Page 16 of Heart of the Villain

Vega waved goodbye to—what was her name? Delta?—and followed Marlena out the side door down the path to the stables. “So, am I ever going to find out where we’re going?”

Marlena had their horses almost fully tacked and ready to go, another thing she’d had enough time to do while Vega slept soundly this morning. “What if it’s a surprise?” She put their canteens in the saddle bags and snagged the reins hanging outside of their horses’ stalls.

Rolling her eyes, Vega ran her hand down her dark dappled gray colt’s neck, cooing to her young horse.

Marlena’s stark white mare with deep blue eyes was older, less energetic, but she was fast and strong—perfect for the few hours they’d be traveling today.

Vega mounted, and Marlena led them out of the barn before any of the staff came in for the start of their day.

Their horses took off at a steady pace, Marlena pushing them to get out of the city square before the sun fully rose over the mountain peaks.

Once they passed the city proper and were on the dirt roads of Aeris’s northern territory, they let the horses slow to a walking pace to catch their breath.

“Littera?” Vega asked, letting a little slack in her reins while she got comfortable in her seat.

“Mm-hmm.” Marlena nodded, glancing over at her sister.

“You mean to tell me you got me up at the crack of dawn to go study in a library?” Vega asked, annoyance lacing her tone. “We have one of those back home, ya know?”

Chuckling, Marlena stared forward, trying to find the words to tell Vega what she wanted to do. Their world was changing, and Marlena wasn’t sure she could stand back and watch an opportunity to prove her parents wrong pass her by when the time came. You have to be ready. “Watch the sunrise and shut up,” Marlena said with a hint of sarcasm, trying to drown out the whisper of the voice in her head.

Vega grumbled, but the two rode in silence for a while as the sun rose, and they enjoyed the warmth of what was turning out to be a gorgeous spring day.

When the view of Littera’s main city’s roads became visible, Marlena peered over at Vega. “Do you remember the story of Mira Viator?”

She’d been building up the courage to bring the tale up for the last hour.

Vega’s eyebrows met in the middle, and she scrunched her nose along with it. “Yeah?” She drew out the word. “The story from the campfire?”

“Yes.” The next part of her sentence was a whisper. “What if she got the summoning wrong?” Marlena questioned. The only sound for what felt like minutes was the clacking of their horses’ hooves against the hard, packed dirt road.

Vega stared straight ahead, nibbling on the inside of her cheek. “Why would you have been thinking about that?”

Marlena’s answer wasn’t easy, and she wasn’t even sure what she was supposed to say. “Vates falling is just the start. I don’t think our realm has seen the last of what’s looming in the shadows.” The words left her lips before she could think about what she was saying.

Vega turned her head away from the library in the distance. “Everyone only fled for the time being. They’ll be back when our parents and the rest of the Curia figure out how to protect the seers.”

Marlena slowed her horse to a stop as they approached the large entrance to the Minerva Archives. “Vega, no one is going to help them. Vates is gone for good.”

Vega shook her head, bringing her horse to a halt too. “No, they left Arlet to run it when she’s ready. They would have taken her with them if they didn’t have any hope that she’d be ready to rule one day.”

Vega was so gullible. She always believed what their parents told her.

“They left Arlet because she’s powerless,” Marlena said matter-of-factly. “Her parents couldn’t risk being slowed down by her.”

Marlena could tell even before Vega spoke that she was going to argue by the way her jaw tightened and her eyebrows pinched together further. “They wouldn’t abandon her. They’ll be back.”

Taking a deep breath, Marlena sighed and hopped off her mare. “But they did abandon her, and no one is coming back, Vega. The seers are gone. They’re probably already dead, if I’m being honest. The sooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be.” She slipped the reins over her horse’s head and tied her to a post by a trough of water.

Vega’s face blanched. “And what makes you think that?” she asked, staying on her horse.

“Because I’ve heard it. I hear a lot of things people probably don’t want me to.” Marlena shouldn’t have said that, but it was just Vega… and she could trust her. Right? “And because I’ve seen it.”

That caught Vega’s attention, her back stiffening further. “So you brought me to Littera. Why?”

Marlena patted her mare’s neck and stepped around her, standing underneath Vega’s gaze on her tall horse. “Because what if the gods are waiting for the right person… the right people? They might be dead, but their powers aren’t. If they’re killing those who summon them, the summoners must be asking for the wrong things.”

Vega’s eyes lit, twinkling with something close to hope. “Could you imagine if we summoned one to fix the problems inside the Curia? We could change the world.”