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“Hopefully soon that will no longer be an issue,” Dex added, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

Elowyn reappeared. Tessa wasn’t even sure where she’d gone and what she’d been doing, but she held a cup of tea in her hand. Extending it to her, she said, “All you need to do is drink, Tessalyn.”

Tessa took the cup, wrapping her hands around it. The cup itself was hot, but her magic flared, providing a barrier.

“That’s it?” she asked, looking down at the liquid. Scents of orange and cinnamon and an underlying sweetness. Her gaze snapped to the Achaz Lord. “This is the same tea you gave me when I arrived here. The tea I’ve been drinking every night.”

“So it is,” he agreed.

“What’s in it? And what is the purpose of this?” she asked, lifting her hand with the capped IV catheter.

“Only a precaution. Drink, Tessie,” Dex interrupted, looking pointedly at the cup. It was more than a hint of irritation. Now it was flat out annoyance, and something inside her snapped at the utter dismissiveness of his words.

The teacup in her hand shattered, shards flying. Energy crackled before a stream of light crashed into Dex’s chest, shoving him back. His eyes went wide before they flashed to somethingangry. But that was fine. She was just as furious.

“I get to ask questions, Dexter,” she seethed, pushing to her feet and stalking towards him. She didn’t even know what she was doing. Only that energy was coiling in her hand before it was unfurling into a whip of raw lightning. Light pooled in her other hand, white embers dancing among it. She could feel the frenzy of her magic pushing her to take more.

“She’s right,” Rordan said calmly, and Tessa’s gaze whipped to him. Dysani was before him, a dagger of ice in her hand,prepared to protect her Master. Elowyn was at his side, but she didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. “What have I said from the beginning? This is for you more than it is for us. You deserve to know what you are capable of. Where you come from. Who you are meant to be.”

Her eyes narrowed, her power creeping towards him now. Dysani tensed, another ice dagger appearing in her other hand.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Rordan continued. “I was beginning to fear it wouldn’t come.”

“What moment?” Tessa asked, her voice hard and ringing with the power she could feel still building.

“The moment when you realized you were meant totake,” Rordan said. “You want answers? The tea you’ve been drinking is more than tea. There is an elixir in it. One that was preparing you to find those answers you seek.”

Tessa looked at the floor, at the pieces of shattered glass she hadn’t even realized she was stepping on with her bare feet.

Just like in a wine cellar when she hadn’t realized there was glass in her skin.

“Fetch more, will you, Elowyn?”

The priestess moved to a table filled with items Tessa hadn’t noticed before.

“I do not wish to drink it,” Tessa said.

“Tessa, it will—” Dex started, but Rordan lifted a hand to silence him.

“You do not have to, Tessa,” the Achaz Lord said.

“I…don’t?” she asked, her magic faltering in confusion.

“Of course not,” he answered. “If you do not wish to face those answers just yet, that is perfectly understandable. Truth is tricky business.”

Her brow furrowed. “There should be nothing tricky about truth. It is facts.”

“Ah, but facing truths? That is where the difficulty lies. And deciding what to do with those truths? That is the greatest burden of all, isn’t it?” the Lord said, his power slowly surrounding hers once more. “That is what keeps so many from seeking truth. There are choices that come with learning it.”

“Choices?” Tessa repeated.

“What will you do with the information you learn?” Rordan asked. “Will you embrace it? Or fight it? And at what cost?”

“I don’t…”

She didn’t get choices. She didn’t even know how to make them. Someone had always made them for her. Mother Cordelia. A priestess. Dex. Theon.

“Are you saying you are going to let me decide?” Tessa finally asked.