Page 145 of Burn Her They Said
Varic clasps my shoulders, and I cannot deny him. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
A laugh rings from my chest as I glance between each of my Guards. “Whatever I tell you, I tell them.”
His face falls as he steps too close, should anyone find us. I shake my head and turn away as he releases me to comb his fingers through his thick brown waves. “I’m sorry. I was too intense, again.”
“You’re always intense, Varic.”
His laughter and the mirthful glint in his eye settle my nerves enough to admit, “I think the dead might be speaking through me, and it seems to happen around the times we are allowed outside.”
Every pair of eyes around me widens, and I swallow the laugh pressing in on my larynx.
“Then there’s the visions which I assume have been sent to me by the Dragons.”
“What?” Malin’s brows rise.
“The first time it happened was right before we met—” I gesture to Varic. “I sensed a strange presence within the Temple of the Dragon at your encampment. It drew my attention, and I believe it sent me visions—images of the tent you were sequestered in, and your eyes.”
“My eyes?”
“Yes,” I say, staring into the same. “Impossibly bright brown—unlike anything I’d ever seen before, or since.”
Varic stares at me, entranced, seemingly just as powerless to break our eye contact.
“You never said anything about receiving visions,” Malin says. “You didn’t think to mention this at any time in the years since it happened? You never thought to tell your Guards, who are meant to know every possible threat to your being?” His chest heaves now that he’s finished admonishing me. And I don’t ask his permission, I just siphon some of his incredulity and fear to help him relax until his shoulders fall, then I retract my magic.
“I didn’t understand what had happened at the time. But I promise, I didn’t keep this to myself on purpose. We did not have the privacy to speak about it on the way to Varic’s tent. Then, if you can imagine, I became a bit distracted.” Figurative flames lick the center of my chest, then rise to settle in my cheeks. “Whereas the sensation of something taking over my being in an expulsion of anger happened right after Varic’s blood-bonding ceremony with Minea. If you recall, I was growling at him for refusing to let me walk up the stairway on my own.” Nods and murmurs confirm they remember. “Then just now, when I said ‘no’—did anyone else notice a difference in the tone?”
“Yes, it sounded…old,” Cirrin says, looking at the leaves scattered on the ground.
“It felt old, too.”
“What do you know?” Lars asks while staring at Varic, who appears to be lost in thought.
“There was chatter among the soldiers previously stationed at the southern borders who told stories of witches with spirits who spoke through them. ‘Enthrallment,’ I think they called it. Supposedly, the spirit would place the witch under a spell in order to inhabit their vessel.” His eyes never stray from me as he explains.
“I remember my father mentioning something about this,” Lars says, having grown up with a scholar. “Though I don’t recall if he ever went into much detail, since it wouldn’t have been relevant for me to memorize at the time.”
“Did the soldiers ever mention how it happens, or how to prevent it?” Cirrin asks.
“It seems to be controlled by the spirits, and they never mentioned anything about preventing it.”
“How are we going to protect you from something we cannot see?” Fray asks.
“What makes you think I need to be protected from this?”
“Do you want spirits to inhabit your body?” Fray asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Nothing bad has happened to make me fear the presence. If anything, it feels familiar and furious. Though not at me.”
Varic releases a breath, and my heart hammers in my chest as I work up the nerve to add what I need to say next. “Malin?”
“No one is coming. And I will alert you if they do.”
I nod once in thanks. “I’m not sure if it is related, but I can also apparently block a Dragon from telepathically communicating with me.” Fear stares back from behind each of my Guards’ eyes. “Mirinea warned me that this is a dangerous ability which could get me, and anyone connected to me, killed, explaining that I was not to tell anyone. However, I do think I should have told all of you. We’ve just been busy dodging bombs ever since she brought this to my attention.”
“Fuck.” Varic pales and then drops, folding down to hover over the balls of his feet with his hands clasping either side of his skull.
I rush closer when Lars and Fray step to either side of his body. They each offer him a hand, then help pull him to stand.
