Sera let out a humorless laugh. "That seems generous."
"It's accurate," her creature corrected softly. "Everything that happens from this point forward is your decision, your path. Just remember that we…you… are the daughter of The Lost Queen. And no one can take that away from you."
Sera closed her eyes for a moment. The warmth of the sun pressed against her eyelids. The wind tugged at her hair, and the sound of the ocean below was steady and soothing and indifferent. In that quiet, she did something she hadn't done in a long time.
She let herself feel what she felt.
It wasn't fear of dying. She had done that already. It wasn't fear of pain. That was constant and familiar. It was fear of change that couldn't be undone. It was fear of becoming someone she couldn't pretend not to be.
It was fear of losing the one thing that had never let her down.
She opened her eyes again and looked at the woman.
