Only to find Quazar glaring at Daelun’s hand.
“Have you been deployed to the Seal Gate yet?” I asked him, trying to distract him from severing Daelun’s hand from his body. Quazar glared at the hand a long time, then at Daelun in the face for a moment longer, before turning to me, his expression softening.
“Of course I have. Myself, and every Fallenspawn who has graduated and successfully made it through the Empràr’s Pass.”
I noticed the Talons had their heads down while they ate, but somehow they were still completely tuned into everything he was saying to me.
“The Empràr’s Pass?” I asked.
Quazar leveled a gaze at me.
“You are Amaryss Anathelle’s fifi and you know nothing about the Empràr’s Pass?”
I shook my head.
“It’s not like Manmi told me everything. What do you think she did? Gave me the secrets of the universe? No. I was taught enough. What to study. How to fight. Which books in the Saccrent mattered most. What the Farasees would be looking for. That type of thing. She also taught me everything I needed to know to survive. Nothing with that includes thisEmpràr’s Passthough. What is it? Some kind of exam or something? And what’s it got to do with Manmi?”
“I, too, would love to know what this has to do with my Tati.”
I nodded as Ellabeth leaned forward, her eyes pools of swirling oceans as she popped a piece of dragonfruit into her mouth.
Quazar kept his eyes on me. He stared, searching my face, as if looking for something he swore he’d find. He narrowed his eyes when he seemingly came up short.
“You really don’t know,” he breathed.
“Don’t knowwhat?”
I blinked as the winged tips of my ears twitched. Quazar blinked those hypnotizing emerald eyes and tilted his head like a confused lord unsure of how to proceed.
“Before Azarath Academy fourthlings graduate, we have to cross through what is called the Empràr’s Pass. An endless stretch of rocky terrain in the far northern plains of the Ouanaviel island. It’s one of several ways to access Barrenrock and reach the Seal Gate. But the Pass is guarded.”
“By?” I asked, raising a brow.
His eyes glittered. The corners of his lips twitched.
“Bats.”
My brows shot to my hairline.
He was lying. He had to be.
“Ouanaviel has bats?”
Those lips quirked up even higher. “So sorry. We haveashbats.”
“Ashbats,” I repeated. “Well, then.”
I started turning away.
“Ashbats are the size of a small cloud, with teeth sharper than that of a viper, membranous, hideous wings, and a ferocious appetite for blood. Hallowed blood to be exact.”
I snorted, going back to my plate. “Guess you can make the crossing just fine then.”
“Pray tell, Starling.” Quazar leaned in close to me, his lips near my ear. I swallowed the knot in my throat. “When yourGranmanmi nearly bled me dry. What color blood did you see? Was any trace of it obsidian?”
I stilled.
I’d tried hard since Sanctuary to avoid thinking about Titombwe. About the blood. About his breaking bones and body. Sanctuary had helped me forget. But now the events were at the front of my mind again.
