I had heard that voice before when I had pulled Dramin from the mud, when the sight had crippled us both, and he had started crying for the first time.
You have done the wrong. The same words echoed again as Joclyn collapsed in an unconscious dead weight right into Risha. The woman held onto Joclyn’s tiny frame for dear life, afraid she would fall to the ground, and by the way she held her, I could tell it was a real possibility.
“What is it?” she exclaimed, obviously concerned. “What happened?”
It took me a moment to realize the question was directed at me and not Joclyn.
“She had a sight,” I said, my fear still running through me in a numb reality I didn’t want to accept.
“What was it?” Risha asked, the panic in her voice pulling me out of my own and right to the powerful woman before me and the realization I might be able to get more information out of Risha with Joclyn out of commission.
“Is she okay?” Risha asked when I didn’t answer, her hands pressing against her skin in an obvious desire to heal her or to figure out what was wrong before they flew off again.
At first, I thought she was hurt, but in reality, she was only concerned about “touching” her precious queen in such a way.
It was kind of disturbing. The level of regality the girl had obtained was such that even Ilyan’s second was afraid to touch her.
Who knew, maybe she was afraid of her.
Perhaps she was.
Perhaps it was something else I could use to my advantage.
“Yes, she’s going to be fine,” I lied, knowing my plans would deter that. “Sometimes, this happens after an especially intense sight.”
“She’s been having them an awfully lot lately—”
“I know.” I have been helping that along. “They seem to be doing her some damage.”
“Why don’t you pass out after your sights?” She looked away from Joclyn, her terror easing a bit as she looked at me in wonder.
The awe I had missed so much over the years flooded through me in a heavy reminder of why I was doing all this, of the rightful place due to me, and the respect I was missing.
“Because I know how to control my magic. Drak magic can be powerful, and if you are not strong enough, it can destroy you.”
“Is that what’s happening?” Risha asked, concerned. “Her magic is destroying her?”
“I believe so. Normally, I can help my people, help them restrain their magic, but she won’t let me. She knows what the vision about the end says, and she’s trying to change it. It makes all her sights unreliable when she goes against one like that. When she doesn’t listen to her magic, it destroys her ability.” Yet another little lie, yet another worried glance.
My lips trembled, though I tried to stop the grin. At least I was able to restrain it before it turned into a full smile, before the sweet taste of victory beat against my tongue.
“Did she have a sight before?” I asked as innocently as I could, my head spinning slightly at the prod of a sight I would never let come.
“Yeah”—she was hesitant—”right when she and Ilyan came back … She couldn’t really stand—”
“It was the same sight,” my voice growled as I looked at her, the hatred for her coming back even in her partially unconscious state. “I saw it as she did.”
“Did you see it then?” Her eyes narrowed at me in suspicion, a question behind the words I didn’t quite understand.
I didn’t know what I had said wrong, but my guard went up, my eyes narrowing a bit as I tried to decipher where this was going.
She stood before me, staring at me, her mind pulled from the unconscious child she still held.
“See what?” Better to feign my innocence again.
“The sight … Did you see it when you were with the kids?”
And there it was. I was sure Risha had no idea why Joclyn had been so concerned with my whereabouts; I could see that much on her face. Regardless, she knew Joclyn was, and therefore, she was going to take every chance she could to find out the information Joclyn could not.
“My sight is not hindered by her inability. I can control what sights come to me, and I was with the children. It was not the right time to see.”
Risha glowered at me, her eyes hard, all thoughts of the injured girl she held gone.
I had never liked Risha before. Through all those years, she had acted more like a spoiled brat than the powerful Sk?ítek she was. Right then, though, I was sure Ilyan had chosen wisely for his second.
She hadn’t missed anything.
At least I had been able to plant a seed of doubt within her, and considering the questioning light in her eyes, it was already starting to take hold.