Page 68 of They Call Me Blue

JULIAN

“I can see why Giara hid her. Arden is a gifted soldier—one of the best in my unit—and I’d be remiss to let her go.

Furthermore, it is against Starra’lee policy to willingly place an undeveloped elf in Kariss, spy work or no.

She will remain with me until she’s reached her Age of Majority, and in the meantime, you can tell Elder Risha to kindly fuck off. ”

—Julian of the Drift, Starra’lee Squad Leader

Personal Correspondence to General Ustas.

R aucous laughter pours from the dining hall as we celebrate the return of Arden, Cheevy, and Giara, their new friend quiet beside them.

I slip out the canvas flap covering the entryway before anyone in the gathered crowd can spot me.

Tonight, they deserve to have their fun.

Tomorrow, I’ll find a way to punish them for defying orders.

Right now, I have better things to do with my time.

Down and down, I descend, past the barracks and the armory, to the rickety metal ladder that leads to the Korring-Marr. It’s been almost two years since I willingly stepped foot in the High Priestess Supreme’s domain, but it’s time. She fucked with my unit and a reckoning is at hand.

The ladder’s metal rungs thrum beneath my thick leather boots. I jump off them and crawl into the hole that leads to our Great Tree. Like always, the Korring-Marr hums its soothing melody, but I can’t be lured into a false sense of peace. Not tonight.

Priests, priestesses, and their apprentices gather around steaming water pools, dressed in their nondescript black cloaks, the hoods up to protect their identities.

I elbow past them to one of the Korring-Marr’s nine trunks, where Torvin, Elder Risha, and Nirissa sit at the edges of a murky green water pool, nutrients and muck burbling near the top.

Torvin’s been hiding down here for weeks, ever since I found out about his little stunt and kicked him out of my squad. Dressed in black apprentice robes, he’s clearly found a new home here. The snake stands when he sees me, dusting off his clothing.

“Julian—”

“It didn’t work,” I say, folding my arms over my chest.

Elder Risha clears her throat and inclines her head toward Nirissa, who hangs her feet into the water, kicking at the surface. Doll in hand, she ignores us, walking it across the glossy obsidian floor. “Not in front of the child,” Risha says.

If Nirissa knew what her mentor tried to do, I have no doubt she’d never speak to her again.

But my tongue is tied by orders from the higher-ups.

I’m not to interfere in the High Priestess Supreme’s affairs, and I’m not to punish Torvin for obeying her orders.

I grit my teeth and take a deep breath, trying to cool my rising temper.

Then, I beckon them away from the child and lower my voice. “It didn’t work,” I repeat.

Green glowflies blink around us, illuminating the cave as the apprentices carry out their daily chores—taking water samples, reading books, chanting.

The Korring-Marr’s opalescent glow reaches all the way to the cavern’s borders, where canvas flaps hide study rooms that are off-limits to anyone not under Elder Risha’s command.

The High Priestess Supreme takes me in, checking me from toe to head like we’re preparing for combat. Narrowing her eyes, she tilts her long, birdlike nose up at me. “What didn’t work?”

“Your plan. Arden destroyed the mine, and now she’s home.”

Beside her, the snake’s eyes bug like saucers—as they should.

I can barely control Arden on the best of days, and I have no interest in getting between her and her revenge—not when his petty scheme would have seen her raped and tortured at Azerin’s command.

I hope she rips the bastard apart, leadership and rank be damned.

“I spoke to General Ustas,” I add. “He has agreed that she is not to be used for spy work now or in the future. After what she’s done, sacrificing her would destroy soldier morale. Your plan backfired.”

Elder Risha purses her lips in displeasure, but the expression is short-lived. “We’ll see.”

On tiptoes, she all but glides back to the glowing Tree and bends before Arden’s sister. “Nirissa, could you please step into the pool? I need to see something.”

Nirissa beams up at her, setting the doll aside. “Okay!”

She strips the black robes from her back and slides into the water, dressed in cotton fabrics Arden stole off a dead Hunter.

As she reaches for the Korring-Marr’s submerged roots, she closes her eyes and chants in a language that sounds just as snakelike as the priests and priestesses are.

The roots glow brighter, and Nirissa shoves her head below the water’s surface, past the mucky film that covers the top.

The still water ripples and images flash across it—too fast for me to see, but not for Elder Risha, who’s spent her life watching them.

I catch a bitten blue palm, a cave covered in red glowflies, cheering arena spectators, and eyes as opalescent as the Korring-Marr blinking up at us.

A moment later, Nirissa bursts through the surface, hacking up water.

As she scrabbles onto the obsidian, a feline grin creeps across Elder Risha’s face.

“Torvin, escort Nirissa to her quarters so she can dry off.”

The snake nods, helping wrap Nirissa in her black robes.

But they don’t head upstairs to the room she used to share with Arden.

They walk behind the forbidden canvas flaps.

In her sister’s absence, she stopped sleeping in the tunnels, and I suspect she never will again.

Now that Risha has her hooks in her, it’ll be all but impossible to rip them apart.

“Aren’t you going to tell her Arden’s home?” I ask, staring at the room they exited from.

“There’s no need,” Risha says, tucking a flyaway hair back into her bun. “She’ll be gone soon enough. The Korring-Marr told me.”

My nose crinkles in revulsion. “And what exactly did the Korring-Marr say?”

“Did leadership ever tell you why Clara left? They told Giara.” My brows furrow.

They did not, which she must surmise from my face because Elder Risha continues.

“Two hundred years ago, the Korring-Marr gave Clara and me a vision. A blue elf would herald the creation of a new god. We didn’t know how—the images were fuzzy back then—but we got started on manipulating it into place. ”

She leans against the Great Tree and places her palm atop it, shivering as she does so.

Her black robes are more sheer than the others—layered and flowing—and in the light, it’s almost ethereal.

“Azerin had slaughtered all the blue elves, so we tracked down those with latent genes and convinced them to breed. Clara was so committed to the cause, she agreed to it as well. By the time she got pregnant, the visions became clearer. The blue elf would need to be in Kariss and they’d need to be given up as a pet.

” Her hand tightens into a ball. “When Clara realized that, she and her lover took off.”

“It was never about spy work,” I say.

She snorts. “No. It’s more important than that.”

“And you still don’t know how this new god comes to be.”

“I know enough.” She presses her lips to the Tree and kisses it.

“I’ve seen Arden’s bite in the vision. I’ve seen her stuck in the mining tunnels as she reached her Age of Majority.

I’ve seen her become that Hunter’s pleasure slave.

What’s been set into motion cannot be taken back.

Arden will be caught and returned to Kariss, no matter what steps you or her friends may take to protect her. My work here is done.”

“You’re a bunch of religious fanatics,” I hiss. “The Korring-Marr speaks in riddles. This is all guesswork. Arden’s real .”

The High Priestess Supreme merely shrugs. “One girl isn’t worth the fate of our people. I only wish leadership had allowed me to pursue it sooner, before she reached her Age of Majority. I could have trained her for the role.”

For the role of spy? Or Lyrick’s pet?

I don’t want to know the answer. It makes me squeamish thinking about it.

“Arden’s stronger than you give her credit for,” I defend. “She won’t let herself be taken.”

“She won’t have a choice. After what she’s done to Lyrick, she’ll never be free.”