Mara quickly tucked the Augeo back under her tunic. “That’s what I don’t understand. The Magi refused to Gift me. I was a dreg… how can I have a Gift? How is any of this possible?”
“It’s complicated, but I will do my best to explain. More than that, we can help you control your Gift. That is bothering you, yes?” At Mara’s nod, Opal continued, “We can train you. With practice and dedication, you will have full control over your powers.”
Mara bounced up and down on her toes. “When can we start?”
Opal chuckled, shaking her head. “There is no rush, child. Rest first, then you can begin your training in the morning. We must prepare Wynn and Silvano as well.”
“Please, call me Steel. And what do you mean, prepare us?” Steel asked.
“I mean that both of you can develop your Gifts.”
Wynn snorted and crossed her arms. “That’s where ya lost me. I’m a dreg, lady. I don’t have some fancy jewel and I don’t have a Gift,” she spat.
Opal looked at Wynn with a sad smile. “Oh, my dear child, you most certainly do. Please sit down, and I will explain what I can.” As they settled around the fire, she waved at two of the people milling about. “Sarah, Nikki, stop gawking and bring food for our guests. I’m sure they are tired and hungry from their journey here.
Soon, Mara was inhaling a bowl of thick stew and a loaf of dark, seeded bread. Opal waited until everyone was finished before taking a deep breath.
“Everything you know about the Order is a lie.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“For thousands of years, our continent lived in peace,” Opal said, settling back into her chair. She pulled a knitted blanket over her thin legs, smoothing it flat before folding her hands in her lap. “That’s not to say there were no wars, no disaster, no suffering. But just as the seasons come and go, everything had a time and place. An… order, if you will.”
Sarah and Nikki returned carrying armfuls of wood, adding it to their dying fire. The flames danced higher, casting the room in flickering light. Mara closed her eyes, taking it all in. Voices echoed around the tent, both in conversation and raucous laughter and, for a moment, it felt like home.
Opal dismissed the women and continued. “Each region was blessed with a woman who had the Gift of foresight, a Seer, to watch over the land and protect her people.”
“A woman?” Ansel asked. His face scrunched up in confusion. Mara swallowed a satisfied smile. She knew there was more to Ruby than they’d thought.
“Yes, a woman. Use your head, boy. Is it really that hard to comprehend? That was the natural order of the world. Women are the fiercest protectors, like a mother watching over her children, and gods help anyone who comes between a mother bear and her cubs.”
“So, did these women Magi fight?” Wynn asked, kicking her feet up on Steel’s lap.
“Seers are not Magi,” Opal said, throwing Wynn a grandmotherly scowl. “And no, they don’t fight. They predict natural disasters, or famine, or war, and help prepare their people accordingly. That is what Ruby and I are— Seers. I’m sure you’ve wondered why we live in a tent, rather than permanent buildings of stone and wood.”
“I’ll admit, a tent doesn’t seem... practical,” Mara said, glancing around at the tent. Separate, solid buildings would be more comfortable, as far as privacy went. “It must have taken ages to set up.”
“Nonsense. Our Saxums can dig a pit this size in less than an hour. The point is that living in a tent enables us to move around quickly when I have a vision. We’re nomads, you see, and we aren’t without our enemies. The Order sends its disciples, its Guardians. Anything to stop us from spreading the truth.”
Mara remembered the scroll from Ethan’s office. “Wait, Cadmus said something along those lines. Something about how the truth could ruin everything. What truth?”
“Cadmus,” Opal hissed. Her knuckles turned white where they clutched the armrests on her chair, and Mara could have sworn her eyes darkened. “What do you know of Cadmus?”
“Only that he’s the Head Magi. He’d sent a scroll to our Magi back in Stonehollow, talking about fighting dreg sympathizers up north. I’m assuming that’s you?”
