Page 25 of Knightfall
“Of course not,” Avia studied her nails, preening, dragging out the moment.
“What then, oh wise and most gorgeous sister?”
“The pet name is dead,” Avia pointed a finger seriously at me.
“Absolutely,” I half-lied. We’d see how genius her solution was before I killed the name off entirely.
“I had Quinn wait in here and made Connor go to the next room, behind the wall. Then I sent Quinn away. I told him they’d need to take shifts a room over while you recovered.”
“I could kiss you right now. I didn’t know what I was going to do … how’d you explain what happened?” As one of the few people in the world who knew the price of my magic, she’d been put under the geas of secrecy too. My mother had even placed the geas on my fathers. No one could reveal my vulnerabilities.
Avia shrugged. “I didn’t have to say anything. Ryan made assumptions. Thought you’d scraped against one of the weapons. Or … something about a dented tankard?”
“I smashed him with one, so I guess—”
“Long as they don’t know the truth …”
I leaned back against the headboard. “I wish they did. For their own sakes. I know why—”
“After what happened to your dad, mother’s protective,” Avia kicked her feet onto the covers, smacking my thigh in the process.
I sighed.
Avia and I spent a long moment, both staring at the flames in her fireplace, both of us trying not to remember what had happened to my biological father.
“Why’d you leave?” she finally asked.
“To find a cure.”
She turned, and her eyes met mine. Hers were wet with tears, her lashes clumped together. She must not have been repressing the memories quite as well as I had. “I miss our dad, Lewart.”
“Me too.”
“He always snuck up on me in the hallway. Did you know that? He’d always jump out and scare me. To keep me on my toes.”
I laughed a little. “No, I must have been with the tutors when he did that.”
“He was wonderful.”
“He was.”
“I wish he’d found a cure. A way to stop this.”
“Me too.” I swallowed the lump in my throat at that selfish thought. He’d tried. Once he’d known I had the same powers he did, he’d tried.
“Did you find a cure? Is that why you’re back?”
Avia looked so young and vulnerable in that moment, with her tears and her braids and her hope-filled expression. I held out my arms and she scurried into bed beside me. She left the sheet between us but tugged the comforter over herself and snuggled into my arms. I was brought back to childhood. To the many nights she’d fallen asleep in my bed claiming she had a story to tell me, or that she’d seen a shadow monster in her room. She was only sixteen, still just a child. I hugged her tighter and stroked her hair.
“I wish I’d found a cure, sweet girl. I wish. The wizard I hunted is apparently as mythical as the dragons are now.” I planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
The sheets became damp. Avia had started to cry again.
“Does that mean … I’m still going to have to become queen?” she whispered.
Her broken tone cracked my heart. I didn’t want to answer. But I’d never lied to my sister. Not about anything serious. I couldn’t lie. But I could answer in a way that was more comforting. Less intimidating. “I’ve gotten better at controlling my power.”
“But today—”
