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forty-two

Carnaxa

“ T ell me what you know — right now.” Stomping into Thylas’ tent, I already know Anara will be here, her lack of clothing this morning showing her recent whereabouts. “And none of the cryptic talk you and apparently my mother and every other female around me likes to use.”

Anara jumps in surprise from the corner of the tent. She’s in the middle of braiding her hair, but at least she’s wearing clothes this time. Her shackles are no longer on her wrists and that is another topic I want to talk about. Having all my memories back, I recall the vow I made to myself. And I will keep that promise, to never be helpless again. I hold my mother’s journal between my fingers and I toss it on the bed. “I saw you — every time you were in my room — looking at this. What do you know?”

“Princess —” She stops walking towards me. “You woke up … Truthfully, this time.”

She finishes braiding her long dark hair as she smiles at me. When she finishes, she turns to the fire pit in the center of the room, letting flames shoot from her fingertips and igniting the wood there.

“You have the madness,” I state. It’s not a question, and she doesn’t deny it.

“Magic. I have magic.” She tilts her head in a birdlike manner. “And so do you, do you not?”

I can feel it vibrating through my veins as she speaks, like water flowing in a river. It’s not strong like I thought it would be, after witnessing outbursts of the madness, but it’s there.

“Daughter of prophecy,” she says with a bow, “it’s nice to officially meet you. You met Drāhēn??”

Our attention turns abruptly to someone bursting through the tent’s door. Thylas enters, with a furrowed brow. I turn to him quickly. “Thy.” He stops instantly.

He once glowed with happiness, but now seems sad and overwhelmed. I know it’s my fault — my fault for not remembering. No, not my fault because I couldn’t control what happened anymore than he could, but I still feel responsible that I didn’t trust him after everything we’ve been through.

I reach out to touch his face, but he steps away from me. I let my hand drop. “I remember, Thy.”

He leans his head out of the tent, murmuring to someone before stepping back in. His hands tremble at his side and his voice wavers as he tries to be strong. “What do you remember?”

“Everything.” I look up at him, blush heating my cheeks as I recall his warmth against my naked flesh.

“Someone’s going to get Ereon. He said he wanted to have a talk after the meeting, so he’ll be here soon.” He walks toward me and for a moment I think he’s going to walk around me, but then he stops inches away from me.

“ Noh?. ” He pulls me towards him, his arms encircling me tightly. I melt into his embrace, my arms instinctively wrapping around his waist, and my fingers gently caressing the faded scars beneath his tunic. His sage and sandalwood scent takes over all my senses as I let him pull me closer. My head is on his chest where I can hear his heartbeat that sounds like the tune of home, but it doesn’t beat to the same rhythm as mine.

“The neni ?” Crystal tears brim my eyes as I lean away from him and look up. “Why?”

He lightly moves the strands of blue from my face and kisses my forehead, whispering, “To be your safety — always for you.” He leans away from me before continuing, “Before we left for Shaston, I made an oath to your father. But after you were abducted — I broke that promise because I had to have you. I just wanted you to remember.” He lets his thumb wipe away the tear that falls down my cheek. “It worked. ”

I shake my head. “No, Thylas ... it has nothing to do with what you did.” I step away from his embrace, looking at Anara, who now twists the end of her braid in her fingers.

“When Ereon gets here, we are fixing this. All of us. Keeping secrets, arguing. It stops now.”

Ereon takes what feels like forever to arrive at Thylas’ tent, and the silence has been tense. Anara sits on the floor near the fire. Thylas is beside me on the bed, his fingers intertwined with mine. Ereon walks in with Siphonie and Rhenor. He makes a beeline straight to me, his gaze scanning down, noticing mine and Thylas’ hands linked.

“ Ryehro ” — he smiles at me — “are you ... better?”

I can’t help but smile at the nickname he’s given me, and what it truly means. Everything that has happened means so much more now that I can remember everything. “I remember all of it.” I stand up.

Siphonie comes up to me and pulls me into a hug and whispers into my ear, “I always knew you would. I love you.”

“I love you,” I tell her back, and then I look to Rhenor. “Lose the scowl — he knows you’re mad, but there are other things we need to figure out.”

Rhenor rolls his eyes, a feature I know must have come from Siphonie. “I know.” He looks at Thylas. “You are still an idiot, but I know you did what you thought you had to.”

Anara stands up, brushing off the back of her beige leathers and looks at me. “It was you that caused the tremors, wasn’t it? Whatever caused the rings to regain their light and for your memories to come back — it’s all connected.”

Ereon’s eyes flicker up to her, burning with an intensity that leaves me uncertain whether it’s anger or desire. But he speaks with ice in his words, “Your shackles. How are they off? I tried for years to get them off.”

“My cuff is off too.” Thylas pulls up the sleeve of the tunic he wears. He raises our hands that are still connected and lifts up the sleeve of my cloak. “ Riph shur .”

His spoken words trigger the release of the black bracelet, it falls, descending to the floor with a subtle clink . My magic swirls within me, unleashed with an even greater force as if it’s ready to burst. I raise my fingers to my face, allowing the water to pass through them.

“How?” I ask.

Thylas shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know ... I just wanted them off because —” His eyes quickly dart to Anara’s. “Doesn’t matter, the words just came to me.”

“That’s not possible.” Ereon grabs my wrist from Thylas’ grasp. “The cuffs are only able to be removed by my father, or when you leave Shaston.”

“Because he can’t control the magic outside of Shaston.” Anara approaches us, her voice firm as she declares, “I’ll tell you what I know.”