Chapter 10
ten
“I should probably go back up the hill and continue my training with Seer Goddard,” I told Silas after we parted ways from Lily. We were halfway back to Wisteria Cottage when I slipped my hand into his. “I was just getting started this morning when I sensed that something was wrong.”
“You sensed it.” Silas said it as a statement, but I heard it as a question as his hand tightened against mine.
“It’s a long story. We were trying to focus on earth, on levitating rocks, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong in the water. I went to the cliff, looked over, saw the boat and the commotion.”
“You can resume training tomorrow. You’ve been gone since dawn, and it’s past lunch time. I can hear your stomach rumbling from a mile away, and your face is so pale you’re going to faint.”
“But—”
“Have you eaten anything since this morning?”
“I’ve been a little busy.”
“Stay here at Wisteria Cottage for the afternoon, have something to eat. Get some rest, and you can continue your training first thing tomorrow.” Silas glanced at my face and obviously saw I wasn’t convinced.
“You don’t have to sit around idle, if that’s what you’re worried about.
You could work on what Seer Goddard taught you this morning or study your textbooks. It all counts as training.”
“I guess, maybe you have a point. I’m not sure I’d accomplish anything this afternoon with Seer Goddard anyway. I am wiped, mentally.”
Silas’s hand slid from mine as he pushed open the gate in the stone wall that surrounded Wisteria Cottage. He paused, his face tilting upward, like he could smell something was wrong.
“The wards aren’t up.” Silas’s body froze. “Millie told me she was running to the store. She should’ve activated the wards before she left.”
Silas moved inside faster than I could blink. He darted through the front door, and as I was still winding my way along the walkway, he was back outside.
“It’s all clear,” Silas said, breathing heavily. “Millie must have just forgotten. There’s food on the stove. I assume that’s for you.”
I followed Silas inside. “Were you expecting trouble?”
“Can’t be too careful.”
“Is this about the harbinger symbol?” I asked. “Is this one of those times when you know more than anyone else, and you’re just not saying?”
“I don’t think I know more than anyone else. I do know some things.”
“Can you tell me?”
“Food first. Then talk.”
Silas and I both helped ourselves to a hearty bowl of white-bean chili and a slice of fresh bread. As I sliced into the loaf, it struck me that this was probably the very same loaf I’d worked with Millie to create yesterday.
“I made this.” I spun around and waved the bread in front of Silas. “For someone who barely knows how to turn an oven on, not too bad, huh?”
Silas grinned. “You are truly magic, Alessia.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “You have no idea how complicated sourdough is.”
“I’d like to keep it that way.”
We sat at the table, eating in silence for a few minutes. With each bite I took, it was almost like my body realized it was hungry. Ravenous, even. A few minutes later, I was mopping up the remnants of my bowl and polishing off my toast.
I sat back as Silas refilled our glasses of sparkling water. When he’d sat down next to me, and we no longer had an excuse for avoiding the subject, I asked Silas about the harbinger and the sigil.
“Honestly, I’m stringing those two words together like I know what I’m talking about,” I admitted, “and I truly don’t. Please explain it to me like I’m five.”
“The harbinger is a creature that signals the approach of something,” Silas said.
“A forerunner for the Darkest Lord. He sends the harbinger out to do his bidding, to collect things from this world that he needs in the underworld. It’s true if there’s a Harbinger of the Underworld, it’s likely that it’s just the start of your problems. More trouble is on the way, and that’s a promise. ”
“I see. And the sigil is his symbol?”
“The Triskelion Sigil is not specific to the harbinger. It’s an ancient symbol that originated in the early days of the Fae Queens, but its meaning has become muddied and lost over time.
These days, it is sometimes linked to the idea of a harbinger.
The Triskelion Sigil—three interlocked spirals—can have several meanings.
When it’s tied to a Harbinger of the Underworld, it signals the cycles of life and death.
Passage of time. Transition to the underworld. ”
“Can we assume the Darkest Lord and his harbinger are responsible for the missing fishermen?”
“It’s possible, but we don’t know for sure, and we can’t rule out something else.
The missing fishermen are just that: missing.
We don’t know if they’re dead or alive. They’re human, and they could’ve encountered an issue with the boat, an issue among themselves, or an issue with the weather.
We just don’t know, and it’s too dangerous to assume. ”
“Will the Rangers be able to tell if there was foul play?”
