Page 56 of This Shattered Star

“Can’t say it isn’t likely. I never found myself wanting to look. Not when I have this.” I knelt, plunging my hand wrist-deep into the pond. Perfect. “Though I am thankful that no one else has really tried. There’s no business to carry out here. No money to be made, no power to reap. People are afraid of what they do not know. Little do they realize how this forest thrives on the absence of their greedy hands.”

Fingers deftly racing to untie my right boot, I added, “I usually come here when my thoughts are a mess. The music here is the only thing that seems to clear them up.”

Theia retracted her arm from the petals, giving me a strange look. “What music?”

My fingers worked on my left boot now. “Don’t tell me you don’t hear it.”

No orchestra, singer, or musician could replicate it. It was another thing that led me to believe a beating heart hid somewhere amongst the thick roots.

Quiet, constant humming emanated from its trunk, becoming more potent the closer I stood. Higher in pitch when frost coated the grass, lower when sweat dampened my clothes. At certain times, if I held my breath, I could swear the flowers tinkled together like windchimes or tiny bells.

In rare moments, when the darkness in my heart threatened to swallow me whole, its melody changed into something entirely different.

Boots fully unlaced, I straightened, and noticed Theia had closed her eyes in concentration, frowning. “I can’t hear anything.”

“Touch it again,” I offered, jerking my chin towards the trunk of the tree. “It’s louder the closer you get. Maybe your magic will…”Searching for the right words, I chucked both boots off my feet, reveling in feeling of dirt and grass under my soles. “React to it. No harm in trying.”

Theia carefully approach the tree. Almost like she expected it to grant her permission. Then gently rested her palm flat onto the rough bark.

“I can feel traces of magic,” she admitted after a few beats. “Old magic.” Her head cocked to the side, lips pursing as if met with an unsolvable riddle. “But I still don’t hear anything.”

Branches continued to sway, and the humming carried on.

“Strange. It’s unmistakable. From where you’re standing, it should be almost as loud as how I’m talking to you right now.”

She shook her head again, and gently wove her way around the roots to join me by the pond. “Perhaps I’m just impractical to these kinds of things. I’m sure I’ll hear it eventually. Too usedto the noise of the kingdom, I suppose.” Her nose crinkled as she asked, “Why’d you take your boots off?”

She was probably right. I was so young when I’d found this place—it must have taken me some time to hear it at first, too, and I just couldn’t remember.

“So that they can stay dry.”

Using my hands to lower myself in without splashing too much water around, I sunk until my head was fully submerged. Only when my lungs began to burn did I pop back up, sweeping my wet hair out of my face with a sigh of bliss. Warm, like always. Like a soothing balm.

“Tempting.” Eyes alight, she lowered herself to the ground, resting on her knees while she dipped a hand into the water. Watched every ripple shimmer under the soft light of the flowers.

“Your clothes will dry eventually,” I offered, resting my back on the lip of the pond.

I’d spent years selfishly hiding it from the rest of the world. But the wisteria tree continued to hum, its tone steady.

Telling me it was okay, just this once.

Only because it was Theia.

Theia, who promised not to tell anyone where we were. Who had treated me like an equal since the beginning.

Just this once.“And I might know someone who could conjure up enough wind to dry your hair,” I teased.

Her eyes snapped up to mine in surprise. And if I wasn’t so well versed in capturing the barest changes in one’s features, I would’ve missed the way her smile held the ghost of sorrow. But she quickly replaced it with mischief, unaware that I saw through it all.

“You’re right. I’m coming in.”

She unlaced her boots in record time, and I couldn’t help but laugh as I lifted my hands to shield myself from the splash of her less-than-graceful dip into the pond.

“You said you would explain what you did to Darion once we got here,” I started when her head breached the surface of the water. “We’re here. So, explain.”

Her hand shook slightly as it pushed back strands of copper hair from her face. Shifting so her back rested against the opposite lip of the pool, she hesitated before blurting, “I can manipulate peoples’ minds.”

“That much is obvious.” My eyes fought the urge to roll. “But how? What element are you using?”