Page 10 of Death Will Follow

Nox tapped his finger on the illustration, a likeness of Illora being consumed by a flash of blinding light, eyes shut and face pointed toward the sky.

“I’m no expert in ancient Silvergardian, but I believe the inscription reads: Illora . . . offering herself . . . to the beings of the world.”

“What exactly does the Light of Illora do?” Lucan cut in.

“It’s a healing ability, in a sense,” Nox explained. “A kind of counterbalance to dark magic.”

“Are you suggesting a curse can be healed?” Nova asked.

“What is a curse but a malady of the spirit?” Nox countered. “Just as Illora cuts through the darkness of the night, legend says the Light of Illora can break curses and enchantments. Even sever bargains.”

Nova’s mind flashed back to the evening in the hazy, smoke-filled hall in Nivali when Liv—a seer—had gripped her hand, eyes glazing over as she glimpsed Nova’s future.

“Liv’s premonition,” she murmured.

Nova looked up to find the others staring at her.

“There was a seer in Nivali who had a premonition about me. She said, ‘You are the light that casts out the darkness.’ Perhaps this is what she meant.”

“Is there some unwritten rule that says seers have to talk in cryptic, horseshit riddles?” Lucan grumbled.

“Why is this ability so rare?” Bryn stepped forward, leaning in to examine the text.

“From what I can remember of my bedtime tales, the Light of Illora was only bestowed on females. I imagine it was considered too powerful a gift, and some of our ancestors—likely males—sought to purge it from the Noble bloodline.”

“Purge as in . . . kill all those who possessed the ability?” Nova ventured.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Nox replied, his expression somber. “Much of Silvergard’s history is inked in blood.”

“Speaking of murder and bloodshed.” Lucan glared as he braced his arms on the table, eyes narrowed and locked on Bryn. “We know Omen wants Nova dead. Tell us why.”

“He sees her as a threat,” Bryn replied, her calm exterior standing in contrast to Lucan’s increasingly chaotic energy.

“But why?” Lucan pressed, and Nova tried not to take offense.

“Omen believes he will die by his heir’s hand, just as he took his own father’s life.”

A chill rippled through Nova, her skin prickling with goose bumps in its wake. “My mother told me Omen refused to have children. Threatened to kill the youngling if she ever conceived. It’s the reason she fled when she realized she was carrying me.”

Nox stared at Nova across the table, wide-eyed. She’d never shared that with him.

“But how would I kill him?” she continued. “I thought Noble Fae couldn’t kill members of their own bloodline.”

“Omen possessed my mind for nearly a century. Unearthing my most deeply buried thoughts as easily as tilling soil. Plucking out what served him. But at times, whether he was careless or simply wished to frighten me, parts of him slipped through to me as well. He once showed me a vision. It was as if I was seeing through his eyes.”

Nova glanced at her uncle, who gave her a thin smile. He’d once used a similar tactic with her, visiting her in a dream.

“The vision was mostly flashes. Glimpses of the abuse he suffered. The terror he felt. His time in Sonnend and his growing love for a female courtier. His rage at learning she would wed another.

“I saw a desolate place with bare trees, bone white, jutting against the sky. Swarms of ravens, crowded on the bare branches, diving through the air—”

“The Bone Forest,” Nox interrupted. “An eerie place near our country estate on the northern peninsula of Silvergard. We rarely visited, but my father sent Omen there often. He seemed to like it, the time alone, training his ravens.”

Bryn continued, “Omen pledged his heart to an evil dwelling in that forest. The dark bond forged Kinslayer, a blade of black steel. The very blade that struck down his father and brother.

“When his love rejected him, he returned to the forest. Plunged Kinslayer into the ground, and a great quake trembled the earth. The Bone Forest broke away from Silvergard, and a fortress of obsidian rose up from below.”

The room was silent after Bryn finished. Nova glanced sideways at Nox, sorry the tale may have dredged up painful memories.