Chapter 42
Velden, Gaeren, and Aeliana spent the evening rehashing their excursion, but Sylmar and the others couldn’t make sense of it either.
Which made Aeliana even more confused when Nori showed up again the next afternoon, informing them that Velden, Gaeren, and Aeliana were all invited to her friend Ailah’s Awakening celebration.
This time they were led away from the hut, which sat on the far eastern edge of the village, toward the center of town. Their procession drew attention from children and even adults who stopped to stare, making Aeliana relieved when Nori led them to a large gated home, away from onlookers.
They were offered the chance to freshen up, and two of the soldiers followed Gaeren and Velden into private rooms, but to Aeliana’s relief, it was Nori who led her to an already steaming bath.
After pointing out soap and towels, the young woman turned her back but kept up a steady stream of chatter, telling Aeliana about the people she’d meet and the meal they’d be serving, all while giving little tips to ensure she didn’t offend anyone.
“This is the most exciting thing to happen to our village in years, maybe decades. Obviously it’s not exciting that Aunt Rhoda is gone, but visitors from across the barrier…”
Aeliana couldn’t see Nori’s face as she stepped from the bath to dry off, but the awe was evident in her words. “Velden made it sound like everything over here was exciting.”
Nori snorted. “He’d never even been here before, so maybe it’s that Aunt Rhoda made it sound exciting. And it probably was for her. Crossing the barrier, having a secret romance, slated to be Seer.” Her voice came out wistful.
“I’m sorry you were never able to meet her,” Aeliana said as she pulled on a fresh set of clothes.
Nori sighed. “I think I’m probably more like her than I’m like my parents.”
When Aeliana tapped Nori’s shoulder, the other woman turned and grabbed a brush from the table, pushing Aeliana to sit in the chair and face the mirror.
When she came around Aeliana to comb through her hair, Aeliana stiffened, Nori’s familiarity feeling out of place.
But in many ways, it was no worse than when she’d been forced to do the same with Kendalyhn.
Besides, it kept Nori talking, and she was a wealth of information.
“Sometimes my father tells me I’m like her when I get in trouble, almost like it’s an insult.
My parents take everything so seriously.
I know it’s because they bear the weight of our entire people group, but that almost makes it worse.
I can’t live under that kind of pressure.
” Her strokes turned rough, making Aeliana wince.
This was all news to Aeliana, but she held back her surprise, worried it might clue Nori in to the fact that she was likely giving out more details than she was supposed to. “My mother bears a heavy load as the high priestess. Many Vendarans want her to rule instead of the royal family.”
“Yes.” Nori paused in her strokes, studying Aeliana in the mirror. “That was how Sylmar made it sound when the elders questioned him. It’s good that your stories match. It will matter to the elders you meet.”
Aeliana nodded, and they fell silent as Nori switched to plaiting Aeliana’s hair.
“It can be hard to follow in footsteps like that,” Aeliana added, hoping to get Nori talking about her own family again. But the words were also true, giving her a sudden shared kinship with this Sayhleen woman.
Nori hummed her agreement. “I don’t really want to follow in my parents’ footsteps, but I don’t have much choice.
I haven’t received a starlock, so I can’t go to the Seer’s Sanctuary school.
I always dreamed of being the next Seer.
I’m sure every child does at some point, but a part of me still wants it.
To see the future with such certainty, to do so much good with that knowledge.
To pick up the mantle Aunt Rhoda couldn’t take.
” Her hands stilled once more with her wistful tone.
“Why is the Seer not available to outsiders?” Aeliana asked.
“Is that what my father said?” Nori picked up plaiting Aeliana’s hair once more. “I don’t know that we have a true rule about it. There haven’t been outsiders before now. Why do you want to see her anyway?”
Aeliana hesitated, but the curse wasn’t exactly a secret. If Gellen hadn’t already gotten it from her mind, Sylmar or Velden had probably told the elders. “My mother’s been cursed. Her life is tied to another’s, and we need to know how to break the curse.”
Nori frowned. “Her pneumatic skills are highly focused on the future, not the past.”
“But if we have a chance of breaking the curse in the future, won’t she see that?” Desperation leaked into Aeliana’s words. They couldn’t have come for nothing.
“Probably. It’s just an unusual use of the Seer.
But far worthier than most,” Nori added dryly.
