30. Raithe #2
Felaf nodded. “No more unapproved actions, trips, or otherwise, alright? Maryn’s angry after what the princess did. We need to watch our backs—and hers.”
We stepped wordlessly into the queen’s chambers.
Apart from the evergreen plants and ornate rugs, the room looked as it always had since Queen Auden’s death twelve years ago.
Except even with Letti and other maids coming and going, the massive bed remained unmade.
A robe was tossed over the armory, several empty teacups were stacked beside the bed, and slippers were strewn about the black mosaic flooring.
The room appeared lived-in, despite Rahzlyn having only been here less than a week.
A sweet, nutty aroma blanketed the space.
Almond.
Gregorios and Rahzlyn were seated on the edge of the terrace pool shared by all four Chosen chambers. The Chosen level of the palace was the most secure, situated in the very center, and the interconnected floor plan made for easier guardian security. The wards helped too.
A portion of the sun cast down on Rahzlyn, drenching her curls in vibrant hues of deep red. Leaning back on her arms, she tilted her chin up. Her eyes drifted closed, basking in the rays. She appeared at peace, entirely at odds with our last encounter.
My fists clenched.
Her anger had been palpable, mingling with my own and leaving us both stripped of any pretense. There was a tangible tension that tethered us. No matter what I did to sever it, everything she did only heightened it. It was maddening. She was maddening.
“Ready?” Gregorios prompted her.
With a sigh, Rahzlyn opened her eyes and extended her palm. Letti readied herself with clean bandaging at her side. Felaf and I lingered in the shadows of the aperture. Gregorios sought Rahzlyn’s hand, then began cutting into her flesh over a golden chalice.
She hissed. “How much do you need, exactly?”
“Enough,” he replied.
“Is it true that outside of acolytes, bad things happen to people who attempt Blood Sight?”
Gregorios set the blade down. “You know someone who has used Blood Sight.” A statement, not a question.
“My brother,” Rahzlyn admitted as Letti wrapped her palm in white cloth. “I think this is our punishment.”
“What do you mean?”
“I forced him to try Blood Sight. He’s…gifted. Has been since we were little. He mostly dealt with tarot cards, sometimes palmistry. He dreamt about little things that would come to pass too.”
“When did your brother use Blood Sight? The date and time, to be exact.”
Rahzlyn tapped her chin methodically. “Weeks ago now. The end of Gemini’s Tempus.”
That was the night Gregorios had summoned me to the observatory. The night he’d said he received a dream from Gemini.
“What did your brother see?” Gregorios pressed.
“A figure dripping in black liquid. With a tail.”
Gregorios mulled this over. “Any use of Blood Sight is likely to draw the Astrals’ attention. If your brother is also Scorpion, like you—”
“He’s my twin. He would have to be.”
Gregorios sat a little taller. “Twin?”
“You wouldn’t tell by looking at us.”
“Fascinating,” Gregorios mused. “It cannot be a coincidence.”
Rahzlyn tilted her head. “What can’t?”
The seer waved a hand. “Gemini would have sensed your twin using Blood Sight in Gemini’s territory. If you both have travel stones in your bodies, as I believe, then you may have been more undetectable to the eyes of Gemini until that moment.”
“So was it Scorpio he saw?”
“No one has seen the true form of an Astral, not even us seers. We must move on to the matter at hand.” Gregorios picked up the chalice and drank slowly.
With bated breath, we all waited for an indication of the truth. I studied Rahzlyn’s reaction to everything. She couldn’t sit still, as if a nervous energy had taken hold of her again. Gregorios’s eyes remained the same milky shade of white. Seconds passed. Finally, he shook his head.
I knew it.
Rahzlyn’s shoulders sagged. “Couldn’t that mean I’m not Scorpion?”
“Every Zodiac sign’s blood has a distinct taste to me.
But with suspected apostai, I taste—and see—absolutely nothing.
As I taste nothing for you now. Which means Raithe’s budding theory is proving to be true about the brand.
It is likely the very thing keeping you—and all others we’ve attempted to question—blind to me. ”
“Have the other territories studied this brand?” Rahzlyn asked. “Maybe there’s a way to remove it.”
I dissected every word, tone, and lilt that came out of her mouth. All her questions seemed to be rooted in genuine curiosity, not deceptive ignorance.
“We have not shared this theory with other territories yet. Not until we can prove its validity to Maryn first, though she seems reluctant to believe it.”
“Because it was my idea,” I pointed out. Felaf looked at me but said nothing.
“For obvious reasons, we cannot use you as an example. Can you tell me more about what you were branded with?” Gregorios asked Rahzlyn.
