Page 66 of Shadow Wings
Her gaze slid to me. “I should be thanking you for killing the queen; that certainly helps ourcause.”
This time when I shifted Tyrrik it wasn’t really because he needed it. “You’re arebel?”
She dipped her head. “Correct. Now, this is of utmost importance. I must know what the ash tree toldyou.”
Since entering the Zivost, the only things to tell me the absolute truth had been the trees. And the trees trusted Kamini. She was Luna’s daughter. That meant something. I glanced to Dyter, who didn’t give me any sign of what to do . . . so I trusted mygut.
In a halting voice which grew stronger, I told the story of her mother leaving her with her aunt. I finished the story by asking, “Did you alreadyknow?”
She shook her head. “I suspected Alani wasn’t my mother. I knew Kaelan wasn’t myfather.”
“Wouldn’t the trees tell you?” I asked. If the trees tell Phaetyn what they’ve seen, wouldn’t she be able to see it,too.
She shook her head again, a slow smile spreading across her face. “I don’t have a tree here, and I don’t have the ancestral power, so I can’t talk with all the trees as youcan.”
I tripped over an exposed tree root. “But your mother was LunaNuloa.”
“So you say. That’s why I want you to talk with the trees at theborder.”
“To confirm she was your mother?” I was missing something. Granted, I was physically and mentally exhausted. Actually, I think I’d passed exhausted on the spectrum and was rapidly approachingdelirious.
But if Luna NuloawasKamini’s mother, wouldn’t that make Kamini the new queen? Shouldn’t she also have ancestral powers being born before me? The eldest daughter inherited them after all. I only had ancestral power because Luna had poured hers into me so my mother wouldn’t miscarry. Surely if Kamini had ancestral powers, that would be commonknowledge.
“Do you dream?” she asked, changing thesubject.
I stumbled again and growled. “I’ve been too tired lately todream.”
But that wasn’t completely true because last night here in Zivost, I dreamed the emperor’s Druman were chasing me. I was not going to share my nightmares withher.
“I dream all the time,” she said. “I dream about a Phaetyn girl. She lives outside our walls. She does what the Phaetyn are meant to do; she’s a land healer.” She paused and then added, “I believe it is my destiny to becomeher.”
“Is that what drove you to join the rebellion?” Dyterasked.
Kamini laughed, but the sound reverberated with bitterness. “That vision is what drove me tocreatetherebellion.”
Holy Pancakes! Kaminiwas the leader of the rebellion? I shared a shocked look withDyter.
She halted. “We’re here. You can set him down,” she said. “I need you to touch the tree. It should be easier now. Phaetyn powers get easier every time you usethem.”
I slid Tyrrik from my shoulders to the ground, circling my arms to loosen the stiff muscles. “First tell me what you’re lookingfor?”
“The truth,” she said, grabbing my empty hands and pressing them to the trunk of a largeelm.
Colors burst behind my eyes, and then murky shadows formed.Luna Nuloa and her guards stood beside the elm, the queen holding her daughter wrapped in a silvery blanket. Luna lowered the rock wall, and as she tilted her head to see to the other side of the barrier, the moonlight exposed her devastated face. She murmured to one of the guards, but her words were lost in the silence of the images. She pointed back toward Zivost and then to the outside. The wall retracted, and the three of them began tocross.
As Luna left Zivost for the other side, her mortal lover emerged. He smiled, his eyes lit with love, and in his arms, he held a smallchild.
I withdrew my hands, realizing the moment I did that Kamini no longer held them to the tree. I grinned and opened my eyes, my heart pounding with excitement in anticipation of telling her what I’d seen. Luna and her human lover had another,olderchild together. At least, that’s what I’d understood from the visions. That would explain why Kamini didn’t possess the ancestral powers for her generation. Was her older sibling female and still out there somewhere, an unknown solution to the Phaetyn’s troubles? My mind moved frantically, putting the pieces together. Luna had mated with Kaelan long ago but over time saw that he and Alani were in love. She’d eventually broken their binding and then fell in love with a human and had two children with him, giving the youngest to Alani and Kaelan, perhaps to babysit, or maybe Luna didn’t trust them with the eldest daughter. The emperor had then slaughtered Luna’s human lover and captured her. Alani became queen after this, and Kaelan king once more, while Luna was pouring her ancestral powers into my mother’s womb, intome.
All of the pieces finally fit together. I opened my mouth to tell Kamini when a rustling in the forest made mefreeze.
“Ryn? Dyter?” Kamoi called, just before stepping out of the trees with severalguards.
Relief washed over Kamoi’s features as his gaze flitted over Kamini and then met mine. “I’ve been soworried.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I said. He’d taken on hisfatherfor me. I couldn’t imagine how that was going to haunt him intime.
Kamini’s gaze shifted from her brother to me, and she pursed herlips.