Chapter 27

Iwas still trying to process the raven Esylle received. I'd never suspected, in the years I'd spent sitting in on lessons with Esylle and Belisarus, that he was Theran and hiding a son. I didn't say anything to Esylle, but I wondered if Rivannus was out there on purpose the day he met her by the pond. I considered for a moment Sorcha wasn't who Volaris told her she was and was only this powerful because Belisarus had somehow orchestrated for Rivannus and Esylle to meet, marry, and have a child like Sorcha.

I wouldn't have said that about the man nineteen years ago. I used to have a ton of respect for him. I wasn't sure I had much left the more Sorcha let slip about how he raised her. But then I couldn't imagine how she came to her Farkhi abilities, nor how Volaris told her she summoned them with her flute.

Sorcha told both Sono and me to keep our distance while they tried to send Belisarus a fire message. I didn't know how, but Sono had managed to calm her enough that she came back with us and was able to tell Esylle she didn't know how to act around her.

I saw Sono about to kiss her before we found them and I knew I would need to pull him aside and speak to him if his father didn't. He shouldn't be kissing her or trying to distract her now. I saw the looks that were exchanged between Oris and Sono. I knew what those looks meant. I was pretty sure everyone did except Sorcha. They were going to confuse her.

The four guards and Volaris joined us and I tried to fill them in. Volaris was shocked that Rivannus was Belisarus's son. He told me they always thought mixing would result in stillborn babies. Volaris also didn't know how either of them had been hiding their scent. The only person who had known Belisarus had been her grandfather this entire time was Belisarus, and he finally decided to confess. I explained to them that they needed to keep their distance.

I watched Sorcha and Esylle sitting on the ground from a distance. I wasn't sure what they were doing other than sitting on the ground and talking. I really hoped they were saying something that meant Sorcha would give Esylle a chance as her mother. It wasn't Esylle's fault her child got kidnapped. I watched Sorcha hold out her hands and Esylle take them.

Esylle had to dye her hair with herbs pretty frequently because they washed out. We hadn't had much time for that on our journey. She stopped altogether now that the Barons were after her. Esylle's hair was nearly the same shade of red as Sorcha's. It would probably match after a few washes in the river. I watched as a breeze surrounded them and lifted their hair.

Esylle struggled to hold on to Sorcha, whose entire body began to shake. Esylle began to shake as well, and I wanted to go to them and pull them apart because this looked like it might be painful for both of them. I knew I couldn't get close, and they needed to find out what Belisarus had to say. I swore, hoping the humans hadn't made it close enough yet, as both of them flung their heads back and a column of flames erupted from both of their chests. It seemed to go straight into the sky with no end.

I felt on edge and hoped no one was watching that shouldn't see this. Hopefully, the message was brief and the flame columns would go out. I could see steam drifting off Sorcha's cheeks and I was pretty sure she was crying.

This wasn't fair. After everything, she deserved to look him in the eye and rip into him for everything he did to her. As far as I knew, he never beat her, but what he did was just as bad. My father was an abusive arsehole. When I didn't want to read those torture journals, he'd beat me and lock me in my bedroom without food until I did. What Belisarus had done to this kid was worse than that.

The column of flame coming out of both of them got bigger until it eventually erupted and managed to knock all us over, even though we were sitting far away.

When I was finally able to sit up, I looked over to check on my girls. They were both lying twisted on their backs. Not knowing if it was safe yet, I rushed over. As I approached, the heat was gone. I checked on Esylle first because she couldn't heal herself like Sorcha could. Volaris and Sono were checking on Sorcha. I knew her name wasn't really Sorcha now but had no idea how she would react if we tried to call her by her real name.

There were no marks on Esylle, she just appeared to have fainted. Sono picked Sorcha up, so I scooped Esylle up and we carried them back to the other men. I had no idea what we were going to do with them and when they would wake up.

In all of his lessons with Esylle, I never saw or heard Belisarus teach her how to do what they just did or what was supposed to happen after. If it somehow harmed them, Esylle didn't heal like Sorcha did.

