Seraiah’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. She could do little more than stare at Kai as he took another bite from the apple.

How could he be so calm when her entire world had shifted? Her little sister was not only a queen, but she also wasn’t human?

“Remember when you asked me who I was,” he said, after swallowing his bite, “and I told you, you wouldn’t believe me?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. “Well, this wasn’t quite the reaction I pictured, but it’s close. That’s a remarkable impression of a fish out of water, by the way.”

Seraiah snapped her mouth shut, eyes narrowing. It seemed Kai had reverted to being antagonistic toward her. Not that she didn’t deserve it after the remark she’d made about his mother.

“Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out sooner. I’m sure you’ve read that book,” Kai gestured to the book now hanging limply at her side, “several times. You grew up with a step-mother and sister, who were both elves. It’s a wonder this is the first time you had the thought that they could exist. You even suggested that faeries were responsible for Sterling’s disappearance.”

“Kai,” Kestrel said, warning in her voice.

“Why would I think that my sister and step-mother were some creatures out of a children’s story?” Seraiah snapped back. “I’m not crazy.”

Kai eyed her. “Says the girl whose dreams happen to come true.”

Seraiah’s hands balled into fists at her sides. She’d never been a violent person, but she would like nothing more than to strangle him right now. He seemed to have a way of getting under her skin like no one else did.

“Stop,” Kestrel said, stepping between them. “This isn’t helping anyone, least of all, Sterling. Let’s focus back on what’s important here.”

“My apologies,” Kai said, though he’d didn’t look like he meant it.

As much as she didn’t want to forgive him, Seraiah knew Kestrel was right. Fighting like this would get them nowhere, so instead of hurling another insult, she reluctantly issued her own apology.

“Good,” Kestrel said. “Now that we have that out of the way, can we move on to more pressing matters like what exactly that dream of yours was about.”

Seraiah blinked, for a second thinking Kestrel was referring to her nightmare.

“We need to discuss what you saw last night, and then we can decide how best to proceed from there.”

Right. Last night’s dream. She relayed everything she could remember.

When she finished, Kestrel was drumming her fingers on the top of her sword.

“It’s not much to go on,” she finally said. “I think it would be best if you tried to see more. As I was saying earlier before Kai showed off his pointy ears, while I don’t have any experience with training seers, I’m fairly certain you can use a possession of the person you wish to see—in this case that book—to help focus your vision.”

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Seraiah hugged Sterling’s book to her chest. “And how would I do that? Would I need to fall asleep?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Kestrel said, glancing to Kai.

“Don’t look at me.” He finished eating his apple and tossed the core away. “I don’t have any experience with seers either. Since it was your idea, I’ll leave you to it. Someone has to watch our backs in case the creature hunts us first.”

Seraiah eyed the trees around them nervously. When she’d mentioned the beast with gray fur, they’d questioned her closely on the size. She hadn’t seen the whole thing, but the two of them still seemed convinced it must have been what Kai had seen traces of yesterday and what had left the mangled arm.

It meant the creature could be lurking nearby, watching them right now.

“Useless prince,” Kestrel grumbled, drawing Seraiah’s attention back to her. The comment was loud enough for Kai to hear, but he ignored it and kept walking.

Kestrel sighed. “Let’s experiment, shall we?”

----------------------------------------

An hour passed without any progress.

“This isn’t working,” Seraiah said, pushing the book away in frustration. “We’re wasting our time. All I’ve done is give myself a headache.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Kestrel said, flicking a small knife into the air and catching it. “Let me think about what else we could try.”

“Why don’t we continue moving?” Seraiah suggested, watching the blade go up and down. She’d watched Kestrel play with it all morning and was surprised the other girl hadn’t either cut her hand or stabbed herself in the foot yet. “Or what if we draw the beast to us?”

Kestrel stopped flipping the knife and focused on her. “That’s a dangerous idea.” She grinned. “I think I like it.”

“I was thinking, what if we could change my vision? If we take the beast out of the equation, then it can’t harm Sterling, right? We still won’t know where she is, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I suppose,” Kestrel said slowly. “Unless there’s more than one, of course. I think we could try it, though, if you’re willing. Do you have any skills with a blade?”

“Um, well, I’ve never cut myself chopping vegetables,” she offered.

Kestrel blinked. “I guess it could be worse. All right, new plan. I’m going to teach you some basics. Then we will find a way to deal with the beast.”

She flipped the knife again, so that she was holding the blade, and held it out to Seraiah. “Let’s begin your first lesson.”

It quickly became apparent Seraiah wasn’t any better with fighting skills than she was at focusing her visions.

“Try it again,” Kestrel said.

Seraiah swiped a sweaty strand of hair away from her face. She was breathing hard as she arranged her feet the way Kestrel had shown her. The knife had disappeared back into Kestrel’s boot, and they were now focused solely on how to stand and fall.

Her body did not appreciate any of this.

“What are you two doing?” Kai asked, appearing between the trees.

In Seraiah’s momentary distraction, Kestrel swept her feet out from under her. She hit the ground hard and lay there, letting the cold soak through her dress.

“Another lesson for you. Never let your guard down,” Kestrel said, holding out a hand to help her up.

“I’m not an expert,” Kai said, “but this doesn’t look like working on visions.”

“That’s because we’re working on my new plan,” Kestrel told him.

“Your new plan,” Kai repeated. “And when were you going to tell me about this new plan? The only reason we’re still sitting here was so she could practice her visions.”

“I have a name,” Seraiah said.

Kai waved her off, focusing on Kestrel. “Well?”

“We weren’t making progress on the visions, but Seraiah had another idea. She suggested we try changing her vision by drawing the beast to us.”

“And you were going to teach her how to battle it herself? I’ve been watching for a while, and if it’s her against the beast, the beast is going to win.”

“That’s not—”

“He’s right,” Seraiah cut in. It pained her to say it, but it was true. “I’m useless at fighting. I can’t do anything against the beast. It would all be up to you two. I understand if you don’t want to use my idea.”

Kai’s eyes flicked from her face, down to her feet, and then back up again like he was evaluating her. “I think we can still try it,” he said, “but you will need to rethink your part in it.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly self-conscious. “I will do anything to protect my sister.”

“Good.” A slow smile spread across Kai’s face. “Then I think I have a way we can do this.”