“Mother! It’s you!” My throat spasms, and I hold one hand against it. It can’t be…How can it be?!

“Yes, my sweet Idalia!” She cries, and the transparent figure grows clearer. Revna Hyland, my mother! She hovers above the river in a watery form. Below her waist, the water rushes back into the river’s flow, so her skirts swirl as if they’re made of a furious storm at sea. She extends her arms.

“Mother! My gods! Mother, is it truly you?” I fall to my knees, tears soaking my cheeks. I’m distraught. I’m excited. I’m ashamed. What will she think of me?

“It is.”

“How can it be?” I sob, unable to look at her.

“You are realizing your power,” she says. Her distinct voice makes me weaker by the second. “The power of the Hyland women. I am here now, and I have been with you all along.”

“I’m so sorry, Mother! I never visited your grave. I never left you flowers or said a prayer for you. I never glanced your way the entire ride home. Forgive me. Forgive me and my weakness. I’m a coward!” I wail with the guilt that has plagued me for all of these years.

“Idalia…”

“No, Mother. It’s true! I see body after body dragged to The Burial, and I’ve never visited one grave. I’m too…too haunted by yours. I just couldn’t.”

The rapid waters quieten, and I hear her light, soft hum. Her beautiful singing. Immediately, my body is at ease.

“I do not hold you at fault, Idalia. You were a child when I died; you were not properly taught how to deal with grief. And you were never shown how powerful spite could be. It is not your mistake, my beautiful child. It is my own. For leaving you too soon.”

I sob into my hands as I rise to meet her. My mother.

Her lithe frame and gentle face, her eyes—The same ones that visit my dreams so often, though I still cannot make out their color.

“I can’t believe that I can see you. The Lady has blessed me!”

She smiles at me. “The Lady has indeed blessed us, but I am only here for a short time. I have come to warn you, Idalia!”

I step forward until I feel the icy water flow across my toes. “Warn me about what?”

“Him,” she says. Her brow knits, and her faded eyes narrow. “The traitor you are with.”

“Braizen?” I stumble back in confusion, and her body swirls towards me, though it stays a good distance from where I stand.

“Yes, Braizen, of the Brader line. The Traitorous Prince.”

“No, Mother! It isn’t like that anymore. I know him now. Though he was once an enemy to Verdana, he isn’t any longer! We’re here, together, searching for the Woman of the Woods. Do you know of her?”