Page 60 of Own To Obsess

“Tell me how you got to the Eastern Lands,” she said quietly, her eyes still on the ceiling.

“What?” Rozalia's body jerked with her response. “What do you mean?”

“You went to and from the Eastern Lands in four days when it is months away. How?”

Rozalia seemed to squirm in her seat. “Why do you want to know that?”

Shaya didn't respond but she returned her eyes to Rozalia's.

Rozalia pressed her lips together, her shoulders tense. “I cannot help you do that, Shaya. You don't understand what will happen if—”

“I can do it safely with your help, or unsafely without it,” Shaya responded. “I already thought I was going to die, and it wasn’t for a cause I care about. This is worth dying for.”

“Just take some time to think about things… go back out into the lands and see—”

“I don't belong here,” Shaya cut her off. “I have no reason to stay here, no one cares about me. Not really.”

“They do, Shaya,” Rozalia said, turning to stand and lean over the bed.

“The only person who has shown any care for me is Treska, and I haven't even seen her for months,” Shaya said, her eyes finally filling with tears at the thought of her friend being imprisoned. “Not only that, but she is punished because of me repeatedly, even when she did nothing. It is better for her if I'm not here.”

The tears in Rozalia's eyes gathered quickly as she squeezed her hand harder. “She is not the only one, I also care about you, Shaya.”

“But you do nothing to help me,” Shaya said, the tears trickling down the side of her face. “You have drugged me on behalf of him, you justify what he does all the time, you told him all about my days in your gardens knowing he wasn’t talking tometo find that out, and you didn't even tell me that Treska was imprisonedfor months.” She shook her head slowly. “You have never been on my side, Rozalia. I know you think you are, but you’re not. And even if that is true, you all have a very strange way of taking care of the people you claim to care about. I want no part of it, not any more. I have lost too much because of your so-called care. I'm not willing to lose my life. It’s the last thing I have left to honor Kyus.”

Rozalia’s hand flew to her mouth as quiet sobs racked her body.

Shaya let her cry, her own tears falling, but only for Treska. She couldn't imagine how Treska was content with this life. The best thing Shaya could do for her was leave, even if it was upsetting that she would never see her again.

Rozalia finally quietened down and took a deep breath before she spoke. “There are portals that we use to travel to the other Lands,” she began, wiping her tears. “All of the portals are one the named islands but they are manned and heavily guarded. It’s not possible for you to get through any. They only let potionists through. But—”

“But what?”

Rozalia pressed her lips together, a strange expression on her face. “Your sister is desperately looking for you.”

A jolt shot through Shaya’s body. She leaned up off her pillow. “What?”

Rozalia nodded miserably. “She was in the Eastern Lands when I went there speaking to all Talent-crafters and potion masters about how to find the Isles.”

“She’s coming here?” Shaya asked, a sudden alarm gripping her.

Rozalia shook her head. “She can’t. The Southern Isles are hidden.”

Shaya hesitated, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“It’s not possible for anyone to find the Southern Isles unless they know where to look,” Rozalia explained. “Although we don’t use magic here, we do use a special type of potion imbued with a spell to protect the Islands from being found accidentally.”

“But the Isles are surrounded by sea. If someone sails here, close to the Isles, what do they see?” Shaya asked bewildered.

“The ocean,” Rozalia said simply. “They don’t see land, at all. We can see them; they cannot see us.”

“But what if they tried to sail through?”

“Usually we are able to project fake readings as though there are bad storms localized in this area, so most avoided it.”

Shaya thought for a long moment. “Did anyone tell Kyus this?”

Rozalia shook her head. “None of the Southern Land potionists are allowed to share where we are with an outsider. No one would have told her where to find us.”

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