Page 177 of War Queen
“As I said, it’s dark magic.”
She lifted her eyes to Mikael. “It’s Lucien. Now that he knows he can be seen, he seeks to prevent others from using the Eye.”
“Who is Lucien?” Bhasim asked.
“The King of Rael and Serra,” she explained. “He’s a traveler. He’s tethered himself to me, so that if anything harms him, then it also harms me.”
The old seer’s eyes widened as he looked at Mikael and then back to Norah. “A traveler that can be seen?”
“It’s him in your visions,” Mikael said. “Not the Bear.” He was quite for a moment, then he said softer, “It was never the Bear.” His stare locked with Norah’s, and he held it.
“A traveler that can be seen by the Eye,” Bhasim echoed again, still surprised, forcing Norah’s attention back. “But this serpent is not the work of a seer,” he said. “Seers have the gift to touch the Eye, but not the gift of magic. They can’t create tethers. Or infect the Aether.”
“He has a witch,” said Soren.
“He’d need more than a witch,” Bhasim said. “He’d need an entire coven.”
Mikael watched the seer as the old man took a long drink from his wine chalice. “What do we do to stop him and break the tether?”
Bhasim shook his head. “The serpent is too powerful. A seer can’t even step into the Aether, much less try to break a tether.”
“There was a seer that survived in Aleon as well,” Soren said. “Perhaps he has an answer.”
“I am the strongest of the four kingdoms!” Bhasim said angrily. “And you’re not listening. No seer can enter the Aether now, not while the serpent is there. And you must understand, the one who tethers you does so through the Aether. Perhaps a mind worker not of the Aether can help you, can go into your mind and break the tether from the other side.”
“Get into my mind without using the Aether?” Norah asked. “So not a seer?”
The traveler gave a single nod.
“But who else can get into my mind if not a seer?” she asked.
“The Wild,” Mikael said.
Norah jerked her head to meet his gaze. “We can’t go back to the Wild.” They’d barely made it out the last time they went.
“Their mind magic works outside the realms of the Aether, it’s true,” Bhasim said.
Mikael looked at Soren. “We go to the Wild.”
“You can’t go back there,” she told him. “Naavi said they won’t show you mercy if you return.”
“I’ll go,” Soren said.
She shook her head. “They like you even less.”
Soren didn’t seem bothered, he only looked at Mikael. “You stay here. Weareat war, or about to be, and the North at least needs her king. I’ll take Salara and return when we’ve broken the tether.”
Mikael nodded.
“Soren,” she persisted.
“He’s taking you,” Mikael said.
And that was final.
Chapter forty-four
TheWildwasasNorah remembered—quite ordinary, but beautiful. Chilled wind whispered through the trees, billowing back the hood of her cloak. She glanced over at Soren riding beside her, who’d come with little more than a winter tunic even though it was freezing.Idiot.
