Page 101 of Enchanted Crown
I’m not alone. Malachi is right here. Against both our urges, we are headed to the war room to meet with Otis and Whit.
I turned back to the queen of Corsha. “Thank you. This has all been far more than I had hoped for in coming to Corsha. Quite honestly, I just wanted to find someone alive.”
“We are alive and well. Our Enchantment ensured that.” She turned back to Amory. “I also have a treaty for your queen. As I understand, those are quite the valuable pieces of parchment in times such as these.” She flashed us a grin. “And do not worry, the Corshan delegates did not let the teenager write it.”
I couldn’t help but smirk.
“So I will give you that to take with you when you return, as well as one more thing, should you be so inclined.”
“Which is?” I wanted to say no thank you, we’d handled everything else on our own, yet the swiftness of helping us deal with Silas made me willing to take whatever help she’d give.
“One of my own. Like I said, it helps to have nearness to the location in receiving the visions. Our reach can rarely span the entire realm, so I will be sending with you one of Corsha’s Enchanted to work alongside you as you finish taking care of things in Dra Skor. Someone with a tie to a person currently in Dra Skor. Thus, I know I do not have to be concerned for her safety.”
She gestured with a hand to a guard, and he moved to get something. Or rathersomeone, as a woman who looked our age entered the room. She had brown skin and dark hair, her brown eyes kind and bright.
“Hello,” she greeted excitedly. “My name is Avril. I am so glad you’re all finally here. I have waited for thi—” She cut off and looked like she was holding herself back somehow. “We will all be great friends.”
Dex muttered to me, “Do you think at some point this trip will ever stop getting weirder?”
The woman looked to him and smirked. “Does it help or hurt to tell you that we will get to know each otherquitewell?”
I wanted to laugh, pressing my lips together tightly to prevent it.
Dex rather than falling off his chair, leaned back and managed to get out, “Would you like to skip all that getting to know one another business then and skip to the good part?”
A slow smile crossed her face. “Trust me. If you’d seen what I have, you wouldn’t want that.”
I wasn’t sure I had ever seen Dex blush until this moment.
The queen was smiling, clearly enjoying the whole exchange. “As you can see, we all have much to celebrate. So eat. Sleep. And depart tomorrow with the help of Corsha. We will do all we can to ensure the rise of the brother kings. After years of turmoil, an era of healing and prosperity is upon us.”
CHAPTER 34
The snow crunched under our boots as we made our way back to the ship. Sure enough, a few inches of snow covered the ground. The wind had died down a few hours ago.
In the light of the following afternoon, Corsha’s Enchantment was still mindboggling to say the least. The more I thought on their power, the more questions I had. How did they know someone’s vision was true? How was it they had time enough to save Corsha from my father, but did not have the time to help Dra Skor or any of the rest of us? I supposed with so many possible futures and the overlapping of visions, they had to sift through them all and do what they thought best.
It was a lot to consider. I’d stick to palm magic. And wings.
We’d had breakfast and lunch with the young queen and a few of her trusted advisors. They had been kind and welcoming, but the lingering suspicion that they knew more than they were telling us was hard to get past.
It was Corsha. They just knew things.
Meanwhile Dex was avoiding Avril like she had a contagious disease.
She had a bag in hand as she readied to board the ship with us.
“We will keep you safe, Avril,” I told her as she walked near me. After the fact, I realized how foolish I likely sounded to her. “I realize you have seen parts of what will happen but thought you might need assurance.”
She gave me a tight smile. “I do know some possibilities, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t gaps in what I’ve seen. And it’s always in those gaps where we struggle. So yes, thank you. I’m nervous, but I’m ready. Your assurance is welcomed.”
My eyes went to Dex, already on the ship, speaking to the captain. “He will come around.”
She inhaled. “I know that, but again, it’s the gaps in what I have seen that I worry about. I thought it best to let him know from the very beginning what I knew rather than hold it over him.”
“He is not the type to like being the last to know something,” I agreed.
She laughed. “I have waited for him for years. Do you know how hard it is to know he’s out there? Know his name and where he is, yet have to wait it out?”
