Chapter 2
NARYA
For the second time that night, I made my way to the Moon Temple.
My steps felt like they were laden with stone. My sisters, in comparison, seemed to float their way to the top. Rueren even sang beside our father. Inside, I felt totally crushed, as if the gods had fastened a weight around my heart that tightened with each step.
Everyone climbed the stairs slowly with us. I glanced at the sky, wishing more than ever I could be up there with the stars. If I fled, the Guild would know immediately that I was Fateless. And if I vanished, my family would suffer the price.
“Narya?”
I startled, the sound of my name snapping me back into myself.
Blayren’s steady gaze pinned me, full of concern.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then it closed as he looked over my head.
I didn’t need to turn back to know what grabbed his attention.
The temple bells had begun tolling, their song echoing across the courtyard until it was all anyone would hear.
Trust me. That was all he said back at the tavern, before we were swept into the procession. My body had refused to breathe properly since. All I could do was nod and trust the man who had saved my life.
I hated this. Hated being the weight that always dragged him down.
But this… this was different. It affected him too, and his daughters.
I turned back to the stairs and forced myself forward, dragging one foot after the other.
I tugged my hood lower, yet the light of my hair still bled through.
A single strand slipped loose and curled around my face.
I tucked it back with trembling fingers and blinked back my tears, refusing to shed a single more.
The bells tolled again, and the gates swung open.
The Tree waited on the other side, along with whatever cruel fate the gods had marked for me.
We halted before the gates. Crystal lanterns swayed at either side, scattering moonbeams across the stone path.
Moonstone guards stood gleaming in their midnight-blue armour, their silver cloaks drifting behind them like the moon against water.
Their ranks were marked by the moon-phase on their breastplate; waxing crescents for warriors, full moons for captains.
Among them stood a cloaked figure draped in a black robe, motionless save for the subtle tilt of their head. The Unseeing. Messengers of the gods, though whether their eyes were sewn shut or birthed that way, no one could say. Still, I felt their gaze on me like fingers scraping along my spine.
Rueren gasped, burying her face into my side.
Her little fingers fisted in my cloak, yanking it so tightly she almost pulled off my hood.
My heart squeezed. I caught her hand before the fabric slipped and gave her a gentle, reassuring squeeze.
I was afraid of the Unseeing too as a child.
Now, marked as one of the Fateless, I feared them more.
What if they didn’t let me pass through the gates?
We stepped forward, one after the other, pressed closely together.
The Unseeing studied each face, then gave a single nod to the guards.
They were inhumanly tall, their hands skeletal and pale.
Their mouths always seemed to carry too many teeth, and their voice—on the rare chance they spoke—was the kind that sliced through you.
No one could tell if they had once been man or woman, before the gods took their eyes.
But their presence tugged at the base of your skull, like the air chilled around them.
“Saer Magnis,” Blayren greeted one of the guards, his voice steadier than mine could ever have been. The tallest guard turned, and a smile breaking across what little I could see beneath his helm. A full moon shone on his chestplate. He was a captain.
"Blayren!"
They clasped hands like old comrades. The line ahead moved on, the Unseeing turning towards us but remained still.
Hope sparked inside me, faint but there.
“I saw your pride and joy down there,” Blayren said. “Hard to believe our girls are already plucking their crystals.”
Magnis lifted his helm, revealing a mane of long cobalt hair braided in intricate patterns. “My lad, too, though he’s more concerned about the feast than his crystal. Tides help him.”
“I hear it will be a grand feast,” Blayren said, “guarded by even grander men.”
He slapped Magnis on the shoulder. The man was younger than I expected.
At least several decades younger than Blayren, if the smooth skin around his eyes was any sign.
He beamed at Blayren’s compliment. “You have outdone yourself this tide, Margus. No longer the little tyke who used to steal raspberries from my wife’s garden. ”
Marcus smiled, though it faded quickly. “I was sorry to hear of her passing. Aniya’s raspberries were the sweetest in the realm.”
“Ahem.”
The impatient mother behind us drew every glance her way.
Magnis straightened, fitting his helmet back on. “Let them through,” he called, waving us forward. “Next. State your name.”
