Chapter 188
Chapter 188
Ellie POV
The Royal Hospital was unusually busy for a weekday morning.
The halls hummed with the rhythm of shuffling feet and quiet voices, the soft beep of monitors, and the faint scent of antiseptic. I moved through it all with practiced ease, clipboard in hand, my hair, which was growing out again, was pulled back neatly.
I walked into the long-term care wing, where the morning sun streamed through the high windows.
“Good morning, Mrs. Wren,” I said gently as I stepped into one of the rooms.
The old woman looked up from her knitting, her bright eyes sharp despite her years. “You’re late, dear p>
I smiled. “Two minutes. I checked the clock p>
Mrs. Wren gave me a mock glare. “A messenger of the goddess shouldn’t quibble over minutes p>
I froze, my smile faltering. “Messenger p>
“That’s what they say, isn’t it?” the woman said, her needles clicking. “Half the staff’s been whispering about it for days. That the goddess chose you p>
I sighed softly, setting my chart down. “Rumors have a way of growing legs around here. I’m just a nursing assistant, Mrs. Wren p>
The woman’s eyes twinkled. “Nonsense. You’ve got the look, that glow about you.” “That’s sweet of you to say, but p>
“Now, now,” she said with a tut. “Don’t deny your gifts, dear. Wear them proudly! It’s who you are, who you were born to become p>
Before I could reply, one of the other patients called out from across the hall, breaking the moment. I excused myself with a gentle pat to Mrs. Wren’s hand.
But the words followed me as I moved through my rounds.
By midday, the sky had turned gray, heavy with the promise of rain. I/sat in the small staff lounge, stirring sugar into my tea as my mind drifted.
My mother’s voice from the dream the other day still lingered: The goddess doesn’t make mistakes.
Maybe the old woman was right.
Don’t deny your gifts. It’s who you are.
It was good advice, I knew that, but I had been fighting these visions since the moment they began. I was in denial; I couldn’t seem to help it. What if that was the reason this wasn’t making sense?
And suddenly, without warning, a memory struck.
Not like a thought.
Like a sound-sharp and shattering.
I was small again. Eight years old, my hand sticky from holding a melting piece of candy.
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Cassian was ahead of me, laughing, a blur of dark hair and quick feet as we ran down the dusty road.
“Wait for me!” I’d called, tripping slightly over my shoes.
“You’re too slow, Laney!” he’d teased.
Our nanny had shouted for us to stay close, her voice distant over the rustle of wind through the trees. But we’d been children, full of joy and freedom. The road ahead had been too tempting – sunlight spilling through the forest, the sound of the river nearby.
We’d been playing some game of pretend, knights and monsters, when the car came around the bend.
At first, I hadn’t noticed anything strange. Just travelers, I’d thought. But then I’d seen their eyes, hard, yellowed, wrong.
Rogues.
The nanny had screamed for us to run. Cassian grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a tree, but we weren’t fast enough. They saw us.
Cassian put himself in front of me. He was older, but not much. Still, he did everything he could to protect me. I could see the flash of red as one of the rogues lashed out, cutting across Cassian’s forearms as he lifted them to shield us both.
That was what I was looking at when it happened.
One of the men had lunged toward me from the side, grabbing for the glittering gemstone at my neck.
“Pretty stone,” he’d growled. “Bet it’s worth something p>
“Let go!” I’d cried, twisting away, the chain biting into my skin.
It was the moonstone necklace that my mother had given me. It was important, and my mother was always telling me that I needed to be responsible with it. I couldn’t bear to think about losing it for good.
I tried to hold on to the necklace.
He yanked hard, and I fell. My head slammed back into something solid, and pain bloomed at the back of my head, just below my ear. I’d landed on a tree root
partially protruding from the ground. The world tilted, blurred.
Cassian had shouted my name, the sound distant and terrified.
The nanny was still screaming and she must have pulled the rogue away from me. I remember lying on the ground, staring up at the bright blue sky through the canopy of trees. The sound of struggles were all around, but everything felt muffled.
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