Page 63

Chapter 63

Saelyn

I WAS SEVENTEEN AND LOVED TO DANCE

“ You pick one of these, and then you fit it in here like this.”

My room in the Fortress flashed, and I held onto the Blightress tightly.

Her frown deepened as she looked around the room, both of us no more than dim shadows in the back of it.

My past self snapped the tube for the cylindrical turner into place and continued, “ When it reaches a stop, you let go and listen!”

Thevin spun me around to the music. I had missed the joy on Thevin’s face the first time, too willing to ignore the possibility that he had fallen in love with me.

“ That did not take us back, ” the Blightress spat, but continued to watch what unfolded before us.

“ I will not take us back until you have seen what I need you to see. ”

“ I am channeling my power to you. I can end this without your permission. ”

“ Please ,” I begged, “ please watch my life with me. It’s the only thing I ask of you. We’ll return and you’ll win your war, but please know what you have done first. ”

“ Ask me,” Thevin said.

“ Ask you what?” I had questioned with a blush across my cheeks.

“ Ask me what I’m thinking.”

“ My dear friend, Thevin , what are you thinking about this very moment?”

“ How beautiful you are.”

Just as it had before, his answer struck me hard. This time, instead of fear for what I felt I could not risk, I was filled with fear of what the future held if I did not do this properly. I understood now who had spoken all those whispers of my name my entire life, and the time had come for me to use my power to convince the Blightress to help me reach the future the isle deserved to live.

She observed in silence.

Thevin and I argued.

He confessed what my smile did to him. What he knew brewed between us and what we could not deny.

He’d been right. All along he’d done the right thing to admit his love for me, and I’d just stood there, unwilling to push myself forward and take what I wanted.

“ You denied him, ” she started. “ You said you loved him years before this, so why not admit your feelings here? What risk do you speak of? ”

Thevin backed away, leaning against the door frame as the young woman I was just stood there, letting him go. “ I don’t know, Sae . The risk feels worth it to me.”

“ I was afraid of losing him. I feared he would tire of me and leave me. My life has been lived in fear of losing those I love. ” I gulped, watching myself stare after him, the tines of the music clicking at the song’s end. “ There’s more. Say my name. ”

“ Saelyn , ” she murmured, and we left my room, leaving my past self alone completely in a flash of white.