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“Lark was the last Starwatcher?”
A line forms between his brows. “Yes, Lark was a part of the Elder Council. After graduating from the Watch himself, he was immediately honored with a seat, as all Watcher factions must be present. They keep the seventh seat empty to this day to honor that tradition. A place for the missing member of the Council.”
I clutch the side of the chair.
“Akemi, you look pale.” Castor rises from behind his desk to kneel before me. He grabs my hand, his warmth so shockingly different from my cold, sweaty hands. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I…” I shake my head, attempting to clear my mind of a million storylines competing for center stage. “I have something to tell you.”
Kneeling before me, Castor listens to my visions of the two young men—Bennidix and Lark—that I’ve been getting for a year. Memories of them beneath the Watch, competing in their own Summit, and their obsession with looking for something called the Marfik stone, or moon stone. I tell him about my time in the Jord.
Really tell him.
About the cell, about the table, about the Cebalrai stone, about all of it.
He stays kneeling before me, holding my hand, listening intently to my story.
My words flow forth, like a Telling I’ve kept suppressed for so long that there isn’t any other option than to let it all out.
My breaths are short when I’m finished, but he waits for me to collect myself. His gaze is like a crystal blue sky, not a shadow of doubt of my truth.
A weight is lifted from my soul, like I had been wearing my leather corset belt strung too tightly until now. Until I aired the thoughts out loud that keep me up at night. Keep me scratching tally marks into the wooden bed post in my room.
Without thinking, I collapse forward into his arms.
“I’m here,” he says.
Two simple words, and yet I feel so supported. So seen.
A mixture of hiccups and chuckles escape me, laughing at the absurdity of this moment. “This was not what you were like last year.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t believe me, for one. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.” I push out of his arms and wipe my face with my sleeve.
Castor smirks. “I know. I was an idiot. I messed it all up—” He snaps his mouth shut, head tilting slightly to the side.
“What?” I blink away more tears.
He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose before changing the subject. “I was thinking, you need to try to tap into the star’s memories with these stones. It cannot be a coincidence that there is a star and moon stone in your visions. It makes me think…” He trails off.
“What?”
“It’s odd that there wouldn’t be a sun stone.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the Helios Blessing stone I grabbed from my room. “Or is there?”
Castor jumps to his feet, pacing the room. “That’s it!”
I failed to jump to his same conclusion.
He continues, “It’s the stones! Last year, when father was, well, trying to rig the Summit, he told me that I needed to get the Helios Blessing because it’s one of the three most powerful relics. Three.”
“Three,” I repeat, joining him in our pacing. “Well, we know that the Jord is looking for the star stone.” My scars prove that enough. I take a deep breath. “And I think I know where to find it.”
He stops. “What? Where is it?”
“Well, it’s not where it is, but when it is.”
