Nym's Arc

Chapter 27 of 41

Nym dressed in her black gown. She laced her boots tight and lifted the green cat into her arms. Titus waited outside her door, dressed in dark green trimmed with gold. "Father holds court now," he said. "If you want answers, this is the time." He led her down the gray stone halls of the castle, past clustered turrets and tall windows. The cat rode calm against her chest. The throne room was long and cold. King Thomas sat in chainmail and a dark green fur coat. His green eyes tracked her from the door. He had led her to the hidden book. He had admitted the prophecy was real. But he still guarded what he knew, doling out scraps and no more. Nym needed the rest. "I can hold the light now," she said. She stopped before his throne. "But the book says I must unmake and remake. No one here will teach me how." She met his eyes. "You know more than you say." The king's jaw tightened. "I know what my house has kept secret for three hundred years. That knowledge has a price." He leaned forward. "Prove you can master it. Then I will speak. Words are cheap. I will not spend my family's secrets on a girl who cannot control her own hands." Nym set the cat on the stone floor. It pressed to her ankle. Warmth climbed her arm. The runes under her skin glowed gold. She lifted her palm, and the white light rose, small and steady. She thought of her mother's face, of Titus bringing the cat to her door. The light held. She turned to a dead flower in a vase beside the throne. Its petals were brown and curled. Nym breathed slow and let the light reach out. The petals shivered. Then they went green. The stem straightened. The flower opened fresh, as if newly cut. The court fell silent. Titus stepped closer, eyes wide. King Thomas rose from his throne. The hard set of his face broke. "Remade," he whispered. He came down the steps and took the flower in his hand, turning it. "I did not think I would live to see it." He looked at Nym for a long moment. "You have earned your answers." He sent the court away with a wave. Only Titus stayed. The king spoke low. "There is more than a prophecy, child. The Rune Keepers left a warning with it. Zarool cannot be killed by any blade or fire. He can only be unmade. That is why they made your mother. That is why they wrote of you." He gripped her shoulder. "But the unmaking will cost the one who casts it. My grandfather hid that page. I will show you." Nym's chest went tight. She had won his trust. Now she held a truth she had not wanted. The light could save the kingdoms. It might also destroy her.