55. Darkness

(Izza)

I heard voices. There were so many voices these days. I didn't know who they were. They hissed and shouted and whispered, and I had a feeling they were not too pleased with whatever they were doing.

"Claudine is dead. Did you kill her?" I knew this voice. Tymeria Blackstone.

This other woman growled. "I didn't kill her. I don't know who killed her."

I didn't remember her voice. I looked around my room and sighed.

"Orna. You should leave." Tymeria said. "And you, too."

"But mom..."

"Kill the hybrid and leave," the other woman said and my body jerked back in fear and pain. But then again, I knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. Stripped of magic and dragon, I couldn't do anything to fight back.

"Why? We can easily use that memory spell..."

"Memory spell doesn't always last. We can't gamble on this. She might get her memory back in ten days or ten years or never. KILL HER." Tymeria said, her voice cold and aloof. "As long as we have Vera to destroy the crown, we