Page 114 of Memory of Ashes

“And you concur with his retelling?” the high priest asked.

“Yes.”

“It is all still speculation.”

“Is Eleandor’s word not good enough for you?” he asked them.

“He could not be certain of everything. His visions are interpretations. Perhaps if we had been there to see this, it would be easier to believe,” the high priest said.

“Do you doubt the word of your King?” Elthar demanded, rising to his full height. “I was there. I saw it.”

They were sensible enough to stay quiet.

“We need to discuss our kingdoms,” Elthar said, facing Casyl. He turned his back on the priests. “We now have an alliance, and you are king of your lands. Our people should be connected again as we once were. Now that your father is dead, I see no issue between our kingdoms.”

“There has been too much division,” he agreed.

“This could be your opportunity to atone,” the priest said.

Casyl snarled him into silence.

This was a monumental moment in their people’s history; centuries of war and division ended by the death of his father, but he struggled to find any joy in it.

“I need to take my warriors back home,” Casyl told him.

“Yes, of course. I’m sure you have your own affairs to attend to. We’ll meet soon to discuss this further.”

“Do you want to see your mother before you go? I know it has been a long time for you both.”

He wondered if she’d heard about Tiryn’s death.

“Not right now.” It was not the time for a family reunion.

Elthar nodded.

Casyl made to leave, then suddenly turned to the high priest. “Do you have your book of holy lore with you?”

The high priest raised an eyebrow. “Having a spiritual awakening, Casyl?”

“Something like that.”

The priest stood, passing him a small black book bound in leather. Gold lines decorated its spine, and a gold star was raised on its cover. “I go nowhere without a copy. You can keep it.”

Book in hand, he returned to his room, planning to take it back with him, but something made him open it. He skimmed the pages. Most of it contained the priests’ nonsensical teachings on how to live and please the gods. Then he found what he was looking for.

It is then that we shall leave this world. Our bodies will become one with the energy of the universe, and our souls will be judged. Those who prove true will live in peace in a tranquil land until the ascension. Those who have lost their way will live in harsh, desolate lands. They will wear their sins for all to see, marked by deformities and shunned by the pure, until their descent into the darkness of the Shadowlands, should they remain wayward. The Shadowlands lie beneath the realms of the living, touching all worlds but belonging to none, divided from them by the veil.

He turned to the last page.

And the prophecy will ring true. The descendant will arrive unexpectedly to unite the fae, for not all will believe. The balance will be restored, and those who remain will face the judgement of the gods.

And there at the bottom of the page, he saw the strange runes that had been carved into the cave wall.

Was Amelia the descendant? Her mixed blood had bridged both worlds. She’d also united the fae of the Wildlands and the High City.

But if fae blood ran through her veins, could it have kept her alive?

Chapter 27