Chapter 28
The following morning's chores bring Thaye and I to the temple's top level—a vast labyrinth of shelves housing ancient scrolls and water stained tomes. After Jace said goodnight, I burrowed my way into a heavy, dreamless sleep and didn’t wake until the sun rose over its misty horizon.
The images of yesterday still claw at me like silent demons, but I’ve grounded myself enough to keep them at bay. Curt reminders of the mission at hand, the resultant payout, even a daydream of Ashar’s head on a spike, keep my forward trajectory steady.
The temple steps were damp and dim in the early morning’s light when I arrived. Greeted by Thaye, a concerned but silent expression molded on her clean features. She wouldn’t ask first, and for that I almost thanked her.
Now, after two hours of cataloging the temple's library, a chill seeps through my skin and the residual itch of spiderwebs crawls down my neck.
“By Obdiris’s grace there wasn’t more damage from the storm.” Thaye inspects the damaged books, cringing as she places a tome on our cart, stacked with texts in various states of disrepair—swollen bindings, smudged ink, a shredded page or two.
“You’d think the archives might be on the lower levels, rather than way up here,” I reply.
The text in my hands is stained with running ink, but still legible.
Whispers of the Astral Plane offers tidbits of information about projection, incantations, and offerings, bringing one closer to their god.
I make a mental note of its shelf number and return it to its place.
In a few weeks’ time, I’ll find my way back here and sneak it under my cloak to show Yaris. Perhaps something waits in its pages that’ll force Astora to pay attention when I again summon the courage to project.
“The temple has been neglected since the war. Servants come and go, but when Sovereign fell there were so many of us that feared we’d be next.
Now there’s not enough of us to patch the leaks and cracks.
” Thaye brushes the layer of grime off the shelf we’ve just emptied.
“It’s a shame if you ask me. There’s so much knowledge lost. Not just here, but across the continent.
My mother had friends that served Astora, and their descriptions of the libraries in Sovereign…
such wealth of knowledge just gone. Turned to ash by dragonfire. ”
I place another damaged scroll on our cart, glancing toward the priestess with controlled inexpression.
“What were they like? Astora’s servants, I mean,” I ask before retrieving a mildewed scroll from our ever growing stack.
“The best word that comes to mind is ethereal. Beautiful souls and the kindest people.” She drops her eyes to the cart.
Her fingers wrap around the handle, white knuckled and tense.
“If the guardian hatched just a month before the war, the continent wouldn’t be so fractured.
We wouldn’t be collecting books to be discarded… losing our history.”
My ears prick, and I know the opportunity is there. Like a lump in my throat, I swallow the sudden urge to lean into her space.
“But what if there was a rider somewhere out there?” I stay focused on Thaye’s expression. Her shoulders go rigid, but she has yet to meet my gaze. A beat of silence thickens between us, then it’s gone, as fleeting as the breeze rattling the cracked window panes.
“Perhaps, but if there is…” She tucks her hands into her robe sleeves. “Why haven’t they come forward yet?”
“Plenty of reasons. Fear of prosecution, resentment, maybe they don’t know the truth of their fate.” My nails dig into the leather spine I’m holding. Have I risked too much? Did I misread her empathy? Or is she reading me now, too—cautious and reluctant.
Only a faint drip from a cracked ceiling echoes through the shelves.
Thaye finally meets my eyes, and my breath shallows.
Just behind those fierce irises lies something faint, something not yet forthcoming but it’s there.
In her own way, she’s offering it to me.
A secret. My heart slams against my chest, threatening to crack through bone and leap for Thaye.
“You know something,” I whisper.
She nods. “When I was still only a child, I overheard my mother and her friends visiting from Sovereign. They spoke in riddles most of the time, and as an eight year old it rarely caught my attention, but for some reason, this conversation stuck with me until I reached an age where I could truly understand its meaning.”
I brace myself against the cart, keeping my features as casual as possible. Sweat beads on my neck, but I don’t risk swiping it away, not when Thaye’s ripe to exchange information that could alter the entire continent’s fate.
“What did they say?” I straighten a scroll on the cart top.
“They were asking for a place in Obdiris’s service. For a babe born of noble blood,” she replies. The walls shift around me, like her story is the catalyst of their crumble.
“From House Ceti?” I whisper, bearing the blunt force of her words with a wavering mask of indifference.
“All I can remember them saying is ‘of noble blood,’ but one can assume.” Thaye tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. We inspect the next shelf in silence, one after another, leaving some in place if deemed suitable condition.
“Did they bring the babe back to the temple then?” I swallow the agonizing anticipation before my words falter.
“No, there was no room for another child in that year’s seminary, but if I remember correctly, my mother suggested they try Neressa’s servants in Sea. We have distant family there,” Thaye replies. Her eyes narrow when they connect with mine. “You’re not going to tell anyone are, you?”
I shake my head just a little too quickly and Thaye leans over the cart. “There are those in this world that would kill for a whisper such as this, Nova. Tell me I’m not mistaken in trusting you.”
“No, Thaye, no. Your story is safe with me, I swear to Astora.” My fingers tremble as I reach for the tense palm at her side. When our hands brush, she doesn’t pull away. “I promise.”
