Page 244 of Sigils & Spells

“I know you are suffering.” Her dark eyes pierced mine, and I saw no malice there. “Can you tell me what happened?”

This gave me the chance to tell my story, to tell her that what happened that day was not a result of my powers getting out of control. But for some reason, I found it hard to form the words. My throat closed up and didn't want to let them exit my mouth. Even my tongue seemed frozen. It took great effort just to swallow.

I shook my head, tears threatening again. “It wasn't my fault.” Barely audible, my words rasped through my dry lips.

She reached over to the bedside table and picked up the plastic water cup, helping me to get the straw in my mouth. Cool and fresh, it soothed my throat and her gesture gave me encouragement to keep going.

Once I got started, the words just gushed out. Every detail I could remember tumbled forth. I talked about the moments of silence when my internal alarm warned me something changed around us. I retold of the horses spooking and running off, leaving us with only our own two feet, which wound up not being fast enough to escape the rising water.

“It seemed alive. It just rushed up the sand and wrapped around our ankles, pulling us in. I didn't even try to use my magic until that very minute, I swear. I tried to push it back, but I wasn't strong enough. We just got drug under, then I lost sight of her as I tried not to drown myself. Eventually, I ended up on the beach where they found me. I don't know how. At that point, the water just looked like the normal river we always see.”

The High Priestess patted my hand, mulling over my words. For several minutes, she didn't speak. When she did, my body trembled, terrified of what she might be about to say.

“I believe you, child.”

Relief flooded me.

“But we will need to figure out a plan. Never has outside power managed to affect the land within the temple compound. Its protection has always been ironclad.” She hesitated. “I don't want to tire you while you are still healing. You've had a rough time, and I want you to recover fully. We will need to talk more, though.”

“You aren't going to make me leave?” The question was barely a whisper, and yet she still heard.

“Absolutely not. This is not your fault, no matter what anyone else thinks.” The addition to her sentence let me know that more than one person blamed the loss of Evie on me.

I bit my cheek and blinked the tears away as best I could. “High Priestess?”

“Yes, my child?” She met my eyes steadily.

“May I attempt to use my magic to heal myself? Would that be okay?”

Her gaze bore into me, and I could see her mulling over my request. “Do you believe you have healing abilities?”

“I'm... I'm not sure. But I feel the injuries internally, and I can feel a pull to send energy there. I just don't know what to do since I've been forbidden to use my powers.”

“You may do so right now, as I stand here.”

“I'm not really sure what I need to do, so I'm just going to follow my instincts if that's okay?”

She nodded, and I turned my focus inward. The pain throbbed in numerous areas and my lungs still burned from the river water. Closing my eyes, I let my inner self lead the way, following the light through my physical body to the areas of damage. Before too long, I felt sweat dripping down my forehead. While not gone, the pain was slightly less. I opened my eyes to see the High Priestess watching me intently.

“How do you feel now?”

“Better, I think? It's the kind of thing that would take a lot more practice if I was going to be any good at it.”

“For now, let's just stay here in the medical wing and let your body heal itself. You are, of course, excused from chores for now.” She spun to leave.

“Excuse me, please?”

She turned back toward me. “Yes?”

“Evie- Genevieve?” I choked on her full name. She preferred not to use it, but the priestesses insisted we use our given names instead of nicknames. “Is she really gone? There's no chance she is somewhere hurt? No chance at all?”

Her expression gentled as she met my eyes once last time. “I'm so sorry. She's gone, really and truly gone. We will hold a memorial for her soon.”

The tears clogged my throat and spilled down my cheeks. No matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn't acknowledge the High Priestess's apology. My heart shattered into a million pieces. Somehow, her enforcement of what the others said made it real, and made it final.

CHAPTER6

Aside from thepain of a shattered heart, my physical injuries healed in good time and I returned to “normal” within a couple weeks' time. In that same time frame, I'd also become a pariah. Very few people spoke to me unless they absolutely had to, and I heard the whispers every time I passed by them. Time marched on and the weeks continued to pass by.

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