I lean back, watching the ink sink into the paper, and comb my fingers through my hair to free the knots of the day.Fatigue drags my thoughts, thick as mud.The jigsaw pieces remain incoherent.No matter how many years I’ve faced studying the darkness, the truth of why we do what we do, always seems to slip through my fingers like ghostly ink.My breath hitches in a slow, ragged sigh as the flickering candlelight causes the shadows to twitch against the wall.
Outside, the first bells of night ring out.
Tomorrow she faces Riven.I tell myself I’ll only watch, but I already know I’m lying.
20
SEREN
Agentle murmur fills the air—hundreds of bees drawn to purple sprouting blossoms stretching into the horizon.The scent of lavender overwhelms me, a faint perfume tickling my nose.
The ground beneath me hums with life—roots and burrowing things moving unseen.I wiggle my toes, enjoying the cool grains of earth wedging between them.Dry stalks whisper in the wind, and evergreen leaves stroke my arms.I reach for one, rubbing the petals to release their oils, breathing in the trace they leave behind.
Giggles float on the breeze, though I can’t see their source.
“Nyxie!”someone shouts.
I squint through the sun’s blanket of gold, twirling as I listen for that squeaky voice again.
“Oh…Nyxie!”A trail of lilting laughter follows.I’ve found her.No—not her.Them.
Black hair, flecked with red, shimmers in the light.A small head bounces to my right, while another snigger erupts from the left.A girl with a mop of long, mousy-brown hair sways as she runs.Their faces are obscured, as if peering through a smudged window, but their joy sings in my ears.
A serene feeling settles in my soul—something I haven’t felt for a very long time.The skin at the corners of my eyes crinkles; I beam like a giddy child in a sweet shop.
A deep sense of knowing consumes me.
My sisters.
My feet press into the damp earth as I bolt to join them.
* * *
The clinking soundof metal wakes me.
I force my heavy eyelids apart, chasing the warmth of the meadow and the lingering scent of lavender.What’s happening?
A shadow crosses the bed as the rattling grows louder.Kael stands there, chains in hand, while first light needles through the slit in the curtains.A beam refracts through one of his lenses, casting a thin ribbon of rainbow across the room.My shadows hiss and recoil at the sight of him.
His eyes are ablaze, his lip curled in contempt—the look of a man reduced to a warden.
“Up,” he says, his voice gravelly with disuse.
A thump lands on the edge of the mattress as he drops today’s attire.Cursing the manacles biting into my skin, I push myself up and edge out of bed, nearly slipping on the silken sheets.A firm hand catches my elbow—quick, impersonal—and is gone as soon as I’ve found my footing.
I don’t offer any thanks.“Will you at least give me some privacy to get ready?”
Ignoring me, he turns and throws the curtains wide.The room drinks in the light as he stares out at his beloved city below.
Squinting through the brightness, I stumble toward the bathroom, the cold marble waking me with every step.The door closes with a soft click.I lean over the sink, finally letting the weight of the day sink in.
By the Mother’s Veil—what’s going to happen?What does being ‘examined’ even mean?
I splash water over my face, sweeping away the grogginess of the dream.It didn’t feel like a dream; it felt like a memory of a life lived.But how could it be?
Peeling off the grey nightdress, I wash and change into the robe Kael left on the bed, making sure to tuck my pendant away before heading back out.
He’s still staring out the window, the muscles of his broad back shifting visibly under his thin tunic.He peers over his shoulder, his gaze slowly exploring me from head to toe.I refuse to look away, though the way my fingers pick at the edge of the manacles betrays me.
