Page 98 of Keeper of the Word

The day-long silence had ripped Elanna into a reflective state. The stars had commanded her here. And yet no good had come from her presence in Asalle.

Thank the stars she had drained herself of tears. Elanna’s dry eyes stung, but at least she did not disgrace herself further by weeping more in Tara’s presence.

When the evening’s shadows crossed over the east wall of the Delara, Tara stood and stretched, keeping her back to Elanna.

“I shall dine in my quarters. You shall do the same. Then we’ll convene in the queen’s garden one hour past sundown. I’m told that’s where you’ve spent your nights.”

“Aye, Tara.”

“Good. At least you have not forsakenallyour duties.”

She opened the doors to find Commander Goodsell and two other knights of the Order of Siria standing guard opposite Joss and Barrett. When Tara and her entourage left the courtyard, Joss finally spoke.

“M’lady, might I ask you a question?”

“Aye.”

“I do not wish to seem impertinent.”

“You may ask me anything, Dame Joss.”

“Is the realm in danger?”

Elanna kept eye contact with Joss. “Aye.”

“And did the stars, in fact, guide you here to Asalle?”

Elanna’s chin rose. “Aye. They did. I was commanded here.”

“Then, if I may speak in turn, m’lady, you need not cower to that woman like a child caught in a wrongful act. Barrett and I are here at Lord Tolvar’s leisure, but we followyou.I believe in you and shall help you see this through, let come what may.”

A smile slid across Elanna’s face. “My thanks, Joss.”

Elanna thoughtto arrive in the queen’s garden ahead of Tara, both to demonstrate her compliance and to assert herself as the sovereign’s long-term guest. But Tara was already kneeling on the lawn, circled by a rainbow of tulips and bobble-headed daffodils. Their petals drooped, a sign that spring was giving way to summer. Tara’s three sentinels stood near the hedge wall. Joss and Barrett chose to guard near the garden’s entrance.

For a time, they observed the night sky, the stars strewn like gleaming jewels. Elanna picked her favorite star and listened to it sing to her. She couldn’t understand the words gliding into her mind but cherished its lull.

Do you have a favorite star, Tara?Elanna uttered in StarSpeak.

She opened her eyes. Tara did not outwardly acknowledge she had heard Elanna’s StarSpeak, but after a moment or two, Elanna heard in her mind Tara’s voice, as if it came from inside a tunnel echo:aye.

Do you think we chose them, or do you think our stars chose us?She kept her eyes closed this time and waited.

I am uncertain it matters. We are a part of them, and they, us.

Elanna’s eyes opened and surveyed the garden, landing on Goodsell. She spoke aloud. “Do you e’er wish your life was different?”

Tara followed Elanna’s gaze to Goodsell. Incredibly, her cheeks bloomed darker.

“’Tis a fruitless question, Elanna. You know this.”

“And I accept it. But—” She thought of Hux. Dashiell. Even Tolvar, whose life she’d uprooted. “Everything has become so difficult.”

“Precisely why StarSeers are not meant to act.”

Elanna stiffened and cast her eyes at the flowers.

“I came here to bring you home.” Tara exhaled. “Yet during my journey, away from Ashwin, I Saw something of the prince’s fortune. And, as you said, ’tis grim, I must admit. A number of paths lay before the sovereign now. Some I cannot understand.”Some I fear,Tara added in StarSpeak. “So, here we both are. To aid the sovereign. But do not think all matters are mended between us.”