“Besides, it’s just a childhood memory.” She backpedals, with a shift of her weight, then returns to the shelves.
My mind unravels like a pulled thread as we finish our chores.
The hopeless corner I’ve found myself in feels larger, like there’s more room to breathe.
Thaye doesn’t offer anything more on the subject, and I don’t ask.
She’s taken a risk in trusting me, and my chest aches for the loss of her friends.
The war was bloody and brutal, but even more so heartbreaking.
How many others lost those they loved? The continent fractured the day Sovereign fell, and I pray to the gods we’re one step closer to the thread that’ll stitch it back whole.
Even after the sun has set, I still can’t rid myself of the mildew and muck. A thick layer glazes my skin, but I can’t possibly delay sharing the news with Jace and Yaris.
I find them seated opposite another in the downstairs dining room. Jace sits with a crossed leg and balanced wine glass, while Yaris throws the occasional violet-eyed dagger toward him.
“Astora be good, what have you been up to today?” Yaris’s posture straightens at the nightmarish sight of me.
“Gathering information,” I reply, breathless and damp. “There’s another Ceti descendant. One not written in the histories.”
Jace’s ear’s perk, and he reaches for an empty wine glass. “So Obdiris’s servants were helpful then.”
The tether between us flares to life with everything left unsaid.
Like Thaye, I know he’ll wait for me to open the conversation about last night.
My stomach drops when the memory of his fingers massaging my scalp quakes through me, interrupting the near earth-shattering news I’ve just dropped like a blazing comet.
Gods above, focus, Nova.
“I had to shovel dragon shit for a week straight, but we have a new lead. One of the priestesses I was assigned to—Thaye—spoke of a conversation she overheard as a child. Two of Astora’s servants came asking about a place in their ministry for a babe.
When they were told there wasn’t any space in the current class, her mother suggested going to Sea.
They had low enrollment that year and possibly took the babe in. ”
“And you trust her information?” Jace leans over his knees.
“Yes. I can’t explain it, but I do,” I reply, battling the weight of his stare.
“Then I’ll send word to Isra. We’ll regroup back in Shadow and discuss a plan.” There’s a dark, almost somber, air about him when he trails to the crackling fireplace.
“We’re only a few days’ journey from Sea. We can’t simply ask for a crossing sanction upon arrival?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, starling, no. Sea isn’t all that kind to foreigners, especially those from Shadow.
After the war, it wasn’t just Smoke who shut down their borders.
” He prods a thumb against his lip. Gods that lip—insufferable, but all too captivating.
My eyes adhere to the floor when he catches me staring.
“Well then, we should make haste back to Shadow,” I reply. “We’ve delayed enough already.”
“Agreed,” Jace says.
Yaris’s gaze flicks from me to Jace. “Nova, can I have a word?”
The room stills to a heavy silence. The two men watch each other, both with stone-cold posture and thinned lips.
“Of course,” Jace says finally, his voice a dangerously low whisper. “I’ll give you some privacy.” He turns on his heels and makes for the corridor, most certainly planning to lurk in the hall until we’ve finished.
“You don’t have to go with him. Stay here.
My home is yours.” Yaris outstretches a hand toward me, and every fiber of my being begs to accept his offer, to stay in Storm and build a quiet life.
Working with Thaye and Wren, learning from Yaris about Sovereign, it’s more than tempting.
I’ve already planted seeds. If given the opportunity they’d root, but the ripple of Finnick’s tracking link down my spine crushes any vision of a home here.
And the payout…I’m owed a life of comfort after everything I’ve faced.
The scars painted on my back are the receipt of trade.
I suck in a breath, mastering the fidget on my fingertips.
“I can’t. Not yet at least. There are loose ends that need tied before I settle.” I fight the lump in my throat.
“Loose ends in Smoke or Shadow?” he asks, his beard shaking with withheld frustration. “I can’t lose you again, Nova. I’ve only just found you.”
“In both,” I reply curtly, simply to keep myself from cracking.
“Whatever he’s offered you…it’s not worth your life, Nova.” His whisper is barely above ambient, but I know Jace is listening. Panic slews through me, quick and icy, like a sudden rainfall. “Stay. Please.”
“I can’t.” My fists curl at my thighs. “I need to see this through, but I promise you, Yaris. I will return. You’ve accepted me into your home, taught me so much…I promise. You won’t lose me again. I’ve only just found you.”
I offer his own words back to him out of reassurance, but my heart slams against my sternum. There’s so much truth woven through them I can practically taste it. Yaris may be the only kin I have left in this cruel, despondent world.
Fuck, I’ve opened myself up like a trove, and maybe I’m terrified, but I’ll be damned if I let the progress I’ve made slip from my grasp so easily. “This is not the last time we’ll see each other. I swear it to Astora.”
“You’ll always have a place here. Even when I’ve met Morvayne. My home is yours for as long as you want it.” He tucks his empty hand back into his robes and offers a sad, glittering smile. “Gods be good, I know you don’t think so, but you truly are your mother’s daughter.”
My heart strums, but I swallow the ache like a bitter tonic. “No I’m not.” I laugh, the sentiment barely reaching my eyes. “I’m more stubborn than she ever was.”
He chuckles, letting the tension between us simmer until it’s barely noticeable. “And now you sound like her, too.”