Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

" I know you will keep us safe," she continued while looking me in the eyes. "All of us. I do not fear you, King Keiran Valanova."

"I'm not a king," I again repeated like a fool. The longer we were in Corsha, the more bizarre it seemed to get.

"Yet." She gave me a look like I was the one who was barely older than a child. With a little shrug she turned her back to us. "Come along."

Keir?

Things just got weird here. I don't understand it myself, but I'm fine, I assured her.

Keep sending me updates?

I will.

Dex put an arm across my chest. "Uh. He is not going anywhere."

"He certainly is, Dex Chabot."

"How do you know my full name?" he bit out.

She turned slowly, again smiling. "Forgive me. I forget you do not know much of my culture. I am Queen Aurelia Rassi. As they told you. Here in Corsha, the king or queen is not decided upon by bloodline, but rather by the strength of our Enchantment."

"She is the most powerful Enchanted in Corsha," the first man, who I now understood was some type of guard, confirmed.

"How long have you been queen, Your Highness?" John asked politely.

She flashed him a smile. "I was able to see Theon Valanova's darkness moving before it ever reached our shores. That was when I first came into my powers. I came into them early; we believe because of the seriousness of the visions. And I was not the only one. Corsha was at risk of being destroyed."

So she had been all of what, five or six years old when that happened?

She continued, "I foresaw numerous things in the following years, including, of course, the rise of the brother kings."

There was that damn phrase again.

"And just over a year ago, once I reached the age of sixteen, I was crowned queen."

She held out her hands and gestured toward our ship. "We receive visions. We can also project a vision if our sight is strong enough." And as she closed her eyes and lifted her hands, our ship was there one moment, gone the next.

"The hell?" Dex ground out.

With a wave of her hand, our ship was back, the men looking like they had no idea they had just disappeared from view.

"You were not poisoned," I stated as shock rolled through me in waves. "You do not need to be healed because you were never poisoned." She was not stuck at this age like Dra Skor had been, she just truly was a teenager.

"We were not," she confirmed, "because I saw it coming. Yes, it is the reason there now sits a crown upon my head, but it is also the reason Corsha survived at all. Had your father found out we evaded his disease, there would have been bloodshed. War." She shuddered slightly as if haunted by the thought.

Had she seen that as a possible future? Screw her age and why she was ruling so young, I just wanted answers. "How did you keep my father from getting to Corsha?"

She gestured in the direction of the buildings. "We worked together to cast a vision much like the one you just saw. The tricky part of our projection of visions is that it changes what someone may see but not what they hear or smell. So when your father's men came to poison our water supply in the dead of night, though we knew, we hid and allowed them to think they were successful, when really we were catching all the poison they were dumping." She took a deep breath. "As they went island to island to our fresh water sources, so did we, staying out of sight, except for a few strategically placed Enchanted. We ensured the poison did not go where they wanted it to."

That stunned all of us to silence. They had outwitted my father. I was shocked but at the same time wanted to applaud them for it.

"And then from that point on, when any ship which was not our own would come to the docks, we developed a warning system. Our Enchanted would cast the vision, projecting a deserted Corsha while we all went silent to give proper impact to the vision."

"So all this time?" Amory bit out, almost a growl. "All this time and you have had full use of your Enchantment?"

Amory looked ready to pummel the young queen, though I was determining the more she spoke that she was wise beyond her years. A child genius now their queen.

The queen gave her a quick nod. "Yes, though we have not always been safe. Far from it, actually."

"You could have told the rest of us?" Amory snapped. "Could have warned the others?"

She let out a long sigh. "We have much to discuss and I can understand your frustration, but no. It was the only way. We received many visions before the poisoning, as we do for most things. Multiple scenarios and possibilities for any given situation. There was only one path any of us saw, one way around Theon Valanova's evil." A pause. "The rise of his sons, the brother kings."

We were urged to take the horses and leave with the queen to head to our lodging for the night. She informed us the castle was a few hours ride away. But we were welcome at the castle, the meal already being prepared for our arrival.

She seemed to already know we wouldn't be staying long. She seemed to already know a lot of things.

As the captain and Dex were discussing what to do with the ship for the night, Queen Aurelia said to me quietly, "Do not let the ship leave the docks." Seeing what had to be my suspicion all over my face she added, "The storm coming in will delay your departure tomorrow. Lots of snow and wind. The ship will be safest here."

