Page 11

ANNANI

A nnani took the papers from Kalugal with surprisingly steady hands, perhaps because she did not expect any profound revelations from the inscription, but Kalugal was right about the text being written in the old language, and she got excited.

She had not seen it written in so very long that deciphering the script was an effort. Like a schoolgirl, she had to focus on each symbol and sound it out in her mind.

The problem was that the symbols were imperfectly rendered—understandable given that Fenella, Kyra, and Jasmine had been drawing what they had seen rather than writing it—but the underlying structure was there, waiting to be deciphered.

Her fingertips traced over the penciled lines as she began the slow work of translation.

The first symbol was clear enough, though Jasmine's version showed it slightly more angular than it should have been.

The second required more thought. Was that curve meant to connect to the line below it, or was it separate?

She compared the three drawings, looking for consensus among the variations.

"What does it say?" Kian's voice broke through her concentration, tinged with an impatience she recognized all too well.

"Patience, my son," she murmured, not lifting her eyes from the papers. "The old language is not like modern tongues. Each symbol carries layers of meaning, and the way they combine can change the entire message. I must concentrate."

She sensed rather than saw Kian's frustrated shift, but he held his tongue. The rest of the room remained silent, the weight of their collective anticipation disturbing her focus.

The third symbol crystallized in her mind, and with it, the beginning of understanding. Her breath caught as the meaning began to unfold before her. Could it truly be...?

"Mother?" Amanda sounded concerned. "Are you alright?"

Annani did not answer immediately, too focused on confirming what she thought she was deciphering. The fourth symbol, the fifth—yes, yes, it was becoming clearer. Her heart began to race with excitement.

The final symbols fell into place like tumblers in a lock, and the complete message revealed itself to her. For a moment, she could only stare at the papers, scarcely able to believe what she was seeing.

"Blessed be the memory of the most radiant princess who was taken from us too soon," she read aloud.

There was a collective intake of breath from her audience, but Annani was not finished. Below the inscription, there was a name that made her vision blur with sudden tears.

"Esag, son of Agnon."

The papers trembled in her hands as the full implications crashed over her. Esag was alive. Khiann's best friend still lived.

"Who is Esag?" Ell-rom's question came from her left.

Annani set the papers on the side table beside her chair, needing a moment to compose herself. When she looked up, she found every eye in the room fixed upon her.

"Esag was Khiann's squire," she said, her voice steady, but emotion colored her words. "But he was much more than that. He was Khiann's dearest friend, despite the difference in their stations. They were as close as brothers."

She paused, gathering the threads of memory that stretched back over five thousand years. "Esag was also the great love of my dear friend Gulan's life—or Wonder as you know her now."

"Isn't she happily married to that tall Guardian?" Kyra asked.

"Yes, she is, but as a young girl, she was desperately in love with Esag, who was also a redhead.

" Annani laughed. "My dear friend seems to have a thing for red hair.

" She patted her own long locks. "Back then, though, she was very different from the confident female you all know as Wonder.

She was shy and reserved, embarrassed about her height and her tremendous strength.

Never mind that those were the exact qualities my parents had chosen her for.

They wanted my companion to be an added layer of security.

" Annani smiled. "What they did not know was that I pulled poor Gulan, who was a very careful and reserved girl, into taking part in every conceivable mischief I could think of.

But back to Esag. Once I started seeing Khiann, Gulan was seeing much more of Esag, and she would blush whenever he spoke to her. It was quite endearing."

"Did he return her feelings?" Jasmine asked.

Annani's smile faded. "Esag liked Gulan, and he enjoyed her company, but he was engaged to be married to another—a match arranged by his family when he was barely more than a boy."

She could still picture Gulan's face whenever someone mentioned Esag's intended bride, the way she would wince and try to force a smile.

"Gulan convinced herself that Esag did not love his fiancée," Annani continued.

"Which was true enough—he found Ashegan vapid and vain.

But not loving his intended did not mean that he was willing to give up all the status and wealth that the match secured for him and his family.

