Then she glanced toward the door.
“And look?” she added. “I warded it.”
She had drawn ash symbols across the threshold. Faint, familiar curves. The same ones she used to trace on my windowsill when I was little and afraid trolls would come in the night.
“No one will take my babies on my watch,” she said, like that was still something she could promise.
CHAPTER NINE
The bells from the Eye’s temple rang out over the village like a threat. Sharp and hollow, like they were trying to split the sky open.
I hated the sound. Not just because of what it meant, but because of what it used to mean. Bells used to be for weddings, for festivals or for the first day of snow.
Now, they were warnings, commands. The Eredian had taken the old courthouse, whitewashed the stone, bolted black doors into place, and draped banners with the Eye over the arched windows. It used to be a place where people argued over taxes. Now, no one argued at all.
The Eredian were effective, at least. It took them less than two weeks to make the home I’d grown up in feel foreign.
Einar walked beside me in silence, his shoulder brushing mine every few steps. He still insisted on walking me everywhere, especiallynow that the Eredian were pulling people off the streets like it was nothing.
I didn’t argue. I’d grown used to always having him by my side.
I didn’t argue. I’d grown used to always having him by my side.
The sun was already high, heat pressing down like on us, and as we turned onto the square, I saw some younger girls from school, heading toward the temple. Pale ribbons in their hair, Silver Eye pins catching the sunlight.
They slowed when they saw us.
“Kera!” one of the girls called. Hana. Her braid bounced against her shoulder as she hurried closer. She looked excited, almost giddy.
“You should come with us!”
I blinked. “Where to?”
“The temple,” she said. “There’s a blessing today.”
“A blessing?” I stared at her. Hana, who drank through every party and skipped more classes than she showed up to. The same girl Eryx claimed had been throwing herself at him, though I’d never seen it myself.
“Since when do you care about blessings?”
“Since they said we’ll burn for eternity if we don’t,” she whispered.
I felt something twist in my gut.
“You don’t actually believe that?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But… what if it’s true?”
A girl behind her chimed in with too much cheer. “They said the old gods were demons. But it’s not too late to repent! Even for you.”
Even for me.
I stared at her scarf, at her polished shoes, and it hit me. Those hadn’t only believed whatever the Eredian told them. They werespreadingit.
“You’re just scared,” I said.
She blinked hard, as if the words had caught her off guard. “Aren’t you?”
“I am,” I said. “But not of the gods.”