“I suspect the elders are afraid of what she might show you. What you might think of her. People go to her under the rarest of circumstances. Predictions for a loved one’s future, resolution for crimes, decisions they can’t possibly make on their own.
We’re each given one chance in our life to consult the Seer, and we must save it and use it wisely. ”
“Just one?” Aeliana asked.
Nori nodded. “We have to invoke our right by making an official request to the elders. Some wait so long to use it they never end up getting the chance. Others use it too early and regret that they wasted it. Others choose to never go, afraid of how often people return…changed. Sometimes mad.”
“Velden said as much,” Aeliana admitted. “Which shows how desperate we are.”
“It’s not always bad. She’s proven people’s innocence and saved lives. She’s not just a Seer but a judge. Her words are the final answer on everything, even if we don’t like the answer. That kind of authority is the only thing that made me nervous about accepting such a role.”
Her gaze took on a faraway look, but instead of prying further, Aeliana let the other woman sit in her sorrow.
“Well”—Nori’s voice turned flat—“without a starlock, I’ll most likely be married off to someone who cares more for the proximity to my father’s power than my lack of it.”
“Aren’t you young? I just received my starlock this year. There’s still time.”
“Now you sound like my mother.” Nori’s voice held a smile.
“And while that may be true, fewer people are getting starlocks. Ailah’s Awakening is the first we’ve had in two years.
The next likely won’t be for another two years or more, and by then I’ll be far too old.
I’m happy for her though,” Nori was quick to add as she tied off Aeliana’s braid.
Aeliana turned to face her. “You can be sad over your own loss and still be happy for someone else.”
Nori snorted. “You will do far better at following your mother’s high priestess footsteps than I’ll do at being an elder’s wife.” Her laugh shifted to a disgusted face that left Aeliana grinning.
“Maybe you’ll become an explorer now that there’s a way across the barrier. You could always come back with us.”
Nori leaned forward, her face a handsbreadth from Aeliana’s. “Do you think that’s possible? I’ve always felt like my future had to hold something more, something bigger. Something beyond this small island and our coral.”
Aeliana smiled. “Of course. Why couldn’t it?”
Nori bit her lip and looked away, indecision making her hesitate.
But then her face hardened with a serious resolve.
“It’s important that you make a good impression tonight.
This is a test as much as it is an invitation, just like yesterday.
They won’t give you back the starbridges unless you pass. ”
Aeliana felt the warning in Nori’s words deep within her soul. Still, Nori wanted her to succeed. She was on their side.
“I will do my best, not just for my own future, but for yours as well,” she promised.
Nori smiled and stood, holding out a hand to pull Aeliana up. “Compliment Elder Mishkel on his fin.” She rolled her eyes. “He keeps it visible even outside the waves because the rainbow scales are coveted by everyone. He’s an obnoxious show-off, but he’ll be the easiest to win over because of it.”
“Elder Mishkel, beautiful rainbow scales. Got it,” Aeliana recited.
“Elder Perla’s wife just had a baby even though Gellen, their oldest son, is in line to take his place once he marries.”
Aeliana couldn’t help her eyebrows rising. “Is he the one interested in being close to your father’s power?”
A few of Nori’s scales surfaced on her face, as if her embarrassment made her lose control of her transitions. “He’s offered more than once. I’m not sure how much longer I can convince Father to say no.”
“All the more reason to bring you to Vendaras as an explorer?”
Nori bit her lip and nodded. “We would be miserable together. Always fighting.”
This time Aeliana hesitated, catching uncertainty in Nori’s tone. “Sometimes we fight the most with the people we love the most. Usually it’s because we’re afraid for them.”
Nori sighed, then shook away whatever else she might have said.
“When his mother brings her baby over, don’t ask to hold him until she offers, but then immediately say yes.
He loves being rubbed under his chin, and then you’ll win over their whole family, including Elder Gerot, whose wife is sister to Elder Perla’s wife. ”
“Elder Perla, baby’s chin. All right.” Aeliana’s words were less certain this time as the extra names fought for a place in her memory.
“Elder Kraken already likes you. He likes anything that stirs up drama. But don’t make fun of his name, or you’ll lose his support.
Elder Corantun may never be swayed. He’s very set in his ways.
But if you can win the other four, you’ll have the majority.
