Page 25

A large news scroll was open, covering the top half of someone at a desk. The corner of the scroll flipped down, and Geovani’s white hair appeared, along with one peeking eye.

“Yes, well. Seeda is a lunatic most days,” Geovani agreed. She flicked the paper to fold it in half, then she placed it on her desk. “Why do you think I hide in here and pretend to read the news scrolls?” She flashed a smile at Ryn. “Welcome, Adassah.”

A loud crash lifted from the main room, and Geovani’s smile faltered. She released a sound in the back of her throat. “It’s like living in a menagerie. They’re all animals,” she muttered as she stood from her desk.

“So, lock Seeda in a cage.” Heva shrugged a shoulder.

Geovani snorted through a smirk and walked around to the door. “I imagine you’re here because you’ve chosen the First Temple as your charity, Adassah. Well done. Let’s get to work.”

Ryn raised a brow in surprise. Maybe the organizers had sent word ahead of time.

“We’ll start with a lesson,” Geovani preached as she led the way out of the office.

She cleared her throat and launched into it before Ryn was ready.

“Adriels were a devout people who once had a rich history of miracles, you know. But the miracles went dead for over a hundred years, and the Adriels were conquered by their enemies—the Weylins. After, we were held captive beneath the thumb of the Weylin royals and were no longer recognized as ‘people’ at all. Many of the original Adriels who survived the conquering did not conform to the Celestial Divinities religion of the Weylins, causing much persecution for our people.” Geovani pointed at a large mural on the wall of the wide room.

A battle took place in one corner, and groups of people were tied up in the other.

An old King with a white beard, dark eyes, and a frown stood above them all, holding a gold scepter.

“The Adriel history was forgotten after that, and the Adriel God was supposedly silent for nearly a hundred more years, making most scholars wonder if he’d ever really existed or if he was just a mythological character in old literature.

Because of this, naturally, the Adriel people either went into hiding, changed their religion, or forgot who they were.

Many Per-Siana dwelling Adriels eventually were swayed to rely on the Celestial Divinities, who spoke in wisdom through the Intelligentsia and guided the kingdom into prosperity. ”

Heva made a face and shook her head.

“Celestial Divinities are the reason Per-Siana has not yet been dragged into the great war beyond its borders.” Geovani smiled.

“At least, that’s how it’s taught in seminaries nowadays.

” She flung a hand through the air. “Even the Priesthood are forced to read only Intelligentsia-approved books and historical accounts that have been warped and played with. It’s all a battle for control.

If you keep pushing the same information down people’s throats long enough, they’ll start to believe it even if it’s a bunch of lies woven together. ”

Geovani dragged a large book off a shelf and carried it to a table.

Dust spat out when she dropped it, and Ryn coughed.

“But here—” Geovani flipped the book open “—we have the real records. If the Intelligentsia ever found out, they’d burn this whole place to the ground.

” She cackled a laugh. “But they think we’re a lazy, obsolete bunch, and not much of a threat.

” Her smile faded. She cut a glance over to the pew area where some of the priestesses had dozed off again.

“Unfortunately, they’re not wrong.” She spun to face Ryn and her smile returned. “But I’d like to become one. A threat.”

Ryn tapped her finger against her thigh. The first time she’d met Geovani, she thought the old woman was bizarre. But the white dragon had been an illusion. Geovani had been right about the harp too.

“How do we become a threat to the Intelligentsia? How do we fight gods?” Ryn asked.

“False gods,” Geovani corrected, then tapped the open book with her knuckle. “And to fight them, we must spend time in the presence of El to grow our light. Then we study.” After a second, she added, “Or, sometimes we sing.”

Ryn cast Heva a doubtful look to see if Geovani was being serious.

“I don’t study,” she said. “Even when my cousin brought home his Priesthood work, I didn’t study.

He read it aloud to me to pass the time.

” She didn’t have to mention that singing was also an outrageous idea to fight gods.

She could only imagine how horrifying it would be to come face-to-face with the shadows again and expect to survive by singing at them.

In fact, this whole approach was different than anything Kai had taught her. None of the priests at his temple had suggested these methods to go to war. Instead…

Kai had only suggested murder.