“I can try, but only around Raithe am I able to—”
“Why don’t I explain it myself?” I voiced, stepping forward.
She jumped, facing me with wide eyes. The sunlight gilded her irises like pools of honey. She didn’t possess her powers yet, so her eyes weren’t like mine or Felaf’s. But in that moment, they were strikingly close to the vibrant hues of Scorpio’s topaz.
I tore my gaze away and ambled across the terrace.
Felaf followed, lingering beneath the shade of a palm tree as I spoke.
“After thousands of years, it should be impossible that we haven’t gleaned any information from the apostai.
” I nodded my head in Rahzlyn’s direction.
“We believe the brand not only prevents seers from reading the blood of the apostai, but also somehow prevents those who bear it from speaking about anything tying back to an apostate cause. Rahzlyn couldn’t even speak plainly about her experience with them until I was alone with her. ”
Gregorios nodded. “Would you mind trying again, Novah? Tell us about the brand you were marked with.”
Rahzlyn’s eyes drifted to meet mine again. “I… It was from a…” Her hand shot to her throat. “From a… stars dammit, I can’t finish my sentence. I’m trying, I swear, but I can’t say anything about it.”
I crouched down to her level, studying every inch of her. My intuition was awfully quiet. From the raw display of shock on her face I didn’t believe this to be an act, much as I wanted to.
“Why only you, Raithe?” Felaf questioned. “If what you’re saying is true, that this brand is magical somehow…”
I shook my head. “I’ve never been alone with an apostate.” My eyes shifted back to Rahzlyn. “Until my search led me to Serpentine. To the Black Rose.”
Felaf paced, her boots scuffing against the terrace’s tiles. “How does that make sense? Unless you also—”
I unlaced my boots and kicked both them and my socks off. “No brand.” I showed her. “If you’re worried it’s hidden elsewhere, I can take off the rest of my—”
“Definitely not necessary!” Rahzlyn squawked.
“Agreed,” Gregorios murmured. “Blood Sight could prove it.”
I extended my wrist out for him to slice into. After he drank directly from the source, Gregorios’s eyes dazzled like the cosmos. “Nothing has changed since drinking it last month. I can see his near future.” He paused. “Interestingly, Novah is nowhere to be found in it.”
Gregorios normally did not share what he saw through Blood Sight. I’d once asked if knowing the future would change the outcome, and his answer was entirely cryptic. There were times I appreciated his discretion, and others where I craved certainty.
Still, I trusted him to tell us if there were things we needed to know.
“How is what you’re saying even possible?” Felaf asked me.
“I don’t know. But I got some members of the apostai to speak to me.
Jere, a baroness’s son,” I said pointedly at Rahzlyn.
“He probably assumed I also bore the brand. Inside Serpentine, other members spoke freely to me. My guess is that is how they can tell if another wears the brand. The brand is likely what distinguishes them as true apostates.”
“If what you say is true, this is a huge breakthrough,” Felaf observed.
“You know where Serpentine is,” Rahzlyn said slowly to me. “Which means you know where they are.” She spoke of Allory and Markus. “We can go back. We can apprehend them, and bring them here.”
Felaf nodded eagerly. “Brilliant. We’d have to notify King Zephyr first. He could help—”
“King Zephyr was supposed to be there too,” Rahzlyn said carefully. “He was who I was supposed to… you know…”
“Seduce and steal from, replacing his talisman with a fake one,” I finished for her. “That’s what she revealed when we were alone.”
“I heard,” Felaf said.
Interesting. It seemed the brand only worked for people within the same walls as its wearer, but guardians were still capable of overhearing at a distance.
It dawned on Felaf what Rahzlyn had been trying to convey. “If what you say is true, then… would that make King Zephyr an apostate, too?”
“He’s a sympathizer,” Rahzlyn admitted. “That’s what they told me, at least.”
Felaf frowned. “Then why would you have been tasked with stealing his talisman?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t given a lot of information. I only wanted to save my brother.”
“King Zephyr wasn’t even there that night,” I said. “Even with dulled senses, I would have known if another Chosen was present.”
“Dulled senses?” Felaf questioned.
“Masked identities and hazy rooms,” I clarified vaguely enough for Felaf not to question further.
Until Gregorios learned more about the bracelets, I didn’t want to reveal their existence.
Especially if Rahzlyn knew there were two in the palace in case she tried to get her hands on them.
“Is there anyone else besides Markus and Allory that you can identify as the apostai?” I asked Rahzlyn.
I wondered if she knew about Kole—or if he was someone she’d lie to protect.
“No,” she said adamantly. “I told you all I know.”
“You’re certain?”
Rahzlyn scowled at me. “What are you trying to imply?”