Page 7 of The Sins of Silas

Kayin? Is that really you?

I hadn’t spoken to or heard from the mysterious seer in over half a decade—the evening before Queen Ryia La’Rune’s assassination. So many questions drummed around in my head, and all I could do was quickly begin listing them.

Where have you been all this time?

Where are you now?

Were you involved in the Queen's murder?

Just as I was about to ask if she knew where Torrin was, she spoke. Her voice was weaker, more feeble, than I remembered.

“There is much I wish I could tell you, Lena. But I can’t.”She drew in a long breath.“It has taken me great effort to contact you. It’s…”She exhaled in relief.“It’s so good to hear your voice.”

She sounded so defeated. Broken. Nothing like the upbeat woman I communicated with for so long.

Are you okay?

Her voice broke as she replied,“No. I am not.”

The beating in my heart quickened, and I swallowed the unpleasant lump in my throat.

Tell me what I need to do.

She was breathing heavily now.“You are with the Prince, yes?”

I am.

“Good.”Kayin choked on a cough.“I can’t speak for much longer—our connection isn’t strong from this far away.”

Where are you, Kayin?

It was silent for a few moments.“I am in Otacia.”

My eyes enlarged, and I scrambled up from my place on the ground.

“Otacia?!” I exclaimed out loud. "Are you a prisoner?”

“Do not worry about me,”she insisted.“Our paths shall cross when the time is right.”There was a brief pause.“What did Igon tell you before he died?”

I couldn’t help but notice the sorrow in her voice as she uttered that out. I still didn’t know how the two knew each other.

“He told me he sent Torrin away…” I whispered. “Then told me to find you, to find Oquerene.”

I was talking to myself, pacing back and forth like a maniac. If anyone were watching me, they’d surely think I had lost my mind.

“You needn’t worry about finding me. Not yet. Did he give you a message of some sort?”

I frowned as I recalled his cryptic words. “Yes…he said,‘Only through fire can the phoenix be reborn from the ashes’…whatever that means.”

She groaned in frustration.

I nervously drummed my fingertips on my legs. “What is it?”

“I don’t get visions like I used to…hardly get them at all anymore. The Queen’s necklace, do you still have it?”

I blinked and glanced down, beholding the diamond and sapphire necklace lying against my collarbones. I ran my fingers along the delicate gems, the stones glimmering in the moonlight.

“I do…why?” I asked slowly.

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