Maelis backed away, grabbing her book, flipping pages faster than she could read them. “There’s something in here. A binding, or something like it. I felt it.”

“A curse?”

“No. Not exactly. Not yet,” Maelis muttered. “But there’s magic in that thing. Very weird and very... wrong.”

Aurora’s fingers closed around the stone again. “It makes me feel like me. Or like... someone I used to be.” she said, not fully even understanding what that meant. “That’s the problem,” Maelis whispered.

Aurora didn't let go still, it was like she had grown an attachment. Maelis noticed but didn't speak on it for a long time. Her fingers brushed over the...