Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms #4)(96)

Timotheus now had a faraway look on his face. “Her magic was weakened by the half-mortal child she carried within her. A secret she tried to conceal from everyone, including me. When Melenia discovered Eva’s pregnancy, she took it as an opportunity to rise in power by killing her elder, and Eva could not properly defend herself.”

“So Eva didn’t have a vision of her own future.”

“Neither have I of mine. But I’ve seen many versions of yours. And I advise you to choose your path wisely.”

“Tell me these futures and perhaps I’ll understand you better!” The words tore from her throat. “If you want me to do the right thing so desperately that you insist on pulling me into these dreams, then tell me what the consequences are!”

But Timotheus didn’t reply. Instead, the meadow faded away to darkness.

Lucia opened her eyes and found herself tucked into her bed at the inn.

“Many versions of my future . . .” she whispered aloud.

Suddenly, a violent wave of nausea hit her. She ran to the chamber pot, and barely made it there before she threw up. This was the third morning in a row that this had happened, and she knew this sickness had likely contributed to her weakening magic.

She hadn’t felt this lousy in . . . well, ever.

And she hated feeling weak.

“Stupid Timotheus.” She sat there, on the floor of her small room, and pulled her knees up against her chest, rocking herself back and forth. As she waited for the next wave of nausea to pass she remembered what the immortal had told her about the original sorceress.

Despite her vast power, despite her immortality, Eva’s magic had faded when a half-mortal child grew within her.

Lucia thought her magic, too, appeared to be fading.

She drew in a sudden, sharp breath and held it for so long that she began to feel dizzy.

“Oh, goddess,” she whispered. “I’m pregnant.”





CHAPTER 26


CLEO

LIMEROS

Ever since Jonas and Nic had left for Kraeshia, Cleo had been paying extra attention in her archery lessons. But still her skills did not improve.

Between her disappointment in herself and Lord Kurtis’s increasingly insufferable and constant need to malign Magnus and the sorry state of Limeros now that he was no longer in charge, her patience had finally worn out.

So this morning, after a particularly frustrating hour of missed targets and Lord Kurtis’s whining, she quit.

Cleo returned to her chambers, flinging off her gloves and cloak, and sat down on the edge of her bed. From there she could see herself in the vanity mirror.

“What am I still doing here?” she asked her reflection.

Nerissa had gently asked her that very same question only yesterday.

She didn’t have an acceptable answer then, and she found she still didn’t have one today, not even for herself. What was her purpose in this cold, stark palace? It wasn’t as if she would lose her royal position if she were to leave.

All she was doing here was wasting time, waiting and waiting. . . .

Enough waiting.

She was deeply saddened to learn that Eirene, the exiled Watcher, had died, but she was not at all surprised—Eirene had been very old when Cleo had seen her last.

And all it meant was that now Cleo would have to find another exiled Watcher, and get the answers for herself.

She went to the window and lifted up a loose stone on the sill, under which she’d hidden the obsidian orb.

But the nook beneath was empty.

She blinked, the sight of the shadowy hollow still not fully registering. Of course the Kindred should be there; she hadn’t moved it. She turned in a circle, scanning the room, trying to see if something had changed.

“No. It was here.” She looked under the sill again, but there was no black orb to be found.

Her heart began to race.

The Kindred had disappeared.

Someone had stolen it. But who?

Certainly not Nerissa, the only other person who was aware of the hiding spot. Cleo trusted Nerissa completely and refused to doubt her.

Perhaps a maid or servant had come across it by accident while tidying up? But if that was the case, why would they steal such a thing? To an uninformed commoner, the orb would seem nothing more than a very large marble.

“Who could have done this?” she whispered aloud. Who else knew about the Kindred, would risk their lives by searching her private chambers to find it?

Then, in an icy flash, the answer came to her.

? ? ?

She approached the throne room at a brisk pace, the guards opening the doors for her before she even had to ask. Magnus was inside, waiting for her, seated upon his father’s iron throne.

The prince wore black from head to toe, as he always did, as if in an attempt to blend in with the throne, the room, the entire palace. But despite all of this darkness, she spotted the earth Kindred immediately. Magnus held it in his right hand.

“Look what I found,” he said, tossing it up and down as Cleo approached the throne. “Shockingly, it was in your quarters. Did you have any idea it was hiding there?”

“That belongs to me,” she hissed.

“Actually, princess, it was in my palace, so that means it belongs to me.” He held the orb up in front of this face and studied it. “Obsidian is such a beautiful color, isn’t it? I’m going to assume that Agallon brought this to you.”