She tilts her head, studying me. “You seek answers, do you not?”
“What kind of answers?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.
The Seer leans closer and lowers her voice. “Answers about your true purpose.”
My heart races at the mention of purpose. “What do you mean?”
“You must leave Hector,” she says, her words like an icy dagger against my chest.
Leave Hector?
Leave him?
Has she gone entirely mad?
First, she tells him to marry me. Now, she’s telling me to leave him.
“Do you want me to return to Kyanite land?” The trembling in my voice betrays the part of me that likes the life I am building with Hector.
The Seer nods. “Every day you stay here weakens you. But you already know that.” A knowing look shines in her eyes. “Don’t you?”
“Yes.” It would be pointless to argue with her when she’s speaking the truth.
She raises her hand to the spot against her surcoat, where a necklace would typically be and speaks in a trance-like voice. “I see a sun rising over Tarrobane that turns as dark as night. Sacred roots drinking blood. A serpent swallowing a tree.”
My breath catches as each one of those words stamp themselves into my mind, as though she etched them there as she spoke.
Her gaze locks on mine. “You must find the tree that grows in reverse. Then, you will understand your sacred branches.”
“What does any of that mean?”
“You need to return to your Kyanite roots.”
I reach for my necklace and squeeze the kyanite stone between my fingers—feeling that iciness against my skin. “It doesn’t work anymore. My Kyanite magic.”
Understanding and sympathy linger in her eyes. “I know.”
“Do you know how I can mend it? Well, other than going to the pool of Zalhandara?”
“There is no other way. But...” she offers a bright smile, “…there is a way to use light even in darkness.”
“How?”
“If you visit the reversed tree, you will understand.” Again, she touches her chest, as if reaching for a necklace. “But you will not understand your Bloodstone or Kyanite magic unless you listen to me.” She steps closer and drops her voice to a whisper. “Return to your father. He holds the answers you seek about your mother. Then, look for the one who brings life to the flowers. She will guide you.”
“Can I not do those things here? With Hector?” Over the last few days, as I drew closer to him, I started to think about a future.
Now…
The Seer is trying to take it all away.
Sunlight skims her pale skin as she steps closer to me. “You must go in reverse, and he must go forward. It’s the only way.”
“Shouldn’t Hector know about this?” My chest aches as I think of keeping secrets from him.
“No.” She grips my arm, almost to the point of pain, as her bright eyes fill with unshakeable conviction. “He would stop you if he knew. You must not tell him, or he will never follow his path. His true purpose.”
“I don’t understand.”
