Page 69 of Keeper of the Word (The Unsung and the Wolf Duology #2)

Chapter

Sixty-Two

ELANNA

H er eyes opened, and there was Maristel. The wide-eyed child gave an open-mouthed smile, causing her thumb to fall.

“Lanna!”

Casta and Kyrie appeared in the doorway and sat on the cot where Elanna lay.

Casta gave her arm a squeeze. “How do you feel?”

“Well,” Elanna said, sitting. The room had wooden walls. The only other furniture was a wardrobe. “Where are we?”

“A farmer’s cottage in Namid. But we are uncertain what has become of the farmer. We’ve been here for two days and have encountered no one. The knights are hopeful that we shall meet the friends of Sir Tolvar at the village close to here.”

“The knights?” Her brows knitted together, searching the faces of her sisters. “Where is Sir Tolvar?”

“He is not here.”

“Well, where is he?”

Casta and Kyrie told the story together about Tolvar sacrificing himself so the others could escape .

Elanna’s stomach roiled.

“But now that madman has the Edan Stone. I Saw it before that day. He will try to bend it with the help of that scryer. She is powerful. Ancient.”

Casta caressed Elanna’s forehead. “What happened to you, Elanna? What was that light? It was like the sun, not the stars.”

Elanna fidgeted with the quilt that covered her.

“’Twas Siria, was it not?” Kyrie pressed. “You called upon the Light of Siria.”

Casta gasped. “How? How in the daytime did you accomplish it, Elanna?”

“Because it was needed. We were outnumbered. Everyone would have died.”

“But you have called upon the Light of Siria before. You did it when you fled Ashwin. We heard the recounting of what happened to the Order of Siria. Elanna, you cannot call upon it again. You know what will happen if you do.”

She did. StarSeers were ne’er to call upon the Light of Siria except in extremely dire circumstances.

’Twas borrowing light no human should be able to hold.

And to call upon the Light thrice meant an irreversible dwindling in one’s starlit well.

It made the light permanently dim. Shortened one’s life.

“I had to. And I would do it again to save you. Now tell me, what happened at Ashwin?

Hux entered the room; relief glossed over him as he knelt beside her, kissing her hand. “Lady, you are well, thank the goddesses.”

Casta and Kyrie smirked a sideways glance at Elanna. “We’ve come to know your companion here.”

Hux grinned. “Companion. Not a terrible term, but I can think of others.”

“Hux!” Her cheeks bloomed red, and Hux spared her by not going on further, simply kissing her forehead.

Casta and Kyrie scrutinized them with curiosity, and Elanna asked Hux to give the StarSeers time alone.

“Hux, will you please take Maristel with you?” Kyrie asked .

“Course.” He winked, took Maristel’s small hand in his own, and left.

“What will Tara say?” Casta said, still gaping at the door Hux had exited.

“I suspect she knows.”

“Good,” Kyrie said. “Because we have matters much more pressing. ’Tis rumored that the sovereign’s failing health is much worse. Now that you are awake, we can use StarSpeak better. I’ve only been able to receive small phrases from Tara. You have always been the strongest in this skill.”

“First, tell me about Ashwin. I saw the bodies.” She paused, tingling with emotion. “The chars of the fire. What happened?”

“That madman had an army set on a single purpose. To destroy Ashwin. Even with Sir Tolvar’s army and the Order of Siria knights who were there, ’twas a matter of days before the gates were breached.”

“’Twas the Curse,” Casta said. “It gave them an inhuman strength.”

“And the Order of Siria?”

“Everyone who was there died. Crevan cared naught for taking prisoners. Everyone was killed. A small band of citizens were able to escape and head toward Garreth, but we’ve no idea if they made it.”

“How many of the Order of Siria were there?”

Casta pursed her lips, and Kyrie smoothed her hand over her perfectly placed bun.

“How many?”

“Everyone except for Goodsell and his three knights in Asalle and the dozen stationed in Garreth.”

Stars almighty. The Order of Siria was the safeguard of the StarSeers. And now, they were practically nothing.

Bring down the light.

Elanna leaned back against her pillow. She’d known many of those knights since childhood. So much loss.

Her chin quivered as she fidgeted with the quilt.

“We must keep going, Elanna.” Kyrie’s expression was stern, but her chin trembled. “You Saw all this first. You know what is in store.”

Elanna gritted her teeth and nodded.

“Let us prepare you something to eat,” Casta offered, wiping her cheek. “Then we can StarSpeak.”

