Chapter 47

I was so surprised seeing her, my hand dropped to my side. I don’t know what I had expected after waiting all this time, but a personal visit from their Queen wasn’t one of them. She smiled and reached out a hand.

“Will you come with me?”, she asked again.

She seemed to shimmer in the faint moonlight. Was it a trap? Or was this our chance to find out what had happened in Marbug? I hesitantly put the dagger back into the scabbard and took her hand.

She led me down the staircase, and the world seemed to shimmer in a haze as we descended. I followed her as she led me through the clearing until we came to a stream, and I glanced up at the trees we’d left behind. My companions must have gone to bed, because the balconies were empty, and the doors closed. She beckoned for me, and I turned back to the path and followed her through the forest.

She led me upstreams, and I stumbled after in a haze. The trees shimmered around me, and the purling of the stream seemed to sing an ancient song I could no longer understand. She led me deeper into the forest and suddenly halted. I stumbled, almost bumping into her, and then straightened out. I shook my head. We were standing by a pond. The song faded, and the colours of the trees dimmed until all I could see was a plain forest. I glanced around. Where had she taken me? She smiled and gestured for me to sit, and I glanced back at the path we’d come from. What had she done? Was this a trap? I wondered if I should go back, but we would never get an answer to the orb if I did… I hesitantly sat down, and she took my hands as she sat down next to me.

“Why have you come…?”, she asked softly.

I flinched at the unexpected question. I had heard it before, on our way to Doria. She watched me with eyes that seemed to hold the moonlight itself. Was it she who had watched us in the forest? I hesitated, suddenly wary.

“It is better if you ask Karim or Selene. They will explain it better than I can”, I tried.

She smiled and shook her head.

“I want to hear it from you”

She watched me with eyes glimmering in the night. What should I say? I tried to look away, but she held my gaze. What would the others have said? But I wasn’t them. I only knew how to say things as they were. She smiled at me, and I took a deep breath and began to tell her what had happened in Marbug. I told her about the strange aura we’d felt, and the orb we’d found in Zaria’s room, and how Selene suspected it was the same thing they had felt when Tarnis fell.

She listened without a word, and when I was done, she finally turned to watch the pond in silence. I glanced at her. Had it been the right answer? But I couldn’t have told her anything else. She sat quiet for a long while until I dared to ask,

“Do you know what it is?”

She turned to me.

“Who are you, Rina?”

I gaped at her in surprise. Why had she asked that? Did she already know? Had she known this whole time that I was just pretending? I tried to break her gaze, but she wouldn’t let it go. I couldn’t tell her who I was. But I couldn’t lie…. I sighed.

“I... come from another world…”, I whispered.

I had hoped that would be enough, but she held my eyes, refusing to look away.

“I am not who you hoped for.”, I continued, succumbing to her gaze.

I watch her, waiting for her reaction. I’d destroyed everything. I just didn’t know how badly yet. She finally broke the gaze, staring out at the waters until I thought she had forgotten about me.

“This thing also comes from afar.”, she said suddenly.

“This thing?”

I looked at her, confused.

“You must have felt it the moment you came to this world…”

I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“It came a long time ago, covering this world in its shadow. What you felt in Marburg was its presence centring on one place… But it is always there…”

I shivered. The uneasiness I’d felt when we rode to Marbug crept up over me. The same anxiety that had lingered at the edges ever since I came here, ready to flare up at the slightest provocation. It had already fallen upon this world. We couldn’t stand against it… I wasn’t their Goddess, I was just pretending…

“Don’t listen to it, don’t Rina… You are safe.”

She wrapped her arms around me. There was nothing she could do… It was lost.

“Rina”

I tried to pull myself free, but she wouldn’t let go.

“Rina!”

The world suddenly turned bright, and I felt the darkness shrinking back. I fell forward, burying my face in her neck. It was soft… Like the cat…

“Is that you?”, I whimpered.

I tried to look up, but she shushed me.

“Don’t look… .”

I clung to her, sinking my face in her soft fur. Was it…? It wasn’t the cat… Who was she…? The light slowly faded, and I was lying on the ground with my head on her lap.

“You are safe...” she whispered.

I watched the dark sky above me. She knew… I struggled to sit up.

“Tell me what it is…”

“You felt it for yourself… It is the darkness.”

She put her hands on my head.

“But there is still hope left…”

“Hope…?”

She nodded.

“It cannot touch you as long as you don’t believe in it”

I didn’t understand what she meant, but I didn’t think she would explain it even if I asked. But she knew what it was. She could defeat it. Was this the answer we’d been looking for? I took a deep breath and looked at her.

“Come, ride with me to Tarnis, Veena.”