He had his younger sisters to think of, and the matches they could secure if he was mated to the well-connected Ashegan. "

"So, what happened?" Fenella asked.

"Gulan held on to the hope that Esag would break the engagement.

She waited, certain that eventually he would realize they were meant to be together and end things with Ashegan.

But then she learned that Esag had set a date for his wedding with his intended, and her heart broke.

It could not have happened at a worse time, either, right before my wedding to Khiann.

" Annani's voice caught at speaking her beloved's name.

She could still remember the despair in Gulan's eyes, but back then, Annani had been too preoccupied with her upcoming nuptials and the happiness bubbling inside of her to pay closer attention to Gulan and realize that her friend was falling apart.

"Gulan was devastated," Annani said. "She managed to maintain her composure through the celebration, but after helping me prepare for my wedding night, she escaped, but she left me a note, explaining why she had to run."

The memory of the tear-stricken note Gulan had left behind was still vivid in Annani's mind.

"What did the note say?" Morelle asked.

"She said that the pain of losing Esag, or rather the dream of him, was too much for her to bear.

If she stayed, she would have to watch him join with another, and Gulan knew that she would not survive that.

She asked me to forgive her for not saying goodbye in person.

She knew I would have tried to stop her.

" Annani looked at Kian. "I am so glad that she ran, though.

She would not be here today if she had stayed behind. "

He nodded. "Absolutely."

Annani took a long steadying breath. "When Khiann learned that Gulan had fled, he was furious at Esag for leading her on, and he worried for her safety traveling alone. So, he did what seemed sensible at the time."

"He sent Esag after her," Kalugal said, understanding dawning in his voice.

"Yes. Esag and two other immortals. I think their names were Roven and Davuh, but I might be wrong. It has been a day or two since." She chuckled. "Khiann reasoned that Esag would have the best chance of convincing Gulan to return."

"They never made it back," Brandon stated rather than asked.

"No. They had been gone for many weeks, but they never found her, and then the world ended.

" Annani's voice went flat, emotionless—the only way she could speak of that time without her voice breaking.

"In an instant, everyone I had ever known or loved was gone.

Everyone except those who, by chance or the Fates' design, were far enough away to escape the poisonous wind that followed the bombing. "

A heavy silence fell over the room as the weight of that loss settled over them anew. Even those who had heard the story before seemed affected by hearing it again.

"I always hoped," Annani continued after a moment, "that Esag and his companions had traveled far enough to escape the destruction.

That perhaps they had found Gulan and the three of them had survived together somewhere.

But after we found Gulan, or rather she found us, I knew that they had never reached her, and I had no way of knowing if they made it out alive. Until now."

She gestured to the figurine that sat on the coffee table, where Fenella had placed it after their viewing.

"Somehow, Esag survived," she said, wonder coloring her voice. "And he carved my likeness in memory of me, believing me dead along with all the others."

"Wonder will be overjoyed to hear this," Alena said. "Even if she no longer carries a torch for him, knowing he lived?—"

"Yes," Annani agreed. "She mourned him along with all the others we lost. To know that her first love survived will bring her great comfort."

"Wait," Kalugal said suddenly, his eyes sharpening with realization. "If Esag carved your figurine, then he must have been the one who carved Wonder's figurine as well."

Annani felt her breath catch as the implications hit her. "Of course. Of course! It makes perfect sense."

"But there's still something that doesn't add up," Kalugal continued, his brow furrowed in thought. "When Jacki touched Wonder's figurine, she saw visions of the earthquake, of Wonder falling into the chasm. How could Esag have known about that? He was nowhere near when it happened."

"Did you ever check for an inscription on Wonder's figurine?" Annani asked.

Kalugal nodded. "Of course I did. It was one of the first things I looked for. But there was just one symbol, which indicated the price. I still don't understand how he could have imparted onto the figurine knowledge he couldn't possess."

"Maybe he did," Annani murmured.

"What do you mean?" Jasmine asked.