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“So, how have you been feeling?” Kiera asked in a hushed voice to keep the words between us.

It was the first time I had really thought about my health since leaving the healer’s wing this morning, and it hit me then that I was well. More than any kind of ‘well’ I had ever felt. I hadn’t had weakness, attacks, or any kind of symptom whatsoever since I woke here after the fire.

"I, um…I haven’t ever felt so well,” I told her, unsure of what that could mean. The day had been such a whirlwind, but living it without my usual weakness and ailments felt like a different life. After such an attack in my village, I’d be weak and bed ridden for days. Even being awake this late would have been beyond me. The difference resonated deeply. I didn’t know how to feel about it, or if it made Kiera right about the herbs.

Kiera nodded, looking contemplative, as if she had expected the answer.

“Maybe your treatment has had a lasting effect and delayed my regular attacks from returning?” I suggested, looking for reasons.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Kiera said carefully. She stopped walking and turned to me while the others carried on ahead of us. “Zaria, I think it’s possible they were poisoning you.”

I stared at her in shock.

“I tested your blood when you were first brought in, and you had concentrated levels of Dragon’s Bane—our sacred herb, as you called it—in your system. That’s not possible from inhaling the smoke. It had to have been ingested.”

I couldn’t form words. Who would do such a thing? And why?

“The smoke from the fire could certainly have brought on an breathing attack, but given how you have described your ongoing condition, I have reason to suspect you were being dosed with Dragon’s Bane daily as a way to cut you off from the magic in the rest of the kingdoms.”

I sucked in a breath. “But…”

“I have looked into your list of symptoms, the duration of your condition, and nothing else fits. Plus the fact you were living at a Dragon’s Bane growing site. It makes sense. They probably spiked your evening meal, which explains why you were always worst at night, and how you had better periods in the middle of the day when the dose was likely wearing off from the night before. And think about it: you have had no attacks or weakness since you got here despite a bad dose of it. I believe it’s because the poisoning has stopped.”

Kiera placed a hand on my shoulder in comfort. “Listen, I know it’s a lot to take in, and I’m here for you. If you need to talk through any of this”—she gestured around us—“I’m here. Come find me any time, night or day… or you can talk to Nyx or Kol.”

I scoffed at that. Kol was someone I thought I could count on, but Nyx? Unlikely.

“What are you two doing?” one of the group shouted from yards away.

We didn’t respond—I couldn’t even if I had wanted to—but we took up our walk and followed them once more.

Kiera let me digest for a few moments, probably expecting a barrage of questions. But right now, I only had one.

“Why?”

I didn’t really expect her to know. I just had to put the question out there.

“Well, they were living without magic—raising children to never know it existed—so they had to find a way to block yours. When it emerges, it would be too much power to cover or hide. Plus, they had to mute your call to your flyer or he would have found you years ago, no matter where you were in the kingdoms.”

I recognized the stairs we took and knew they led to my corridor. I had so many questions, but I had no more time to ask them tonight as we arrived at my door. The whole group had delivered me safely back on their way to their own chambers, and I was about to be left alone with nothing but my own thoughts and hundreds of unformed questions.

Kiera obviously recognized this. “I’m sorry to just dump that on you out of the blue. Come and see me when you have time between lessons. We can talk it over properly.”

I nodded, dazedly accepting the goodnight hugs of my new self-proclaimed friends.

One thing I was sure of as I let myself into my chambers: I was not sleeping tonight.

FIFTEEN

ZARIA

Ilaid awake most of the night, tossing around what Kiera had said. I’d had difficulty believing a lot of what I had learned since arriving here, but I had to admit, very little of what had revealed itself to me seemed impossible.

I could even believe Kiera’s theory. But where did that leave me, exactly?

When there was a knock on my door, I was surprised to find Maxen, the extra muscular dragon I met last night. He was all smiles, and it set me at ease.

“I’m on my way to get chow, and I promised Kol I would take you to breakfast and then show you where to go for magic wielding afterward.”