Page 33 of Iris of the Crowned Flame

“Where is the temple?” I whispered, in awe of what I could already see.

The brown-eyed priestess walked to the center of the circle as she explained, “The Oracles don’t need a building to accomplish our goals. This space is for understanding our magic, which flows from the earth and returns to it after. We use this space to ground ourselves, become one with the nature that provides for us, and open our hearts to the source of our gifts.”

The second priestess, whose eyes were pale blue, almost a perfect match to Amyra’s, followed her. They sat on the ground, inside the circle of stones, closed their eyes, and started a chant. After a few moments, water rose from the ground, swirling around them like a ribbon. It flowed through and around them for a moment, then shifted and aimed for me. Before I could even react, the water swirled around me in the air, like a small stream suddenly formed around me, unable or unwilling to follow the laws of nature. I could feel it tugging, though it never touched. The water ribbon pulled me towards the priestesses and returned to the ground once I was standing next to them. Instead of just falling to the earth, the stream left the area we were in, flowing along the ground to make a small pool on the other side of the clearing.

The brown-eyed priestess wordlessly invited me to sit. I quietly mimic their position, touching each of my knees to one of theirs, like how they were touching each other. She startedinstructing me as soon as I was sitting, guiding me to a meditative state.

We spent hours trying to find different ways for me to use this magic I’m supposed to have. They had me sit, stand, lay down, and move in every way they could imagine. Every so often, we returned to meditation. Without these meditation breaks, I was certain I would have lost my mind. I couldn’t seem to harness this magic to save my soul, let alone this world they thought I was going to save. I started to wonder if Spencer should be marrying a different queen-to-be.

During one of these attempts to move the soil, I gave up and sat down in frustration. I turned to the brown-eyed priestess, who I’ve learned was called Zoya, and just poured out all my questions. “What is wrong with Egan? How do you know my castle so well? What if I never show magic? Maybe I’m not this Queen of prophecy. What is ‘a river of fire’?”

Both Priestesses giggled. Zoya turned to the blue-eyed woman, Lettie, and said, “You were right. She didn’t make it to lunch.”

Did they take bets on me? When did they even have time to do that? My skin burned with the anger I felt welling up inside me. Before I could go off on them, Zoya answered.

“The other priestesses know more about Egan. All I know is that he’s an abomination and shouldn’t be able to do what he did. As for your castle, the Oracles of the Gelid were once a critical part of the ruling of this kingdom. We keep substantial records, and it only took a bit of studying to get familiar with it. A river of fire is just that… rock melted and burning, flowing downhill like a river. As for if you’ll show magic, well, you will. I can feel it inside you when you try. We just haven’t figured out how to connect your will to it.”

She smiled at me, smug that she could answer my concerns so easily.

I flushed with embarrassment. I focused on them to steer attention away from me. “How did you first use your powers?”

Lettie answered first. “I was cooking at home for my family,and the pot of water I was boiling bubbled over. I panicked about the fire being put out, and the surge of adrenaline allowed me to pull the water away from the pot until I could reach the pot and pull it off the flame.”

Zoya paused a moment before answering. “I also accessed it in a moment of panic. There was a fire coming straight for our home, from a neighbor’s building. I knew my baby sister was in the room closest to the fire and none of us could reach her before the flames did. I created a wall of dirt out of instinct, to keep the flames from licking the house.”

Lettie’s eyes lit up. “We need to make you panic. How can we do that?”

I groaned. “I don’t want to feel panic. Surely there’s another way. What if it’s just any heightened emotion?”

Zoya smiled. “Should we bring your girlfriend out here with us? Maybe she can cause some heightened emotions.”

Her eyebrow raised. I flushed with embarrassment again.

“I’m sure we can find something respectable to do that wouldn’t risk my role as future Queen. The men on the Council would strip me of my titles and exile me if they knew of her.”

“Ohhhhhh,” Lettie groaned. “So that’s why you’re pretending to marry Spencer?”

“I haven’t announced a betrothal to anyone.”

Zoya rolled her eyes. “Are you telling me you don’t intend to tell Elthas that Spencer is your choice?”

She pursed her lips; her expression reminded me of Mother’s when she knew I was feeding her lies.

“I didn’t say that. I just don’t need people knowing what’s going on right now. Egan is also a candidate, and I want to avoid fueling his anger with rumors that he won’t be chosen.”

“He truly scares you?” Lettie softly asked.

“I have seen angry men in my life, but something about that night, that sound he made, it wasn’t human. I don’t know what it was, but that wasn’t human.” Lost in thought about the evening, I stared into the distance.

When my thoughts returned to me, I noticed that bothZoya and Lettie were watching my face with concern in their eyes. I shook things off and then tried to refocus the discussion on magic. “OK, so what can I try to do to get this magic to connect with me?”

Zoya shook her head. “You were getting there. You need to talk to us more about Egan and that night. Tell us what you were worried about that night.”

I stared at her, waiting for her to tell me she was kidding, anything.

When nothing came, I answered. “The room was so small. He was directly across from me at that table, and so many of my loved ones were there too. Amyra, Ivy, Spencer… I was so worried for all of them.”

“OK, good, lean on those feelings. They’re working. Tell us more.”

---