POV: Ravenna
I shifted back to human form reluctantly. Wanted to stay as Solace. Wanted to feel the power and strength and wholeness a little longer.
But I needed to return to the palace. Needed to understand what had happened to me. Needed to figure out what came next.
Theron shifted beside me. Caught me when my legs wavered slightly. The transformation still took energy even if it didn't hurt anymore.
"Steady?" he asked.
"Yes." I leaned into him for a moment. Let myself take comfort in his solid presence. "I'm okay."
"You're more than okay." His voice held wonder. "You're extraordinary."
We walked back through the castle as morning fully arrived. Servants were starting their daily routines. Guards changing shifts. The palace waking up.
And everyone stared.
They'd heard, of course. Word of my near-death and miraculous recovery had spread through the castle like wildfire. But seeing me walking, healthy, radiant—it made the rumors real.
Some bowed deeply. Some whispered to each other. Some just stared with open mouths.
I ignored them all. Kept my chin up and my spine straight. Every inch a princess even if I felt like a stranger in my own skin.
We reached my chambers. Morgana was there, tidying things that didn't need tidying. Nervous energy. Waiting.
She turned when we entered and burst into tears.
"Oh gods." She rushed over and threw her arms around me. "Oh gods, Rav. I thought you were dead. I thought I'd lost you."
"I'm here." I hugged her back with my good arm—no, both arms were good now. Both perfectly healed. "I'm okay. I promise."
"You DIED. Your heart stopped. Solace stopped breathing. And then that scale and the light and—" She pulled back to look at me. Really look. "You're different. You look different."
"I am different." I touched my own face. Wondered what she saw. "I have water element now. And I think—I think I have my mother's gift."
"The healing gift." Morgana's voice was soft. Awed. "Like Queen Elara."
"Maybe. I don't know. Lysander said I need to practice, to learn control before I try using it."
"Are you hungry?" Morgana switched to practical matters. The way she always did when emotions got too big. "You haven't eaten in days. Let me get you something."
She moved to the table where someone had left a tray. Bread, cheese, fruit, wine. Simple food for recovery.
I realized I WAS hungry. Ravenous. My body demanding fuel after everything it had been through.
I sat at the table and started eating. Theron settled into the chair across from me, watching me with careful eyes. Making sure I was really okay.
Morgana poured wine. Started slicing an apple with a small knife.
The blade slipped.
"Fuck!" Morgana dropped the knife. Blood welled up from a deep cut across her palm. "Dammit. That was stupid."
"Let me see." I reached for her hand without thinking.
She held it out. Blood dripped onto the stone floor. The cut was deep. Would need stitches probably.
I touched the wound gently.
And power FLOODED through me.
Blue-white light flowed from my hand into hers. Cool and bright and overwhelming. I felt her blood, her skin, her bones beneath. Felt the severed vessels, the damaged tissue, the pain.
And I fixed it.
The knowledge came from nowhere and everywhere. Instinct. Memory. My mother's gift recognizing what needed to be done and doing it without conscious thought.
The cut closed. Skin knit together seamlessly. Blood vessels reconnected. In three heartbeats, Morgana's palm was perfect. Not even a scar. Just smooth, clean skin like she'd never been injured.
I pulled my hand back and stared at it.
What had I just done?
"Holy fuck," Morgana whispered. She was staring at her palm. At the place where a deep cut had been moments ago. "Holy fuck, Rav. You just—you healed me. You healed me."
"I didn't mean to." My voice came out shaky. "I just touched you and it happened. The power just—"
"You have your mother's gift." Theron's voice was quiet. Careful. "The healing gift. It awakened fully."
I looked at my hands like they belonged to someone else. Power thrummed under my skin. Cool and bright and waiting. Ready to heal. Ready to destroy if I wasn't careful.
"This is—" I couldn't finish the sentence. Couldn't find words big enough for what this meant.
"Incredible," Morgana said. She was flexing her healed hand. Opening and closing her fist. "You have one of the four rare gifts, Rav. Do you understand how rare that is? How powerful?"
I did understand. Had read the histories. Had studied the old texts. Only one person per few generations across all four kingdoms received a rare gift. And now I had one.
Water's gift. Healing. The same gift my mother had possessed. The same gift that made her valuable. Vulnerable.
The same gift that got her killed.
"You need to tell your father," Morgana said. "He needs to know what you can do."
"I know." I stood up. Needed to move. Needed to process. "But first I need to see Theron. Really see him. Without everyone watching. Without—"
"I'm right here," Theron said gently. "I'm not going anywhere."
I turned to him. This man who'd survived five rejections. Who'd killed to save me. Who'd stayed beside my bed while I died and came back to life.
"I healed Morgana without trying," I said. "What if I can't control it? What if I hurt someone by accident?"
"Then you'll learn control." He stood and crossed to me. Took my hands in his. "The same way you learned to control fire. The same way you learned everything else. With practice and patience and time."
"But Lysander said—"
"Lysander said it would take weeks or months to learn safe control. He didn't say you couldn't learn. Just that you needed guidance." Theron's thumb traced my knuckles. "You're not alone in this. We'll figure it out together."
Together. That word again.
I looked at Morgana. At her perfectly healed hand. At the wonder and fear mixed on her face.
I'd just healed her. Instinctively. Without training or practice or conscious thought.
What else could I do?
What else would I do when someone I loved was hurt and instinct took over?
"Your father needs to know," Morgana repeated. "This changes everything, Rav. You're not just a princess with a bond now. You're a princess with two elements and a rare gift. That makes you incredibly valuable. And incredibly vulnerable."
"I know." The weight of it settled on my shoulders. Heavy. Inescapable. "The Eclipse hunts gift-bearers. My mother was killed for her gift. And now I have it."
"All the more reason to tell Aldric immediately," Theron said. "He can protect you. Assign more guards. Make sure—"
"I don't want to be protected like a prisoner." But even as I said it, I knew he was right. Knew I couldn't hide this. Couldn't pretend nothing had changed. "But you're right. Father needs to know. The council needs to know. Everyone needs to understand what happened."
"After you eat something," Morgana said firmly. "And wash. And change into proper clothes. You're not going to the king looking like you just crawled out of a sickbed."
Despite everything, I smiled. "Yes, mother."
"Someone has to take care of you." She started gathering clean clothes. "Since you clearly won't take care of yourself."
I ate while Morgana fussed and Theron watched with careful, loving eyes. Let them take care of me. Let myself be vulnerable for a few more minutes before I had to be the princess again.
Before I had to be the girl with the rare gift who'd just painted a target on her own back.
But as I looked at my hands—these hands that could heal or harm, that carried my mother's power and my father's fire—I felt something unexpected.
Not fear. Not really.
Pride.
My mother had been powerful enough to threaten the Eclipse. Valuable enough to murder. Important enough to remember twenty-one years after her death.
And now I carried her gift. Her power. Her legacy.
I wouldn't waste it. Wouldn't hide it. Wouldn't let fear make me small.
I would be everything she never got the chance to be.
Powerful. Dangerous. Worth remembering.
And I would make damn sure nobody could kill me as easily as they'd killed her.