Poor baby was just touch starved, finally gets to touch someone for the first time in her entire life and ends up seeing herself die through a vision. I forgot how brutal everything starts out for her. Lira had it rough too, maybe even worse, but at least she had more freedom then this. I feel like because Selestra is such a secret cinnamon roll it makes it feel so much worse for her. Love Selestra so frickin much I just wanna protect her.
"I’m sick with it, with the feel of him. Of another person, real and in my grasp, able to feel me as much as I feel him."
"Death comes quick. My breath catches in my chest, pushing down on me, like I’m suffocating. Then my head flings back and I know my magic isn’t ready. It feels like being hit in the head, over and over with no reprieve. I try to pull away, tear myself from Nox, but my bones are rigid and my hand stays glued to his cheek as the images burn into me."
"It happens so suddenly that I lose my footing and tumble to the ground, knocking over a row of jars that crash down the stairs. They scatter glass and hair across the floor.
“What is it?” Theola asks, yellow-green eyes widening. “What happened?” It can’t be. I tremble and clutch at my wrist as the memory of the flames seeps onto my skin. Burning and charring. It just can’t be.“Selestra.” My mother’s voice grows louder. The king holds up a hand to silence her, and the whole room falls quiet. The guards at the door even hold their breaths at his command. Slowly, the king descends the steps toward me. His face dawns with the kind of look that has destroyed worlds. “Speak,” he commands. I turn to Nox, and the deep brown of his eyes slices through me. The brand of the serpent is on his palm and when I look down, I see it on my own too."
"Because I haven’t just seen Nox’s death, but my own as well."