“Ladies!” Geovani snapped toward the pews. Two priestesses’ heads poked up. “Get the others. We’re going to read through as many chapters of this book as we can before dusk. And we’re going to ask our god—God of the Adriels—to give us great insights while we do.”

Heva dragged over two chairs and slumped into one. Ryn sat in the other.

“In the beginning…” As soon as Geovani began reciting the passage, colour filled Ryn’s vision, and she gasped.

In her mind’s eye, she watched a great war in the heavens.

She saw the Divinities be cast down from the sky.

She saw them rise above humans as gods and give themselves positions over Per-Siana and the surrounding kingdoms.

She saw how bitter they were. How much they resented the God Original for defeating them, and how much they hated the Adriel people—how much they hated all people.

She saw these dark gods chasing after Adriels, influencing minds to hurt them, to hunt them even.

Not seven—thousands, if not millions of Celestial Divinities, hiding behind pictures of beauty, persecuting El’s people and serving words of knowledge to the Intelligentsia who interpreted their false ‘goodness’ and provided guidance. It was a constant battle.

Only when the blue daylight began sinking to purple over the city did Ryn and Heva come outside to find all six Folke guards sleeping.

Heva thought they should leave the men behind, but Ryn shook them each awake.

Her mind spun with stories and a secret forgotten history as they set off for the palace.

The sun threatened to disappear behind the mountains, leaving the distant sky layered with bright orange and silky violet. The palace shone in the evening light, casting rainbows along the ground and making the city glow.

The Navy Road bustled with women in sweeping gowns and men in silk coats drawn in glass carriages.

Magic speckled the air in glowing buds, and songs seeped from nearby revelries.

It was strange to be around so many people.

It was strange to be outside at all. From beneath her hood, Ryn studied faces, wondering why she’d avoided this area all her life when the road didn’t seem that frightening anymore.

Her stomach growled. She longed for the trays of food and sweets that were delivered to her chambers on a silver cart.

A silver cart…

Ryn shook her head at herself, wondering how she could think such a thing.

She hadn’t been in the palace that long.

Was she really getting used to things there?

She stole a glance down the Navy Road at the Priesthood Temple and its domed gold roof.

She wondered if Kai was in there right now.

She wondered if he was sleeping well, if he was eating.

“Help!” a coarse voice called over the street.

Ryn slowed her walk, spotting a young man in a blindfold sitting at the roadside. His thin arms shook when he lifted them, his hands grasping at air. “Is he blind?” she asked no one in particular.

“Ignore him. He sits there all the time yelling at people,” Heva said. “I think he’s a beggar.”

“Ah…” Ryn nodded. The streets were busy at this hour; steed-drawn carriages passing each other and Per-Siana citizens pushing by. She watched the blind man try to stop each person he heard pass. She watched him reach out his hand, never finding anyone to take it.

She took it.

Ryn wasn’t sure why she did, but when her warm hand clasped around his cold one, the man went quiet. His mouth moved like he’d practiced what to say, but now that someone was there, he couldn’t find the words.

“Do you want to see what a real warrior looks like?”

Ryn dropped to a knee, holding tight to the man’s hand. “What’s your name?” she asked him.

“Ryn!” Heva called when she realized.

“What, by the Divinities, is she doing ?” one of the Folke guards asked. “She’s a Heartstealer. This is shameful!”

Someone else behind Ryn gasped. “A Heartstealer?”

Ryn glanced up and instantly realized the mistake in revealing her face when people began slapping their hands over their mouths and whispering as they stared at her. A woman pointed toward the palace, and Ryn’s gaze flickered that way.

A new banner hung before the white wall that hadn’t been there when Ryn had first crossed through the gate. The rest of the Heartstealers were depicted on expensive, rippling fabric alongside the Intelligentsia, but now— now there was one more.

Ryn’s eyes widened when she took in the image of herself at the same time as everyone in the street: the tall, cascading picture of her in Marcan’s mosaic dress with her dark hair gliding down her back, her lips stained red, and her shoulders back like she owned the world.

“It’s her! She’s the new Heartstealer!” someone shouted.

Ryn almost dropped the beggar’s hand and fled, but the man answered her question, “My name is Candello.”

“What if you stay?” El suggested gently. “ What if you abandon your fear so this man can see again?”

“Why should I?” Ryn whispered. And how exactly did El think this man would be able to see again?