Page 70 of Of Serpents and Ruins
That, at least, was something I was good at. Steadfast and consistent. And I could hold on even if I couldn't see.
Four days passed.
Kine rode out and returned with word that Brandt had indeed survived and been returned to Castle Serpentfire without any serious injury. My spirit and body alike yearned to return to Brandt. Everything ached in his absence, but at least with this much distance, the horrible weight and pressure to run to him had not returned. Just a deep unyielding longing.
I spent time practicing my forms, working with Auntie Runa on instincts, sketching my thoughts and feelings, and riding with Buttercup. Each day at some point between late afternoon and midnight, an earthquake rocked the land. No more doubleearthquakes though. The dark cracks spread a little farther and deeper each day, widening at their bases and spreading out their tendrils as the curse marched forward. Elias remained far quieter, his expression dark and downcast.
On the fifth day, I took Buttercup out early, when the sunlight glowed through the mist. Old trails and paths had become familiar once more, along with her favorite patches of clover and the locations of star leaf bushes. She ate enough that anyone else might be fooled into thinking she wouldn’t want breakfast, but that was all just a snack. Once I brought her back, I fed her and helped Auntie Runa with the others while discussing more seer methods.
Being a seer—at least a seer who had lost her memory and needed to recover it—was like being told to just feel again and figure it out from there. At least shifting had specifics. Being a seer was like sorting beads in the dark and then drawing what you thought you saw.
I made my way back down into the Scrying Chamber to work on forms again. No more than an hour later, footsteps pounded down the staircase.
"Stella!" Kine shouted.
That was odd. He rarely called me by my given name.
I set my hands on my waist, tossing my blue hair back over my shoulders. My feet settled into the grey-white sand. "What?"
He grabbed me by the shoulders as Hord followed him down. Before I could acknowledge Hord’s presence or that oddness, Kine grinned and gave me a small shake. "They’ve figured out how to stop the Gola Resh. The scholars have a solution!"
STELLA
My eyes widened, and I nearly collapsed with relief. They had found a solution?
I didn't even remember saying anything. The next thing I knew I was running up the curved stone stairs, gripping the railing to drag myself up faster.
I burst into the main room where Auntie Runa sat sketching with her feet in the water and the manatees clustered near her. "Auntie Runa! They found a solution. We’re going to break the curse."
Auntie Runa looked up from her sketch pad, her fingers smudged with charcoal smudges. She lowered the stick to the page. "What’s this?" One of the sprigs of rosemary woven into her hair drooped over her ear.
"They’ve found a solution. Brandt’s sages and scholars. They know how to stop the Gola Resh. We’re going to be free!"
Auntie Runa glanced behind me at Hord and Kine. Elias looked up from the back corner of the room where he sat beneath a flowering ivy, working on his own sketches.
"You know how to stop the Gola Resh?" She didn’t sound as excited as I thought she would.
Hord stepped forward. He gave a polite bow. "Yes, Master of Sight. They have all but finalized it. The king wishes Stella to join them at the council where they will lay out the plan. There are a few minor details that must be managed, and they will go more swiftly if Stella is there."
Auntie Runa set her book and the charcoal aside. With practiced grace, she rose to her feet, water dripping onto the stone tiles as her skirt clung to her calves. "This is not wise. It is unsafe. She should not go. Not unless it's absolutely necessary."
I drew back as if I’d been slapped. "What?" How could she say that? "Auntie, we have a chance—"
"It is dangerous. I haven’t had a vision or seen something regarding this, but this is tempting fate. The kind of curse that works against your mate bond is perilous to both of you. If they have the solution, surely they do not need you there. Let them find this solution, implement it, and then you two can see one another. This smells like a trap."
Hord frowned. "The king has asked for her presence. He wants her to be informed, and she will be necessary."
One of Auntie Runa’s thick white eyebrows cocked as if to imply she didn’t care what the king asked for.
Kine sighed, threading his fingers and resting them on the top of his head. "Auntie Runa, it will be safe. They have the solution, but they need Stella's help to finalize this plan. That much was made clear. It will go faster if she is present. We don't have much time."
Concern and something like anger flashed in Auntie Runa's eyes, cutting paths over her wrinkled brow and along her jaw. "Really? He wants to see her just as much as she wants to see him. You two are playing into the curse. Mark my words, the Gola Resh will do something. You cannot resist one another forever if you are together, and if you come together before thecurse is removed, it will only make matters worse for both of you!" She shook her finger.
"I agree. Even if it isn't a trap, the Gola Reshwilldo something," Elias said from the far wall.
It was the first time he'd said more than three words at a time since his altercation with Auntie Runa. He set aside his drawing materials and strode toward us, his dark-blue robes swishing with the movement. A small coral snake coiled around his neck like a necklace. "This feels dangerous. I will do all in my power to protect Stella, but…Brandt is a threat to her. Even if he does not intend to be. The curse draws them together and traps her there until he can resist no longer and tries to murder her."
"We guarantee that the queen will be looked after." Hord remained beside Kine, arms crossed and voice strong. His hair glistened in the soft golden light. "My guard will protect her with their lives, and the king's cycle was concluding as I left. We have hours before it returns."
