Nevetharine opened her eyes slowly, wishing the dream would continue. She felt a tear run down her nose. She cried while she slept, but she couldn't understand why. As she sat up, she felt like she had lost something precious. It was still dark and her fire was still cracking softly. She realised that she had only been asleep for a few minutes again, but it felt like hours.
She vacantly looked into the flames. Its warmth and radiant colour consoled her and reminded her of the dragon in her dream. She closed her eyes and willed herself back to sleep.
***
The next morning, Nevetharine assisted Meena with scrubbing the castle floors. This was not a usual part of her duties, but she desperately needed a chance to speak to her. She told Meena all about Meredith and about the dreams she had been having. Throughout the whole conversation, Meena was quiet. Being quiet was extremely out of character for her! Once Nevetharine had finished speaking, there was an awkward silence between them that had never been there before, not even when they first met.
Finally, after several minutes, Meena spoke: "You need to go back to her. To Meredith. So that she can help you get back to Eryos." There were hints of sadness in her voice.
Nevetharine gave her a quick glance as she continued scrubbing away at the stone. Some part of her suddenly felt guilty and wanted to avoid eye contact. "What do you mean?"
Meena pushed down the brush harder on the floor. "You don't belong here, Nevetharine. You weren't born here, despite what Magnus told you. You are important. You need to get back to Eryos."
"Eryos is a legend."
Meena threw the brush into the bucket of water so hard that it splashed all over the floor. "Listen to me!"
Nevetharine's eyes widened. The innocent girl who always made a joke of everything had suddenly become stern. What was even more surprising, was that this was the first time Meena had ever spoken to Nevetharine in such a tone.
Meena grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Eryos is real, do you understand? Do you know how I know? I know, because you came here from Eryos! There is nothing else left out there, do you hear me? Nothing! Everything else died…She contacted you now for a reason and if you don't get out of here, my father will kill the Elder and if the Elder dies, he will take us all with him!"
Suddenly the shock of Meena's outburst became minor compared to what Nevetharine just heard. "Your fa…? Magnus is your father?"
Meena swallowed a lump in her throat as she realised what she had just revealed. Tears began to fill her eyes and her voice became shaky. "You have to get out of here, Nevetharine. He's trapped you, don't you get it?"
"We are all trapped here…"
"That's not what I…Oh, forget it." Meena released Nevetharine and looked to the other side while wiping the tears from her face.
What kind of a father treated his daughter like a slave and allowed men to rape her? Then, an enormous, unwarranted amount of guilt swallowed Nevetharine. What if Meena was right and Eryos did exist? Nevetharine promised herself she would protect Meena from the first day they met. What was she doing to keep that promise by denying both of them a chance at freedom?
She never realised how strongly Meena felt about Eryos, because she always spoke of it in jest. Now, all her jokes seemed to Nevetharine like they were desperate cries for help. From the depths of her mind, she heard the other voice speak.
You have two choices, die trying to leave, or die not having tried at all.
Nevetharine took Meena's face in her hands and spoke to her softly, "I'll go if you come with me." Then she watched as Meena's face lit up through the tears.
***
Meredith gazed into her crystal ball. When she first bought it, it seemed like an odd choice for scrying to the merchant. Most people would rather go for clear Triphacyte. It was believed to perform much better at divination.
However, she loved the way the blue Ceritondunite felt in her hands and she needed no extra help from the crystal itself to see into the future or to communicate with alternate realms. She heard Nevetharine's decision to leave in her thoughts. Meredith wondered if she noticed her distress before she left. After all these centuries, she was quite confident that she was able to hide emotion well, but with Nevetharine, she was never sure. Her appearance and weakness was shocking, even to Meredith, who had seen it all when it came to worst-case scenarios. She wondered how her brother would handle it. Things were not unfolding quite the way she had hoped they would. With Magnus now actively looking for Raghar the Horrid's notebook, they had little time left before he would make his way to Eryos.
And if Nevetharine does not wake up to the truth soon, she would have to stand with Aros against him. She wondered if her brother would even be able to survive the final battle. That was, unfortunately, one death she could not see. Magnus sought out Aros' power like a bloodhound and her brother-in-law grew weaker with every fight. Truthfully, not even their powers combined would be enough to stop the end. It just wasn't the right chemistry. One ingredient was missing - her sister. Even if they managed to kill Magnus and defeat his armies, they wouldn't have the right combination of power to save the planet, or its few survivors. A sun and death? What a horrible combination.
Life must be added back into the equation.
She could only hope that the potions she gave Nevetharine sparked her curiosity. There was not much more that she could do to help her. Magnus played his cards well and ensured that Nevetharine would never believe the truth from those closest to her. Meredith walked over to the fire pit and stared into the flames. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes as she established the mental link. When she opened her eyes again, the room changed around her as she went into a light hallucination. Her little cottage gradually disappeared as the Triphacyte Crystal Cave took its place.