Chapter 3
The Journal of Celestial Mage Kadmus Castro
Fifty-Third Sun, Thirteenth Cycle, Twelfth Age
The first of the Adastrum Devotis comets is due to appear tonight. Aurora, she’s called. Her lover, Orion, will follow later, as he always does, but I haven’t yet consulted my sky charts to calculate his arrival date. I’ve been…preoccupied of late. Distracted.
Mostly by Tephryn.
I told myself I wouldn’t fall for her, knew no good would come of it.
She made it impossible.
After our meeting in the teahouse—our first date, she later told me, though I didn’t know it at the time—I began to see her everywhere.
For a while, I thought it merely a pleasant coincidence that we were always bumping into each other.
It was only when Tephryn laughed and rolled her eyes one day, mumbling under her breath about me taking too long, and then kissed me, that I comprehended—belatedly—that we’d been courting all along.
Or rather, she’d been courting me, since I’d been oblivious.
Zeranthe has never said “I told you so” as much as she has of late. She was already arrogant for a dragon—now she’s near insufferable. But I find I don’t mind it as much as I normally would. Because Tephryn…
I’ve never had anyone look at me the way she does, like I summon the stars one by one each night and make them twinkle across the sky, just for her.
It makes me feel
She makes me feel
She told me she’s in love with me. Said she has been since she first saw me months ago, walking through the town square with my nose in a book and indifferent to the mockery coming from the other mages.
She liked that I didn’t care what they thought of me and my magic, liked that I was passionate about helping the shallows despite the ridicule I receive for it. She liked me.
And it turns out, I like her, too.
Maybe even love her.
No—I do love her.
But therein lies my problem.
Because a heart divided is a heart unfaithful.
I have a calling, a purpose. I am a Mage Priest, bound by the oath I gave upon choosing my celestial path, sworn to serve my congregation of shallows. And of late, I haven’t been able to do that. Not for lack of trying, but because of the obelisks.
The vernal equinox was last week. It should have been a powerful event that left the shallows giddy with ellixen. Instead, without the Hallow Stream augmenting my ritual, I was only able to draw down a fraction of what I could prior to the obelisks’ construction.
The shallows on the mainland are used to such paltry offerings—it’s the reason why so many have stopped attending celestial events altogether. But here on Elverdine, the residents have become used to receiving a flood of magic from me, and now…
I haven’t been able to deliver that in any of my recent ceremonies.
But I will.
I’ve made them a promise. I told Magistratus Garrin that I know how to fix this, that he and the other shallows can count on me—and it’s true. Because I’ve figured it out, thanks to the Adastrum Devotis comets. Aurora is coming tonight, her celestial power matched only by that of her lover, Orion.
I’ve known for weeks that a miracle would be needed for me to get past the suppression magic of the obelisks.
Aurora is my miracle.
Tephryn won’t be pleased, but I can’t let that stop me.
My shallows need this too much. I need it too much.
A heart divided is a heart unfaithful.
My heart is not divided in this.