Chapter 26 The Circle of the Hidden Stars
The Circle of the Hidden Stars
I wanted to melt into the ground.
Of all the times for Octavian and Alastor to reappear, it had to happen when Radven had his tongue halfway down my throat.
I couldn’t even look at them. I wasn’t sure whose reaction I feared more—that of Alastor, who thought so little of me and was obviously pissed about finding us in flagrante, or that of Octavian, who I’d kissed only two nights ago.
It didn’t matter that Radven had insisted his brother wouldn’t mind, that they didn’t compete for women’s attention—this was still absolutely not the way I wanted any of this to go down.
Radven, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. He’d already put his knife back in its sheath.
“I wasn’t expecting you to catch up to us until tonight,” he said.
“Clearly,” Alastor replied.
“We’ve had zhespers on our tail,” Radven told them. “I’m assuming you’ve seen them. And our friend here set off a blast outside of Far Meadow that almost certainly alerted Laitha to our exact whereabouts.”
“Hey,” I said, forgetting my humiliation long enough to be ticked. “If I hadn’t done that I would’ve been eaten by that big scaly monster-thing.”
“Basilisk,” Radven said. To his brothers, he added, “We also encountered a boarlath in the forest south of Far Meadow. Something isn’t right here.”
Octavian nodded, then spoke for the first time since they'd shown up. “We passed along the edges of Far Meadow. The village was in an uproar. We didn’t linger or attempt to make conversation, but I got the impression this isn’t the first strange event they’ve had recently. But why now? What’s changed?”
“Therador is out of balance,” Alastor said, his eyes oddly distant. “This is everything I was warned against. The worst is coming to pass.”
“Not if we have anything to say about it.” Radven rolled his shoulders, looking ready to charge into any challenge headfirst. “Nothing is set in stone, Brother.”
Octavian nodded and rumbled, “We won’t rest until everything is as it should be once more. We’ve already overcome impossible odds.” He turned his head, looking at me for the first time. “And we’ve only just begun.”
Though his words had nothing to do with me and Radven, and his tone held no accusations, I still felt embarrassment burn through me as his eyes met mine. Just when I thought I couldn’t be more awkward, I’d managed to put myself in the middle of one of the most awkward situations of all.
That’s not the most important thing right now, doofus, I chastised myself. They’re talking about monsters and worlds being out of balance, and here you are worried about the complications of juggling two men at once.
Still, the earnestness in Octavian’s azure eyes made my stomach go all twisty, and I couldn’t help it—I felt bad. I wasn’t made for this whole love-triangle thing.
It’s not a love triangle, I reminded myself. Radven can never fall in love, remember? And he’d warned me that Octavian wouldn’t love me either, claiming his brother tended to leave a trail of broken hearts in his wake. So maybe it was just me who was at any sort of emotional risk here.
“You said you had something important to tell me?” Radven’s voice brought me out of my angsty ruminations.
“Yes.” Octavian’s gaze finally pulled away from me. “We encountered Mordren.”
Radven whistled. “Two members of the Circle in a single day? There go our chances for a subtle reentry into society. I’m assuming that means he saw you? And recognized you?”
“Yes, but that’s not the important part.” Alastor’s dreamy, distant look was gone, replaced by his usual intense gloominess. “Mordren was the one who helped us escape Laitha.”
“So the Circle is at odds with one another? Interesting.” A smile crept over Radven’s face as if he were deeply intrigued by this new bit of information. “I don’t suppose you happened to pick up on why?”
“We didn’t stick around to talk, no,” Alastor replied dryly.
“I don’t trust Mordren any more than I trust Laitha.
It wasn’t even clear whether he was intending to help us at all, or if that was simply a fortunate side effect of his appearance.
But Laitha clearly wasn’t expecting the encounter, and she wasn’t pleased to see him. ”
“Any chance he tried to, like, take advantage of her in the past?” I cut in, remembering a couple of comments Laitha had made to me about people trying to use her, or how powerful women needed to stick together.
“Or, I don’t know, maybe he tried to mansplain to her how to use her power and she was just fed up or something? ”
All three brothers looked at me like I’d just sprouted a second head.
“Oh, come on,” I said, looking from each one to the next. “You guys were in my world for a while. You can’t tell me you’ve never heard the term mansplain before.”
