Destiny's Blood by Marie Bilodeau (superbooks4u txt) 📕

word murdered. “And then we wouldn’t be having this pleasant little reunion now. Would we?”

Layela would have tended the flowers of Mirial, Yoma wanted to scream to her. She decided that she truly disliked the first family member she had ever met.

Adina waved her hand, as if to dispel Yoma’s words. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that you are here. My strength fades, and you need to take control of Mirial’s powers before we all perish.”

 “I don’t need to do anything you tell me. I’ve only come this far to try to save my sister.” She took a deep breath to steady her hammering heart. “Why don’t you do it? Why don’t you restore the powers of Mirial?”

Adina’s features hardened and her mouth opened, only to close again. She took a deep breath, her voice shaking with anger. “I do not have the power. Only Mirial can choose who of the royal bloodline will be granted that power. The chosen is born into the role, like you were.”

“You mean Layela and me.”

Adina waved her hand dismissively again. The green fabric she wore, probably very beautiful once, was faded, just like her dark hair seemed faded, and her eyes were faded…everything about her that must have once been beautiful was now faded and covered with dust.

“The capital is where you need to go. There, in its largest temple, you will find a source of power that will allow you to control Mirial and lower her shields again.”

“Wait, you want me to lower the planet’s defences?” Yoma shook her head, feeling days of weariness creep into her bones. She wondered how long it would be, if she stayed on Mirial, before she began fading like Adina had. “You Mirialers make no sense.”

Adina looked toward the waterfall as though searching for words or memories buried deep within her; as though only the tumbling water could remind her. “The shields were put up too strongly, and Mirial’s very ether is trapped. The sun accumulates power and then releases it, but it keeps getting trapped, and it is destroying our planet.”

Adina’s piercing gaze focused once more on Yoma. “The night you and your sister were born, the balance was thrown off and Mirial paid the price. Your mother died, the sun released its defences, killing half the planet and trapping the ether, and it remains trapped here still. It’s not just about your life and the life of your twin, Yoma. Without ether, no race can exist. Some will feel it to a greater degree and perish quickly, like the Berganda.” Yoma flinched at the mention of the race, and she suddenly wondered how much Gobran had told the woman. Probably everything, she thought, flushed with anger. “But every race will eventually perish as well. No world can exist without ether, and only Mirial, the First Star, provides it. That’s what makes this journey so important.”

Adina took another step forward and Yoma closed her fists. She debated slugging her. “Your visions will lead you, but you have other powers now that you are here. Let the ether fill you, trust it, and it will guide you, Yoma.” She added as an afterthought, “Just as it would have guided your mother.”

“I have a question,” Yoma suddenly asked. “What’s my name?”

Adina narrowed her eyes. “I assume Yoma has always been your name. It means day, as Layela means night.” She paused. “Your mother would have liked that.”

Yoma sighed. “I mean my last name. Delamores was the name of the old woman who took care of us. What’s my actual name?”

Adina shook her head. “This is hardly of importance right now. Delamores was an old maid who had tended your own mother. I thought she had perished, but I suppose she lived and somehow found you and the captain of the Guards.” She spoke the title with unease.

“I really thought this was a simple question,” Yoma said tightly, and exhaled with annoyance. “So, my apologies if this is so complex. What I mean to ask is, who was the king? Who was my father?”

Adina waved the question off. “It is tradition on Mirial that the father of the royal children is never revealed. It is a matriarchy, full and complete, since the ether courts women more.”

“Nice,” Yoma said. An odd loneliness clung to her heart. Her father might still be alive, and she might actually like him, but she’d never know. “What about Zortan?” Yoma asked suddenly, thinking out loud. “He went to a lot of trouble to save us. Maybe he’s our father.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Adina spat, surprising Yoma with her vehemence. “Some people still believe in keeping their word and duty. Zortan is amongst them.”

Apparently, her aunt had some unresolved issues with the captain of the Royal Guards. Interesting. It could prove to be useful knowledge... But not today. Yoma was weary, and she was tired of having to wage war for every answer, no matter how small.

“Well, it was great meeting you, really. But I want to get some rest.” Yoma paused, and then added, “I want you to know, I don’t intend to stay here. Once this business is over, I’m gone, and you can keep this royalty business. Is that a deal?”

Adina looked into Yoma’s eyes again and her features softened for a moment, as though she was about to say something. Instead she turned and walked away, her strong stride defying her fading body.

“You leave in the morning,” she called back, and Yoma did not bother answering.

A temple in the capital. Yoma could see the temple in her mind, but still her old vision refused to assault her, as though the future it had predicted was no longer possible. She took a deep breath and looked down at her hands.

“They would be covered with your blood, Layela.” She knew it with certainty, and wondered if the quick death in space might have been better for her sister. The fragrance of unfamiliar flowers tingled her senses and soothed her weary mind.

Layela.

She wished