Page 260 of The Sins of Silas

“The future can change,youknow this,” she retorted, healing his minor wound.

He sighed. “It was a simple accident, and I would heal fine without magic.” His smile faded. “Are you sure you wish to go through with this? Their lineage is…”

Her blue eyes settled on him. “I don’t want to marry him. But I have to. It is the only way to save our people and give us a life where we can live freely.”

“But how can you be sure?” He sat up now, his eyes surveying the town. I followed his gaze, seeing a man with fair skin and light brown hair walking outside. A human. “I know you love him, Kayin. And he loves you, too.”

She squeezed her eyes, and tears came out. “I know. But it must be done, Father. It is the only way.”

He brushed his thumb along her cheek lovingly. “The burden of being a seer.”

The vision swirled, and we were in a bedroom. Kayin was held in an embrace by the brown-haired man.

“I don’t want you to go, Kay,” he whispered, his light grey eyes tortured as he pulled away. “Please. I will do anything.”

“I don’t wish to leave either, Quill,” she murmured as she pulled him into a kiss.

My body went into shock. My eyes darted to Silas, whose limbs shook as he gaped at the sight before him.

This was the man who had supposedly killed his sister, Aria. The man whose name he used when he first met me.

Quill Callon.

He was Ryia’s—Kayin’s lover?

Silas had said his mother had never believed he did it and that she had always spoken of him fondly.

“Why must you follow this vision? You have said yourself that the future can change. What if marrying him does no good?”

She held his face. “It has to. The fate of the world depends on it.”

Images flickered, the setting changing. Speaking along the river just outside Ames were Igon and Immeron.

Immeron’s hair was just as dark as Igon’s, his face just as handsome, though his blue eyes were wary as he looked at his brother.

“She’s to become Queen of Otacia? You’re sure of it?” Immeron asked wide-eyed.

“Indeed.” He turned to him. “They cannot know her real name or where she really came from. Your gift of memory manipulation would come in handy.”

Memory manipulation?!

Immeron frowned. “How much manipulation are we talking about?”

“Come with Kayin and me to the castle. Make them believe she is a princess from one of the other kingdoms—Eretesia shall do.” He gripped his brother’s shoulder. “And another thing, those in Ames cannot know.”

Immeron froze. “You can’t be asking—”

“I want the people of Ames to forget about Kayin and me. I will come back and reintroduce myself. But they must forget her. She must become Ryia. Embrace this new identity fully.”

“What of her friends? Of Quill?” He paused. “Of me? The boys, they—”

Melancholy shone in Igon’s eyes.

Immeron scoffed in disbelief. “You want us to forget her, too.”

“I would never ask you to forget her. But she could never come up—ever. If somehow she got discovered, her life would be in danger. The boys are too little to keep such a secret…”

“Then we will leave. Live elsewhere. I am not forgetting anyone.”

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