“We can gather its meaning,” Octavian said in his deep rumble. “Why, did she say something to you?”
They all looked at me expectantly.
“Not like…anything important,” I said. “She just said that she and I need to look out for each other. That weaker people will try to use us and that as women we need to make sure we’re not giving away our power.
It sounded like she was speaking from experience.
” Honestly, if I ignored the fact that she’d kidnapped me and attacked the brothers, I had to admit that she made a lot of sense.
“Unrelated, but she also said I felt strange, whatever that means.”
“She could sense the part of you that’s not of this world,” Octavian explained. “She’s powerful enough to know there’s something different about you, but she couldn’t recognize the parts of you that are not of Therador.”
Well, that mostly made sense.
“So are you guys going to explain to me what’s going on?
” I said. “Who is Laitha, anyway, and what does she want with us? And what’s this ‘Circle’ you keep mentioning?
And don’t you dare give me one of your stupid non-answers.
I’m involved in this now, whether you like it or not. I deserve to know.”
“You’re right, of course,” Octavian said.
Still, he glanced at his brothers before continuing.
“The full name of the Circle is the Circle of the Hidden Stars. It’s made up of the most talented wielders of essence in all of Therador, those who are powerful enough to earn the title of sorcerer or sorceress.
Laitha is part of the Circle, as is Mordren.
” He paused, then added, “Or at least they both were. It appears that things may have changed while we were gone.”
“So this Circle is some sort of…ruling body?” I asked.
“No.” It was Alastor who spoke this time, a hard edge to his words. “They operate outside the established governments.”
“The original idea, I believe, was that they would behave as a check to other ruling bodies, an organization that belonged to no kingdom and to all.” Octavian’s tone was much more patient.
“The sorcerers come from all backgrounds, all kingdoms, and they’re supposed to serve as advisers to all, as well as provide a balance of power. ”
“You make them sound like a good thing,” I said. “But based on experiences so far, it seems like they’re actually sort of evil.”
Octavian’s expression had turned very grave. “We underestimated their power. And misinterpreted their motivations.”
Alastor scoffed. “What he’s not telling you is that they were the ones who cursed us. They’re dangerous. And they’re traitors, working against the good of Therador.”
Octavian nodded, and I could visibly see him give up any effort to be diplomatic. His eyes darkened and his jaw tightened with barely restrained rage.
“They took everything from us,” he growled, his deep voice an earthquake. “And I intend to see justice done, believe me.” It was the first time I’d ever seen him show true anger, and I was shocked by how wild, how feral he looked in that moment.
“Why did they curse you?” I asked. “I mean, I get that they’re evil, but why you?” These brothers had their issues, sure, but that didn’t explain why they’d be the target of some villainous sorcerers’ club.
Octavian’s jaw twitched. Anger still burned in his eyes, bright and primal. “They were afraid, because my brothers and I each made a deal with—”
“Wait.” Radven grabbed his brother’s arm, cutting him off. His eyes were slanted up towards the canopy above.
We all looked up. And then I heard it—that unmistakable whir that meant a zhesper was close.
I didn’t move. But each of the brothers reached for a weapon—Radven already had a dagger in his hand, and Octavian and Alastor each grasped their swords, clearly ready to whip them out at a moment’s notice.
The whirring grew louder, closer. I couldn’t see anything in the thick tangle of branches overhead, but I could hear the rustle of leaves as the creature moved through them.
Beside me, silent as a panther, Radven shifted, ready to strike.
But before he could move, the zhesper zipped away, whirring off somewhere else.
“That was too close,” Radven said. “We need to get to Ring-Around-the-Hill.”
“Agreed. Enough chatter.” Alastor was no longer looking up, but he still clasped his sword hilt. “We need to move.”
I wasn’t going to argue with that, even though I had a million more questions, particularly about why they’d been cursed in the first place.
Octavian had been just about to tell me about some deals he and his brothers had made.
I’d have bet my entire succulent collection that those deals were connected to Radven’s confession that he’d bargained away his ability to fall in love.
Did that mean Octavian and Alastor had given up the same thing?
It would have been no surprise to me to find out that Alastor considered love a weakness, just like Radven, but I still had a hard time believing that Octavian was incapable of love—I just didn’t get that vibe from him.