by Jayne Faith
I gave Jeric a rueful smile and a little half-shrug.
“Lord Toric says we must accompany Sir Jeric inside,” Calvin finally said.
I bit back my frustration. I couldn’t ask Jeric about Lana if two royal guards were within earshot.
“I will speak to Sir Jeric on the patio with the door closed,” I said. “And you may keep watch through the glass.”
I didn’t wait for anyone’s agreement but turned on my heel and went out to the walled terrace. I held the door for Jeric and then closed it firmly.
“Face away from the glass so they can’t read our lips,” I mumbled to him. I dragged a chair a couple of feet off to the side. “Leave some space between us so they don’t get nervous.”
“You’re looking remarkably well,” he said. He crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, looking almost at ease. The transformation that had come over him in the past few days was quite remarkable. He was animated, and though still too thin, he looked so much more vibrant.
I glanced over at him and then faced forward. “Thanks to you,” I said, my voice suddenly thick. “Thank you, a million times over, for everything you’ve done. And thank you for coming here. I’m sorry they’re making it difficult. You don’t deserve to be treated like a criminal.”
“They’re going to gossip, you know. Word will get out that I visited you.”
“We’ll have to think of some official reason,” I said. We were both speaking very low, only loud enough for our voices to carry across the few feet separating us. “Clarisse told me you agreed to help Lana. Again, I’m not sure I can properly express my gratitude.”
“I’m glad I could help,” he said simply, after a brief hesitation.
“Jeric, I have to tell you something. After I came through the flame, I—well, I saw her. My sister.”
My heart was racing, and my palms were damp. I suddenly felt very certain that I knew how Jeric had helped Lana.
He turned his head toward me and our eyes met, and then we both faced forward again. “You did,” he said softly. “I brought her to Calisto.”
A strangled cry escaped my throat. My breath hitched and caught, and tears sprang to my eyes. I raised my hands and pressed my fingers to my lips. Lana was on Calisto? It was several seconds before I could respond. “Is she safe?”
“I have to keep her hidden, of course, but she’s safe.”
Emotions were waging battles within me—the greatest was anger that he’d taken her away from Earthenfell. That wasn’t what I’d wanted! I’d only wanted her to be back home with Mother. But I also felt a strange swell of gratitude.
Lana is here.
I’d not truly dared to hope I’d ever see her again. It was selfish to be glad that she’d been stolen away from Earthenfell, but I couldn’t help feeling a little spring of happiness.
I took a long shaky breath, trying to still my internal turmoil. “Wasn’t there some other way?”
“It wasn’t the best thing to do. That’s obvious now,” he said. He let out a long sigh and then pulled his hands down his face, a gesture very like Lord Toric sometimes made when he was tired or agitated. “I wasn’t in my right mind when I did it. It felt like I was living in a fever dream, and all I could think about was you. Serving you. Being near you. Pleasing you. Possessing you. I think I believed that if I presented your sister as a gift, you would love me instead of Toric.”
I shifted a little on my seat. With an uncomfortable twinge in my gut, I realized I was glad for the guards behind the glass, though it felt disloyal after everything Jeric had done for me.
“My thoughts, my actions . . . everything was too extreme,” he continued. “In my desire to serve you, I went too far. I know I should not have brought her here. But what’s done is done. We can’t allow her to return to Earthenfell because that would be a blatant and extremely serious violation of the sacred texts. Not like when you spoke to her through the portal.”
I tried to take it in, tried to imagine what kind of life Lana could have on Calisto. “Is she frightened?”
“Yes, she was at first, of course. She’s much better now.”
“I know you must be very careful, but Jeric, I—I have to see her.” My voice broke and my eyes welled again. It took me a moment to compose myself. “Please, we have to find a way.”
“It will take some time,” he said. “You’re an incredibly visible person now. You can’t just stroll around with me. Or with anyone. This is such a critical time for you, Maya.”
I slumped a little. He was right, but everything in me was screaming out for my twin. “Perhaps I could go to her through a portal?”
“Possibly. For the moment, try to rest easy in knowing that she is safe and cared for,” he said. He shifted forward, his hands on his knees as if ready to stand. “I should be going, I’ve already stayed long enough to raise questions. Is there a message I can relay to Lana?”
“Tell her not to be afraid, and that we will see each other. Tell her I love her.”
He left, and the guards went with him. I stayed on the dark terrace, curled up at the back of the oversized chair meant for Calistans, watching the stars come out.
My heart was so full, so ripe with hope, it would not allow me to escape to sleep.
Lana was out there somewhere, so close and yet it still felt as if she were a world away. How long before I would be able to embrace her, to hear her voice, to know she was truly safe?
13
High Priestess Lunaria
LORD TORIC HAD invited me and Akantha to the Lord’s Honor Chamber to officially determine what to do about Maya and the Tournament. I couldn’t help thinking of the last time the three of us were gathered there. Lord Toric had made a deal with Akantha to delay the Tournament so Maya could recover from her abduction. A couple of days later, Akantha had gone back on the deal. The Third Sign of the Return, the dying semi-sun bursting with light into the throne room, had saved Maya.
