The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 81

"I love you."

Those words, spoken so softly that they barely even disturbed the dust hanging in the air of the library, nevertheless sent echoes out into the worlds.

First, they reached Anne's ears, leaving her stunned. Those few small words had entered into her soul and begun the work of rearranging everything she'd ever thought about herself and her own life. The process would take a few minutes, during which Anne would appear to be staring blankly at Corvina.

Next, they reached the ears of the original Saintess, the other Anne, wherever she was, cutting through her confusion and disconnectedness in an increasingly rare moment of lucidity. When those words echoed through the dark void, the Saintess fell to her knees, lit as if by a spotlight from nowhere, whispering to herself, "No. No no no no no." She clutched the sides of her head, gripping her own hair almost hard enough to pull it out.

After that, they reached the ears of the Goddess. Probably. As all things did, if you believed in the Goddess or the fact that she had ears. It would be the sort of thing the Goddess would hear if the Goddess was around and capable of hearing it, anyway. She generally preferred not to confirm much either way.

Then they reached the ears of several large inter-dimensional beings whose mode of existence was so alien and incomprehensible to the human mind that it would be impossible to describe them. These beings didn't react at all, since they were used to hearing that sort of thing, and anyway, it had nothing to do with them.

Finally, eventually, and with some delay, since magic worked at a speed just slower than the inherent connectedness of all things, it reached the ears of Sister Eva, who had just been released from her arboreal prison.

"You just have to learn how to speak the language of the trees," said Prince Zaos, somewhere behind her. "I get along with them quite well, which is why Elyon sent me on this mission, even though it would otherwise be far beneath me. You should be thankful for my kindness, woman."

"After being stuck in a tree all night I don't have any energy left to have a gender..." moaned the assassin, from the ground.

"You should be thankful for my kindness, curse-breaker," said Zaos.

The assassin sat up suddenly. "What the hell does that mean? What is a curse-breaker?" The assassin's voice had a pleading, desperate tone to it. "And what do you mean talking to the trees? Why do the trees here have souls? Nothing about this damned forest makes any sense."

Eva was only half-listening to any of this. As long as the assassin and the elf prince were wrapped up in their own pointless conversation, they would leave her alone, which suited her purposes just fine.

That, and Eva was well and truly exhausted after a night spent stuck in a tree, so it was hard to concentrate on following a conversation anyway.

Eva shivered on the ground as she remembered the feeling of the branches wrapped so tightly around her that she could barely even wiggle her fingers and toes. There was no way she could have comfortably slept like that, without knowing if she'd ever be able to escape. She'd barely been able to breathe.

And, worst of all, she hadn't been able to use her magic.

She had reached inside herself, again and again, to the well of power inside her. She could feel it. So open, so accessible. It used to be difficult for her to reach it. It took a lot of effort and concentration. But over the years she'd honed her abilities so that it should hardly take a thought to tug at the power within.

But something about the tree had created a barrier between her and the power. No matter how deeply she reached inward, she couldn't touch it.

Eva dragged herself upright, leaning against the tree for support. The elf prince had freed her, and he would make sure the trees didn't grab her again. They were no longer a threat. And Eva could feel her magic again. She could reach it. She could use it.