I stopped worrying when Esylle stirred and sat up. Sorcha did not.

"What did he say to you?"

"He didn't speak to me," Esylle said. "His message was for her and only she could hear it. She's powerful, but she needed my fire to help her communicate with him. I don't know what was said, and I was having trouble holding on to her and keeping the flames controlled."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, it was just very intense. We've been not using our gifts for so long, I've never taken in or had to control that much fire before. I don't know if she let go or I did when everything went white and I didn't see anything anymore. I didn't know what else happened until I woke up," she said, finally sitting up and holding her head.

She looked over and noticed Sorcha lying between Sono and Volaris. She got up to check on her, got dizzy, and nearly fell. I caught her and made her sit down.

"You just had to hold more magic than you've ever had before. You're going to need to rest a minute. She'll wake up when she's ready, like she always does," I said gently as I set her back on the ground.

"I could see her crying while I was trying to hold on to her. Whatever he told her upset her. I hope she'll talk to us instead of disappearing when she wakes up."

"She talked to me when she flew off. I was able to calm her down. I can do it again if she leaves," Sono said.

"I saw what you were doing with her and it wasn't calming her," I snapped. "We understood you kissing her before because there was no other choice. You're going to confuse her!"

Volaris looked at his son and touched his arm.

"I know what you are trying to do. If she lives out her life in this form after she does what she is meant to, the rest of the princes will also be fighting for what you want. It's going to be difficult to choose her husband. I saw the way you and Oris were looking at her."

"What about what she wants? She wanted to kiss me back!"

"You're just going to confuse her. Leave her alone and don't try to kiss her again," Volaris fussed at Sono.

I watched Sono pout. I had a feeling even if all three tribe princes were fighting over her, she was not going to like the idea of having one chosen for her and them falling over her was going to confuse her.

I heard Sorcha groan and watched her try to sit up. Both Sono and Volaris rushed to help her up. She sat up slowly, pulled her knees in, and rested her head in her hand. Both Sono and Volaris started asking if she was okay all at once. When she didn't answer, he saw Sono go to put his arm around her, then stop when his father shot him a look.

"I don't know how you expect me to do what I'm supposed to do when holding that much fire takes this much out of me," Sorcha said, not looking up.

I hadn't noticed Frog had left and started making food while we had been watching the columns of flames. Frog brought over a bowl of food and she shot him a grateful look. She ate slowly, not like before when she was injured and eating fast to heal herself.

"I made a big pot," he told her, putting his small arm on her shoulder.

"I don't think this is like a cut or scrape, Frog. I'm tired and my head hurts. Food won't make it go away."

"What did he say to you?" I asked.

Sorcha looked like she might speak, but Frog got angry with me.

"Why do you have to treat her like that? You're always yelling about something. She never yelled at me the way you yell at her when she was teaching me and I knew nothing and made mistakes, too! She's tired and doesn't feel well. Give her five minutes to recover!"

Consider me properly chastised. There was so much I didn't know about her abilities. I didn't think she did either because Belisarus didn't bother teaching her. I guess I was just used to her healing and perking up when she got food in her after something as extreme as getting mauled by a bear.

"I only asked her a question," I said, defensively.

"Does she look like she feels up to answering your questions right now? Why can't you leave her alone for a little while?"

I wanted her to recover, too. Esylle and Sorcha probably needed to stay in this spot long enough to get their bearings or at least be able to stand up without falling over. But Tollam would have told Folcard the route we were taking if he'd managed to shift back. Those flames just broadcasted we hadn't changed up our route, and that we were still on Nestran.

Sorcha suggested moving first. She stood up and nearly fell over. Sono caught her and held her up. "We need to move somewhere safe. When we do, I need to play the flute and bring the other tribes. I don't know if they have moved from their camps, but they aren't safe there anymore.

Yeah, I think we all would have preferred waiting here. Esylle and Sorcha could barely walk. Sono ended up carrying Sorcha, and I carried Esylle to safety.