A hand clamped gently over her mouth.
She looked up, heart jerking.
Marcus.
His blue eyes were wide, but not surprised. He looked... calm. Too calm. Like he’d been expecting this.
"Brother Marcus..."
He removed his hand and whispered, "You shouldn’t be here."
Evelisse shook her head frantically. "I know. I know."
He nodded once. Then scooped her into his arms like a sack of potatoes.
"Let’s go before you need emotional therapy."
She didn’t argue. She curled against his chest like a traumatized baby deer.
Fluffy, still red in the face, zipped beside them. "This is the worst side quest we’ve ever been on."
Marcus said nothing at first, just carried her quietly through the echoing halls. His arms were firm but gentle, and every footstep echoed like a drumbeat in her ears. Evelisse dared not raise her head, still horrified by what she had heard—what she’d almost walked into.
Fluffy hovered just above, still green-tinted from embarrassnt. "Never. Again. I need mory wipe. Or system glitch. Or both."
"Breathe," Marcus murmured eventually. "You’re safe now, Eve."
"I don’t feel safe," Evelisse mumbled into his shoulder. "My ears are forever unclean."
"You heard nothing."
"I heard everything."
Fluffy whimpered. "We all heard everything."
Marcus chuckled, the low sound vibrating against her. "You’re going to be okay, Evelisse. They’re... just in love. Very in love."
"That sounded more like a battle replayed than love," she muttered.
He stopped at a quiet alcove nestled beneath a stained-glass window of a lion and a fox intertwined beneath stars. He gently set her down on a stone bench and sat beside her.
Evelisse curled up, knees to her chest, arms wrapped tightly.
"Brother Marcus... please tell this is a nightmare."
"It’s not."
"I don’t like this tiline."
"I know."
Silence settled for a long mont. The stained glass cast soft purples and blues across the floor like sleepy auroras.
Evelisse murmured against Marcus’s shoulder, "I wasn’t... I didn’t an to—"
"I know," Marcus said softly. "You were curious. I should’ve seen this coming sooner."
She peeked up. "Brother Marcus... how did you know I was there?"
Marcus sighed, slowing his steps. "I was resting in the garden wing. Had just closed my eyes when it hit —a ripple."
"A vision?" she asked quietly.
He nodded, looking ahead as if seeing both past and future. "Not a clear one. Just a blur of petals, panic, and your face flushed as a tomato. You don’t exactly need a full prophecy to know sothing has gone very wrong when your baby sister looks like she’s witnessed a cri against her childhood."
Evelisse’s face turned red again. "It was a cri."
They reached a small alcove with a cushioned bench tucked beneath a stained-glass window. Golden afternoon light slanted in, painting the floor with warm patterns of lions and lilies. Marcus sat, still holding her gently until she wriggled out of his arms and sat beside him.
She took a deep breath. "I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look Mother in the eyes again."
Marcus gave a faint smile. "Give it a few days. She’s got diplomatic immunity when it cos to embarrassing her children."
Fluffy was muttering into his paws like he was trying to wipe the mory from existence.
"Brother Marcus," Evelisse said softly, turning to face him, "you really saw it? sneaking there?"
He leaned back against the cool stone wall, arms crossed over his chest. "Not exactly. It doesn’t always co in full visions. Sotis it’s flashes. Other tis, I only see sothing when I focus hard enough or when I’m dreaming."
She blinked. "Dreaming?"
"It’s unpredictable," he admitted. "If I fall asleep with magic nearby—or if I’ve been using my rune a lot—I get flashes. Ti skips. Thirty minutes into the future, sotis less. Sotis more. But it’s... draining."
Evelisse frowned. "You never told anyone?"
Marcus hesitated, then let out a short breath. "I did. Once."
Her eyes widened.
"Father called it imaginative anxiety. Told to take fewer late-night books and more fresh air. Mother recomnded soup."
Evelisse’s chest squeezed. ’So he’s been bearing this alone, just like how the diary of the original host of this body had experienced sothing like this.’
"After that," Marcus continued, "I stopped ntioning it. It’s easier to pretend you’re eccentric than explain what you don’t fully understand."
There was a quiet pause. The kind of silence that only ca after soone trusted you with sothing precious.
"You’re the first to believe ," he added softly. "You acted on it."
"Well," Evelisse said, her voice quiet and a bit wobbly, "you did give a glowing rock. Kinda hard to ignore that."
He laughed, and the sound was warm.
Then, more seriously: "You’re not alone in this, Evelisse. Not anymore."
She looked down at her lap. ’Not alone.’
Fluffy sniffled loudly behind them. "I am going to sob glitter. You two are unbearable."
Evelisse giggled weakly. ’Fluffy, hush. Even if he can’t see or hear you, I can and I might seem crazy if I’m randomly reacting to sothing that can’t be seen or heard.’
"Have you... always had this?" She chose to question from a different angle.
"I think so. But it’s gotten clearer since I turned sixteen. It’s still unstable. I only see about thirty minutes ahead. And even that requires either a nap or... really boring staring."
"Staring?"
He smirked. "If I focus hard enough on a thing—like a flickering candle or a piece of bread—I sotis see... flashes. Like skipping stones over a pond. Think of it like... hunches. Strong ones. If I concentrate, I see flickers of what might happen. The stronger the emotion or the danger, the clearer the ripple. Right now, I’m trying to minimize the use as it takes a toll on my brain."
"That’s... terrifying. And amazing."
He looked down at his hands. "It’s not always helpful. Sotis it’s too late. Like today."
"You still ca," Evelisse said softly.
Marcus gave a soft laugh. "Yeah. Because I knew you’d try sothing reckless. And I couldn’t let you go through that alone."
Evelisse was quiet for a mont, then asked, "But why ? Why tell ?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)