“Tell us about the vision, my darling niece,” Queen Signe said, in that cool and graceful tone of hers that Elora had come to fear. “That must be why you’ve summoned us.”
Perhapsthatwas the source of the queen’s nearly imperceptible irritation; she didn’t like that Kestrel had been the one to call them to court. The queen was not one for sharing power.
Kestrel, likely oblivious to it, continued toeing the line of danger.
“It is. It seemed important. In the vision, I was in the Hollows—well, the three of us were.” She gestured to herself, the queen, and then—to Elora’s surprise—to her as well. “There were black feathers falling down from the sky—all over. Hundreds of them. Princess Elora was gathering them up in her arms…”
Kestrel’s words faded as Elora’s heart became a solid stone in her chest.
Visions could mean anything. It was foolish to attempt to interpret them. But feathers were of great importance to the Ashen, for before they were slain, their wings had been eviscerated from their backs. Even after death, their rebirths did not regenerate them. And yet, they still felt the absence of them, despite forgetting the majority of their lives before their re-awakenings, most of the Ashen still grieved the gruesomescars on their shoulders where their glorious wings had once been.
The feathers in Kestrel’s vision, what if they were showing her the way her people could reclaim their wings?
She shook the impossible hope from her mind, if only to glean more details from Kestrel’s recounting.
“That’s when you, my queen, saw a blue hue in a lake beside us. You waded into the depths, following the light until you were standing right above it. And when you gathered it into your arms, I saw—you were—” Kestrel struggled to put words to what she had seen, leaving the queen hanging on the edge of her throne.
“What happened to me? Spit it out!”
Flinching at the hostility she likely hadn’t yet seen from the queen, Kestrel spluttered, “It changed you. It was like it sucked the cursed parts out of you, and only your pure former self remained.”
Hope hollowed Elora out like a dark and ominous tunnel. Hope was dangerous. It meant the possibility for disappointment. For grief. And yet it consumed her and everyone else in the throne room all the same.
If this was true, if Kestrel had really foreseen the answer to the curse that plagued the kingdoms, then this changed everything. It would mean they could save everyone. All the monarchs. Unfortunately, it would mean curing King Everard. But it would also mean curing Aethic. Her people and the pain they had endured these past decades, whatever it may have been, it could end. They could be at peace. All the kingdoms could be.
And their wings—maybe they would be restored somehow as well by the power possessed within this blue light? Or maybe they would learn how to reclaim them—Elora wasn’t sure. Visions were often difficult to interpret. But this wasthe closest her people had ever come to having that answer, and for that, she was grateful.
“Is what you speak the truth?” The queen spoke deliberately, each word swift and lethal.
“Yes,” answered Kestrel. “I know magic and the curse and all of this is new to me, but I have never understood something more clearly than I did during that vision. We are meant to go into the Hollows. It is where we’ll find the cure, and how we’ll save the kingdoms.”
Slowly, Queen Signe slid back into her chair. She tapped her long nails, thinking, making them all wait. “If there is one thing I’ve come to understand, it’s that one must always heed a seer’s visions.”
Kestrel’s eyes illuminated. “So we’ll go? Now?”
The queen let out a haughty laugh. “Not so hastily. I will consult with our scholars first. And, Efrem, I will need you to prepare our men; we can’t go wandering into the Hollows unarmed.”
“Of course, my queen,” said Efrem emphatically, causing Micah to roll his eyes. Elora wasn’t sure anyone but her saw, which was probably for the best.
“We’ll set out after lunch,” the queen said. “That should give everyone a few hours to prepare, both mentally and physically for what lies ahead.” She raised her hand to excuse everyone, but Kestrel interjected.
“Queen Signe?”
“Hmm?”
“There was one more detail in the vision. Something that I think was too specific to be ignored.”
The queen twirled her fingers in the air. “Well then, go on. Tell us.”
Kestrel swallowed hard, and Elora had never seen her look more nervous.
“It’s about Princess Elora. In my vision, she wasn’t wearing her hailstone chains. She was unbound.”
The queen became so unnaturally still that Elora felt herself inching away on instinct.
But Kestrel continued. “I know her touch is lethal to us all, but if she was unchained in the vision, then?—”
“Then she shall be unchained for the real thing.”