Blayren hurried us forward. So surprised was I that Kaydra hadn’t flaunted her crystal, I caught on Blayren’s heels and stumbled.
A firm hand caught me from behind, but when I turned to see who it was, no one was there.
Or perhaps the frail old woman shuffling beside me was stronger than she appeared.
We joined the others and walked with them to the Moonstone Tree of Stars.
Against the dark sky, it looked as though an enormous star had taken root in the ground. Rueren oohed and aahed at my side as we drew nearer. I held my breath, counting each moment until a guard stepped from the shadows to expose me for what I was. But no one came.
Soon we reached the feast-grounds. My eyes widened, joining Rueren’s gasp of wonder.
I had never seen such abundance before. Rows upon rows of long banquet tables stretched in perfect lines, each one crowned with crystal lanterns and garlands of silverleaf.
The layout curved in a spiral that stretched out the Tree’s roots, designed so even the farthest seat could still glimpse the thrones.
Hundreds of people already filled the space. The newly Kindled with their families, dignitaries, senior Guild warriors, and every house permitted to witness the blessing. The air shimmered with warmth and laughter.
My gaze strayed to the thrones that had been placed at the hollow of the Tree itself.
Black marble, moon-silver, and sun-gold, each one etched with its kingdom’s sigil.
A crimson and black dragon for the Bloodstones, a silvaryn stag for the Moonstones, and a burning aurlion for the Sunstones.
The sight made my palms sweat, like the creatures themselves were judging who among us belonged.
Two of the thrones were already occupied.
King Ultherion sat rigid on his in full Moonstone regalia, a silver mask wrought in the image of the silvaryn.
Beside him reclined the Sunstone Queen, her dark skin radiant against a gown ablaze with golden runes that shimmered like sunfire.
Her aurlion mask only half covered her face, and behind it her hair spilled down her back like a fiery mane.
“Why is that one empty?” Rueren asked, pointing to the black throne.
Grisanne answered before anyone else, and I listened, curious myself.
“That’s for the Bloodstone King. He hardly ever shows.”
Rueren frowned up at her. “Why not?”
“Too busy eating their young,” she replied simply, to which our father gave her a whack to the head.
“What? It’s true! The Bloodstones are cannibals.
Look at the throne, stained with blood. See the bones carved into the black marble?
That’s because they wear the bones of their enemies like trophies. ”
Her gaze flicked to mine, scorn sharp in her eyes. “It would be a shame if someone in our family were fated to a Bloodstone.”
“Most definitely,” Eveldra agreed. “The last time someone from our village was fated to a savage, we never heard from them again.”
“That was our cousin,” Grisanne snapped at her, “and I do believe it’s because those savages ate her.”
“Oh, give over,” Kaydra said, rolling her eyes. “They didn’t eat our cousin.”
“Have you heard from her since? Those savages ate her!”
“Mind your tongue,” Blayren hissed, “before a guard overhears and cuts it out!” He yanked us together, his face dark with the same scolding look he wore when we were children.
“I’ll hear no more nonsense about savages or cannibalism,” he warned, fixing Grisanne and Eveldra with a terrifying look.
“Or so help me, I’ll wear your bones around my neck. Am I clear?”
“But Father, I was only—”
Blayren silenced Grisanne with a glare. “Am I clear?”
Grisanne and Eveldra nodded quickly. Kaydra smirked; I nodded too. Only Rueren stayed silent, her small hand still clutching mine.
“I don’t want you to wear my bones around your neck, Papa,” she whispered after a moment.
Her sisters fell quiet before they burst out laughing. My heart ached at Rueren’s innocence. Bless her sweet little soul.
“Don’t worry,” Blayren said, ruffling her hair. “Your bones are too small.”
Kaydra sidled up beside him. “Have I applauded your unique way of parenting, Father?”
He grumbled. “I have five daughters. I do whatever keeps you quiet for a minute.”
We laughed, one of those rare moments we weren’t at each other’s throats.
When I felt truly part of a family. Tears stung my eyes.
I would miss even the bickering. Gods above, I’d even miss the fighting.
Although the first part was over, now came the second which would not be so easy.
How Blayren meant to keep me from presenting my crystal to the Moon Basin, I had no idea. All I could do was trust his plan.