This teenager as a child had saved her people. I supposed I should listen to her. Even if it was a bit odd.

"I do not wish to face the wrath of the dragon queen," she added, again her voice soft and unthreatening. "I promise you will be safe here."

I quickly relayed that message to Dex and the captain, demanding the ship stay at the dock but stay vigilant.

As we mounted the horses given to us, the queen added, "Whichever of you shifts into a white tiger may travel as that, if you'd like."

Amory gave me a look as if wondering if she should. I knew her senses were more attuned to her surroundings in her tigress form, so I gave her a nod .

She gave her fur a shake once in her tigress form as if glad to be back in her shifted form.

"Splendid!" the queen commented happily.

While we clomped our way toward the castle of Corsha, I took the opportunity to check in with Esta.

Sweetheart?

My moon.

As it turns out, the people of Corsha were never poisoned.

What?

I'm not sure how to explain it. They can receive visons, but also apparently project them.

Silence a moment before she responded, Dammit, we were the only ones supposed to be keeping the tricks of our Enchantment to ourselves.

I snorted a laugh. Apparently not. We are headed to the castle now. There is a storm blowing in which may delay how quickly we can leave tomorrow.

I could feel her groan. Fine. Just stay safe. Let me know if anything is amiss once you arrive at the castle.

I will. How is the hunt for Morana going?

We found nothing. Yet again. Malachi did have an idea though. He wants us to announce our Engagement and visit one of the cities for a public outing. We will say we are going to Arava and then really go to Rael.

I haven't been to Rael. I knew it was the city which produced the most food, the farmlands of Rael which were located mostly in the western half of Dra Skor.

You have been a bit busy, she quipped. What with saving us all. Don't worry. You will see it all.

I mulled over Malachi's idea for a bit. That isn't an awful idea.

It will take a lot of shifters to accomplish. We will have to watch one city while secretly ensuring our safety at the other. And trust enough shifters who we don't believe are working with Morana so our plan doesn't backfire.

"May I be blunt?" John asked the queen as we rode behind her toward the castle, snapping me out of my conversation with Esta.

"Of course," the queen responded. "Corsha values honesty."

"Does Corsha always accept such young royals?"

"No," she admitted. "I am the youngest in the past five reigns. Keeping the vision of a deserted Corsha up was vital to our survival but exhausted the previous king. In his wake, I was the strongest Enchanted, thus had to take the throne early." All that was heard in her pause was the clomping beats of the horses' hooves. "This might sound self-serving, but I do not mean for it to. Corsha values the strength of our Enchanted as that is what keeps us safe. So no, most of my citizens do not take issue with my age."

She was barely more than a child, but with the weight of her visions, I was certain she hadn't had much of a childhood at all.

"I am sorry, Queen Aurelia."

"Please call me Relia, you will eventually anyway."

This—this was going to take some getting used to.

"What are you sorry for though?" she asked.

"That my father's actions robbed you of a normal childhood."

She turned to look at me, giving me a quick smile. "Thank you. I may be young, but I am wise enough to know that neither of us have lived easy childhoods. But neither of us would change it either. It was needed to save our people."

Even in the darkening light, I caught the look Dex sent me. Like he was thinking she was a bit mad.

Was she though, or did she just know things ? My father had been going mad toward the end of his reign, erratic in his behavior and decisions, and this felt different from that.

I asked the queen, "Can you explain your visions more to me? It sounds rather exhausting."

She began, "How often each Enchanted of Corsha receives visions varies. Some of us are better at receiving than projecting. That is me, though I can do both. Our former king was placed at the throne for a purpose, he was better at projecting at a time in our history where we needed it most. He too, could do both."

I felt a shiver run down my spine. Odd that they were each in place in power right when Corsha needed it most.

She let out a sigh. "It does become exhausting. There are many possible outcomes to many different problems. Some of what we see doesn't make sense given our circumstances and won't until far later. I always keep a journal nearby, jotting down what comes to me, even if it is nonsense."

There was a long pause while we all thought on that.

"At our late dinner when we arrive, I will explain more of how we evaded the dead king's evil. If you will excuse me, I need to spend some time in meditation. Listening and watching for whatever visions may come to me."

That was the end of our talking on the way to the castle.

