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I recoiled; my mouth snapped shut so it wouldn’t say anything incriminating. I wasn’t intent on sharing the most shameful part of my existence so far. But the winged leader cocked his brow at me, demanding my response. I looked away from Azriel, not wanting to see the disgust on his face when he learned the truth.
“Yes,” I whispered, my quiet answer echoing inside the room.
The Grandmaster leaned forward even further across the desk. “What did you say?”
“Yes, I have killed. But killing doesn’t make me chosen by the gods, only chosen byher. Many humans have killed, it doesn’t mean they have a divine calling.”
Probably the opposite, actually.
Hushed voices filled the room again, but I lowered my head and pretended to fumble with a stray thread on my glove.
“Whether you are a huntress or not remains to be seen, but it makes no difference in this moment. Say what you so willingly came to tell us.” His voice dripped with a mockery that set my teeth on edge.
I dared a look at him, then let my gaze drag across every single member of the council, soaking in their attention. It felt good to know things others did not. My palate tasted the rawness of power as they silenced their conversations, starving to hear what I came to say.
“The Dark Army is heading south to the Starry Sea. They know there is an island where the leylines converge and believe the leystones are hidden in a kind of temple on the isle.” Judging by the anxious whispers spilling from above, I had just shared long dreaded news to the council. Feathers ruffled in irritation over the sound of hushed voices speaking urgently to their neighbors on the platform.
“Silence!” the Grandmaster snapped, and the room fell silent once again at his command. “If this is true, then how do the humans know where to look? We have been searching for the stones for a hundred years and haven’t found a single hint to their location.”
I shrugged. “They discovered an old map of the world during their own search, a map from the previous era. I wasn’t supposed to see it, but a few of the soldiers snuck me down into a sort of treasure room where they keep it safe.”
“Why did they show it to you?” he asked, his brow arching high over his left eye.
“I think they were warning me, sir. I believe they know something is coming, and I was their last chance to do something about it,” I replied. The council members peered down at me, unconvinced. Their eyes turned to slits, lips pressed into tight lines, their suspicion clear with every slight shift in their expressions.
I continued to speak through their doubt. “Look, I didn’t come here and betray a lifetime of service to the queen just to see my brother. Ichoseto become dishonored because I must do what is right for the future of our realm. Those soldiers risked everything to show me the map, and they shared their fear. We need to get our hands on those stones before the Dark Army does, which will be in a few days, if what the commander said was true.”
A council member to the right of the leader spoke quietly to his leader. “If this is true, if they succeed in their plans to set Adzehate free, we will have failed the gods…” More voices joined his panic around me.
“…she’ll rule us all.”
“…never see the sun again…”
“…good riddance if you ask me.”
The Grandmaster held up a hand to silence them once more, noticing the reeling human below him trying to absorb every word. He folded his hands neatly across his desk again, processing my words silently. “This old map, what did it show?”
“It showed the world how it once was, but more importantly, it showed the leylines and where they joined in the sea.”
“So, you know where they meet? The leylines?”
“Aye.” I nodded.
“Wonderful. We will get you a map and you can draw it out for us. Then we will send Azriel to retrieve them.”
My mind blanked for a moment, feeling as though they had just made me a very insignificant part of this mission. They wouldn’t even know about these plans if it weren’t for me, and now they were excluding me from the resolution.
I wasn’t going to let that happen.
A chuckle filled my throat. “I’m sorry, it sounds as if you mean to keep me out of this.”
Azriel huffed a heavy breath beside me.
“What do we possibly need you for?” Their leader asked.
“I have the map. You don’t.” I reminded him with a tap to my temple. Every name of old cities and landmarks, every line illustrated of the ancient world was recorded precisely inside my sharp memory.
“And you will draw it for us so Azriel will know where to go.”