And so that night, the StarSeers knelt in a field together in a circle, their knees touching each other. Maristel squirmed at first, but with coaxing, she placed her palms together, mimicking the others.

Whoever this Ghlee and Alvie were, they’d not yet arrived. Hux had said they would make toward the next rendezvous location in the morning, which was further backtracking from Asalle. And from rescuing Tolvar.

Tolvar.

Elanna could only imagine what torture was being done to him.

“You need to concentrate,” Kyrie said, her eyes flashing at Elanna.

Breathe.

She closed her eyes. Tara?

They waited.

Tara?

The late summer crickets were the only sound.

The guilt of Tolvar chirped at her. She would ne’er be able to do this.

Kyrie’s knee bumped into her own. Elanna cleared her mind.

Tara?

Elanna?

What news?

They waited.

Kyrie? Casta? Maristel? Does my heart play a trick? Or do I feel everyone?

We are all here. I shall explain later. What news?

Asalle has grown quiet. For now. The sovereign is not much longer for this world.

His queen is devastated and will not leave his side.

She will not eat. She is deteriorating. With no imports entering the castle—or the city—’tis clear that we have food for only a few weeks.

Castle guards are losing their courage. I sense it when I take to the gardens each night. The stars grow angry. I Saw Ashwin.

There was a pause.

I Saw Ashwin in ruin.

Elanna winced. Aye. ’Tis gone. I saw it with my own eyes.

I cannot wait any longer. We must begin emptying the city. Before the armies arrive.

Elanna had Seen it, too. Thousands of scores of men lining Asalle’s countryside.

Each with their own purpose. Some were there from Grenden to defend the honor of the late bride of Dashiell.

Some would be there from Lenfore, mistakenly under the assumption that as the prince had been spotted in Lenfore, he’d chosen another bride from there.

A chance to put another Lenforese on the throne.

Some would be under the guise of supporting the House of Sidra, when actually they had a growing feud with another province and could finally fight them out in the open.

Some would come as a chance to seize Asalle and the throne.

And some would simply be there as a sense of duty.

And the Brones would be there, of course.

With Anscom’s armies and even some of Greenwood.

The war would be chaos. No one would be able to determine friend from foe. It would devastate the population of the Capella Realm.

Very well. But do not yet empty the city of its guards. Nor the castle. We must keep the gates closed until we can arrive with the key. None can enter. Especially Crevan. Without Ashwin, Asalle’s Light is even more fragile and likely to succumb to darkness.

Sir Tolvar is not with you.

Elanna explained briefly what had transpired.

They aren’t there anymore. The Fox has slipped into a den. Make toward Norwell.

Stars. That was even further north.

The Glendower River will serve you.

Elanna could sense Tara’s fatigue matched her own.

But then, an interruption .

The stars spoke.

Elanna opened her eyes and lifted her gaze to the sky.

On the night of the Nay Moon nine,

The Five must seek a prophecy divine

Darkness nears, that much ’tis true,

But this foretelling shall See the realm through

Do not hesitate, nor delay,

Lest Tasia have utter ruin always

The Five we See shall scatter the earth

Until the time of the realm’s rebirth

To keep the Five safe while ye must withdraw,

We now invoke the Lucien Law

The Oath shall Five defenders take,

And tie his fortune to the Fives’ fate

We gift to the Seers the choice of who

Choose wisely—someone true

The bright lights that had overpowered the sky vanished, and everyone slumped into the grass.

Tara’s voice also disappeared. StarSpeak was impossible for now. They had exerted too much energy. But Elanna knew Tara had heard the same words from the stars.

A prophecy divine. Elanna focused on breathing. A prophecy divine.

The Lucien Law.

Stars. But with the Order of Siria virtually wiped out, who would Elanna be able to choose as her Lucien Guardian? She could barely make out Hux’s form sitting with Joss and Barrett. We give to the Seers the choice of the who.

Could a Deogolian be a Lucien Guardian?

Casta’s sobs took Elanna’s attention. “What is it?”

“‘ Scatter the earth?’ I will not be parted from Maristel! She is too young.” She scooped up Maristel, who had fallen asleep as soon as the vision ended. “I will not be parted from her.”

“Peace, Casta,” Kyrie said. “We need not yet fear about that.”

“Aye,” Elanna said. “There is already plenty to fear. ”

For some reason, this lightened the tension. The three snickered.

Casta wiped away her tears. “The thought of not being together. It stretches my heart beyond its boundaries.”

“There is much that is coming that shall do that, I am afraid,” Elanna said.