Chapter 24-The Attacks

Rain’s POV

  “I want to know why the attacks and her nightmares both appear to be getting worse,” I admitted tensely.

  “The attacks are becoming harder to compare, not necessarily stronger,” Orian said.

  “The newest site has gaps, too, but we don’t know whether the attacks are getting worse or we’re missing something different,” Orian said.

  “Her dream escalated,” Jess said.

  “Whatever the attacks are doing, Odett is seeing more than she did before,” she insisted uneasily.

  “That part is true,” Mom said with grave agreement.

  “The safest response is to strengthen her control and preserve an accurate record,” she advised steadily.

  “Trying to force another vision could deepen whatever caused the separation from Lorilie,” she warned.

  “No one is forcing her back into that nightmare,” Zion said with cold finality.

  “I would not allow it,” Mom said.

  “She will practice grounding, shielding, and ending a memory spell before it overwhelms her,” she explained with authority.

  “If another nightmare comes, the room wards will alert us before her power reaches the rest of the castle,” she added reassuringly.

  The plan felt too small: compare dates, help Odett control her magic, respect her privacy, and wait. I had been a Queen long enough to act on incomplete information. As her mother, I wanted an answer before she had to close her eyes again.

  ‘Waiting beside her is still action,’ Dosha said.

  ‘It does not feel like enough,’ I answered.

  ‘Enough is not always available,’ Dosha said.

  ‘Give her what is,’ she urged softly.

  Orian took the dates Mom had prepared, leaving Odett’s journal closed. Jess offered to keep their usual combat sessions and end them if Odett grew exhausted. We were arranging help around her life, not making the dream the center of it.

  “She will hate being treated carefully,” Jess said.

  “Then do not treat her carefully,” I said with a tired smile.

  “Treat her honestly and stop when she needs to stop,” I added.

  “I can manage that,” Jess said with confident affection.

  “You encourage her to throw knives at moving targets,” Zion said with skeptical disapproval.

  “Your version of careful has always worried me,” he added dryly.

  “She has never hit anyone who wasn’t supposed to be a target,” Jess said with innocent pride.

  “That sentence does not help,” Orian said.

  The laughter lasted only a moment, but Zion finally sat beside me. Mom kept her hand on the closed journal case. I could feel all of them trying to give Odett the same thing: a home she could return to without finding fear in every face.

  Orian came back before lunch. The dreams had begun during the same broad period that northern reports grew more frequent, but none matched a confirmed attack date. Some preceded the reports; others came after investigators arrived. He would not call it a pattern just because I needed one.

  “The dates do not prove a connection,” Orian said.

  “They also do not eliminate one because we rarely know the exact time a community was attacked,” he clarified thoughtfully.

  “So we learned nothing,” Zion said with frustrated disappointment.

  “We learned that we cannot use timing alone,” Orian said.

  “That keeps us from building a conclusion around a pattern that may not exist,” he explained calmly.

  Orian’s answer kept us from mistaking coincidence for proof. I understood that and still hated how little it gave Odett. Mom put the dates away without adding the comparison to the journal.

  Odett returned with Joshy, annoyed about an inventory exercise before she even took off her coat. I listened to her complain, grateful for the ordinary irritation in her voice. She was tired, but her magic lay steady beneath her skin and Lorilie moved close to her.

  “The inventory was correct when they wrote it, but they left a damaged cart in the room,” Odett said.

  “Apparently, I was supposed to distrust both the list and the cart,” she added irritably.

  “You were supposed to check whether they still agreed,” Joshy said.

  “You already made your point at the Academy,” Odett said.

  “I wanted to make sure it survived the walk home,” Joshy said.

  Odett rolled her eyes and continued toward the kitchen. Joshy grinned after her before going to find Jess. I waited until he was out of earshot, then asked Odett to walk with me.

  We walked through the enclosed courtyard. Snow rested against the windows, and the wards hummed below the stone. Odett watched me for several steps before deciding to ask what I had done while she was gone.

  “You had a meeting about me,” Odett said.

  “I spoke with your dad, Grandma, Aunt Jess, and Uncle Orian because I am worried,” I said.

  “We did not decide what your nightmare means, and no one is adding it to the investigation,” I assured her firmly.

  “Did you decide I need someone watching me all the time?” Odett asked.

  “No,” I said.

  “Your room protections remain, Grandma will continue helping you control the power surges, and Aunt Jess will stop training if your magic becomes unstable,” I explained honestly.

  “Everything else stays normal,” I promised gently.

  Odett studied my face, looking for whatever condition I might have left out. I waited. I had heard too many answers like that myself: gentle words that gave you half the truth and expected you to be grateful. I wasn’t going to make her guess what I meant.

  “I think the nightmares are connected too,” Odett said.

  “I just do not know whether they are showing me something real or using real things to scare me,” she admitted uneasily.

  “Neither do I,” I said.

  “Until we know more, I need you to wake me when they happen,” I told her gently.

  “Do not wait until your room does it for you,” I added.

  “I will try,” Odett said.

  “I need more than trying, my sweet girl,” I said.

  “I will wake you,” Odett said with sincere acceptance.

  Zion and I stood outside her room after the castle had gone quiet. The protection marks stayed dim. He put an arm around my waist while I listened to Odett breathe on the other side of the door. I wanted to stay until morning, but I made myself follow him away.

  “We cannot fight something we have not identified,” Zion said.

  “Then we keep it from facing her alone,” I said.

  We had nothing to prove the dream was connected to the northern violence. I wished that let me dismiss it. Zion held my hand as we left the hallway, and I listened for Odett until we were too far away to hear her. If she called tonight, I meant to get there before the wards brought us.