Page 216 of The Iron Flower

“But they tested me,” I stammer out. “Nothing happened. They told me I was powerless.”

“Whose wand did you use?” he asks with dawning suspicion as he stares into the fire with great concentration, as if he’s struggling to put everything together.

“Commander Vin’s.”

Yvan turns to me, a look of fear on his face. “Are you sure?” His hand tightens on my shoulder. “Are you sure it wasn’t the Gardnerian military’s?”

“Yes,” I insist as the flames in front of us engulf another tree, the sound of the destruction deafening.

He turns back to the fire, eyes widening with deepening realization. “She gave you a rune-blocked wand.”

“I don’t understand,” I say, scared of what this could mean.

“She didn’t want the Gardnerians to know,” he breathes, and I brace myself, knowing what he’s going to say before he says it.

Yvan’s eyes meet mine, full of utter certainty. “Elloren,you’rethe Black Witch.”

* * *

I sit, stunned, as we watch the trees crackle and burn, Yvan’s arms and wings tight around me.

After a long while, the flames die down and the deafening roar calms to the crackle of a huge bonfire.

“So,” I finally venture in a slow, horrified whisper, “you’re the Icaral who’s supposed to destroy Gardneria, and I’m the Black Witch who’s supposed to kill you.We’rethe two points of the Prophecy.”

Yvan swallows hard, studying the flames in front of us. “I don’t believe in prophecies,” he says, his jaw going rigid.

“Everyone else does.”

He turns to me with a jaded look. “Yes, they do.”

“And I wasn’t even using a real wand.”

“I know.”

“So, if I use a real wand...” I think back to Ni Vin’s stories about the fireballs my grandmother created, the ones she used to destroy entire villages, to terrorize entire countries.

Ihave that terrible power. Like my grandmother, I’m something potentially horrific to behold.

“Kam Vin knows,” Yvan says darkly.

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

Yvan shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

His wing brushes against my cheek. It’s soft and silky against my skin. “Can you fly?” I ask abruptly, feeling like I’ve fallen into a surreal dream.

He hesitates, then nods.

I stare at him, stunned by this revelation. “Ariel and Wynter can’t fly.”

“Ariel and Wynter were raised to believe that they’re foul and evil. Their wings are weak.”

“I don’t understand.”

He shrugs. “I don’t completely, either. It’s just the way it works with Icarals.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath. “I was raised to believe that you’re the most evil monster on all of Erthia.”

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