Page 8

Seventeen Years Old

“Wake up.” Marlena shook her sister, listening to her groan in protest. Vega had never been a morning person, always begging for five more minutes.

“Five more minutes, please.”

Marlena rolled her eyes at the expected response but continued to shake her awake. “No, we’re going on a trip.”

It was the weekend, and usually Marlena and Vega would meet up with Khort, towing Arlet along everywhere now that she was basically part of the family.

When things had gone bad in Vates, they went bad quicker than anyone could have imagined. After Marlena saved Arlet from her burning home, she learned more about what had led up to that very moment.

Their people had started to go missing occasionally.

Families losing contact with a cousin who they didn’t talk to much or a sister who was down on her luck.

Then it turned into finding seers dead in some horrific ways—hanging from trees in the town squares scattered across Vates or washing up on the shores of their beaches.

Arlet had only told the story once and promised Vega, Marlena, and Khort that she’d never speak of it again.

Now, Arlet spent her days as a bonus Caelum, doing whatever her best friend Vega did and being kept under careful watch for any sort of power manifestation.

Marlena had been reminded all her life that while she didn’t have the extraordinary powers Vega had, she was still an original bloodline, and she was to surround herself with people of like minds… and yet somehow, as usual, Vega got to do whatever she wanted.

Vega opened one eye and slowly sat up. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, looking out of her large window with the barely cracked curtains. “The sun isn’t even up yet.”

Marlena pulled her blankets off. “But you are, so let’s go.” Vega tugged at the covers, but Marlena held tight. “I made tea downstairs. Just how you like it. Get up before our parents do, or I’ll be in trouble.”

Marlena disappeared, stalking through the halls like an invisible ghost. She knew where to step to avoid the old floors from creaking, having spent many years walking this very path to Vega’s room.

She had been up for hours, starting her day with a warm bath and some studying.

Sleep had never come easy for her—there was always something more important to be doing.

Marlena spent a lot of time with her nose stuck in a book.

Whether it was studying what her parents had planned for her or about the summonings she’d been obsessed with in private since she was eleven, Marlena was always learning, always trying to get one step ahead.

Vega trudged down the stairs loudly in a pair of tight black pants and a button-up shirt that nearly swallowed her whole. “Is that even your shirt?” Marlena asked, raking her eyes back up to hers.

Her sister yawned, grabbing the cup of tea Marlena extended to her. Vega looked down after taking her first sip and raised a brow, as if she hadn’t realized what she’d thrown on. “Oh no. It’s definitely not.” Vega smelled the collar. “It’s Khort’s.”

It was no big secret that she and Khort were meant to marry when they were both done with school—hell, the Curia was already talking about it in the open with whomever would listen—but Vega always ignored the whispers like she’d have a real choice when the time came.

Marlena raised a brow and finished her cup of tea. “Did you?—”

Vega cut her off. “Gods, no.” She shook her head, setting the teacup on the counter next to Marlena’s empty one.

“We went to the lake on that warm day a couple days ago, and it must’ve gotten mixed up in my things.

” Vega didn’t wait to grab her riding coat from the closet by the door, and she threw it over her shoulders as a maid came to clean up after them.

Marlena side-eyed the woman, making her sidestep to avoid coming too close.

But Vega smiled, her fingers fluttering in a hello. “How are you this morning?” she asked, buttoning her coat.

The maid, whose name Marlena didn’t know, nor did she care to learn, returned Vega’s smile. “Wonderful, thank you. And you ladies? Up very early this morning, I see.” Though she addressed them both, she didn’t dare shoot a glance at Marlena.

Until Marlena snapped, “I don’t think that’s any of your concern.

” She worried their trip would get stopped if their parents found out about it.

They would find out later, but by then at least they’d already be where they were going and their parents would choose to wait to scold them—they’d punish Marlena, but never would they lay a finger on their perfect Vega.

Vega sneered, tossing Marlena’s coat at her and closing the closet door. “Down, girl.”

Marlena caught the coat before it hit the floor, and instead of dressing in it quickly, she stared at Vega…

observing the way she interacted with the help.

Vega had always been friendlier with the st aff than she had.

Marlena grew up with the constant reminder of her status and what would happen if she lost the respect of the others in power.

Most of those in power didn’t have menial conversations about their day with the staff who worked underneath them.

“Please excuse her. She’s snippy until she’s had a couple cups of tea.” Vega caught Marlena’s eye for a split second, her face giving away the words inside her head: Stop being a bitch.

“I didn’t mean anything by it, only that I usually don’t see Vega until afternoon on weekends.” The maid began washing the cups and putting them to the side on a rack to dry. “Would you like me to prepare a couple to-go canteens of tea? It’s a chilly and wet spring morning out there.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” Vega reached out and squeezed the maid’s hand in thanks. “I don’t think I know your name.”

“Della.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry it’s taken so long to formally introduce myself. As I’m sure you know, I’m Vega, and the grumpy one is Marlena. She’s not as mean as she seems.” She flicked her eyes over her shoulder, snarkily smiling at Marlena. “Most of the time.”