The castle itself was hard to see in the night. Where Wylan's castle seemed intent on swallowing the mountain top whole, and Halikaara was built imposingly tall for the shifters, Corsha's castle was separated from the volcanic mountains and placed in a beautiful valley, more meager in size.

I was exhausted. Being away from Esta was bad enough, traveling in this damn cold weather was a whole other issue. I'd used my magic to warm me for the last hour of our trip, not at all used to the cold after spending so long in Dra Skor.

But the good news was that Corsha was never poisoned. Corsha did not need to be healed. Part of me wanted to load right back on that ship and head home to Dra Skor .

Yet the power of Corsha's Enchantment and so many unanswered questions kept us here.

As soon as we handed off our horses at a lovely looking barn, we were ushered to our rooms by a guard. We were given four connecting rooms in one of the lower floors of the castle. One for John, Amory, Dex, and myself. They were furnished well enough, but I noted again the lack of electricity.

Was Wylan the only country in the realm with it?

"Dinner is in five minutes," the guard told us. "We are sure you are wanting a warm meal and then some sleep from your long day of travels."

As he left Dex snorted a laugh. "Like I am going to be able to sleep here."

He had a point. I wasn't sure I would sleep well again until I was next to Esta.

The queen was already in the dining room we were soon delivered to, smiling at us as we entered. "Please," she gestured. "Dive right in. It has been a long day."

"It has," I had to agree.

"The storm will unleash itself soon, but do not worry. We will all be safe this night."

"And tomorrow night?" Amory asked, back in her human form.

"That night as well, though the storm will have passed," the queen answered, unbothered by Amory's suspicions. "You will leave for Dra Skor tomorrow evening. Now, you eat," she told us, "I will speak for a bit before I, too, need some rest."

I picked up my fork, anxious for whatever she would tell us. Whatever more she would say.

"Visions come to us often in the night but can come to us in the day also. The first vision I ever received was of an inky blackness in the waters of Corsha."

I stilled. For some reason, the power of Corsha's Enchantment was reminding me of that damned forest in Wylan. The forest which knew what my father had done.

"Had that first vision come to me in the night, my mother may have written it off as a nightmare of a child, as we do dream normally too. It can be hard to sift through." She inhaled deep. "But this was so specific. So she took me before the royal regent of our island, who eventually brought me here. I never went home. My vision was paired with others' visions and over the next week, we pieced together what would happen. Corsha's Enchantment is most powerful when we use it together, much like I imagine it works in your countries." She took a sip of her water. "And much like I am sure happens in your countries too, there can be imposters among us who come forward with what we think is a vision but is really just dressed up greed.

"It was chaos in the months that followed my first vision. We all scrambled trying to work with the visions, not against them, and find a way to survive the impending darkness." Another pause. "Many of the possible outcomes we received were bleak. We can project the vision of a deserted Corsha so easily because we saw it often not as a projection, but rather a possible outcome." She turned to Amory. "We did not warn the other countries because we did not have the time, and we could not mess with too many of the variables with all that hung in the balance. Our interference could have very well caused Dra Skor's ruin."

"We were ruined anyway," Amory snapped.

"For a time, yes, but not permanently," the queen argued calmly.

"Amory," I said gently, fearing Amory might lose her cool for once. "No one is trying to diminish what you went through in those nine years. All you lost. That was my father's doing though. Not Queen Aurelia's."

Amory looked at me a moment and gave the queen the slightest of nods to continue .

"We managed to evade the dead king's evil, but still we worked tirelessly, trying to find a way back out of the darkness. Trying to escape the reaches of the evil. All the dead king's spies." She pushed around her own food with her fork. "Of all the Enchanted in Corsha, of all the visions and possible outcomes we received in the years which followed, only one path promised our survival." Her eyes went to mine. "The brother kings."

"So you saw Krew as king of Wylan and Keir as king of Dra Skor?" John asked. Of all of us, he seemed to be taking this best.

"I did." She nodded. "At first of course, I just saw a vision of the two of them taking down their father. One with a bloodied sword in hand, the other with a crown."

I tried my best not to choke on my bread.

"I didn't understand how it would help us, I just saw it often enough and vividly enough, I knew it to be vital. But I did not see it in time enough to warn you of anything going on in Wylan, I'm afraid," she explained. "The first time we saw it, it was days before we got word that it had happened. And I have seen only a few such glimpses since. The brother kings offer not only their countries, but the entire realm, an era of prosperity and growth."

