Page 94 of Tide of Waves and Secrets

“Have you heard of Richard Harrow?”

“The first human to come through the Aetherian Gate?”

Rowan nodded. “As did all humans who entered after him, Richard passed through with his own brand of magic already. He was a seer in his time. A psychic in the modern realm of humans. We call it having the Sight.”

“Richard could see the future.”

“Aye. Pieces of it. Ones that sometimes made little sense, in his realm. As you know, when humans come to Elydor, their innate abilities are enhanced, and it was more so with Richard than any other. He could not simply see fragments of the future, but clear visions. And not just of himself but of all those in Elydor.”

As I understood it, the Sight was more akin to the fragments Rowan mentioned. “How clearly?”

“Enough to identify people and places. To predict events in the future. It was a powerful gift that he quickly realized needed to be kept secret lest his life be endangered. When he died, the ability was passed on to another as it has been every generation since. The Keepers are his ancestors, by blood or marriage, who know of this power. Eventually, this network grew, their secrets encompassing not just The Keeper’s identity but another purpose: to protect the Gate. To advance the humans’ cause. And these past years, to find a way to help King Galfrid open the Gate.”

“And you are one of them? Richard Harrow was your ancestor?”

“Not only one of them,” he said. “I amTheKeeper.”

I thought quickly. Not just a human spy with a lineage dating back to the first human who came through the Gate but… one chosen to receive a special ability for a new generation. The Sight, but stronger. “You can see the future?”

Rowan sighed. “Before I came here, on my way from Aetheria, I visited my home in Estmere and learned my grandfather, the former Keeper, was ill. When I told you of my sole ability, to sense emotion, it was the truth. But days after I arrived”—he looked to the pool of water before us, lost in thought—“my grandfather died. I knew only because of the visions I began to receive, my training having prepared me for the possibility, though I will admit I never actually thought it possible to have been chosen.”

When he turned back to me, Rowan’s eyes were glazed. He’d lost his grandfather, a man Rowan thought highly of, one he loved, and he had grieved alone. With a lump forming in my throat, I reached for him. Holding on tight, stroking his hair, I offered my condolences. My sorrow was his.

“What a terrible way to learn of his death,” I murmured into his chest.

When he didn’t respond, I pulled back, wiped the wetness below his eyes with my thumbs and held his face in my hands, as he once did to me.

“I am sorry for your loss. Sorry you were forced to bear it alone. And sorry to have accused you of lying to me.”

“Nerys—”

“We will find a way to honor your grandfather,” I said, holding his gaze.

He swallowed, taking in a deep breath. “I wish I could have told you before.”

Letting go of his face, I took both Rowan’s hands in mine. “Your honor, the vow you took, is one of the things I love most about you. I will never doubt your loyalty to me, not that I had before.”

I wanted to know about his visions. What they were like. What Rowan had seen. But now was not the time. He was a grieving grandson first.

“When you asked if we were possible, I could not see a way. My place, I believed, was in Estmere, furthering the human cause.”

“Is it not still?” Though I did not want to ask the question, afraid of the answer, it seemed to me nothing had changed if he was still The Keeper.

“I met two Keepers in Thalassaria, much to my surprise. First, in The Moonlit Current?—”

“Nerithia.”

He nodded. “I was as surprised as she was. There is a phrase, known only to Keepers. ‘The winds remember the first crossing, and the stone keeps their weight.’ When she said it, I was confused at first as my grandfather had said nothing of her. I learned later he did not know of her, and neither do I know how Nerithia guessed my identity. But she was able to get a message to Estmere, telling them of my status. Later, she received a message back from them which is what guided me to the Deep Archives.”

“Why Seren?”

The corner of Rowan’s lips turned up as if he wished for me to guess.

Seren knew more of Thalassaria’s history than anyone. “Did she know one of your ancestors? Perhaps she had a connection to…”

He continued to smile.

“No. She cannot be.”

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