I study the white stone. “Sofie gave me a ring just like this one and told me to not take it off.”
“She must have an identical one. It is possible. The ring you wear now was Queen Isla’s, but it was designed in the likeness of Aoife’s ring, well known to the seers. The gold is a token gift from the fate’s antler. When I tested you, I had to remove it. There are spells affixed to it that were not there before, that contain your caster affinities. When Sofie bound you to Princess Romeria’s form, they must have carried from the ring she gave you to this one. It is remarkable what she did. I assume she did it to protect you until you learn how to use your power.”
“But even before. All my life, I had no idea. How is that possible?”
“I do not know. In Ybaris, all children are tested and marked with an elemental insignia that cannot be forged. Sometimes a parent fears their child will show affinities and be taken away, so they find a caster who sympathizes and will mark their child as human when they are not. I did it for a few children,” she admits sheepishly. “Sometimes they remain clueless their entire lives. Other times, they discover that they have abilities by mistake. Setting fire to a barn in a fit of rage, bringing about a rainstorm to calm their broken heart.”
I pick through my memories. I don’t recall anything strange like that ever happening to me. “And what if it’s an elemental who is untrained?” That’s basically what I am. An elemental with all four elements. I could summon the fates, if I had any clue what I was doing.
Nervous flutters stir with just the thought.
“That is very rare, and to have affinities to all four and not know …” She shakes her head. “I am curious to know what you feel once the cuffs are off and you remove your ring, now that you know elemental power exists.”
The walls you’ve built around yourself to survive are far too thick.
Sofie’s vague words strike a chord. That is what she meant. She knew what I was.
Everything I’ve known all my life, everything I’ve believed to be true, has been flipped upside down yet again. My mother spoke of witches masquerading as nurses, stealing babies in the night. In a world where humans rule and these other races hide, is that how casters continue to exist? Are casters left to fend for themselves, or is there a place like Mordain?
“I’ve only ever heard of one such case of a missed elemental,” Wendeline says, cutting into my swirling thoughts. “The story of Eloyan May, who had three affinities. It is a well-known teaching in Mordain.”
“What happened to her?”
Wendeline shrugs. “She went mad, as they all do. The elements remained dormant, but they were still there, within her, simmering. When the casters found her, she was confused by what was happening, because she was uneducated.”
I frown. “What do you mean, they all go mad?”
“All elementals succumb to their abilities once they reach a certain age, usually between their third and fourth decade. An elemental’s powers become ineffective, and their minds muddled. They are unable to decipher yesterday from today and tomorrow, fact from fiction. They speak in riddles that are often unintelligible.”
I recall something Annika had said. “They get sick.”
“Yes. Some call it a sickness. Others call it madness. They become seers, who are as rare as elementals, if not more so, given most do not survive long. Queen Neilina sends her elementals back to Mordain once they’ve gone through the change. She no longer values them. But the devoted scribes believe seers are invaluable, even with their chaotic ruminations. They can see across dimensions and time, but they struggle to interpret what is happening and where and when, which is what causes much of their confusion. They no longer have a grasp of where their mortal feet touch.” A sad smile touches her face. “Ianca went through the change while they were traveling here.”
“Ianca’s the seer.” The older woman who Bexley said is traveling with the elemental.
“Yes. It is why she still wears an elemental’s collar.”
“But it happened that quickly? This madness, I mean.” It couldn’t have been more than five or six weeks since they escaped.
“I’ve heard of elementals going to sleep in the evening coherent and waking up lost. But often, they will complain that they feel something pulling at the seams of their mind, which is a sign the change is nearing.”
My mouth hangs as I process all this new information. “Are you saying I would become a seer?”
“As a mortal, yes. But bound to Princess Romeria’s immortal body, you are safe from what most consider a horrible disease. The toll on the seer’s mind ages them rapidly, and they often lose their mortal sight, though they develop what we call divine sight. They see the fates in their mind’s eye, and they’ve been able to describe them in great detail for the scribes.” Her blue eyes settle on the towering statues. “Their succinct visions are what we have used to model the corporeal forms.”
The gilded doe has been here.
My father’s peculiar words cling to the forefront of my mind, suddenly feeling more important. “Has anyonebesides these seers ever seen the fates?”
“The elementals who summon them. Only those considered chosen are granted the gift of looking upon them.”
A sinking realization begins to weigh on my insides. The ramblings … the delusions … “Men can be elementals.” It’s not a question.
“Yes. Ailill was one.” She pauses. “Key casters are sired by male elementals. Your father would have been one.”
My jaw drops.
“Did you know him? Your father?”