” She turned to leave, clearly expecting Aeliana to follow.
“What about your father?”
“Oh, don’t expect to win him over.” Nori winced an apology. “My mother likes you, but he never will. That’s why it’s so important you win the others over.”
Aeliana followed her down the hall, and the moment they stepped outside where Velden, Gaeren, and their soldiers waited, Nori became silent and submissive once more.
The crowd gathering in the village square felt overwhelming to Aeliana.
She’d never be able to meet everyone, and she worried she wouldn’t even be able to put Nori’s advice into practice.
But the hundreds gathered also felt small when she thought of Vendaras and Lorvandas.
Had the Sayhleens’ population been limited by their small island?
Or did the majority of them live deep in the water?
Velden was the quickest to relax, settling in among the people to answer their questions and ask his own.
Many of them wanted to know about his mother’s life among the Vendarans.
Some of the questions felt stilted, like they’d been planted by the elders for a specific purpose, but Velden answered them all with ease.
Gaeren seemed in better spirits after his own bath and clean clothes, giving Aeliana a sense of the side of him that had grown up a pampered prince.
But now he was on full alert, watching everyone who approached them with the caution of a hardened soldier, his hand often straying to his hip where his hilt should have been.
“We’ll get nowhere with these people if you keep glaring at them,” she whispered.
His face softened a fraction. “More than half of them are remembering the sight of our arrival with a severed Sayhleen tail. It’s hard not to be on edge when there’s an underlying hostility in their approach.”
“They don’t sense you pulling out the memories, do they?”
He shook his head. “Some of the elders or those with more established magic might. They might even attempt to block it. But otherwise, no.”
“You need to search their memories,” she whispered. “Maybe even the elders’ memories. I can try, but I suspect it won’t be possible with Durriken so far away. Either way, you’ll be much faster at it.”
He frowned, glancing around as if worried people might have heard her. “I’m trying not to search their memories. It’s a defensive reaction because I feel threatened, but I don’t like it.”
“What if one of them remembers how to find Lady Merinnia?” She leaned closer. “What if one of the elders remembers where the starbridges are kept? Hopefully they’ll tell us these things, even help us. But if they don’t…”
An elderly woman approached before Gaeren could respond. She reached out to touch Aeliana’s hair. “It used to be long, like the Stars’,” she murmured.
Aeliana’s face heated with the realization that this woman was searching through her past. “It was the Lorvandans’ way.
I cut it after traveling to Vendaras.” It felt silly explaining it when the Sayhleens had varying lengths of hair, but theirs held a texture unlike Aeliana’s, more suited to the water.
The woman still didn’t smile. “Far prettier than the others we snared. Maybe that’s how we’ll decide which of you to put on display like your people did with Rhoda.”
Aeliana winced as Gaeren tensed beside her, but before he could respond, Gellen approached.
“Grandma. Leave them be.” He tried to escort her away, but she harrumphed and stalked off on her own.
For once the Sayhleen looked chagrined. “She always says what she’s thinking, and lately her mind hasn’t been as clear as it once was.
It’s hard for me to look into it and see her confusion.
Today she remembers Rhoda is dead, but not that you rescued her body.
Tomorrow she’ll remember it differently. ”
“I’m sure it was a shock to see it.” Aeliana shuddered as she remembered it on the wall in Dreyfus’ cabin, and Gellen grimaced as he likely saw the same. “Are you just constantly tuned in to my mind?”
He shrugged. “It’s not something I normally do, but my father suggested it was prudent until we understand your true motives.”
She rolled her eyes, then turned to Gaeren, except he wasn’t there. Which meant he’d probably taken her advice.
“What advice was that?” Gellen asked.
“To find the elders,” she lied, then looped her hand through his arm, ignoring how he tensed beside her. “I’d actually like to talk to them myself. Can you take me?”
He grimaced. “You might be better off finding Nori first. I think she was—”
“No, I think it should be you.” Aeliana smiled sweetly, thinking about how his presence would guarantee the elders trusted their interactions with her.
“Oh, fine,” he grumbled. “I’m not sure why you want to talk to them anyway. They won’t tell you anything about Lady Merinnia.”
She nudged him forward until he started walking. “Maybe not, but if they’re going to condemn us, I’d rather it was because they’d actually met me.”