“You know who I am, and I’m here to help you. What do you see?” She was abrupt, jamming her bony hand on her hip as she leaned into me, waiting for the obvious answer.
“Water.”
“And who commands the water? What lives within?”
“Morwena and her sea creatures,” I answered.
“She watches you even now with eyes that aren’t her own. This isle is not safe for secrets.”
“How do you know?” I asked, dropping my chin.
“Always the scholar.” She clicked her tongue. “Clouded vials clear with time and it’s my business to know. Now listen, winter child, there is a glassmaker in the Marsh Court. His name is Alavon. You must find the Weaver. She will show you the way. The glassmaker is who you must seek to replicate the flower. You’ll find nothing in those books to help you now, Temir.”
I swayed backward, raising my voice. “How do you know about the adda?”
“For being a male of reasonable intelligence, you are not very bright. Do as I’ve told you. And one more thing? You must let her go.” She looked to Gaea and back to me. “She belongs to another.”
I felt a pain at those words and turned to the female sleeping where I’d left her. I looked back to the old one, but she was already gone.
“Gaea.” I rested my hand on her shoulder and shook. “Gaea, wake up. We cannot stay here.”
She jerked herself into an upright position and searched all around me for immediate danger. She paused and shook her head. “There’s nothing, Tem.”
Without warning, an overwhelming wave of deep sadness consumed me, and I could not explain it. I rocked back on my feet and had to push away the baffling feeling so we could get to safety. “The old female came back. She said this island is being watched by the queen and is not safe. We need to get to the rebel headquarters.”
She pursed her lips for several seconds, her mind racing. “Why would we go there?”
“I need some information on someone, and I think the leader there might know who it is. You won’t have to come in. They won’t even have to know you are there.”
“Should we get the flower first? Then go to the rebellion?”
I thought about it for a few moments and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s see this done and then try to finish quickly with the rebellion before the king grows suspicious. Perhaps we should go back to the cottage, stay for the night, and then continue from there.”
“Better get your warm clothes back on.” She yawned.
I looked down and realized I’d slipped out of my boots and taken two layers off. “Right.”
We spent the rest of the night in the drafty cottage with the wind whistling and blowing through. I did my best to sleep, knowing I needed to regenerate magic, but Gaea, on the other hand, stayed up and kept watch by the door. I’d offered to do it, but she knew I needed rest.
We were on our way the next morning, and just as she thought, we made it to the ruins in a few hours. The moment we crossed the broken stone archway, the wind died and everything was silent. Gaea and I exchanged a glance, and she pushed me forward.
They were ruins for a reason. The scattered stone pillars and buildings were hardly more than broken stones holding each other up by fate alone. No snow fell within the barrier, and though it was freezing cold, the ground was covered in hundreds of species of spring flowers that spread across the ground and crawled up the broken statues. The stone was nearly dust, as if it might disintegrate when touched, but the air smelled like spring in the Marsh Court.
“I wish he was here,” Gaea said beside me. “Do you think he knew this existed?”
“I’m sure Oleonis knew of the ruins, but I’m not sure anyone would have guessed the flowers would be here. No one travels this far northwest because of the weather.”
“Are any of these the adda?” she asked.
“I don’t think so.”
There was a single leaning building we could walk into, but it was dark, and if ever there was a place that gave off a danger signal, it was there. The entire thing was made of perfectly carved stones, and if one fell, the whole thing would. Still, we walked carefully inside. The air was stagnant, but somehow, an eerie glow allowed us to see through the darkness.
“Where is the light coming from?” I asked.
“Temir, look at the walls.” She ran her delicate fingers through the deep grooves and dangerous cracks, pulling the thick dust away.
“Be careful what you touch. This whole place could come down.”
