Page 91 of Dark Princess: Shadows

"I don't, or rather, I don't know if I have any other talents. The head priestess tried to find out by testing me in various ways, but I had nothing special. She was very disappointed with me."

The color seemed to return to Ell-rom's face, and Brandon wondered what that was all about.

"My sister Amanda is a researcher of special abilities." Kian took a sip of his wine. "Would you agree for her to test you?"

Again, Morelle's fingers tightened around Brandon's, and she and Ell-rom exchanged glances. "Perhaps when I feel stronger. Right now, I'm still too weak, and my mind feels a little fuzzy."

Morelle's mind seemed perfectly sharp to Brandon. He suspected that she was trying to avoid being tested.

What was she hiding?

"It can wait," Annani said. "Morelle is still in no state for even the gentlest of tests." She smiled at her sister. "Do not think that I cannot see the effort you are putting into just sitting up straight. You should be in bed."

Morelle shook her head stubbornly. "I've spent enough time in bed."

"You have a backbone." Annani smiled knowingly. "Our father would have been proud of you."

Morelle's shoulders squared, and she held herself straight once more as if her sister's words infused her with strength.

"I would have liked to know him," she said. "But perhaps I'll get to see glimpses of him in you."

"You certainly will, and one of those traits is impatience. I cannot wait for Jasmine to learn how to thrall to follow the lead to her mother and see whether she is somehow connected to finding my Khiann."

Ell-rom looked pained. "Please. Can we at least wait until Jasmine is awake and ask her consent?"

"Of course." Kian cast his mother a warning look. "We will never contravene her wishes. Besides, thinking that the woman in Syssi's vision was Jasmine's mother is pure speculation. I still think that it was Jasmine and that she is supposed to help us locate Khiann. We just need to find out the starting point of the search for her to use her scrying. The problem is that the Arabian Desert is huge, and there are many other deserts, any of which could have been the one in the scene Syssi saw. It could have happened anywhere in the world."

"There is only one solution then." Annani leaned back. "Syssi needs to summon another vision and get more clues."

Kian shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, Mother. She might ask and again get a vision that doesn't tell us anything or tells us something that is unrelated to Khiann. I don't want you to get your hopes up, thinking that it's as easy as calling a helpline."

Annani laughed. "It actually is, but the person answering the line is a trickster. The Fates sometimes have a strange sense of humor."

Brandon brushed his thumb over Morelle's palm. "Sometimes, the Fates are generous, though, and merciful, and they surprise us in the most unexpected ways."

"I agree." Ell-rom nodded. "Who would have thought that at the end of a seven-thousand-year journey, my sister and I would find a family and a home on Earth."

58

MORELLE

After Ell-rom and Kian left, Annani led Morelle and Brandon to a room that was much larger than the one Morelle had occupied in the temple, with a massive bed that could have slept four acolytes comfortably.

A plush couch and an armchair created an intimate seating area, and floor-to-ceiling bookcases lined one wall, filled with volumes she couldn't read but wished she could.

Books were cherished on Anumati, or at least they had been when she was an acolyte, and religious texts were copied by hand. She and Ell-rom had been tasked with that project since they were old enough to produce the beautiful penmanship required, and it had been boring and arduous, and the subject matter wasn't any better. After a while, she'd stopped paying attention to the words she was copying, and it had become a routine chore.

"You need to sit down." Brandon guided her to the couch and lowered her to a sitting position as if he feared that her thigh muscles weren't strong enough to complete the movement without assistance.

The truth was that her legs still felt weak, even wobbly, and her arms weren't much better, but she was determined to build her strength back quickly.

One of the Odus, she couldn't tell them apart, entered the room behind them. "If Mistress will allow, I will unpack your belongings and arrange them in the closet."

Morelle tensed involuntarily. Despite what Brandon had told her, she still didn't feel comfortable around the Odus.

Brandon caught the hesitance in her expression. "Thank you, but I'll handle it." He smiled at the Odu. "I haven't even seen what's in these packages myself."

"Well, I will leave you to it." Annani excused herself. "If you need me, I will be in the living room."