Page 129 of A World of Ruins

Silaria pauses. ‘I tend to stay out of it all,’ she huffs, then resumes picking at her flowers. ‘Though sadly, my visions do not let me.’

My eyes narrow. ‘You saw us coming here.’ A seer is not a witch, after all. Their visions come and stay with them even in the darkest of hours.

After a minute, Silaria nods. ‘I have seen you in my dreams many times, Naralía.’ She turns to me. ‘It is nice to finally meet you in person.’

I tilt my chin up at her. ‘Likewise.’

She smirks. ‘Now,’ she says, looking towards Darius and then me. ‘What is it you wish to know?’

‘Years ago, you told Sarilyn Orcharian about a battle between powerful beings.’

She stares at me, not liking where this is going. ‘I did.’

‘She made her general kill your friends, the witches, but did you also ever mention to her that Aurum once fell in love . . . with a witch?’

Silaria’s eyes carry the weight of past secrets, her gaze shifting to everyone inside her home. ‘No, I did not.’ Her denial comes out in a whisper. ‘But I do know who it was.’ She glances at Darius. ‘Thanks to your mother.’

Darius tenses beside me. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Your mother and I were once very close. In fact, she and the twins were my only trusted friends at the time.’ She smiles to herself. ‘I still remember the day she brought you over. You were such a shy little boy. Up until I handed you a piece of gold jewellery, and then you settled down.’

I can’t stop the laugh that comes out of me as I look up at Darius. The image of him so young and shy melts every bit of my heart.

He chuckles under his breath, shakes his head and slides a glance Silaria’s way. ‘And my mother?’

Silaria turns and walks over to her cupboards, rifling through them. ‘Aurelia’, she begins, ‘was always an outcast among her family. At least, that is what she always told me. She was considered the weakest among her siblings, which meant Aurum never considered her a threat. He knew he was the greatest king to live, and the more power-hungry he became, the more heforgot about his family. That was . . . until he mether.’ She sighs. ‘Orna.’

There is a pause as the name settles over all of us.

‘That is what Aurelia said her name was. She was a witch assigned to him. Their connection tethered to help one another.’

‘They fell in love,’ Freya says quietly, but everyone manages to hear it, including Silaria as she turns.

‘Yes.’ She smiles, then eyes Freya with a look of interest. ‘You’re a witch too. Ahalfling.’

Freya swallows and then nods, placing one hand behind her back; the other is holding Idris’s. He seems to be better; whatever is going through his mind is now soothed by Freya’s touch.

‘As I was saying,’ Silaria brings my attention back to her. ‘Despite them falling in love, Aurum had this ideology about life that Orna never agreed with.’

‘What happened to her?’ Illias asks.

‘Aurelia knew the relationship was wrong,’ Silaria continues. ‘Aurum was too possessive, and he became untethered against the sorcerers at the time, killing anyone that even spoke of Orna. All of this soon led to the war, but before it could, Aurelia wanted Orna to leave. Even promised her a better life if she left Emberwell. When Aurum found out, he almost killed Aurelia; luckily, their siblings intervened, but by the time Aurum went in search of Orna, a group of humans who were in favour of the sorcerers had attacked her carriage and—’ She is unable to finish her words, swallowing them as if they are poison.

The reality is that she was murdered. How gruesome it was, I do not ever wish to know. But it explains Aurum’s hatred for humans ever since that moment.

‘Eventually,’ she says, ‘he found a new witch to aid him in his twisted decisions. But she was never able to replace Orna.’

‘What can we do to destroy him once and for all?’ I say, my voice carrying this sense of urgency. We have less than five days before Aurum kills more of my people and destroys the kingdom itself.

Silaria sighs, her dark hair covering her sharp features as she looks at the floor. ‘I do not know.’

‘You do.’ I take a step towards her. ‘You have to know.’

She lets out a laugh that sounds borderline self-mocking. ‘My dear, I may be a seer, but that does not mean I can tell you exactly word for word what will happen within the next few minutes, let alone ten years from now.’

My hope depletes, and I look away, feeling the frustration trying to best me.

‘But what I can tell you is that Orna is and always will be his weakness.’

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