Page 63 of Stars Above the Never Sea (The Last Faeyte #1)

Chapter thirty-nine

Selene

W e walk in silence. Petyr’s fiancée strolls beside me as if she was not just standing on a stage, about to brand a young girl’s face. “I suppose you think I'm a monster,” she says evenly.

“Would you blame me?” Beside her cleanliness, I feel filthy. I ran from the house without stopping to wash, and I crave a bath. I focus on that thought, trying to stave off the anger that pulled the shadows from me.

I would have killed them all, without thought.

“She was little more than a child, and yet you would have scarred her. What reason could there possibly be to justify that? To justify any of it? A military in a land that cannot be left is little more than a whim. The lives of the people here are worth more than a whim.”

Wendlyn’s footsteps are delicate, the slippers on her feet no match for my own bare toes as I slow my pace for her to keep up.

She offers a small smile of thanks, and I do not return it.

“These are dark times. Petyr faces the task of keeping his people alive. Not only alive, but to give them a purpose.”

“They can choose a purpose for themselves.” We cross the bridge leading to the castle, but Wendlyn does not walk toward the gates where the steps lead to the great hall entrance. She veers off instead, delicate steps heading toward a side path. “Where are we going?”

“I had thought to walk around the outer walls.” She pauses to glance back at me. “We can go inside, if you would prefer. But this way leads to the compound, if you have any interest in seeing it. The path loops back around—it’s a pleasant enough walk.”

Curiosity stirs. “Show me.”

As we stroll, I glance down. She’s shorter than I by several inches, and I glance over the marks on her arms. Bruises. Cuts. Others are covered with linen strips. My lips tighten. “Do you truly believe Petyr is a good man?”

She follows my gaze. The smile she seems to wear constantly, small and unthreatening, grows.

“He doesn’t hurt me, if that’s what you’re suggesting.

I believe he is passionate and driven. He barely sleeps, seeking a solution that will keep us safe.

Thriving, even. He tells me often how important it is that the legacy he inherited survives. ”

I eye the marks again. It’s not the first time I’ve seen how those in power feel the need to demonstrate it against those who cannot fight back. “How did you come to be engaged?”

We walk through an arched display of what I assume would once have been flowers. Now, we duck beneath blackened, crumbling lichen. My feet crunch against it on the path, and I grimace at the sludge that seeps from it, sticking to my skin.

“We were betrothed as children.” Her lips purse as she raises her dress to stop it dragging through the moss.

“My father held much territory in Boreas, and the engagement made sense to Petyr’s father.

I travelled with Petyr on the boat from Boreas.

We were the only non-military ship to make it through, but my parents did not survive.

Thankfully, Petyr honored the engagement. ”

“So it was not a love match.” The words slip out. “I apologize. That was rude.”

“Not at first.” She sounds amused. “But it grew. For me, at least. I am often told what a devoted fiancée I am. He needs someone in his corner, Selene.”

I wonder if Petyr feels the same. “Why did you wish to speak with me?”

She stumbles, and my hand lands on her arm to steady her. Wendlyn’s fingers settle over mine, “Thank you.”

She does not pull it away. Her hand is warm.

My voice sharpens. “Remove your hand.”

She lifts it immediately, holding up her palms. “It is my turn to apologize. I was curious.”

I take a step back. Reaching for the shadows, reassured when they immediately respond. “About what, precisely?”

She eyes the darkness building in my palms, but turns her back and continues walking. “Do you know what I can do?”

“You’re a peristi. You create things from their base form.” I follow, keeping a slight distance between us. The shadows remain in my hands.

“We do like to force ourselves into these boxes.” She sighs.

“That is true. But I can use my maegis to amplify . I take what already exists, and I can increase it. With my touch, a tier one vis could reach the fourth level, at least temporarily. It is why Petyr uses me for the Reaping. I can sense power levels.”

“I have never heard of such a thing.”

Her gaze slips back to me. “Just because you have not heard of it does not make it an impossibility.”

She stops at the top of the path, where packed mud turns to cobblestone beneath my feet. Her hand lifts, one delicately carved fingernail pointing. “That is the compound.”

I join her, still wary as my eyes sweep ahead. “The Caelumnai do love their walls.”

This wall is taller than any I have seen.

Taller even than the wall of adralite that surrounds the temple, this one built with layers of stone.

In front of us, the path keeps an unnaturally straight line ahead.

On one side are the temple walls, the soft, shimmering adralite familiar.

A few meters separate it from the new wall on the opposite side, an ugly gray structure that reaches further than my eyes can see. “Where is the entrance?”

“Further down, but you’ll find it difficult to see. It opens only from the inside,” Wendlyn says. “A security measure. There is a tower, where guards oversee who enters and exits.”