“Yes. And we would rather die than let them win. Cadmus is pure evil. You hear me? Evil! He killed his last wife for birthing a daughter, rather than another son to follow in his footsteps. He’s greedy and ambitious, and he won’t stop until he’s destroyed everything in his path. If the general population knew the truth...”
“What truth?” Wynn demanded, leaning forward in her seat.
“I’m getting to that,” Opal said, composing herself. Her hands trembled as she picked lint from the blanket covering her legs. She took a shaking breath and said, “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Four hundred years ago, a boy was born with the Gift of foresight. An abomination. The first of his kind. The locals named him Magi, for they had no other word to describe him. As he grew older, he reveled in the attention, and the power it brought him. He was a god in his region, wanting for nothing. Not for women, or food, or riches. Yet, despite everything he was given, he was never satisfied. He wanted more. Much more. The Seer in the neighboring region fell ill and passed away. You see, when one Seer dies, another is born, so continuing the cycle. But until the new Seer has grown and develops her Gift, her people are vulnerable.”
Ansel sat forward in his seat, hanging on to her every word. “What did he do?”
“The Magi urged his people to conquer their neighbors, turning vibrant fields into oceans of red. He went from house to house, using his powers to Read the Gifts of others. After terrorizing each village, he finally found the infant that would become the new Seer. She was never seen again.”
A chorus of gasps rang out around their corner of the tent.
Opal ignored their reactions, her eyes growing unfocused. “Many years later, when he’d finally given up hope of finding another like him, a babe was born. Another boy with the Gift of foresight. The Magi took him and raised him as his own. Together, they formed the Order as we know it. Together, they wiped out the Seers.” Her breath caught in her throat, choked with emotion. “The Magi bred with Gifted women to birth more Magi, and the children born with other Gifts were raised as their disciples.”
“Since you and Ruby are still alive, we can assume that they missed a few,” Steel said.
“Indeed. There are more Seers than you might think, hiding until the time is right.”
“The time is right to what, exactly? Overthrow the Order?”
“That is exactly what I mean. Two hundred years ago, the kingdom of Seralle, what you now know as the Scion Peninsula, fell to the kingdom of Esterwyn. The Magi fed promises to King Edric in exchange for aid to wipe out the Seers. But before they succeeded, a prophecy arose from the carnage. It said, ‘the child of the black sun will rise, and bring about the star’s demise.”
Ansel bolted upright. “We’ve heard that before. I’m sorry, but we disregarded it as Ruby’s nonsensical babbling...”
“It’s understandable. My sister always had a muddled brain since… well, it’s no matter. What the prophecy foretold is that a child born on the day of black sun, during a solar eclipse, would one day rise up and overthrow the star, the Order.”
“That’s why we weren’t Gifted? Because of the day when we were born?” Mara asked, incredulous. How did nobody notice this by now? She thought back to her birthday, when her father told her that disciples were removing the records of dregs’ births. Maybe people were noticing...
“Ah, you catch on quickly. Yes. As soon as the prophecy was spoken, the Order developed ways to prevent people from developing their Gifts, and therefore, creating the first dregs. Any child born during an eclipse was refused their Gift. The Order had grown to love their power, you see, always hungering for more. When this threat arose, they fought to prevent its completion. They will do anything to stop it from coming true.”
“By cursing hundreds, thousands of people to a life of persec
ution?” Mara asked, indignant.
“Yer talkin’ about a group of people whose founder had no problem killing babies,” Wynn pointed out.
“But still…”
“Babies, Mara.”
“This is what happens when a man’s heart is decayed by greed and power. It rots and festers until it infects the world around him,” Opal said, closing her eyes and drawing a shuddering breath. “It is not an illness that can be cured by time nor by a hundred Healers. This is a corruption that must be carved out at its root and burned.”
“By carved out you mean…”
“I mean that the time has come to rise up against these tyrants and restore the natural law.” Opal sat forward, tilting her head, and gestured to Mara’s necklace. “What do you know of that amulet, child?”
