Page 29

28

Hope

H ope hadn’t slept at all.

She could blame the cold of the navia, the worry about the next ordeals, the knowledge that they owned two of the five Cardinal feathers, or the revelation that Ayla possessed a power even historians didn’t know when it last existed.

She could blame all of it, and she would be lying to herself. She knew exactly what—exactly who —had kept her awake.

Cardinals guide her away from him, she was knee-deep in putrid eggs.

She adjusted her body on the seat in front of the window facing the Radel Sea. She had been staring at the waves for hours, and her eyes adjusting as the sun rose on this part of Terrha were playing tricks on her.

She blinked, willing the red sparks that had appeared atop the waves away.

Her sight didn’t improve but worsened. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or the turbulence of thoughts and feelings roaming wildly inside her.

She placed her hands on her temples, blinking a few times.

No, the red sparks were not vanishing—they were taking the form of a thin bridge. A Cardinal-red bridge that grew from the sea to her feet . Hope hadn’t noticed the window disappearing until the breeze pushed her braids to her back.

The arterial-red sparks that became the thinnest walkway one could imagine were the exact color of Hope’s ink, panom mark, and magic. Yet she wasn’t the source of this creation, which meant another being was claiming her presence. A superior being.

She hadn’t expected it to happen like this, or at this time, under these circumstances, but the truth was she hadn’t known what to expect at all.

Hope stood up, inhaling deeply as her foot tapped the crystal surface of the bridge she was about to step on.

If the Core Cardinal was calling Hope to her ordeal, she was ready to answer.

The moment her cautious feet—one in front of the other, the width of the bridge not allowing for more—stepped outside the navia, everything around her ceased to exist.

She could see no navia, no sky, no sea. She could only see the bridge, her body, and the white, absolute nothingness she had experienced once before.

After her Fifth Ceremony, she had met the Core Cardinal here, where the line between life and death had barely existed.

This time, instead of stepping on a white floor, her feet were frozen on the red crystal bridge suspended in the air, and underneath it, miles and miles away, perhaps there was a floor she could not identify. Perhaps there was not.

Hope continued walking towards the middle of the walkway, her arms extended at both sides, to avoid any possibility of losing her balance. Her stare was fixed in the white void in front of her.

It was after long minutes when her foot touched the very center of the bridge, and an equally thin, equally red bar appeared, crossing it perpendicularly from her right to her left. No—from her West to her East .

She was balancing herself in the middle of a perfect cross. She was at the core of the cardinal points.

The sound of flapping wings made her look upwards, one of her feet losing its grip on the bar and making her body tilt dangerously.

“Daughter of Red,” the Core Cardinal called.

Hope frowned. She had no idea what the Cardinal meant or what she was talking about, so Hope kept her mouth shut.

The goddess landed with grace; her red dress made of feathers covering her. Her flawless skin framed her crimson lips and her flaming eyes.

“My dearest Hope.” Her voice was quiet, her eyebrows knitting as her lips tensed.

“Core Cardinal,” Hope said. “You are not happy to see me.” Was she disappointed she was the striver? Did she expect someone else?

The goddess of the Core sighed, her expression pained, and for a second Hope saw the centuries of history she bore on her shoulders.

“You came to prove your worth.” It wasn’t a question but still Hope nodded. When the Core Cardinal lifted her palms, her eyes shone brighter, determined. “Fate was written that you would make it here, yet I always wished it was mistaken.”

“Why?” she managed to ask.

“Because after this conversation, I can never see what happens next. There are too many variants, too many risks, too many causes to lose.”

The voice of the Core Cardinal echoed in the nothingness. “You may die five times, Hope Nevada. You may rise from each death stronger than before, or you may not rise at all.”

Hope was pretty sure she only half understood, and what little she could make out was enough to make her ribs feel squeezed inside her chest. She had so many questions, so many doubts, but before she could ask any, the goddess spoke again.

“You could die today, you could die tomorrow, you could die in centuries. You survived the first death after your Fifth Ceremony. Four more deaths to go.”

Four more deaths to come back from . That could take ages, and they needed the crystal feather now .

“Is that my ordeal? Dying four more times?”

“No, my dearest. That’s your future.”

Hope’s eyebrows lifted, and she had to restrain a chuckle.

Well, that was promising.

“As for the reason you are here . . . I must confess, I am biased. I have been waiting for you for a long time. The world was waiting for you. My ordeal is simple: I have five questions for you.”

Hope’s eyes narrowed. Nothing of worth was ever given easily.

Without further warning, the first question came.

“If you obtain the Fifth Power, you could become the Organ Mandor of the land we Cardinals created. Would you protect the lives of the citizens of Thyria?”

The citizens of Thyria, who didn’t even know of Hope’s existence. She nodded. “I would protect the citizens who deserve protecting. With my life.”

“Would you Rule with fairness and justice?”

“To the best of my capacities.”

“Would you allow deserving others to assist you?”

The golden eyes and red hair of the Brachyan twin flashed in her mind. “A nation shouldn't be ruled single-handedly.”

“Would you ensure the Cardinal Queen can't harm innocent beings?”

Hope frowned. “Where is she?”

“It is me who asks the questions,” the Core Cardinal reminded her.

“I would do my best to ensure no one can harm innocent beings. A title or a crown on someone's head wouldn't stop me from fighting against them. Titles can be revoked; crowns can be destroyed.”

Thrones can be usurped.

The crimson eyes stared straight into Hope’s black ones. “Think carefully about your fifth answer, dearest Hope, for there is nothing more valuable than truth.” The Core Cardinal looked at her for a long time before she fired her last question. “A true protector of Thyria would never risk the land breaking in any way or form. Would you always keep your feelings and needs aside to ensure the preservation of the land?”

Images of dead people inside the Beftac Center appeared in her mind. The number of innocents who died due to the panomquake after her Fifth Ceremony chased her nightmares very often.

The following image hurt even more. A flash of blue eyes, of shadows and night, of pine woods and dark green sparks. It flooded her with fear, with nerves and need and longing, with an urge to cry and scream and kill anyone who wasn’t him.

Ciaran.

Ciaran .

It was a blessing and a curse that she was the heir to the Organ House, and he was the heir to the West House. It was a blessing and a curse that the heirs of the Houses couldn’t be together without destroying the four-petal island where balance ruled.

She swallowed. Being forced to avoid panomquakes would protect Thyria. Being forced to keep her distance—and her feelings—from him would protect her heart.

“I will never risk a panomquake that can be avoided. I will never allow my feelings and needs to be the cause of one.”

No. Her feelings and needs would cause destruction. Her destruction.

The Core Cardinal pursed her lips, her wings moving as a crystal feather appeared in front of Hope.

“If any answer turns out to be dishonest or untrue, my feather will break. Oh, and my dearest, blessed quarter of a century to you.”

And with that, the Core Cardinal vanished, the whiteness disappeared, the red cross under her feet ceased to exist.

Hope was back in her seat, with a red crystal feather in her hands, and a devastating, forbidden tangle in her heart.