Chapter 22. Through the Looking Glass

CYRAN

The air is thick with magic.

It’s everywhere, the resume plants stretch out like some lake of vegetation as far as a hundred yards. The aquamarine leaves seem to glow with the sun, and the peas are bursting from their pods. I’ve seen a plantation of kingpins; we were made to work the King’s Glade, watering and harvesting them; but not this wide and unprotected. Saelyna’s breath is on hold, and her skin is pale. At first, I assume she’s awed by the plants as I am. But then, she turns around and throws up a stream of black sludge.

Alarmed, I turn to Veesa, but she’s nodding with a smile.

“She must have felt their magic,” she says, and Argell nods.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask with consternation as I hurry to her side. “Do something!” I call to Veesa.

“No need to be alarmed, boy. Her body is purging the last of the recanted, reacting to the pure magic of Eden,” she says calmly.

Saelyna touches my arm lightly. “I’m alright,