I shivered. The voice was the same as the one I’d heard in the labyrinth, only reverberating in my ears now as well as my head. At least Raithe and Meeka heard it this time; Meeka jerked up at the creature’s voice, and Raithe moved protectively closer to me. The woman-cat monster sat down, folding her tattered wings behind her, and gazed down upon us with eyes as ancient as time.
“Who are you?” I managed to ask, once it became clear the abomination wasn’t interested in killing us. At least, not yet. “I heard you... before. Were you also the one sending those spirits to guide us through the temple?”
“This body,” the great cat creature began, “was the last obstacle the defilers placed in this temple to guard the piece of the loom they shattered. Like theTaurysswho now wander the halls, mindless and forever trapped. The magic of the defilers keeps their rotted bodies anchored to this world, even though their fates have long expired. Throughout the long millennia, I have managed to infuse a portion of my will into this temple. Not enough to subvert what the defilers have done, but enough to guide you along the right path.” The cat monster spread her wings, casting me in her terrible shadow.“Now you stand before me,Fateless. And we will see if you are truly worthy to bear the power of a goddess.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. I was absolutely not worthy, but there was no turning back now. “What do I have to do?” I whispered.
“Nothing.”The monster rose languidly to her feet, the threads intertwined within her body shifting with the motion.“I will be looking through your memories and judging for myself if you are worthy. Everything I need to know has already happened. But you will be coming with me,Fateless. Together, we will see what type of soul seeks the power of a goddess.”
I glanced at Raithe, who was not gazing at the terrifying cat monster standing before us, but at me. His pale eyes met mine, and I tried to will some of his strength and courage into myself. “Any advice about what to say to the goddess of Fate when she’s weighing my soul?”
“Just be honest,” Raithe answered. “Maederyss is neither good nor evil. She doesn’t care about concepts of morality or ethics, so you can’t predict what she’ll value at any given moment. All you can do is be yourself. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Yes, I do,” I whispered back. “Many, many things. What if I’m not worthy?”
“You are.” Raithe placed a gentle hand on my cheek. “You wouldn’t be standing here if you weren’t.” The hand on my cheek slid down to gently cup my chin, tilting my head up to his. “You are the last person who needs it, but... for luck,” he murmured, and very softly kissed me. I closed my eyes and melted into him, forgetting about trials and tests and the literal goddess of Fate judging my soul for just a moment.
Pulling back, I gave him a brave smile, then turned to the monstrous creature looming over us. Her bright blue eyes were as impassive as the Void.
“I’m ready.”
“Then, come.”The monster’s wings opened again, the shadow seeming to swallow me.“Step forward,Fateless. And we shall see what type of soul you truly are.”
The sands around us swirled,as if caught in a violent storm. Everything—the chamber, Meeka, Raithe, the tree—disappeared, until I stood in the center of a silent vortex.
The sands fell away, and I was somewhere else.
Twenty-One
The brilliant light of the twins shone down on me. Blinking, I raised a hand to shield my eyes and gazed around, my heart turning over as I realized where I was.
This isKovass. I’m home.
My beloved city. It looked the same as it did in my memories, before an immortal god had pulled down every building to replace them with his own. The dusty streets and thronging crowds were immediately familiar. I breathed in the scents of dust, sun-warmed rock, and sweaty bodies, and felt the comforting rightness of it all. This was where I had once belonged.
Home, a voice in my head that was not mine repeated.This is where your story begins. Where your thread, if you had one, would be woven into the Tapestry of the World.
My heartbeat quickened. Ahead of me, a small figure melted out of the crowds in the thronging market. She was probably only nine or ten, but I recognized that skinny body, the wariness in her brown eyes, the familiar hood pulled up to hide her features. She moved through the crowd like a shadow, sliding between and around bodies with the practiced ease of having done this hundreds of times before.
A lump formed in my throat. I watched the girl make her way through the throngs, seeing everything that she saw, knowingeverything that she was feeling. I could sense the years of the guild weighing on her in every cautious shift of her eyes, every motion she took to stay out of sight. When a pair of guards strode through the market, she melted into the shadow of an overhang and became invisible until they had passed. I didn’t know what exact memory this was yet; it could’ve been any day in the market, slipping through oblivious crowds on the hunt for a target.
I saw him almost before she did: the perfect mark. A girthy man wearing fine silk clothes stood in front of a market stall, arguing loudly with a tired-looking vendor. From the many colorful bottles on display, I guessed this was a perfume stall. The large man held a green bottle in two fingers, gesturing to it and the vendor as he spoke, proclaiming that he was being robbed for the amount that he would have to pay. Standard haggling procedure, but the coin pouch dangling from the side of his belt was on full display, indicating this man knew very little about being in the marketplace.
Beside the perfume stall, a ragged-looking boy around the girl’s own age gazed longingly at a cart of fruit, the hunger in his eyes clear. It was obvious that he was debating whether or not to grab one. I recognized the fruit vendor, a suspicious man with sharp black eyes. He was extremely protective of his cart and wares, and a difficult man to steal from. The boy seemed to realize this, too, for he continued to stare at the tempting baskets of fly-laden fruit but made no move to go closer.
I was so busy watching the boy, I almost missed it. As smoothly as a ghost, the girl stepped around the boy and passed behind the man still shouting at the perfume vendor. There wasno hesitation, no falter in her steps. I saw her hand reach up and snag the coin pouch off his belt only because I was looking for it. Without missing a beat, she slipped the prize into her sleeve and continued, walking away from the crime without anyone noticing she had been there.
I felt an odd tingle of both pride and shame. Pride because that had been the perfect snatch, smooth, quick, and over in an eyeblink. Everything Vahn had taught me. But I could also feel the eyes of the cat creature seeing through mine, watching me steal as if it was nothing. The weight of her judgment pressed down on me... or perhaps that was just my own sense of guilt and remorse.
An enraged shout drew my attention back to the cart. The large man had stopped arguing with the merchant and was now patting his belt furiously. He had discovered he had been robbed, far too late. But his small, angry eyes fixed on the ragged boy next to the fruit cart.
With a howl, he reached out his thick hand and grabbed the boy by the collar, hauling him close. “Thief!”
The shout boomed through the marketplace, making me wince. This was every hood’s worst nightmare: being caught and having that word shouted in your face, drawing the attention of everyone around you. The boy cried out as the large man shook him, snapping his head back.
“Where is it?” the man roared. “Hand it over now, you little parasite! Or by the goddess, I’ll break every one of your fingers right here and save the guards the trouble!”
“I don’t have it!” the boy gasped. “I didn’t steal anything, I swear!”
