Loelle added, “Wynnow doesn’t know I have the necklace, and she’ll expel me from Brill if she learns the truth. I ask you to keep this a secret between the two of us … and”—she lowered her voice—“one other secret as well.”
Curious, I nodded, and Loelle led me to a chair on one side of a grand fireplace, then she took the other.
After nearly a full minute of gathering her thoughts, Loelle began, “I know this is a difficult time for you. You’re full of questions and doubts, and as the last hour has proved, being here certainly won’t help with that.”
“Maybe what I feel isn’t magic. Or maybe my power might be so small, we won’t even know that we’ve discovered it.”
“Used correctly, even a small power can be dang
erous. But bear in mind, that you may also be developing a power that we will have to curtail, lest it becomes too dangerous after Endrick is defeated.”
I sighed. “That’s what most Antorans believe will happen to me, no? That this magic—powerful or not—will corrupt me. But it might not, since it has never corrupted you.” I leaned forward. “Why not, Loelle? When it has corrupted all other Endreans?”
She smiled back at me. “This is the reason I came, to answer that question. The answer is simpler than you probably suspect. I cannot be corrupted like an Endrean because I’m not Endrean. I come from a different race, filled with magic, but from far across the sea.”
That took me a minute to absorb, though I didn’t doubt her words. Uncharted lands extended in every direction from the seas around Antora. Of course, Endreans would not be the only ones to have magic.
Loelle continued, “Many years ago, war came to our land. My family was destroyed—most families were. I was rushed onto a boat with a few survivors, but our ship crashed on the rocky shores off southern Antora. It didn’t take long to understand what was happening to the Endreans. We decided to blend in with the other countrymen and say nothing of our magical abilities. I ended up with the Coracks, and over time, they have come to believe I’m Endrean. I’ve never corrected them.”
“How many of you are left?” I asked.
Her smile fell. “I’m nearly the last one who is … fully alive. The majority of our people settled in All Spirits Forest.”
I bit my lip, thinking of Darrow again. “Where they were cursed by Lord Endrick during the war.”
“He calls it the eternal punishment.” It took a long time for Loelle to finish her thought. “Every day since losing them, I’ve tried to find a way to bring them back. So far, it’s all been in vain. I can heal a person on the edge of death. But once they’ve gone over that edge, if only by a whisper, they are beyond my reach. My people will likely be extinct within a few years.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. But I was also sorry for myself, because if she wasn’t Endrean, then maybe Simon had been right, and there wasn’t much hope for me now.
Loelle acknowledged that with a brief nod, then asked, “How sure are you that Darrow is in All Spirits Forest?”
My vision blurred through my tears. “I’m sure. Shortly before Endrick took my memories, he told me that Darrow received an eternal punishment.” I shook my head. “Gabe once told me that bad things happen to people who are around me. I think it’s true.”
“Nonsense.” She gave my hand a brief squeeze. “Find your magic and stop Lord Endrick from cursing any others to the same fate. Time is of the essence. Open battles have begun in the south, involving people we both care for very much. You may be their sole hope.”
Her implication was clear, that if I failed here, the Coracks would fail there. Whatever weight was already lain on my shoulders, she had just doubled it.
Loelle stood to leave, and I asked, “Why don’t you trust Wynnow?”
“I don’t trust any Brillians, and nor should you. But—” Loelle added with a smile. “They don’t trust you or me either. Because for all we lack, we have the one thing they most desire. We have magic.”
Near the border of Reddengrad, we finally admitted that we needed to stop and rest for the night. Harlyn shared the food she had brought, though I ate only because I knew I had to. For most of that time, I had my eye on Trina, thinking of Harlyn’s statement that it had not been her who told the Halderians that Kestra was in Lonetree Camp.
I supposed it could have been anyone—we had hundreds of Coracks in that camp, many who were also from the Halderian clan. I’d been too hasty in accusing Trina, which meant I owed her an enormous apology. After all I’d said and the petty way I’d behaved, I’d rather have cuddled up to a snake, but this had to be done.
So when Trina got up to do a sweep of the area to ensure we were safe for the night, I offered to go with her. She looked at me, clearly surprised, but when our eyes met, she nodded her permission for me to come.
Once we were alone, she said, “I thought you weren’t speaking to me.”
“I wasn’t, which proves what a great fool I can be. I’m sorry, Trina. Harlyn told me that it wasn’t you who contacted the Halderians.”
I’d already prepared myself for any cruel response. If she boasted that she’d told me so, demanded that I apologize on my knees, or refused outright to accept my apology, I deserved all of it.
But she only bumped against my side as we walked and said, “You’ve fallen so hard for Kestra that she’s turned you senseless. You know that, I hope?”
I chuckled lightly. “Yes, I know that.”
“These past couple of days, I really wondered if you were. The night we found you at Rutherhouse, had you just buried—”