Mara grasped her pendant. If this old woman was planning on burning it, she had another thing coming. Preferably a dagger to her throat, Wynn-style. “It was a gift from my father for my nineteenth birthday. And, as you told us, it is an Augeo?” She tripped over the pronunciation.
“One of the last remaining artifacts of the Seralle nation left in existence. The amulet magnifies your powers tenfold, making you all but unstoppable. I shudder to think about what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands. You will use this and fulfill the prophecy.”
“What? Why me? There are thousands of dregs to choose from. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see the Order destroyed as much as you do… but you can’t expect me to believe I’m sort of ‘chosen one’.”
“That’s exactly what you are, child. It is your destiny,” Opal said, patting Mara on the knee. “You must embrace it.”
Mara stood abruptly, shaking her head and backing away. “No, you have the wrong person. I can’t do this…” This was crazy. So crazy, it made Ruby sound sane. She turned, trying her best not to run from the tent. The residents already watched her with wary eyes and rushing around like a criminal wouldn’t help.
She heard her friends calling after her and Opal’s authoritative voice saying, “Let her go. She needs some time to think.”
When the freezing night air hit her face, she took a deep breath. Snowflakes fell around her, pressing gentle kisses to her face, catching on her eyelashes. It was peaceful, really, once she got past the debilitating cold. Out here, she was completely alone.
Mara wrapped her arms around her midsection and a choked cry escaped her lips. It was too much. She wanted to destroy the Order, but not because it was foretold in a prophecy hundreds of years ago. That made it seem so… final. She could barely control her Gift as is, and Opal wanted to set her up like some sort of figurehead for their rebellion? It wasn’t her. It couldn’t be her.
A boot crunched the snow behind her.
In a move that would make Wynn proud, Mara whipped around, pulling her dagger from its sheath and pressing it against her would-be attacker’s throat.
“Okay, first of all, nice move! Second, I’m not trying to hurt you, okay?”
Mara squinted. The moonglow reflecting on the snow barely lit up his face. “Halder?”
“The one and only,” he said, holding his hands up to show they were empty.
She released her hold and tucked the dagger back into its sheath. “Did you follow me out here?”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay. I know it’s a lot to take in,” Halder said, dusting snow off of a log. He sat down, then gestured for her to have a seat next to him. “I heard you’re going to begin your training tomorrow. Congratulations.”
“Yeah, Opal said she could teach me,” Mara said, perching on the edge of the log. She ran a hand through the snow.
“She certainly helped me.” He kicked his feet out in front of him and crossed his legs.
“Aren’t you worried that someone will spot the tracks?” Mara gestured to the trail of footprints leading from the tent. By the way the tent was designed, she assumed that they wanted to remain hidden, not flagrantly announce their presence with evidence of life.
“It’s not a big deal. We have some false tracks laid about twenty miles from here. Plus, Opal will have a vision if the Order is coming and we can cover everything pretty quick.”
“Has she ever been wrong?”
“No,” he said simply.
Her stomach flip-flopped. Did she even have a choice at this point? If she said no, would Opal kick them out? Mara peered at Halder from the corner of her eyes, noting a definite change in his demeanor. “You seem… different. Like you’re more relaxed.”
Halder shrugged. “I’m home. I don’t have the luxury of relaxing on a job. If I let my guard down out there, I’m dead, simple as that. I’m sorry if I came off as cold when we first met.”
Mara laughed. “Everything is cold up here.”
“Quite true.”
She watched, looking for clues that he was their mysterious savior. He was tall and lean enough, but that was the extent of her knowledge. Opal could have had a vision of them and sent Halder to save them. Should she just ask him? The cold bled through her clothing, and the snow flurried harder around them in thick, puffy clumps. It gave her an idea.
“It must be difficult to live here. Wouldn’t it be nicer to live down south where it’s warmer?”
“Perhaps, but I find the heat to be a little stifling, to be honest.”
“Kearar must be a nightmare for you then.”