“I’m sure.”
“How about the kraken and the lycanthrope? Could they all be linked to the harbinger?”
“It’s possible.”
“Let’s say, for a minute, the Harbinger of the Underworld is responsible for the capsized boat. Why? What benefit does he receive from taking innocent lives?”
“Collecting souls?” Silas raised a shoulder.
“In all honesty, I don’t know. The Darkest Lord’s plans don’t often make sense until it’s too late.
But if it is the underworld at work, then it is best to believe he does have a reason for it.
A purpose for those fishermen, even if he’s using them as a disposable warning that he can touch life on our island and take it away. ”
I sucked in a breath. “Pretty deadly warning.”
“It’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
At that rather dreary moment, the front door was pushed open. Millie came in humming with a sack slung over her shoulder. Leafy greens from the market spilled out over the top, and she held a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Oh, hello, you two! I didn’t expect you home so soon. I’m so glad you helped yourself to some lunch.” Millie grinned at me. “So, tell me. How was it?”
“How was what?” I hesitated. “My training?”
“Your first loaf of bread!” Millie gave me a bigger grin. “Doesn’t it taste so much better when you make it yourself?”
“I don’t know. I think it tastes just fine when you make it,” I said, as Millie barked a laugh. “But yes, it was delicious. Thank you for showing me how to make it yesterday.”
“Millie,” Silas said in a serious tone, interrupting the pleasantries. “The wards were not up when you left.”
“They weren’t?” Millie frowned. “I’m so sorry. I must have forgotten to set them. I thought I did, but I admit I was kind of in a rush. I’m so sorry, Mr. Silas, I—”
“It’s not a big deal,” I said gently, turning to Silas. “Nothing happened.”
“No, he’s completely right,” Millie said hurriedly. “It’s on me, being so irresponsible. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
My stomach twisted at the devastated look on Millie’s face. Silas nodded, not looking happy with the admonition, but looking satisfied it was over.
“He’s just worried about you,” Millie said to me. “Don’t give Silas a hard time. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you because I was so careless as to leave the wards down. He’s right. It’s a grave error.”
“Don’t worry, Millie. Please. You do so much around here.” I turned pointedly to Silas and said, “Right, Silas?”
“Of course,” he said, like this was obvious. “It’s not a reflection on Millie, just a reminder to leave the wards up in times like this.”
Millie was nodding along in total agreement. Silas looked at me, and at the look on my face, he realized smartly that it wasn’t the answer I was looking for.
“Thank you, Millie,” Silas said gruffly. “Your hard work here doesn’t go unnoticed. We appreciate all you do.”
“This place couldn’t run without you.” I gave Millie a wink. “We love you.”
Millie gave me a quick smile before she went to the sink and began washing the produce. “So anyway, did you start your training?”
We chatted easily for a while as I filled her in on my short-lived experience with rocks before Silas got a message on the Comm he’d taken to carrying around lately.
He hated wearing it, but it was the easiest way for the Rangers to get in touch with him.
I had noticed he didn’t leave it far from his person these days.
“I’ve got to take off for a bit,” Silas said, waving the Comm. “Keep the wards up, yeah?”
“Obviously,” Millie said. “Most definitely.”
“I’m staying in for the night,” I said. “I need to review my manuscripts. See you later?”
Silas bent down and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “See you later.”
I took a long shower and scrubbed the dust and grime of the day off. I put on some clean pajamas, thanks to Millie, then climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. I heaved a stack of Fae texts onto the bed and started combing through them.
After a while, Millie brought me some tea and a chocolate biscotti, which I nibbled on aimlessly as I flipped through the pages.
I could have sworn I’d seen something in here that resembled the sigil I’d seen on the boat.
I just couldn’t remember which book it had been in, so I dutifully paged through all of them, searching for the now-familiar Triskelion interlinked circles that had burned itself into my mind.
When Millie knocked on the door and let herself in quietly to relight some of the candles that had flickered out, I looked up and blinked, realizing it was well after midnight, and I’d been reading for hours.
“Millie,” I said, surprised to find her still awake. “You should go to bed.”
“So should you.”
“I will. I’m just wondering if I misplaced a book somewhere,” I said. “Did I leave one sitting out in the living room? Did you by chance move one somewhere, and I’m just missing it?”
“I’m sorry, but no. I wouldn’t dare touch those texts, and I haven’t seen any laying around.”