One dramatic turn after another. Betrayals followed by revelations followed by more betrayals. It seemed that every action and every decision had become weighted with significance, and it was a thought that loomed in my mind every waking moment.
The three of us met early in the morning, and it was the first time I’d seen Akantha since she’d shown up at Lord Toric’s quarters to gloat as the police arrested Maya. Only a few days had passed, but the Mistress of Tournament looked as if she’d aged several years. Her face was ashen, and her usually sharp eyes sunken and wary.
The changes in her appearance and demeanor could have been attributed to a sense of defeat about Maya. Maybe, if Akantha were another type of woman. But Akantha relished a fight, and she wasn’t one to concede before the debate had even begun.
Something else was at play. By the way Lord Toric’s glances skimmed my face but never quite made it up to my eyes, I suspected he knew what it was, and if so, he had no intention of enlightening me. Or perhaps his avoidance was due to our falling-out after I’d asked to test his blood for Pirro DNA.
His demeanor toward me was a warm embrace compared to the way he looked at Akantha. I’d seen his anger flare at her before, but except for a few instances, he’d always managed to keep a regal, civil demeanor. Not anymore. The loathing and hostility that emanated from him every time his attention swung her way made me want to move my chair back a foot or two, just to make sure I was completely out of the path of his wrath in case some of it accidentally splashed my way.
Once Akantha and I were seated, he flicked a glance at each of us. “I propose a formal declaration of disqualification for Maya. There is nothing in the law or the sacred texts that says she must finish the Tournament,” he said, his tone commanding and cold.
Akantha straightened. “My Lord, I—”
“No,” he cut her off sharply. “You have no argument. The morning she was taken to the Bridge to Purification, you had her tile removed from the throne room wall. You erased her name from the list of participants.”
“Becaus
e I did not expect she would survive, and it seemed the decent thing to do,” Akantha said. Her voice took on its familiar belligerent tone, but she lacked her usual strident conviction.
Lord Toric looked skyward and laughed, shaking his head slowly. “Decent? As if you are even capable of such a thing.” He leaned forward, his chest thrust out, and gave her a menacing look. “It does not matter. You removed her from the competition. She’s out of the Tournament.”
Akantha blinked and her shoulders rounded in a posture of retreat. “I believe the Priestess will have to address any ambiguity.” Her voice trailed off.
I glanced back and forth between the two of them. What had transpired in the past few days to cause such a change in their interaction?
“This is a strange case, as you’re both well aware,” I said. I nodded at Akantha. “The Mistress of Tournament is correct. It is ambiguous from the standpoint of the Tournament regulations. However, there is something that I believe supersedes the Tournament. The Temple’s miracle commission is investigating Maya’s survival. And as I said in my press statement, I believe Maya is a named player in the sacred texts—the foreign harbinger of the Return.”
Lord Toric leaned back and folded his arms, clearly pleased with what I’d said. But I wanted to push it a step further. Instead of simply using my authority to override Akantha, I wanted to force her to concede.
I turned slightly in my chair to face her and put on a kindly expression. “Akantha, you could challenge this if you wished. You are the Mistress of Tournament and your position gives you an enormous amount of authority over the Earthen Offered. Maya is not a Tournament winner and is not a member of the harem. She is still an Offered.” I paused and drilled her with a hard look. “But do you want to be the one to send her back into peril? To go against the masses who are now praying for her—to her, even—as a holy figure? What if she died in the Tournament, and we lost Earthenfell because of it?”
Akantha’s mouth opened and then snapped shut. She swallowed and squared her shoulders. “That would be . . . what I mean to say is that you are right, Your Holiness. At the very least we must wait for the miracle commission.”
Not quite the concession I was hoping for—she didn’t even acknowledge Maya’s possible role in the Return—but I could see that I’d impressed upon Akantha how violent the backlash could be if she put Maya in danger.
I glanced at Lord Toric, and his eyes had softened somewhat. He gave me the slightest of nods.
“This Tournament will finish without her,” he said confidently. “It must wrap up within the next month or so, isn’t that right, Mistress? We couldn’t assume the miracle commission will have their business completely wrapped up by then. It wouldn’t do to be hasty with such a momentous inquiry.”
“Only a month?” I cast a questioning look at Akantha.
She gave a withering sigh and almost looked like her old self. “Actually, Lord Toric is correct. We’ve had so many delays in this Tournament it’s stretched out much, much longer than usual. In the part of the Tournament rules that’s dictated by the sacred texts, we must have a full month break between the end of one Tournament and the Earthen spring solstice, which marks the beginning of the next Tournament season. That means the current Tournament must end within the next twenty-seven days.”
My eyebrows shot up. I knew the law, of course. I just hadn’t realized so much time had passed. “By the stars, that’s right. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. How many more challenges are you planning?”
“Only one,” she said. “At the end, the surviving losers will go to the flame and the winners will take their posts.”
A chill passed over me as I noticed the gleam in Akantha’s eyes. She genuinely relished torturing the Earthen Offered. I always made an effort to recognize the good in people, but perhaps there was something truly broken inside her.
