Page 103 of Knight's End
Posey’s petals fluttered and, for a moment, I was reminded of Dini. "My heart must remain alive. In order for me to access my magic it has to be safe and protected. And like any heart, it still needs blood to live and function. If I were to access my powers and lose my heart, I'd want to find a trustworthy host."
I stared up at Declan. “Didn’t Queen Shenna say she found the sea sprite ripping open her brother’s chest?”
He nodded. “She said he was a sailor before he met your mother.”
I started to rock on the ocean floor, scared and horrified. But I nodded. We were on the right track then. Sea sprites and flower sprites couldn’t be that different.
Ryan ducked as a shark careened through our air tunnel. It might have crushed us if the undead hadn’t sent a harpoon on a rope flying at us. The spear gutted the fish, raining down blood on our heads as an entire line of troops dragged the jagged-toothed monster back into the water.
I stared at my knights for a moment. And then I looked back at Posey.
As much as I feared her answers, I had to know. We couldn’t stay down here much longer. Unlike the undead, we weren’t trained to battle underwater.
I took a deep, shuddering breath before I asked my final question. “What happens if you and your heart’s host are separated?”
Posey shrugged, nonplussed, unaware of how all of us breathlessly awaited her answer. “Well, now, there’s the rub, isn’t it? You have to find a trustworthy host. The irony of this shite price is that you can’t have your heart, but it can’t be too far away, either.”
“Why?”
“Why does magic have any price at all?” Posey shrugged.
“But what happens if the host is too far away?”
“Did you rip your ears off, too?” she asked. “You can’t use your magic.”
I felt like I'd been swept away by one of the undertows. I felt like I was the seawall around Sedara, battered by the tsunami and cracking in half. I was horrified.
I turned to Declan. “What if you’d tried to give your heart to a prince, but found out he was an unworthy host?” I whispered.
Declan pressed his lips together and his eyes filled with tears as he said, “Then you’d search for another host, one who could never betray you.”
The awful truth pulled me down like an anchor.
Declan and I clasped hands.
“Excuse me,” Blue interjected. “I can see you all are having a moment. But care to clue us newbies in?”
Declan and I stood, still facing one another.
“Who’s the one person in the world that will never betray you?” I asked. “Whose loyalty is utter, complete, undisputed?”
“No one,” Blue said. “In my house, not a single, sarding person.”
I turned and looked at Blue as tears blurred my vision. “Your child.”
Shocked silence met my answer.
“The sea witch was controlled because my mother stole Avia. And Avia has the sea witch’s heart.”