She took another sip of her drink. "Our countries were given our Enchantments to complement each specific country, but I don't believe we were meant to be kept apart by geography like we are now. The future that I see is bright, a mesh of all our Enchantments strengthening us all. That is why I was so excited to see Prince Keir here on our shore. It meant the end of Corsha having to hide. The brother kings are rising."

"I will merely be king consort in Dra Skor," I told her honestly. "Not the true king."

"You were always meant to be king," she countered. "And a king who does not cling too tightly to his crown is a good king. Just as much as your dragon queen was to be queen, you were fit to be king. There were many alternate paths for you both, more than once I thought that particular vision would never happen." She smiled. "But you both refused to give up on one another. The fates did not collide, but the two of you did rather splendidly. And here we are."

I gave my head a shake. Her words all made perfect sense, but at the same time, all of what she was saying was beyond wild. The Enchantment of Corsha was a hard thing to grasp. Even for them it seemed.

"Proximity helps our visions, however, I have been focusing on things in Dra Skor in my meditations lately. Before any of you asks, I do not know for certain what path your traitor will take yet, only that she keeps moving. There are sadly just too many possibilities, and it is too far beyond my reach." She turned to Amory. "I know you are upset we did not warn the others of what was about to happen. I understand. But I would like to offer a few things to your country to make up for it. A few peace offerings."

Amory's eyes went to mine briefly before going back to hers. "Such as?"

"I understand that you will need to isolate this traitor in order for the visions of your success to come to be. I do not know the name of her conspirator, but I did see a flash of a winged panther with her in a vision once."

Amory cursed beside me. "Tell Esta. At once. It's Silas. He is the only winged panther shifter healed as of this point in the lottery."

"The same Silas who serves on Malachi's team?"

She gave me a nod.

Esta.

What's wrong?

The queen of Corsha has informed us that the winged shifter working with Morana is the winged panther named Silas.

I felt her rage, her fury too great to allow her a response. Is it true? she finally asked .

I can't entirely explain it, but yes, I believe it to be true. After a moment I reminded her, Do not handle this alone, Es.

I'm not alone. Malachi is right here. Against both our urges, we are headed to the war room to meet with Otis and Whit.

I turned back to the queen of Corsha. "Thank you. This has all been far more than I had hoped for in coming to Corsha. Quite honestly, I just wanted to find someone alive."

"We are alive and well. Our Enchantment ensured that." She turned back to Amory. "I also have a treaty for your queen. As I understand, those are quite the valuable pieces of parchment in times such as these." She flashed us a grin. "And do not worry, the Corshan delegates did not let the teenager write it."

I couldn't help but smirk.

"So I will give you that to take with you when you return, as well as one more thing, should you be so inclined."

"Which is?" I wanted to say no thank you, we'd handled everything else on our own, yet the swiftness of helping us deal with Silas made me willing to take whatever help she'd give.

"One of my own. Like I said, it helps to have nearness to the location in receiving the visions. Our reach can rarely span the entire realm, so I will be sending with you one of Corsha's Enchanted to work alongside you as you finish taking care of things in Dra Skor. Someone with a tie to a person currently in Dra Skor. Thus, I know I do not have to be concerned for her safety."

She gestured with a hand to a guard, and he moved to get something. Or rather someone , as a woman who looked our age entered the room. She had brown skin and dark hair, her brown eyes kind and bright.

"Hello," she greeted excitedly. "My name is Avril. I am so glad you're all finally here. I have waited for thi—" She cut off and looked like she was holding herself back somehow. "We will all be great friends. "

Dex muttered to me, "Do you think at some point this trip will ever stop getting weirder?"

The woman looked to him and smirked. "Does it help or hurt to tell you that we will get to know each other quite well?"

I wanted to laugh, pressing my lips together tightly to prevent it.

Dex rather than falling off his chair, leaned back and managed to get out, "Would you like to skip all that getting to know one another business then and skip to the good part?"

A slow smile crossed her face. "Trust me. If you'd seen what I have, you wouldn't want that."

I wasn't sure I had ever seen Dex blush until this moment.

The queen was smiling, clearly enjoying the whole exchange. "As you can see, we all have much to celebrate. So eat. Sleep. And depart tomorrow with the help of Corsha. We will do all we can to ensure the rise of the brother kings. After years of turmoil, an era of healing and prosperity is upon us."