The grunt that left River’s mouth made all three of them jump. “My aunt served in Ridgerock Palace for many years, and do you know how much she got paid? Basically nothing. One night, the emperor threw a party. Even with all the guests, they had trays of leftover food. So, my aunt took some of it home to her family. Do you know what happened then?”
Nausea rocked through Talise. Could her heart sink lower? Apparently, it could.
River stomped closer, narrowing her eyes at Talise with every step. “Your father found out and immediately sent my aunt’s children and grandchildren to the Storm. He cursed them to a broken life just because they ate food that no one else even wanted. My primary is water, but I make a point to shape air as well because that was my aunt’s primary. I do it to honor her life.” She flicked a hand toward Talise. “Your family, on the other hand, deserves no amount of honor at all.”
For some reason, Talise’s mind went straight to Marmie’s unmarked grave. No greater dishonor was known in Kamdaria, except being disinherited. Talise tried to swallow over the lump in her throat. But Marmie would have been sympathetic to River’s aunt. She deserved every honor and got none instead.
After another hard swallow, Talise snatched the amulet from River’s hand. Tingles spread through her body as she glared at the woman before stepping backward. “It’s my turn now.”
All at once, the tingles changed to pulses which sent a strange warmth through her. When Talise opened her fist, the amulet sat with a faint lime green glow pulsing inside it. Warm power burst inside her chest. The power crackled for a few seconds before the faint glow vanished. Even after it disappeared, the air sizzled with the same energy as lightning.
It was all Talise could do to breathe.
The lime green glow, the burst of power, even the sizzling energy in the air. It had all happened before. When the two pieces of the amulet had joined together in Eben’s garden, the amulet had done the same thing. All those months ago, Talise had felt power inside her chest when she first touched the amulet.
She remembered the stone cups and how Eben had encouraged her to find a way to balance taking care of herself and taking care of Kamdaria. Once she had finally realized she had to take care of herself and Kamdaria equally, the cups had popped and sparked with a green kind of magic. The two pieces of the amulet had joined together and created a power like she had never felt before.
But why was it happening again now?
“Are you okay?” Aaden’s voice came out clipped. Worried.
Judging by the faces the others wore, no one else had notice the lime green glow or the energy in the air.
Claye stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Don’t be nervous, Talise. I’m sure you’ll do great.”
He accompanied the words with a smile that was probably meant to be encouraging. It came off as patronizing instead.
Aaden stiffened at her side.
Yet again, it seemed appropriate to let out a sigh.
Talise decided ignoring them would be better.
Before she could close her hand around the amulet, River stepped forward. The woman’s face glared at the amulet. When she glanced upward, fear danced in her eyes.
Had River noticed the glow? The energy? Her face hardened. She reached for the amulet, but Talise stepped away just in time.
With a scowl, River said, “I think that’s enough training for one day. Return the amulet to us, and we’ll be back again in a few days like we planned.”
Talise took another step back. “But I didn’t even get to use the amulet. I’m supposed to train with it too. That was the deal.”
Though the woman looked ready to argue, Talise ignored it and tightened her hand around the amulet once more. The power in her chest hadn’t disappeared, but it felt more like a part of her now.
She turned her hand and flipped it upward. At the same moment, the ground beneath all four of them lifted into the air. The earth moved like a platform, hovering several feet above the earth as it moved to the right.
A moment later, the hovering earth lowered down onto a new spot. Every movement came controlled. The power in Talise’s chest pulsed as she carried the earth, but it stayed in her chest. A part of her, but not anything that could consume her.
When the earth dropped down again, River couldn’t smother the fear in her eyes. She ripped the amulet away from Talise and stomped away toward her horse. She didn’t even bother to glance back as she spoke. “We’ll be back in a week. You’d better be ready to teach us more challenging techniques.”
She had already untied her horse by the time Claye finally moved. He shot a quick glance toward River before turning fully toward Talise. “The emperor finally took out all our bases except the main base.”
River snarled as she hoisted herself on top of her horse. “Don’t tell her anything about us.”
Claye didn’t react. He just continued on as if River had never spoken. “Whatever the emperor has planned for us, it’s coming soon. He’s going to attack our main base next. We’re planning to storm Ridgerock Palace before he has the chance. No matter what, Lucian promised this war would be over before Earth Festival in the spring.”
By then, River had led her horse over to their group. She grabbed Claye by the back of the collar and dragged him over to his horse. “We’re leaving now,” she said with no small amount of bite.
As the two of them galloped away, Talise turned to Aaden while terror spread throughout her body. She hadn’t been so naïve to think the war would fizzle out without a fight. But in the Storm, it didn’t feel as urgent. In her weeks there, she had started to feel like it would be ages before anything important would happen.
But the truth was clear. The war was coming soon.
SIX
FREEZING WIND SHOT THROUGH TALISE’S HAIR. THE cold cut into her cheeks. She tried to swallow, to breathe, but how could she when horror had seized her so completely?
“We still have time.” Aaden’s voice came out firm, grounding her in spite of the wind. When he gazed into her eyes, it settled some of the fear. But another terror she had been avoiding came out even stronger than the other.
Could she ever look at him without feeling from every part of herself that they belonged together? Since the beginning, she had always been drawn to him. Her feelings still coiled with betrayal and anger, but maybe now she could set those aside and release the longing that filled her soul.
Only when she closed her eyes could she speak again. She let out a slow breath, which the air froze the moment it left her lips. “We don’t have as much time as we need.”
“Yes, we do.”
He had reached for her. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel it. Maybe her shaping had sensed the ripple through the air, or maybe her skin could just feel the heat from his arm. But he had clearly reached for her. And then he dropped his hand back to his side before touching her.
Something about it felt like rejection.
Her eyes snapped open again. The weight in her chest tightened, but she tried to ignore it. Sometimes ignoring took too much effort. Icy wind trickled down her throat when she swallowed. “I need to get my army back from Kessoku.”
Aaden let out a scoff. It almost hurt more than when he pulled his hand away. With an eyebrow tipping upward, he asked, “How do you plan to do that?”