come back into this world and visit you for a short time. I have some pretty strong witches who are anchoring me from the Otherside.” A Cally-like grin tugged her lips up at the corners.

“My grandmother is with you?” Emara swallowed a cry.

Cally nodded. “The witches have so much power over here. They are helping me connect to you through spirit. You can’t touch me, but I am here, I promise you that. My spirit will always be with you.”

“Oh Gods, Cally.” Emara’s voice broke, and so did the tears that welled in her eyes. “I can’t do this without you. I—”

The golden figure stepped forward a little. “You can,” she assured her. “And you will. You will ascend soon to become empress of your coven, and you must.”

“Why?” Emara’s tears streamed from her eyes, but she still managed to search Cally’s face for answers.

“Because the kingdom needs you to. You are the only thing that can stop the darkness. The world as we know it now depends on your ascension.” Cally spoke with an assertive tone, and Emara found herself wondering if she had ever left. It was like they were having a normal conversation, alive. But she wasn’t. A sharp pain blistered through her heart as Cally spoke again. “You are the key. You always have been.”

“What does that even mean?” Emara shook her head violently, her whole body trembling.

“I don’t have time for philosophical breakdowns.” Callyn gave an eye roll, and she placed a hand on her hip. “You are a smart girl, you will figure it out. I can’t give you all the answers.” She smiled, and Emara burst with sadness at how real this encounter felt. Only Callyn could make her laugh and cry at once. “I haven’t come here to talk about your future or what the Gods have in store for you. I have come here to speak to you about the present.”

Emara wiped her face, trying to understand. She didn’t want to talk about the present. She wanted to be in the past, with Cally.

“I felt the need to remind you that you must let yourself feel. You need to let your heart take over and stop condemning yourself with grief.” Callyn shut her eyes for a small second. “I don’t want you to feel the sadness you feel over my death. That wasn’t your fault. That sorrow is not only for you to bear. You must let it go.”

“How can you even say that?” Emara cried, her throat thick with relentless torment. “Of course, it was my fault. I got you into this…this mess because of who I am—”

“But you didn’t. I was in this life before you knew me.”

“What?” Emara’s face tightened, and a bitter shiver lodged itself into her spine.

“You hid a secret from me about who you were.” She shot her a look. “Even though who you were was never really a secret to me.”

Emara stilled. Every muscle strangled her bones.

“Let me go. I know who you are. I know what you are. I love you.”

Emara shook in disbelief.

Callyn had known Emara had witching blood.

How could she have known?

Her blue eyes twinkled with a secret of her own. “But I hid a little part of me too, so don’t feel guilty.”

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