Eyes of Ember (Imdalind Series #2)(76)

I narrowed my eyes at him. I had decided I wouldn’t be like Atlas. I would swallow my pride and ask for help. But Dramin sat there, telling me that it might not be the best idea to tell Ilyan something that was already eating at me.

“You will know why before the day is over, child.”

My eyes bugged a bit, I knew what he was talking about. The sight. The sight concerning me. He was finally going to tell me.

“But not yet,” he finished, and I leaned back into the chair. “You need to decide yourself whether to tell him of what Ryland is telling you and if you decide to break the connection. I believe you will, but not until the time is right.”

I wanted to scream at the thought of willingly breaking the Z?lství. But somehow, even now, I knew the possibility of me doing that was high.

“And when is that?” I asked, curious.

“Your sight will lead the way.”

He smiled and I returned the movement, although not as brightly.

I wasn’t feeling as heavy as I had been, thanks to Dramin. My team seemed to be getting bigger. I hoped that someday soon I would have the support of Ryland too. My Ryland, with his memories intact. I still had three weeks until Edmund’s deadline. With my newly unlocked abilities and Ilyan at my side I felt a bit unstoppable. Maybe it was the Black Water flowing through me, but I felt a bit cocky.

I was going to knock Edmund on the pavement.

I laughed at the thought, ignoring Dramin’s raised eyebrow by taking another deep drink of the Black Water.

“Well,” Thom announced as he approached the fire. “He should be awake in a few hours.”

My back straightened, my eyes flying toward Ilyan’s bunk in expectation.

“Relax, Siln?, I said a few hours not a few minutes. It could still be tomorrow.”

I exhaled heavily and sat back in the chair. Thom grunted at me in greeting before setting a blueberry muffin on my lap. It looked delicious, but I didn’t want it. I eyed it for a moment before picking it up and setting it on the small side table next to me.

It seemed like such a simple act, but it had caught the close attention of both men.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?” Thom asked, alarmed.

I looked to the muffin and bit my lip, nervous about their sudden interest.

“No, I don’t think I am.” I did not meet the eyes of either of them, although I knew they were both staring at me. Instead, I took another drink before placing my now empty mug next to the muffin.

“You are ready.” I froze at Dramin’s words, my hand coming back to rest in my lap.

I turned to him, nerves and excitement getting all jumbled up in my body.

“Are you going to show me now?” Dramin nodded his head once in response to my question.

“I’m not sure I am ready,” I answered honestly, my voice quiet.

“You are, Siln?.” I turned to Thom, his head nodding in encouragement.

“But... Ilyan said... Will I really hate him?”

Dramin smiled in response to my question, but his face was sad. “Ilyan has worried for the past eight hundred years if what he said in the Hall of Sight was the right thing. That is eight hundred years of nerves. Of course he is scared. But know this, all that you are about to see will happen, you cannot change it. You are ready to accept that, and that is why you are ready to see the sight.”

Dramin stood right before me, his frame towering over me.

“But what if I am not ready, Uncle?” I sunk away from him, scared of what was about to happen.

“I am afraid, child, that you no longer have a choice.”

Dramin placed his hand against my head. But instead of pulling out my memories as Ilyan had done, I felt my head go light and airy as this time he put them in.





Twenty-Four


Irecognized the room as a Hall of Sight the moment everything came into focus. This one was bigger and more ornate than the one in our cave. The same sunken pool of Black Water filled the center of the room, but instead of the raised shelf that surrounded it, a number of chairs and thrones had been carved out of wood and placed facing the pool. In each of the thrones a man or woman sat. They did not speak, they sat with their eyes closed, heads bowed. Their features were obscured by large woolen cloaks. I knew what they were doing and it worried me.

I let my eyes wander away from them to linger on the carvings and beautiful stained glass windows that covered the space. I didn’t know what I was doing here, and I was still shaky about the details of what Dramin had done to me and how he was showing me this. Even if I knew everything about the process, I didn’t think I could shake the nerves connected with what I was about to see.

I tried to find comfort in the fact that I was about to learn everything, but I was still worried. Ilyan’s begging me not to hate him still echoed through my head. I thought of his sleeping body, of all he had done for me, and straightened a bit.

“He is coming, can you feel him?” I turned toward the voice, surprised to see that one of the still figures had stood. His head moved from his bowed position to one of strength. I must have audibly gasped, but no one seemed to notice. I had come face to face with my Father. His face and body seemed younger, if that was possible, and his hair was shorter. He was powerful and strong, so much more than I had ever remembered seeing him. The change was startling. I could tell he was the patriarch among them. He was respected and revered, his commanding voice guiding all of them.