Slipping into her coat, Marlena rolled her eyes and grabbed the tea from the woman. She didn’t say anything to the shifter. She knew she was a shifter by the smell—moss and pine, too earthy to be anything else.

“If we don’t get going, we’ll never get home before sundown,” Marlena said with a stern tone. “Let’s wrap this up, shall we?”

Vega waved goodbye to— what was her name? Delta? —and followed Marlena out the side door down the path to the stables. “So, am I ever going to find out where we’re going?”

Marlena had their horses almost fully tacked and ready to go, another thing she’d had enough time to do while Vega slept soundly this morning. “What if it’s a surprise?” She put their canteens in the saddle bags and snagged the reins hanging outside of their horses’ stalls.

Rolling her eyes, Vega ran her hand down her dark dappled gray colt’s neck, cooing to her young horse.

Marlena’s stark white mare with deep blue eyes was older, less energetic, but she was fast and strong—perfect for the few hours they’d be traveling today.

Vega mounted, and Marlena led them out of the barn before any of the staff came in for the start of their day.

Their horses took off at a steady pace, Marlena pushing them to get out of the city square before the sun fully rose over the mountain peaks.

Once they passed the city proper and were on the dirt roads of Aeris’s northern territory, they let the horses slow to a walking pace to catch their breath.

“Littera?” Vega asked, letting a little slack in her reins while she got comfortable in her seat.

“Mm-hmm.” Marlena nodded, glancing over at her sister.

“You mean to tell me you got me up at the crack of dawn to go study in a library?” Vega asked, annoyance lacing her tone. “We have one of those back home, ya know?”

Chuckling, Marlena stared forward, trying to find the words to tell Vega what she wanted to do.

Their world was changing, and Marlena wasn’t sure she could stand back and watch an opportunity to prove her parents wrong pass her by when the time came.

You have to be ready. “Watch the sunrise and shut up,” Marlena said with a hint of sarcasm, trying to drown out the whisper of the voice in her head.

Vega grumbled, but the two rode in silence for a while as the sun rose, and they enjoyed the warmth of what was turning out to be a gorgeous spring day.

When the view of Littera’s main city’s roads became visible, Marlena peered over at Vega. “Do you remember the story of Mira Viator?”

She’d been building up the courage to bring the tale up for the last hour.

Vega’s eyebrows met in the middle, and she scrunched her nose along with it. “Yeah?” She drew out the word. “The story from the campfire?”

“Yes.” The next part of her sentence was a whisper. “What if she got the summoning wrong?” Marlena questioned. The only sound for what felt like minutes was the clacking of their horses’ hooves against the hard, packed dirt road.

Vega stared straight ahead, nibbling on the inside of her cheek. “Why would you have been thinking about that?”

Marlena’s answer wasn’t easy, and she wasn’t even sure what she was supposed to say. “Vates falling is just the start. I don’t think our realm has seen the last of what’s looming in the shadows.” The words left her lips before she could think about what she was saying.

Vega turned her head away from the library in the distance. “Everyone only fled for the time being. They’ll be back when our parents and the rest of the Curia figure out how to protect the seers.”

Marlena slowed her horse to a stop as they approached the large entrance to the Minerva Archives. “Vega, no one is going to help them. Vates is gone for good.”

Vega shook her head, bringing her horse to a halt too. “No, they left Arlet to run it when she’s ready. They would have taken her with them if they didn’t have any hope that she’d be ready to rule one day.”

Vega was so gullible. She always believed what their parents told her.

“They left Arlet because she’s powerless,” Marlena said matter-of-factly. “Her parents couldn’t risk being slowed down by her.”

Marlena could tell even before Vega spoke that she was going to argue by the way her jaw tightened and her eyebrows pinched together further. “They wouldn’t abandon her. They’ll be back. ”

Taking a deep breath, Marlena sighed and hopped off her mare.

“But they did abandon her, and no one is coming back, Vega. The seers are gone. They’re probably already dead, if I’m being honest. The sooner you accept that, the better off you’ll be.

” She slipped the reins over her horse’s head and tied her to a post by a trough of water.

Vega’s face blanched. “And what makes you think that?” she asked, staying on her horse.

“Because I’ve heard it. I hear a lot of things people probably don’t want me to.” Marlena shouldn’t have said that, but it was just Vega… and she could trust her. Right? “And because I’ve seen it.”

That caught Vega’s attention, her back stiffening further. “So you brought me to Littera. Why?”

Marlena patted her mare’s neck and stepped around her, standing underneath Vega’s gaze on her tall horse.

“Because what if the gods are waiting for the right person… the right people? They might be dead, but their powers aren’t.

If they’re killing those who summon them, the summoners must be asking for the wrong things. ”

Vega’s eyes lit, twinkling with something close to hope. “Could you imagine if we summoned one to fix the problems inside the Curia? We could change the world.”

Marlena’s smile slowly grew, taking over her face in triumph as Vega slid off her horse and tied him beside Marlena’s.

How far are you willing to go to get what you want?