Storm Born Page 0,68

I could not heal you too."

"'Too'? Oh...was it you? Did you heal my mother? She doesn't remember anything...."

She nodded. "I didn't have the power to heal you both. She was more severely injured, and with your age and stamina - and your blood - well, I thought you'd have an easier time recovering."

I thought about the aches and pains shooting through my body. Easier? That might be a subjective term.

"You made the right choice. Thanks. I'll be fine."

Kiyo stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. "Eugenie doesn't like to admit weakness. It's one of her more charming traits."

I shot him a glare, and Maiwenn offered a small, polite smile. "Nothing wrong with that." She approached me and extended a hand toward my face. "I think I have enough strength for a small healing. May I?"

I nodded, not entirely sure what I was agreeing to.

Her fingertips grazed my cheek, icy cold but gentle. A tingle ran through me, and she drew back, suddenly looking pale and tired. Kiyo started to help her when she stumbled, but she waved him off. "There. No scarring this way." My fingers examined the place she had touched. No more scab.

"Thank you." Silence fell, and I looked from face to face. With me in bed and them hanging around so casually, I didn't really feel like I was having a meeting with a bona fide queen. It was all so informal. "What happened?"

They exchanged uncertain glances. "We're not really sure," he said. "You and your mother were both unconscious. The elemental was dead, and your living room...it looks kind of bad."

"But...that was it?"

His eyebrows rose. "What more could there be?"

"There was no storm when you showed up?"

They exchanged conspiratorial looks again, and something about their solidarity rankled me.

"Tell us what you remember," Maiwenn said.

I did, starting with the spirit attack and ending with the vicious storm.

Neither spoke when I finished. Kiyo sighed.

"What?" I demanded. "What happened? You obviously know."

"It's complicated."

"Everything's complicated lately. Let me guess. It was the magic, wasn't it? Storm King's inherited power?"

He didn't answer. She did.

"Yes. It seems it has been passed down after all."

"Can I stop it? Keep it locked up so it doesn't come out again?"

"Not likely. You might be able to bury it so it isn't consciously used, but...if it's there, it's likely to burst out again when your emotions let loose. You'll get the same kind of disastrous results if you don't learn to manage it."

"I don't want it." I shuddered, recalling that horrible blackness and deadly lightning. Uneasily, I remembered what Volusian had told me, that embracing my magic could protect me and those I loved. I looked at Maiwenn nervously, hating what I was about to ask. "But I don't want to hurt anyone either. Can you teach me to use it? Or at least control it?"

Kiyo's eyes widened. "Eugenie, no - "

"What do you expect me to do?" I demanded. The expression on his face mirrored what I felt inside. "It's not like I want to do this. But you saw what happened. I destroyed my house, and worse, I nearly killed my mother. And myself."

He sighed but didn't argue. Maiwenn regarded him calmly.

"She's right."

"I know. But I don't have to like it."

"I don't know if I can teach you or not," she murmured, turning back to me. "Your magic - storm magic - is a very physical, outward sort of power. Healing is more internal. Less aggressive. Some of the basics will be the same, but we'll probably have to find you a teacher with similar powers."

Like someone who can call up pieces of the earth and rip castles apart, I thought. I didn't give voice to that. Kiyo and I might be "friends," but I immediately knew he wouldn't like me getting close to Dorian.

"Kiyo says you're against the invasion thing, that you weren't a supporter of Storm King."

"Yes. That was part of the reason I wanted to meet you. I'm happy you survived today, Eugenie Markham, but...this possibility of the prophecy coming true alarms me. I've spent years believing Storm King had no children. Your existence causes all sorts of complications."

It occurred to me then that Maiwenn might have slept easier if I'd been killed today.

"So is it true?" she asked. "You have no intention of fulfilling the prophecy?"

"Of course not."

"Turning one's back on such power can't be easy. Even now, you're considering his magic."

"That's a necessity. I don't want it. Besides, none of this is about power. It's