She shifted her weight forward as if to rise, but I raised a hand and pinned her with the most serious look I could muster.
“The decision we made here today is not a deal. This is no bargain,” I said. “This is an official decree that is now on record. Maya will not enter the Tournament, even if the miracle commission finishes its inquiry before the end of this Tournament season. Do you agree and understand, Mistress of Tournament?”
A hint of a snarl tried to twist her upper lip, but she smoothed her expression and bowed her head. “Maya Calderon is hereby officially disqualified from this season’s Tournament.”
I glanced at Lord Toric and caught the relief on his face.
“Very well,” I said.
I rose before Akantha could, which forced her to stand and curtsy.
Lord Toric jumped to his feet as well. He had a finger to his earpiece, and his lips were parted and his eyes wide.
“I must depart,” he said. He turned and hurried out of the room with no explanation.
My pulse bumped as I watched him go. Surely I would be informed if there was any news involving Maya. All the same, I checked in with Celestia to make sure I had no urgent messages.
Grateful to leave Akantha and a room charged with tension, I departed from the Lord’s Honor Chamber and turned toward the Temple. I had a half hour blocked out for morning prayer and reflection, after which I would seek out Jeric. I knew it would anger Lord Toric, but I felt a deep conviction that in such a momentous time in history I needed to uncover every truth I could. If the Lord wouldn’t allow me to test his blood for Pirro DNA, I believed I could persuade his brother.
*
“But how might this impact my brother?” Jeric tilted his head down at me, concern etched on his face.
He and I were walking in one of the royal gardens, at his request. He kept turning his face to the sun, and he walked with an ease I hadn’t seen in weeks. Only the royal family could access the garden, and he’d assured me that a security team had checked the high-walled space just before I arrived. Still, I couldn’t help looking around furtively and keeping my voice low.
“We will not allow the information to go public,” I said. “Even my detractors within the Temple know how dangerous that would be, and in any case, only very few people would know. Myself, the Temple’s lead scholar, and possibly the Oracle.”
“I trust your discretion. Especially in light of recent . . .” he trailed off and cleared his throat, obviously hesitant to mention aloud anything to do with Maya and the flame. “But what would it do to him personally, as a man?”
My brows lifted up in surprise. Was Jeric actually concerned about his brother’s emotional well-being?
“He was quite upset when I asked him to submit to a test,” I said slowly. “And I do worry about how he would handle the confirmation of my suspicion. But when I weigh the fate of Calisto versus the harm it might cause him . . . it is difficult, I admit. He is the one who must lead the Return, and we need him as strong as possible, but it seems there are other players in all of this. We cannot let them manipulate us. Any more than they already have, that is.”
His head whipped around, and he looked at me sharply. “What does that mean?”
I stopped walking, and he stopped as well. I did not want to reveal more, but needed to convince him. “I believe the Pirros have kept the tenth volume all this time.” I mouthed the words, barely whispering. “I suspect they or their agents delivered it to me.”
He stared at me in open-mouthed shock for a long moment, and then his eyes went distant and he shook his head. “I don’t understand how . . .”
“I don’t either, and I have no straightforward way of confirming it,” I said. “That’s why I’m trying to gather as much knowledge as possible where I can.” I gave him a pointed look.
“Do you suspect my mother of playing some active role?” he asked. I’d told him that the Pirro bloodline almost certainly would have come from his mother’s side of the family.
“She’s definitely attempted to meddle where Maya is concerned, but I don’t know whether she’s part of a larger conspi
racy.”
My mention of Maya’s name seemed to light a spark inside his eyes.
“You swear to keep everything unlabeled, untraceable?”
“I swear on my oath to the Temple,” I said.
He gave me a firm nod. “I’ll do it.”
We went to his apartment, where he pricked his finger and allowed a few crimson drops to fall into a tiny vial I’d stashed in the locket I wore around my neck that day. The locket’s mechanism would open only at my touch, which I explained to Jeric.
“Once the test is complete, I will crush the vial and burn the pieces, which will destroy any remaining blood,” I said.
My heart seemed to thump against the locket all the way back to the Temple.
When I arrived at my office, Celestia’s face was drawn in a frown.
“Your Holiness,” she stood and curtsied. “This was just posted. Oh dear, it’s very contrary.”
“What is it?”
“This afternoon Novia is presenting a lecture with five possible hypotheses for how the Offered girl might have survived the flame. Explanations that are decidedly not miraculous.”
I pursed my lips, pushing back a groan. “Who gave her clearance to present a lecture to the public?”
“It’s internal only, Your Holiness.”
My tension eased a little.
Celestia’s frown deepened. “But she has submitted a petition to give it again and open it to the public.”
“Well, we will deal with that in due course.”
I retreated to the sanctuary of my office.
I knew Novia would not speak of the other hypothesis—the one about Pirro blood in the royal line—but clearly she had no qualms about stirring up controversy when it came to Maya and the proposed miracle. I had to assume she would fight me on naming Maya the harbinger of the Return as well.
But first things first. I opened the locket and held up the small vial to the light.
14