Page 46 of Of Serpents and Ruins
Soon, I drifted to sleep.
I stoodin a crystal grotto with magnificent towers of amethyst and all kinds of quartz. The very ceiling dripped with them as if they were icicles, and the air smelled crisp and rich with life. A hazy dread filled me. The waters shimmered. Their reflections danced on the walls of the cavern. And I…I waited.
Waited with my heart thundering in my rib cage and dread pooling in my belly and coiling up around my heart.
Brandt gathered me into his arms. He held me close, his arms binding me so tight I could scarcely breathe.
I clung to him, leaning up on my toes. "Brandt."
"Stella." He cupped my face between his hands and pressed his forehead to mine. A long, ragged moment followed as he gripped me tight.
I struggled to find what to say, but emotion choked me. There was no easy way to say this: I had to die. The words were like poison in my mouth. The words were like poison in my mouth.
Before I could speak, he nuzzled me. His soft lips pressed against mine. "I'm so angry with you. I'm furious," he said hoarsely. "I can't believe you agreed to—"
"Please," I whispered. Tears streamed down my face. "This is the solution."
He scoffed. "You expect me to just accept this? That you and seven other women have to go and die at the roots of some tree to save the entirety of Terrea? Not just one nation or kingdom. The entire world." His voice broke at the end, as if pleading for me to say that there wasn’t yet another thing that wanted to destroy me.
I curled my fingers along his cheek and chin. "It’s true. And Gola Resh won't matter if the entire world is destroyed, and perhaps with this, you won't have to…" My fingers dropped to the charm at his neck. The stone glowed yellow-orange, ruddier than when it was dangerous. A knot formed in my throat. Time was moving too quickly.
He grasped my hand in his large one, scarred fingers holding mine together as he brought them to his lips. One at a time, he kissed them. "I swore I'd protect you." His voice was barely audible. "I swore I'd lay down my life for you."
"That's why she did it. To make us live her pain." Tears streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision. I struggled tohold back more sobs, ducking my head. "But this way…this way you won't have to be the one who kills me. It may satisfy her curse too. At least it will stop it if we complete a binding ceremony beforehand."
He pressed his forehead to mine and seized me. Our bodies pressed flush against one another. Bergamot, smoke, leather, and spice filled my lungs as I clung to him.
Tears glistened in his eyes. "It's wrong. All of this. You are my heart, my love, my queen."
"This will work," I responded. "Auntie Runa saw it in a vision, and I felt it in my soul. This will slow the curse. Not stop it completely."
"There has to be something else. You haven't even gotten your tattoos yet. This can't be finished before that. There has to be something else."
"There isn't." I slid my hand up along his cheek. The squared muscles of his jaw pressed against my palm. The dread pulsed stronger. "This only ends in death, Brandt. I feel that too."
"It cannot. I won't let it." He gritted his teeth and hugged me closer. "I'd drag you back and lock you up in the dungeon if it would keep you safe. I'd chain you up—"
"What a pair we'd be. Both of us chained?" I tangled my fingers in his hair, tugging on the curly coils and then on the straightened waves. "It's unfair, I know, but this is better. This way doesn't end in flames."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Brandt demanded roughly. He pulled back, his dark-red eyes wild. "What does that mean, Stella? What did you see?"
I bit my lip as I stared up at him. It was all I could do to hold back the sobs. "Brandt, if you don't let me go…if I am here at the end of this curse and this curse is fulfilled, you have no idea how horrible it will be. I saw—"
I jolted awake, cold sweat drenching my body. Gasping for breath, I sat there staring at the stone tile wall. My fingers clutched at my hair. "What?" I rasped, my tongue heavy and my throat parched. "What did I see?"
STELLA
The dream haunted my thoughts, but no matter how hard I tried to remember the last part, it did not come to me. Only a terrible sense of dread.
There had been a reason Brandt told me not to come back. Other bits of that memory returned to me. Most especially the way Brandt told me he knew this wouldn’t be the end. How he had held me so tight and made me swear that if I found a way to come back to life, I couldn’t return until he had figured out some way to end this curse.
My insides churned. That hadn’t been a promise I was able to keep.
Here I was now, present but without all my memories and without any knowledge of how to stop either of the curses that plagued us. And apparently the Gola Resh, our arch nemesis, had assumed an entirely noncorporeal form which was going to make her significantly harder to defeat.
When I came out of my room, Elias was already working on breakfast while Kine fed the animals. I checked in on Auntie Runa and changed the water in the vase before going out to help Kine. Buttercup provided commentary on her breakfast, nudging me and demanding extra alfalfa.
Kine, Elias, and I ate our breakfast in near silence. The heavy focus of the previous night remained. As soon as the dishes were cleared away and the food put up, Kine took me back down to the Scrying Chamber. More shapes and forms.
