Kept by the Zandian (Zandian Brides 5)

She puts the coin down on the table with a little jingle clink when it hits the stone, and comes over to me, graceful in her skirts and crystals. “Oh, Taisha, did you expect something to happen?” She touches my arm.

“For so long, I thought that when I saw you and gave you this”—I gesture, feeling a lump in my throat—“that it would mean something amazing. I also thought it was urgent.”

“How do you mean?” She looks at me with curiosity.

“It was not easy to bring this here. I struggled to find it, stole it back from Drayk’s bag, and hid it. Kept it with me all the time. Then how I took it back with me to Romon-3, where it was the key to convincing the others that Marshan was a safe bet. After all of that? I guess I just expected more.”

I give a small laugh. “I suppose I’m a little worried that nothing happened. Maybe I didn’t do it right.”

She laughs, but gently. “Would there be a better way to give someone a gift?” She squeezes my arm. “I will treasure it because it’s from you and from so far away.”

I wrack my brain. “Maybe I misunderstood what Leylah wanted. Remembered wrong.”

“All of us who have the sight have different gifts that manifest in various ways. The coin may have allowed Leylah to focus and distill her images. For me, it’s enhanced greatly by Zandian crystal.” She touches the collar at her throat, studded with priceless crystals.

“I’m sorry.”

“But for what? If she asked you to get this to me, you’ve more than fulfilled your promise. Taisha, think. You escaped, stowed away, survived dangerous missions, and have arrived millions of light years away onto a new planet, the one rock within the entire galaxy that welcomes humans as free. And you carried the coin, somehow, this whole way. And used it to gain us an ally. Isn’t that the amazing thing in itself?” She pulls up a stool and sits beside me.

“Perhaps Leylah only wanted you to treat the coin with importance so it could serve you well. Maybe the journey was the destination all along.”

“Do you think so?”

She shrugs. “Maybe it’s a key to friendship. Maybe it’s just a symbol to help bring beings together. She told you it was for me, but it was for you all along.”

I consider this. “That would have been very clever and tricky of Leylah.” But I can see it. I smile. “I miss her.”

“I know.” Lamira gives me a sympathetic look.

“I… when you said the crystals help your visions”—I bite my lip—“I don’t have visions, but sometimes I get little flashes?”

“Are you wondering if they are real?”

I nod, grateful that she understands. “I worry that I am not strong enough to bring them forth. That I’m not doing it right.”

“I think you worry too much.” She laughs, but her face is kind. “If you are meant to be a seer, the visions will come, in their time. Don’t feel the need to force it.” She pauses. “One thing I truly believe, though? If you are a seer, you will never need something physical and unique, like a coin, to trigger your visions. Because they come from inside.” She touches her chest. “So the idea that this old coin holds the power to your visions? Let that go.”

“That idea is very freeing. It’s like being out of coin jail.” I laugh loudly, relieved at her words.

She giggles along with me. Then she says carefully, “So, what kinds of flashes did you get?”

“I thought I saw Bayla’s human children.” I hold my breath.

She gasps. “You did?”

I nod. “But I don’t know if was true, or my imagination. And it was just the once.”

“If you see them again, come tell me. Perhaps I can help you.”

“How?” I’m eager to hear more.

“Oh, I have no idea.” She tilts her head. “Yet. But if you have flickers, we should work together, if we can. At least try.”

“I will.” I feel much better to have an ally in this.

“Tell me about your escape. Killing the guard with the toxin.”

“You know my story, then.” I use one finger to pull the coin across the table top so it sits just inches from the edge. It’s cool and remote, looking just as it did back on Romon-3. Well, just a bit shinier now.