Page 26 of Keeper of the Word

Tolvar and Kyrie were left alone.

“Did you know about this?” Tolvar asked.

“I Saw this moment yesterday.” She had a faraway gaze. If he detected her body language correctly, Kyrie did not favor this decree.

“The decree will change everything for us. ’Twill be impossible to leave Ashwin, that is for certain. No matter what dooms we maySee,” Kyrie said, her voice devoid of emotion. “At least, after the guardian oaths are sworn. The oath to the stars is everlasting and unbreakable.” She stood as if it exuded a great deal of effort but, once erect, swung her shoulders back regally. She made it to the archway before turning to face Tolvar. “No matter. StarSeers are meant to See. To observe. We are not meant to act.”

She disappeared into the hedges.

Chapter

Twelve

TOLVAR

Since encountering Kyrie, Tolvar had slept little. When he did, he dreamed of intense gazes that could only be employed by a StarSeer. One day left. In one day, he would leave Aura Hall, put Ashwin behind him, and go home.

Joss and the others spent time training with the Order of Siria knights—“A thrill!”she’d exclaimed—winning coin, playing cards, or lounging in the Twilight Hall, the smallest of the three halls in the castle. When Tolvar discovered them idle, he longed to throttle them, take them outside, and train them into the dirt, but ’twas only a span of days, he reminded himself. Besides, there wasn’t anything to do.

Hux was the only one who’d ventured into the city of Ashwin, an act Tolvar was not entirely certain was permitted since outsiders of Ashwin were, well, outsiders and undesired in the sacred city. Once one became a citizen of Ashwin, ’twas a rarity to leave, much like the priestesses they worshiped and served. But no one from Aura Hall had remarked on Hux’s comings and goings, and Tolvar found he desired a reprieve from the feeling of playing nursemaid to Hux. There would be plenty of time in the future for the two of them to spar.

He’d sought and failed to find Elanna the past three days. Although they’d been told they could roam the castle, there were sealed corridors tightly guarded that Tolvar could not breach.

She must be kept in some stuffy room, praying, he thought.

It certainly sounded like a horrendous punishment to Tolvar.

He did desire to find his hostess before they left tomorrow, however. He needed to confirm for himself that she was well. That she wasn’t confined in some dungeon—although it seemed unlikely that the StarSeers would commit one of their own to imprisonment.

Besides failing in his search for Elanna or any of the other priestesses, Tolvar spent his hours training alone in a small yard away from the Order of Siria or the Aura Hall knights. They thought themselves glad to be rid of him? He itched to be dismissed. He yearned to have Ghlee here with him. Besides being the only one who could give Tolvar proper swordplay exercise, he might be able to make sense of this suspended time Tolvar had found himself in. Listless days were worse than spending all day in prayer. Almost.

In the late afternoon, to pass time, Tolvar was sharpening his already-sharpened dagger when a knock sounded on his chamber door. There was no one there when he opened it, but glancing to the floor, there was a small piece of parchment folded into a star.

He held up the intricately folded note. He almost hated to unfold it.

Meet where we knelt upon the hour before midnight.

Stars. What now?

Without thinking, he seized the dagger and launched it into the wall. It embedded itself into the indigo silk, revealing the plaster underneath. He wrenched it out and ran his finger along the rip in the fabric. He should have felt contrite but didn’t. The surrealness of this place, coupled with the unwanted concern for Elanna, was too irritating. Ashwin was untouched, a place of constancy.

Intentional to mimic the stars, no doubt.

A glance out the open window revealed Casta and Maristelbelow in the gardens. The child tugged at Casta’s skirt, gathered her own, and scampered to a nearby ceramic pot filled with starglow flowers, touching the pot as she halted in some sort of game. Her giggle carried up to Tolvar’s ears. Casta said something Tolvar couldn’t hear. The child pumped her tiny legs toward Casta, charging into her. They were almost knocked off balance; their laughter filled the air. It occurred to Tolvar that this was the first time he’d heard laughter in Ashwin.

He continued to observe their game, Maristel clapping her hands and jumping up and down occasionally. Mayhap StarSeers were human, after all. Casta lifted Maristel in her arms and spun her around.

Tara, flanked by three Order knights, approached them and spoke. Casta dropped her chin and lowered Maristel to the ground. The two StarSeers—Maristel following Casta’s movements—clasped their hands behind them and grew solemn as Tara wagged a finger at Casta, who nodded, her shoulders becoming rigid and her expression becoming blank. Maristel’s lip quivered.

Behind Tara, the knights appeared only too glad to see Casta scolded.

Kyrie’s words entered Tolvar’s mind:The decree will change everything for us.

Tara finished her chastisement, and the three knights stood at attention. Maristel reached for Casta’s hand, but the woman shook her head slightly, clasping her hands together in front of her. Maristel’s frown deepened, but she followed suit, and the two followed Tara toward the Delara.

At the eleventh hour,Tolvar approached the meeting place. He was surprised, however, to find not Kyrie but Elanna.

He almost spoke, but the position in which she held her body halted him. Like Kyrie, she stretched her arms out, her fingers wrapped around each other. She sat motionless except for the greatmass of hair that waved in the breeze. ’Twas warmer tonight, and a songbird chirruped in the distance.