Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms #3)(69)

Perhaps he didn’t see her as a threat, only a clueless girl in possession of a ring with a long and magical history.

Good.

“What is it?” Lucia reached down to take his hand, gazing up into his tense face. She, too, seemed unconcerned that Cleo was present for these revelations.

Cleo barely breathed as she waited for his answer.

“The king cannot claim the Kindred for himself,” Alexius said. “It can’t be allowed. I told you that Watchers are guardians. We’ve searched for the lost crystals for a millennium, to no avail, all with the goal to return the four Kindred to the Sanctuary where they belong, where their magic will be safe and protected. Their absence all these years has resulted in a slow fading of the worlds—both yours and mine. Magic—life itself—has drained away. You see this in Limeros’s transformation to ice, in the wasting away of Paelsia’s farmlands while its people starve. And here in Auranos, the temperatures have been steadily rising. It may not seem so drastic now, but before long the heat will become unbearable. After that, this fading will stretch beyond Mytican shores to lands—and worlds—beyond. A thousand years of this fading magic and the only solution has been for the Kindred to return to its rightful home. All this time, the missing piece has been you, princess. Your magic will light the way. And this ring will help you.”

Cleo’s head spun. She wasn’t sure she believed Alexius’s little speech, though his prediction of Auranos’s future was beyond disturbing. The Kindred were meant to be hers, to give her the magic it would take to reclaim her kingdom.

But if what he said was true, she had much to consider.

“Without the ring, I could still find the crystals?” Lucia said after a ponderous silence.

“Finding is perhaps the wrong word. But, yes, your magic is sufficient. However, since this magic is so new to you, it would take months of hard work and practice to build up the necessary skill. But now . . . everything has changed.” Alexius rubbed his chest and began to pace back and forth in short lines, his forehead deeply furrowed. Finally he glanced at Cleo, his expression more curious than accusatory. “Did you know anything about this?”

The attention again on her, she raised her chin and pretended to consider this, wondering how transparent she should be. How good were Watchers at sensing lies?

“I know about the Kindred, of course, through legends and stories. I even met an exiled Watcher a few months ago in Paelsia, when I was there searching for a cure for my sister’s illness.” It was best to have a layer of truth to help cover any deceit. Still, to relate this memory caused her heart to ache. “She told me a story, a truly fantastical tale . . .”

“About what?” Alexius asked after she trailed off, uncertain of how much she wanted to say.

She licked her dry lips and forced into her voice a confidence she didn’t feel. “About Eva and the mortal hunter she loved, of the child born to them who was lost after her death. And the goddesses and how they weren’t really goddesses at all, but immortals who had stolen the Kindred and murdered Eva. When, years later, they destroyed each other in a battle for power, the hunter took the crystals and hid them all over Mytica, where no one has been able to locate them since.” She tried to smile. “I’m not sure how much of it to believe.”

“Some of it,” Alexius said. “But certainly not all. I’m not surprised. Very few of my kind know the whole truth apart from the legend we tell ourselves, even after all this time.”

“What’s the truth?” Lucia asked. “And why hasn’t anyone been able to find the crystals?”

“Because in the thousand years since Cleiona and Valoria ceased to exist, the Kindred have not been physically here. Not buried, not hidden, not anywhere in this world. But now they can be summoned back. Melenia has worked so hard to lay the groundwork for this quest. No one is more dedicated to it than she is.”

Cleo recognized the name Melenia from the conversation she’d overheard between the king and Magnus. She must also be a Watcher. Cleo desperately wanted to ask for clarification, but she held her tongue.

“I’m ready, Alexius,” Lucia said brightly, as if this strange conversation had energized her. “If this is really my destiny, I’m ready to do whatever it takes. It’s all so hard to wrap my mind around, but I want to help you, and Melenia. My magic can be used for good, like you said. To help save the world from destruction. This, precisely, is what you meant, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Alexius’s expression remained rigid, pained even. “Perhaps tomorrow . . .”

“No, today. Our morning lessons haven’t exhausted me. I’m ready. If we’re going to do something, let’s do it now. Why wait a day longer than necessary when you’ve waited so long already?” She smiled, her sky-blue eyes lighting up with excitement. “Show me what to do. You’re my tutor. Tutor me.”

“Very well.” His jaw was tight. “Do you want her to stay?”

Lucia glanced at Cleo for a long, heavy moment. “That depends,” she said. “After all you’ve heard here, do you even want to stay?”

Was that a trick question? To gauge how strong Cleo’s interest was in this subject?

No reason for her to falter now.

“Yes,” Cleo said firmly. “It’s all so incredibly fascinating. I want to stay, if you’ll let me.”