Chapter 148

“Thank you,” Aden said. He treated her with the upmost respect. The other Delrose did as well, and not just because of his example. The respect they showed Bertha came from the respect and love they felt for Ilyin.

“Ilyin is living in a good place,” she said with a laugh. A thick blue blanket was wrapped around her shoulders. Even though the worst of the chill was gone, she stayed wrapped in it. She liked the softness of it.

“We owe you so much,” Aden said. His power may have opened the road, but it was her foresight that put Milo’s carriage in the right place at the right time to meet Etra. And his knowledge of her foresight that guided him to use his power in the first place.

“I don’t know if saving my own granddaughter is something you should owe me for,” she replied with a smile. She pointed at Milo with her cane. “Though if this fellow didn’t take his time, we couldn’t come even earlier.”

Milo’s face seemed to turn blue. Idith sent him a glance of sympathy.

Ilyin’s condition was noticeably improving. She now lay in a state more like a normal, restful sleep. With their mistress out of immediate danger, the other maids had left, leaving only Bertha, Aden, Milo, and Etra keeping a vigil in Ilyin’s room.

“Did you also chance to see the person who attacked her in your dream?” Aden asked. Try as he might, he couldn’t hide the tone of anger in his voice. When he found that person, they would pay.

“Hmmm,” Bertha said thoughtfully. She studied Aden. He was the master of this land, entitled to a bit of arrogance. But he was also capable of discernment. Aden wouldn’t sacrifice what was best or what was needed just for the sake of pride.

Delrose couldn’t find the intruder, she thought. Though Aden’s cold gaze said he would find them. They shone with resolution – he will make that person bleed more than Ilyin has.

‘No,” she said. Holding Ilyin’s hand, she could feel her temperature coming back to normal. “I only foresaw Ilyin being hurt.”

“There was no traced of an intruder in the room,” Idith said carefully. Ilyin was attacked here. Her condition was too critical to move, but they could find no trace of any intruder. Did they dare to move her to another room, since they didn’t know how her attacker entered this one? And would the new room be any safer if they did move her?

The investigation was still going on furiously, but so far it seemed somehow that there was no intruder.

“They would had to have left a trace,” he continued. “Even if they flew in, they’d have had to open the window or door.”

“I was in the room next door, and the door wasn’t open,” Etra said. “Not until I came in to check on ma’am.”

So Ilyin was attacked alone in her bedroom, Bertha thought. Or did the intruder sneak in earlier and hide? She glanced up at the ceiling.

“Where’s the mobile?” she asked. Everyone looked at her, confused. They remembered the mobile that Ilyin kept around but couldn’t imagine Bertha would remark on it.

“We were going to put it up,” Etra said. “So it’s in my room for now.”

“That might be it,” Bertha frowned.

The confusion in the room deepened. The mobile? What could that possibly have to do with Ilyin’s wound?

“That mobile was passed down through generations, to the daughters that had the ability of foresight,” Bertha explained. “The family never knew the origins of the ability, but the mobile always appeared in the dream. It had to be connected to the ability somehow.”

“So you’re saying that it could be something beyond a flesh-and-blood intruder,” said Aden.

***

Aden was still by Ilyin’s side late into the night. Her color and breathing were both much better. He just had to wait for her to wake up from her long sleep. The mobile was now hung above Ilyin’s head as Bertha had said.

Aden stared at the mobile, touched it. Light danced through it as it shook. Purple light shone through the blue cloth, orange light through the red. Each of the ten balanced parts of the mobile filtered a different light.

Foresight, Aden though as he held Ilyin’s hand. The ability was a part of her, but Aden didn’t care if she could do it or not. What he cared about is how she felt about the ability.

She was happy she could help Delrose, and he knew her ability was a great help. Just look at what she had done with the Yesters’ reinforcements at the pass.

Even though he was the greatest power in the winter region, contingencies were always needed. Her foresight would always be a help with that, and he was grateful for it. But . . .

“Ilyin,” he whispered. If that ability hurts you, then I don’t need it.

Bertha said they’d be able to find out what happened once Ilyin woke up, though they were all assuming she was attacked in the dream. It wasn’t completely out of the question.

“Sometimes, there is interaction within the dream,” Bertha had explained. “Even when the dream is your own.”