Destined for Greatness ✔️

Chapter 51

Ryleigh had looked at the issue from every perspective, but no matter how she turned it, Cerise's betrayal made no sense. Her mother was many things, but no coward. She had never run away from anything in her life, but now Ryleigh was to believe she had bailed in the middle of a battle, leaving her children behind? It made no sense. It made so little sense, in fact, that there was only one conclusion left for Ryleigh to draw. A crazy conclusion, one that was strange and improbable, but no less impossible than her mother being a coward.

It wasn't true.

There. That was the only explanation. It wasn't the truth. The memory Ryleigh had unlocked wasn't real. It couldn't be. Because Cerise was selfish, and mean-spirited, and radical, and a million other things that didn't speak in favour of her character, but she was not afraid. Never.

Ryleigh found herself outside once again, her boots treading the cold morning air with enough fervour to kick dew onto her trousers. If her suspicions were true, Cerise was insanely clever – but that fit. Everything Ryleigh knew, Cerise had taught her.

A double lock.

It was brilliant, really. Cerise had known that Ryleigh would one day realise her memory was tinkered with. She had known Ryleigh would unlock the truth, and she'd known that Ryleigh would be so shocked by it that she wouldn't think to search deeper. She'd known that it wouldn't occur to her look for another lock. An altered memory underneath another altered memory.

Had she not been the victim, she might have respected Cerise for her ingenuity. She found the cliffs again and sat down on the cold ground, leaning her back against a tree. This time, she was going to get to the bottom of it. This time, she wasn't going to stop digging until she knew the truth. No more lies.

She opened up her memories, aligning them before her mind's eye. She returned to fourteen years ago. Directing all her focus to the memory, without getting hung up on what it detailed, she could sense it. That little change in colour, that almost indiscernible feeling of inauthenticity. Yes, this memory, too, had been altered. With a pounding heart and trembling from her toes to the roots of her hair, she unlocked it. The truth at last.

The grass was soaked with blood. Every step she took, Ryleigh's bare feet were sucked down into the moist dirt, blood creeping between her toes like waves lapping the shoreline. Around her, people fell. Loved ones. Her grandfather had fallen minutes ago. Her father was still going strong, standing amidst a pile of unconscious soldiers. No one had even been able to lay a hand on him.

She looked around her, searching for someone to help. A sudden flash drew her attention and she snaped her gaze to the side. A teleporter appeared on the battle field for just a second, grabbed hold of one of their healers, and vanished. She recognised the teleporter – it was Jeremy, one of their own. What was he doing?

There! Jeremy appeared again, on the other side of the battle field. He grabbed a teenager and disappeared again. Some feet to the right, another one of their teleporters – Grace – did the same, grabbing a young woman in the midst of a fight against two royal soldiers.

What was happening?

"What is going on?" Corbin asked through pack-link. "Jeremy, Grace, stop evacuating people immediately. No one gave you orders. We're fighting this war till the end."

There was no response. Ryleigh started running again, narrowly avoiding a spear thrown to her from a distance. It landed not two feet behind her. She heard the little splash as it drove itself deep into the blood-soaked dirt.

What was happening? There, near one of the buildings, someone was teleporting away young children. Where were they going? What were they doing? They had to fight. They were already slight in numbers. They couldn't afford to lose so many people.