The tall wooden structure sits just inside the walls. Figures in familiar metal watch us, others scanning the area hidden behind.

Frowning, I stare at it, my confusion growing. “Where is the noise?”

One slim red brow arches. “What do you mean?”

I step forward. “There should be… it doesn’t matter.”

We begin walking. No matter how hard I listen, the only noise that reaches me is the whistle of the breeze. It rumples my wings, tosses my hair around my face as my hastily-created braid unravels.

But from those gray walls, there is only silence.

Wendlyn sighs as we move out of sight, the path sloping down once more to take us back around in a circle to the gates. “Thank you for your company. I will admit that life here can be isolating. Most times, I seem to have only Petyr for company. Or the Metallurgist, occasionally.”

“What’s his name?” I step over another patch of dry lichen that long ago strangled a patch of weeds beneath my feet. “He did not say.”

“Because he does not remember.” Her lips offer a bloodless smile at my shock.

“He had a name, once, or so Petyr says. But his thirst for knowledge was greater than his sense of self-preservation. He continued casting in his need to learn more, to test the metal he is gifted with. He stopped remembering his name several years ago, and so we do not bring it up, for any mention of his past disturbs him. There is no escaping the pretium, Selene, not for any of us. He can cast—and does, often—for he has already paid the price. He has no memories beyond that of the maegis.”

I study her. “And you? What memories have you lost?”

“Not as many as you might think. Petyr and I have been close since childhood. He is very adept at filling in any gaps.”

But that’s not the same thing. I hold my tongue.

She stops at the gates. My body tenses, and I force myself not to look up as she speaks. “I will retire, I think. I get tired easily.”

The deep circles beneath her eyes testify to her exhaustion, and I nod. “Of course.”

As she turns, carefully climbing the steps, I call out to her. “What did you find? When you read me?”

Wendlyn stops, and turns. Her head dips. “Forgive me. I was curious about whether my maegis also applied to faeytes. But it does not. I saw nothing.”

I wait for her to slowly make her way up the steps and disappear through the doors at the top, before turning back toward the town. It stretches out in the distance, the ever-present void of the Sea of Stars beyond it like a curtain. My eyes flick to the side, waiting.

The male that steps into sight has me arching a brow. “You’re not nearly as subtle as you think.”

Callan grins, but there’s no amusement in it. Only tiredness, and a softness to his gaze that he offers as his eyes rake over me, as though checking for injury when I know full well he was behind us the entire time. “Maybe I cannot seem to stay away from you. That was interesting.”

“It was.” He falls into step beside me as we climb the steps. “Why does no sound come from the compound? It’s unnatural. Is it some use of maegis?”

He stops. Stares at me. “What do you mean?”

I shake my head. “I heard no soldiers. No clash of metal. No talking. Nothing at all, Callan. Did you not know?”

“I haven’t walked that path for months. It’s one of those places you avoid unless you need to go, and I hope to never set foot inside.

” He’s frowning deeply. “The last time I did walk past, there was plenty of noise. Today I was focused on you. Perhaps they’re running an exercise.

I’ll look into it. Truthfully, I was distracted. ”

I stay close to him, my voice barely a murmur. “There is something happening here.”

Something deeper than trying to fix the Never. Something I cannot put my finger on. “There is darkness here, Callan. Can you sense it?”

It presses down on me, dragging me down. The closer we get to the castle, the worse it gets, until I’m certain I’m not imagining it. “This place feels like gods-cursed ground to me now.”

“I’m not surprised.” Callan waves off the guard who steps forward and opens the door for us.

His voice is low enough for us not to be overheard as we step through.

“I had thought we might go to the temple this afternoon and search for the scrolls, if you wish to. Merrick has invited us for dinner. I promise that he’s a much better host than Petyr. ”

His voice sharpens at the mention of his brother. My fingers twist into my dress. “I’ll need to bathe. Will we stay at the house again, after? Or here?”

“Do you have a preference?” His arm brushes mine, and I almost forget to breathe as the thoughts rush over me.

“Yes,” I whisper. “A very strong preference, in fact.”

He clicks his tongue. He looks disappointed. “I’ll let Esme know you’ll be back, then.”

My lips part in shock, but then his lips twitch, and my heart leaps. Shaking my head, I turn away to hide my own smile.

It fades as I catch sight of purple eyes, staring at us. The Metallurgist drags his gaze slowly over me, over Callan, examining the two of us as if we’re an experiment from the shadows between the pillars to our right. When he sees me looking back at him, he nods, a small smile on his lips.

I step back, nearly hitting Callan with my wings. He slips his fingers around mine. “I’ll take you to your room.”

When I look back, there’s no sign of purple eyes anywhere.

But we are being watched.