Page 25 of Anomalies

“Huh?” They look nothing alike.

“Adoptive brother, kind of…it’s weird. We were both orphans when we got to Pirn, and we were raised by the same people. Like I said, children were the priority when it came to getting people out. That meant a lot of us were parentless.”

They were…children. Taken from their home and their families. Forced to grow up here and forced, in the Captain’s case, to fight at the age of eight. Eight.

“The Hearth Witches were quick to take in the orphans, and their coven raised us all as their own without question. Being mothers is in their nature; it’s part of their magic. They’re the homemakers, always keeping you warm and fed and welcomed. They taught us patience, love, and family.”

Family. To children who had lost theirs.

“Callan and I were raised as siblings,” Gemma says. “He was just a scrawny little boy back then, but he and his gangly limbs grew on me.”

I imagine him as a boy, a little less stern and a little more carefree. Maybe there’s a softer interior beneath all that physical and mental armor he wears. Maybe there’s a side of him that would sympathize with my situation.

“Gemma, can I ask you something?”

“Yes,” she sighs, “he’s single.”

“Not at all what I was going to ask.”

Her brow arches skeptically, but she relents, waving a hand for me to continue. “Go on then.”

“I-uh…” I should just be honest with her, I’m sure she’d understand what I was trying to do, but what if she doesn’t? What if she rats me out to Delia and her coven for trying to find a way to talk to people in Draycott? They’re serious about the secrecy of this place, but I don’t need to tell Ivy and Jude where I am, just that I’m alive. I don’t want them to waste their lives wondering where I went.

“I left some people behind that mean a lot to me,” I say finally. “Do you think he would help get them a message for me?”

“Like… to Draycott?” she asks, and I nod.

“I can’t go back there, my life was…” I fumble for the right words, but only the wrong ones find me. “I needed to get out of that place, and I’d like a chance to know my real family, but they were my family first, Ivy and Jude. They’re probably worried sick, and I just⁠—”

“Want to let them know you’re okay?”

I blink at her words, at how quickly she was able to figure it out. “Yes. Exactly. If I wrote them something, just to let them know I was alive, do you think Callan would take it to Draycott for me?”

Gemma ponders it, really ponders it. “I suppose if you phrase it the right way, maybe. Callan…he values honesty. Just be as honest as you can, he isn’t a bad person underneath all the Captain bullshit.”

Oddly enough, I believe that.

“Alright,” Gemma sighs, throwing her napkin over her tray. “It’s tour time.”

8

LUCINA

Gemma is one hell of a tour guide.

She showed me the lake and the stalls set up behind it. They sell anything you could imagine at the Markets. Everything is traded and bartered; they don’t use coins or money of any kind. She showed me the gardens and the church—a beautiful building tucked in the woods, with stained glass windows. Devon, of course, lingered a step behind, watching from a distance. But we were having so much fun, I hardly noticed him.

By the time Gemma had shown me all of Pirn, the sun was setting, and my feet throbbed. I tried getting out of the Selumira plans for tonight, but Gemma just rolled her eyes and threw a skirt at my face.

I step back in the bathroom mirror to get a better view of my outfit. It’s a two-piece set made of dark navy-blue fabric, thin and light, and perfect for dancing. The top is strapless, fitting me exactly as Gemma said it would, and the skirt falls in uneven frayed layers down my legs. The longest piece of fabric is at my ankle, and the shortest cut is to my mid-thigh.

I don’t remember the last time I wore something this nice.

I slide on some socks and a pair of boots that Gemma claims don’t fit her anymore. They’re distressed brown suede, with intricate designs embroidered in golden thread. Across the pointed toes are tiny stars and a crescent moon, and along the side are flowers, vines, and a stunning image of the sun almost identical to the one on our medallions.

I almost faint when I get a better look at my face.

My skin its…glowing. Shining like the skin of the Sol. All my freckles have darkened, and I have color in my cheeks. Soft pink color that I’ve never had before. Maybe it’s from being out in the sun. Or maybe it’s from being half-dead when I showed up here, and I’m just now coming back to life.