Page 149 of Stormvein

“Then what do we do?”

“We need to search for more information. Like you suggested, we can question Lisandra and see if she knows more than she’s already shared.”

“Do you think she might know something about my name?”

“She witnessed his reaction, and she overheard him say it.”

There’s a soft tap at the door.

“That should be food, and hot water. I thought you might like to wash.” I cross the room to open the door. Three women come in, two carrying large buckets of steaming water, and the third a tray piled with food.

They place everything down, dipping their heads in deference, and back out of the room.

“There’s something else we need to discuss,” I say as Ellie investigates the food. “Your decision to intervene when Sereven’s crystal was tearing my shadows apart. You put yourself at significant risk, after I told you not to.”

She meets my gaze, and there’s no apology in her eyes, no regret for what she did. “I didn’t even think about it. I saw what Lisandra did, saw what that … thatthingwas doing and just … reacted.” Her eyes narrow, chin lifting. “I’m not going to apologize for it.”

“I’m not asking you to apologize, Mel’shira,” I say softly. “That intervention changed everything. When your power merged with mine against the crystal, it caused a reaction that Sereven clearly didn’t expect, and it scared him.” I reach out and touch her cheek. “You saved my life …again.”

“Why were you even that close to him? Youknowwhat that crystal can do.”

“I needed to test how far its influence reached, and whether what happened during the healing changed my vulnerability to it. And I couldn’t ignore the opportunity to remove Sereven for good.” The answer sounds inadequate even to me, a poor excuse for what was essentially a reckless gamble with my life.

“So you risked your life?”

“It was a calculated risk.”

“It was a stupid one.” She mutters the words beneath her breath, but I catch them anyway.

“Maybe so, but we learned that our powers combined can affect the crystal.” I reach for the pitcher provided with the food, and pour the warm liquid into a cup. “There’s nothing else we can do tonight about what we learned. Tomorrow, we’ll speak to Lisandra and see what information she might have. Why don’t you finish eating, then make use of the water before it cools?”

She nods reluctantly, and pushes to her feet. I watch as she takes one of the buckets into my bedchamber, and lets the door swing closed behind her.

Silence envelops me, broken only by the occasional snap from the hearth fire. My thoughts return to everything that’s happened since her unexpected arrival in this world.

The summoning spell that brought her here. The silver light that manifested when my shadows were torn apart. The way our powers combined against Sereven’s crystal. Her name—Elowen—on Sereven’s lips.

The prophecy’s words echo in my thoughts.

Two forces never meant to meet shall intertwine,

Their union defies the patterns of ages past.

It has to be talking about the connection between us. Shadow and silver light. Two powers never meant to converge.

And I find myself wondering which concerns me more—that the prophecy might be wrong, or that it might be right.

Chapter Thirty-Two

ELLIE

The sharpest betrayal comes from those who’ve learned your silences.

Love Songs of the Mountain Provinces

Sleep doesn’t come,no matter how long I lie there. The sheets twist around legs still aching from so many days in the saddle. I toss and turn in Sacha’s bed, too restless to settle, my mind unable to switch off. His revelation about the summoning spell loops through my head on endless repeat, each iteration stripping away another layer of what I thought I knew about this world, and my place in it.

It wasn’t chance that brought me here. It washim. His spell, cast years before we met, somehow reached across worlds and found me. Not random. Not by accident.Deliberately. And then Sereven, who I’d only glimpsed from a distance at River Crossing before Blackstone Ridge, had looked straight at me and said my name.