7.08

My chest hurts. I can barely breathe. I wrack with coughing. My teeth chatter, and I'm shaking.

I cannot calm myself. Whenever I near it, I remember, and I…

My face is covered in ice from my tears. Where am I? I don't know. I don't even remember where I was before this little creek…

"Evonalé!" calls a familiar voice. I sit up, still huddled. The Crystal and Bynd lay against me. Who calls me? Should I…

Aidan comes through the trees, with a redheaded woman I half recognize. Another coughing fit takes me. He immediately enters the creek and scoops me up. "Come, Evonalé. Your people await you."

I stare at him blankly. My… what?

As we pass the woman—Jenna, I remember, though I can't remember from where—swallows and curtsies. "Your Maj…"

I lose the rest of what she says to darkness.