Page 56 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

She reached up on her toes, her elegant arms stretching to reach two golden lamps that she passed to me and Morgana. Jace stepped up to the shelf and pulled down two amethyst stars, hooking them onto the lamps that Morgana brought to life.

“Right this way,” Zenoya said, pulling open the set of double doors behind her.

I nearly gasped at the sight inside. I’d forgotten just how big this pyramid was, how high the ceiling went, how many scrolls were stuffed into the walls. The markings of Ka Scholar and their sigil peppered Nabula’s pyramid, but this one featured paintings of the original seven Guardians of the Valalumir on the diagonal ceiling high above the shelves.

I spotted Asherah right away, her flaming red hair and silk gown painted Batavia red. She was painted as if she were flying through the sky, her arms outstretched toward the Valalumir, a bright golden light painted at the pyramid’s point. I couldn’t see paintings move without magic, but some other kind of spell had been used on the star above me. It glowed with such ferocity, it nearly made our lamps null. Beside Asherah was Auriel, his arms reaching for the light it was his duty to protect but his eyes were on her and her alone.

For him, she’s brighter than the brightest star in Heaven.

Rhyan had said that about Asherah and Auriel months earlier. And with this painting, I could truly see it—how he only had eyes for her, how she seemed to glow where his eyes focused.

I scanned quickly over the other goddesses. There was Ereshya, a goddess with raven hair and an orange dress symbolizing her connection to the orange ray and shard. It was said she had been the most loyal to Asherah, Guardian of the red ray, but after the banishment, Ereshya had turned on Asherah.

In the paintings, Moriel flew beside Ereshya, his eyes black and vicious, his robes indigo. Cassarya was easy to spot next, painted with the largest eyes of all the Guardians, the same blue as the magic Lumerians possessed. She was said to be the most observant, and so she was always painted with eyes too big for her face. She was pale, with silvery-white hair, and wearing blue, depicted as flying toward the light on the opposite side of the pyramid. Beside her was the fourth goddess chosen to protect the Valalumir, Hava, in a flowing violet gown. Her golden mane fell in loose waves down her back, and there was a fierce look in her eyes.

And, finally, the third male god set to guard the light, wearing yellow robes, was Shiviel. One of the last to have been banished from Heaven, Shiviel was supposed to have become Moriel’s Second in command, a monster like his arkturion. He was the one who seemed to be talked about the least, though I’d heard cults devoted to him had formed in the north.

I turned my attention back to Asherah, as Zenoya led us farther into the cavernous pyramid, which was full of mazes of shelves that seemed to rise up an endless number of floors to the paintings above.

“I assume you are here for Afeya research?” Zenoya asked.

“I want to read about Afeyan contracts,” I said. “Pull every scroll regarding them. How they’re formed. How they’re broken. What happens after one is made. Side effects. Links between the Lumerian and the Afeya.”

Zenoya tilted her head, her dark eyes flickering to my chest. She straightened, her neck undulating like a snake as I’d seen Mercurial’s do so many times. She struck quickly, her fingers gripping the top of my tunic and pulling it down just enough to reveal the top point of the Valalumir.

Morgana’s stave pressed into Zenoya’s neck. “Hands off my sister.”

Zenoya held up her hands and stepped back. “Mercurial’s handiwork, I see. What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” I said. “How he did this, to start.”

“You didn’t know the basics?” she asked. “You don’t know that every Afeya gives you a piece of their soul?”

“And the Valalumir?” I asked. “Mercurial said it was part of the original light and his soul mixed together.”

“The light is gone. It’s all in shards now. And those have been lost for ages. Except for one piece of light. One ounce of pure energy from Heaven. Every Afeya brags that they are using the original Valalumir. Most are just copies.”

My mouth fell open, remembering all I knew about Asherah and all I’d read in the last few months. “When Auriel stole the light and fell, it started to become a crystal. But he was able to put some of the light into Asherah.”

Morgana watched me carefully, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Everyone knows that,” Zenoya said.

“So Mercurial is just pretending it’s the light from Asherah?” I asked.

“I do not question the First Messenger of Her Royal Highness. That would not serve me.”

“So the light that Auriel put into Asherah’s heart—that’s not inside me now?”

Zenoya shrugged. “I’ll get you scrolls.” She turned on her heels, pointing her stave at an empty cart, which began to follow her into the stacks.

“Lyriana. Morgana.” A northern lilt wrapped around me. Rhyan approached from behind a shelf in the opposite direction. “Sorry I’m late.”

He was dressed in his full soturion uniform, his extra sword strapped to his back, his Valalumirs shined and sharpened. A camping pack was on his back like he was about to ship off to battle.

“Are you on duty?” I asked.

Rhyan shook his head, his good eyebrow furrowed.