“Oh, I’ve never been that far south, though I’ve heard plenty of stories. The farthest I’ve gone is Aravell.”
Mara frowned. If it wasn’t Halder, then who could it have been? The not knowing would eat away at her until she figured out who had saved them. And why? Why would someone spend a small fortune to buy them, then just let them go? She rubbed her temples to sooth the dull ache behind her eyes.
“I’m keeping you awake, aren’t I? I’m sorry. You must be exhausted from your journey. Let’s get you inside so you can rest,” Halder said, holding his arm out to guide her back to the tent.
***
Mara waded through the piles of blankets and bodies, nestled together as though they were hibernating. Soft snores echoed throughout the cavernous room. A handful of people were still awake— some tending the fires while others kneaded dough on the long tables— but most slept peacefully in the cozy jumble. She spotted her friends, sleeping in the back corner, near the fire where they had spoken with Opal.
She tiptoed past Wynn, who slept with a dirk clutched in each hand and went to lay down next to Ansel. Snores and drooling she could deal with, but being accidentally stabbed in her sleep? Hard pass. Mara started to lay down, but stopped when she noticed Steel, only a few feet away. His shoulders quivered under the blanket and the sound of muffled sobs reached her ears.
With one last, longing look at the furs, Mara abandoned her bedding and crouched down next to Steel, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Steel hurriedly wiped at his eyes and said, “I’m fine. I apologize for disturbing you.”
“You’re not disturbing me at all,” she said, laying down and snuggling against his broad back. “And you’re not fine. Honestly, I’d be worried if you were fine. He meant a lot to you.”
“He was more than my Shield. He was my best friend. I just… I don’t understand why he took the gold.”
“Mikkal mentioned something about his niece?”
“Mikaela. The Healers said she had a growth in her brain, but they were treating it. He sent all of his earnings to pay for her medical care… if I had known it wasn’t enough, I would have given him more money.” Steel’s voice caught in his throat.
Mara held her breath and waited for him to continue, resisting the urge to run a soothing hand through Steel’s hair, just like she used to do with Tobias.
“My father… well, I can almost understand his reason for wanting me dead. I was a useless prince. I spent more time going to parties and shirking my responsibilities than I ever did caring for my people. Not only that, but I would never have been allow
ed to produce an heir as a dreg. No, my father’s reasons were sound, but Mikkal? He betrayed me for money.”
“I’m sorry,” Mara said, struggling to find the words to make him feel better.
After a long, awkward pause, Steel sighed. “Look, I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be fine. I just need some time.”
“Well, if you ever need to talk, I’m here. For what it’s worth, I hope you and Mikkal have a chance to work this out someday.” Exhausted, she rolled over until they were lying back-to-back, and closed her eyes. As she was drifting off to sleep, she almost missed his soft whisper.
“The sea will run dry before I ever trust that backstabbing rogue again.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
At dawn, Mara leapt from her bedding and hurried through the tent, tripping over a sleeping body. She snagged a round bun from a basket on a nearby table and stuffed it in her mouth, not tasting it as she chewed. Opal said they would begin training this morning, and she didn’t want to be late. Two guards stationed at the entrance of the tent jerked in alarm as she barreled past. Mara threw a wave over her shoulder and they relaxed. No doubt someone had informed them of their arrival.
Morning here seemed cold and distant, as though the world had tacked it on as an afterthought. And the land was bleak and white. Too white. But as the sun crested over the distant mountains, casting the snow-covered landscape in flaming hues of orange and gold, she gasped. It was so stunning that Mara was uncertain if her watering eyes were a result of the view, or the biting wind that slapped her in the face.
Mara spotted the elderly Seer sitting on a log a few paces away. Someone had cleared the snow and built up an impressive fire, uncovering a wide circle of dead grass, mud and stone. Mara sprinted over, collapsing on the log in an excited heap.
“Slow down, child, this isn’t a race,” Opal said, chuckling under her breath.
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