“You are all of those things, Annora, but all you see are your imperfections.” She reaches out and touches my cheek. I think about jerking away, but something about the way she’s looking at me makes me allow it. “I could take the scars away, but true strength comes from learning to live with them. To carry them with pride and dignity. Only when you embrace your scars will you be able to see yourself the way I see you.”
Is it wrong to hide them?
I don’t think so. Especially if it keeps people from gawking at me.
“What else would you like to know?” she asks after a moment.
“What happened to Lyra?”
“She contracted the sweating sickness when she was in Sharhavva. She died the next day.”
That quickly?
Poor Lyra.
“Why did you bind my soul with hers? Why not someone else?”
“Her mother came to me after Lyra died and begged me to cast a spell that would make some part of her daughter survive. I did. Just not the spell she expected.” Mazaline pauses for a moment. “I think you know why I chose her. To give you her powerful magic, so you could unite our people.”
Empathy wells up in my chest for Lyra. She didn’t deserve to die so young. “What did Lyra get from this arrangement, other than an untimely death?”
Mazaline’s eyes flash with something unreadable. She takes a slow breath before responding. “I cannot help what happened to Lyra. The poor girl was already dead when her mother sent for me.”
The Phoenix lets out a mournful cry. The sound pierces the cottage walls and rattles through my bones.
“You may visit me again when you have more questions,” Mazaline says, her tone making it clear our meeting has come to an end.
I open my mouth to ask how I can find my way back to this cottage, but the question dies on my lips as the room blurs and fades.
Within moments, the musty cottage is gone, replaced by the familiar grandeur of the palace library. I blink several times as my eyes adjust to the change, part of me wondering if that meeting had just been a vivid daydream.
More questions than answers swirl through my mind. How can I unite the houses when all I have done is anger Asha more?
It’s impossible!
I suck in a quick breath and stare down at the Phoenix. Lightly, I touch it, but nothing happens this time.
I snap the book shut and place it on the table next to the chair. Why did Aleksander give me this book and not Jasce?
He knows about the Phoenix, yet he has never mentioned this book to me.
I hate not having answers, and I hate that I haven’t spent more time training with Rowena.
That’s it.
I’ll go to Rowena and ask her to help me more.
* * *
As I stepinto The Pyre Sanctum, I call out for the Muchrah. “Rowena, are you here?”
The older woman appears from an alcove in the back of the massive room. “My Lady, how might I help you?”
“I would like another lesson.”
She wipes her hands against her surcoat and nods. “Of course. Let’s begin with the basics again.”
She guides me to the central dais. “I want you to start with conjuring a flame.”
