Lightbringer (Empirium #3) - Claire Legrand Page 0,115

voice in Eliana’s dreams, but slowly.

She walked along a flat gray beach, scattering sheets of sea foam. Carefully she edged into the water until it closed over her head.

Her eyes opened.

She was in her rooms in Corien’s palace, but there was a new stillness to them, a thick hush, and with it came a single tentative memory.

Afraid to even think the word in case he should hear, she sent out the question nevertheless: Prophet?

I am here, answered the voice, the very same one as before. We must move quietly, Eliana. I cannot be with you for long. Not yet.

Eliana lay like a stone in her bed; the damp sheets clung to her. The morning sun drenched the room, suffusing it with heat, but if she moved, he would find her.

Where have you been? Living in Corien’s palace, his presence never far from her and her days filled with the tireless wrath of his mind, she now understood well the focus required for mind-speak. You stopped me from killing myself. You said we had things to do. Then you left me.

I know. The Prophet’s voice was neither masculine nor feminine. Soft but steady, it came to Eliana through layers of heavy silt. She sensed the Prophet was trying to hide. I am sorry for that. I had to stay away until his anger faded. I knew he would be looking for me after what happened that day.

Corien’s name rose to the top of Eliana’s thoughts on a dull wave of fear.

Careful, the Prophet cautioned. Do not think too closely of him when we speak. You may alert him to my presence if you do. If you must think of him at all, allow your thoughts to slide over the idea of him like water over rocks.

But it was too late for sliding water. A drum of panic beat against Eliana’s ears, and all she could think of was his name. Corien. His thoughts squeezing like hard fingers inside her skull. Corien. His presence invading her dreams with flashing teeth and hands slick as snakes. Corien.

He’s coming. The Prophet’s voice was already fading. I’m sorry. I will return, little one.

Eliana felt the Prophet leave like a needle sliding free of its cushion. When Corien came, it wasn’t to hurt her. Silently, he crawled into her bed, wrapped her in his arms as a lover might, curled his body around hers.

He held her for hours, crooning angelic lullabies against her neck. She resisted the urge to break away from him and fought the pull of sleep, thinking instead of a soft-water river flowing quietly across a bed of smooth gray stones. Soon, fuzzy and limp, she hardly noticed the black eyes burrowing into her skull from behind, like nesting beetles plump with eggs.

• • •

Awaken, but slowly.

Eliana opened her eyes to see her rooms washed silver with moonlight.

Will you show me your face, angel? It had been twelve days since she had last heard from the Prophet. She had made sure to keep count, a thing she had long ago given up, for each day had seemed an impossible burden.

Now, each moment buzzed with anticipation as she waited for the Prophet to return, and the endless days felt lighter.

Not yet, said the Prophet, voice full of regret. Let’s have a conversation, you and I. How long can we talk before he stirs, I wonder?

What would you like to talk about? Eliana glanced at the adatrox flanking her door. Jessamyn was not there, but she would come in the morning. How each day I live on is a torment? How worn thin I have become in body and mind? How far my power feels from me now?

I already know all of these things, said the Prophet gently. But if it would help you to tell me, please do.

Eliana breathed in silence for several minutes. She imagined her little river running soft across its stones.

Every day I imagine ending my life. She let the thought flow along the river’s calm current. You should have let me. You claim to be a friend of humans, but in fact you’ve doomed us all.

It feels cruel to beg your patience, but I beg it nevertheless. The Prophet sent a feeling upstream, where it lapped against Eliana’s toes. It was too subtle to read clearly, but it warmed Eliana, and she imagined hiding forever inside it.

What am I waiting for? What will we do?

Unfortunately, we must move slowly. We must glide through the water between us and guard against