Chapter 105 Taera
Taera
Four Months Later
Jezebel scowls, her lips pressing into a hard line.
But she can’t say anything. Not without incurring the wrath of the most powerful source and conduit of the Halls of Glass.
So her amber eyes just glare at me, then back at the numbers displayed on the wall, before pivoting on her heel and storming away. I smirk after her.
“Congratulations!” Annie squeals, oblivious to my petty revenge. But my exam scores are reason enough to celebrate. Not perfect, of course—not without Nikolai—but a testament to my hundreds of hours of studying.
I’m going to become a healer.
Several other students congratulate me as I weave my way out of the crowd.
I’m still getting used to the respect of my classmates, which feels as fickle as their hostility when I first arrived.
Even Thoma—who recently reappeared in classes with no explanation—invites me to celebrate with a group of them.
But I have somewhere to be.
I’m grinning, rushing down the mirrored corridor. The Halls seem to sense my excitement, because I’ve hardly left the Healers’ Hall when I reach the obsidian door of Nikolai’s chambers. Our chambers.
I slip inside, half-expecting a symphony to go off, but the room is quiet. Serene. My magician is sprawled across the black sheets of our bed, asleep.
My smile softens as I pad over to him. It’s still strange to see him like this.
Peaceful. In his sleep, Nikolai’s face is gentle.
I love that this untouchable magician is just Nikolai with me.
I lean down and press a gentle kiss to the spot where his scar splits his brow, loving how he trusts me so completely.
How he’s carefree enough to sleep through the most important exam I’ve ever taken.
As though he can hear my thoughts, or feel the brush of my magic, Nikolai shifts, yawns, and blinks up at me. When he sees me, he smiles, and it takes my breath away.
“How did it go?” he asks.
“Very well.” I grin.
“That’s amazing.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me down onto the bed. When he kisses me, my head goes dizzy with the dance of magic.
“My little healer,” he murmurs. I snuggle closer.
“Not yet,” I counter.
“Practically.”
“They were just the entrance exams.”
“I know, I know.” His tug on my magic is exquisite, and I let out a breathy little gasp, melting into him. But rather than distract me completely, Nikolai props himself up on an elbow, giving me a small smile. “I’m proud of you,” he says.
“You helped me train.” I send a pulse of magic between us. He chuckles.
“And you didn’t even cheat this time.”
“Nope.” I laugh, shaking my head, but I can’t stop smiling.
“How about a celebratory bath?” he murmurs, dipping his head and kissing the skin of my neck. I let out a contented sigh. “With more bubbles than you can imagine.”
“Yes, please.”
Nikolai leaves me lying happily on the bed while he goes to run the bath. When he returns to our bedroom, however, he pauses at the desk.
“This is for you,” he says, bringing me an envelope.
“What did you…” My teasing tone falls away when I don’t recognize his looping handwriting. There are just two words in the center of the envelope: Taera Delodin. But the square, tidy cursive is painfully familiar. “Did they…”
“They wrote back,” he says.
I just stare at it before peeling open the letter.
Thank you, Taera. I am well.
It wasn’t your fault.
Love, Omi
Something releases in my chest—something I’ve been gripping too tightly for too long.
The lines on the page blur with tears. I’ve been sending amulets to the city every two weeks, together with long letters addressed to my friend.
Apologies, promises. But this is the first confirmation they actually received them—that they’re alright.
I put down the letter and slip inside Nikolai’s arms, where he holds me for a long time.
“We’re going to take good care of Omi,” he says, squeezing me. I don’t need to read his emotions to know we both ache with the same impossible wish to change the past.
“We’re going to take good care of Hazel,” I murmur back.
“She wrote to you as well,” he says. “She told me in her letter that you’re her favorite now.”
I chuckle. “She did?”
“I’ve lost my sense of mystery,” he continues dryly, “so now she wants to become a healer like you.”
“Don’t worry, she still loves you.” I grin. “And I’m not a healer yet.”
He smiles back. “Nearly.”
“Do you even remember all the classes I still need to take? All the masters I’ll need to study with, to become fully trained?”
“I’m sure you’ll dazzle them all.”
I roll my eyes, but his unwavering confidence is infectious. It’s the confidence of a magician. Just like me.
“You know, a lot of students are still peeved that I’m your source.” I say it wryly, but his expression goes serious. He shakes his head.
“You’re not mine,” he says. “You were never mine. I’m yours, Taera.”
It’s a promise, a promise that makes my stomach swoop, and I’m ready for it to last forever. Which reminds me.
“You promised me a bath?” I murmur.
“I did.” His smile is wicked.
“Lead the way.”
* * *
Much later, I follow glass corridors that I now know as well as the shelves of the apothecary.
When I near the labyrinth, I grasp the talisman in my pocket, which vibrates in my fingers.
It gulps down an absurd quantity of magic, but—like Nya and Gwen promised—it lets me slip past any watchful eyes.
I step through the arched entrance. The Halls know where I want to go and take me there easily. Soon, I’m crossing the shattered mirror threshold, arriving at the center of the labyrinth. My hands lift to the new pendant around my neck, unclasping it.
Even heavily disguised, this amulet catches the eye. But here, stripped to the aching truth of its power, it’s impossible to look away from. The relic twinkles violet, promising worlds. Such a tiny piece of glass, to hold such power.
It took me a long time to decide what to do with the heart of the Halls of Glass. There isn’t any rush, seeing as no one else can claim it—for better or worse—until the end of my lifetime.
Once, I would have leaped at the opportunity to destroy such a dangerous piece of glass; the ultimate relic, capable of unimaginable horrors, the secrets to its unreplicable power lost to time.
A year ago, I would have smashed it in an instant, hatefully glad if the entire Halls of Glass crumbled along with it.
Nikolai decided he didn’t want to know its fate.
It’s unclear whether the Halls of Glass will survive without its heart, with only one way to find out the truth.
I don’t plan to.
Gently, I place the amulet atop the pedestal where Nikolai first found it. Then, I lay Mom’s pendant next to it.
The weight of leaving my last piece of her here presses down on me. I never learned whether she knew of the Halls and wanted me to find my way here. In either case, I don’t need her protection anymore. I’m a fully fledged magician now, and it’s time for me to protect others.
Leaving the amulet here… It’s terrifying. I’m excruciatingly aware of how dangerous it could become in the hands of the wrong magician. Or even the right magician, at the wrong time.
But these relics protected me, saved me.
They’re no more evil than the Halls of Glass, no more than the desert itself. And someday, somehow, they may save someone else.
I’d like to believe they will.