Page 43 of The Throne's Undoing

"Then why is it that the first thing you ask me is why we are in this place? Why isn't it about the dreams you've been having? The memories that Terin has been pulling from the back of your mind?"

"Terin can't--" Kallie swallowed, her eyes narrowing. She retreated another step. "Terin is not Esmeray. He cannot access my memories."

"He can't while you are awake, but when you are asleep?" Fynn smirked, the twitch of his lip sending a spike of anxiety spiraling through Kallie's bones. "The mind is a pliable thing, sister. You should know that better than most.

"It is why you can manipulate people and bend them to your will. It is why I could read people's thoughts, why our mother can strip one's memories. People often underestimate Terin because, on the surface, his gift appears to be just the ability to knock people out and slip through their dreams. But they are gravely mistaken to underestimate him. He can manipulate their very dreams. He can bring another person--dead or alive--into one's dreams, for he can open a world between the living and the dead.

"That, dear sister, is why we are here. Terin has made it so. But that is not the extent of his gift. Our dreams often reflect our past. Our nightmares are the tragedies we wish to forget, the mistakes we wish never to relive.

"It requires immense concentration, but Terin is able to grab someone's memory and weave it into a dream." Her brother gazed over the waterfall, at the roaring water crashing down.

Kallie shook her head in denial. "You speak nonsense."

With a sad smile, Fynn peered back at Kallie. "I speak the truth."

Kallie bit down, the muscles in her jaw twitching.

Fynn cocked his head to the side. "What have you been dreaming about, Kallie?"

"Nothing," Kallie mumbled, dropping her gaze to look at the sand.

Fynn stepped closer. "Dig deeper. Recall the dream before this. Where were you?"

"I don't know," Kallie whispered, hugging herself tightly as a gust of wind swept over her and tangled in her hair.

Fynn gripped her shoulders, shaking her slightly. Without meaning to, Kallie looked up, but it was a mistake. His brown eyes seared into hers as if Fynn was trying to look into her very soul.

"Yes, you do. Think back, Kallie." Fynn squeezed her shoulders harder. "Where were you? Who were you with?"

Kallie blinked.

"I--" The words were caught on her tongue as she riffled through her mind. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn't remember.

"Come on, Kallie," he whispered, his gaze skimming across her face, searching, pleading. "If you still remain loyal to Domitius and truly believe he cares for you, then why are you afraid to recall the dream?"

Kallie took a jilted step back, causing Fynn's hands to fall from her shoulders. Fynn, however, took a step forward as well, matching her.

A scene flashed before her eyes, but she shook it away. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to see whatever it was he was trying to make her remember.

Kallie retreated further, but the moment the sole of her foot hit the sand, her ankle rolled.

Kallie hissed in pain as she fell to her knees.

"Kallie," Fynn said warily.

"I don't remember!" Kallie shouted, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Yes, you do!"

Kallie flinched, but it wasn't Fynn's voice she heard.

"You are weak, Kalisandre!"

She pressed her palms against her ears in an attempt to block out the noise. But no matter how hard she pressed or how hard she tried to ignore it, her father's words slipped through, ripping through her palms and filling her eardrums.

He shouldn't be here, she thought.He can't see me like this. He shouldn't--

"Despicable!" her father shouted.

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