Page 131 of Traitor Witch

The three of us were always at odds. I often used to wonder how we made it through all those years without killing each other.

"There was more pressure to get along with everyone," I muse.

"True."

We lapse into silence for a second, but I have too many questions to keep my mouth shut for long.

"The Lady Lunar," I begin, "Why is she...?"So old, I want to say but I can't seem to find a way to put it kindly.

Reva arches a brow, understanding my meaning anyway. "She didn't tell you? The Goddess is calling her home."

I shook my head. "I've never even heard of that happening."

"It's not a common thing," Reva admits. "Most of us are killed before we reach that point. She's several thousand years old. It's her time to join the stars."

I nod. "She doesn't have the attitude of someone preparing to depart this world."

Reva snorts. "That's how Shadowsare. The Goddess stuffs all her stubbornness, chaos, and loyalty into you guys. Petra still has one mission left. She's not about to give up and die quietly until she's finished."

I frown, not certain if that's meant to be a compliment or not.

"So she's a Shadow and High Priestess?"

"Technically Petra retired from being a Shadow centuries ago," Reva says, frowning. "She was called to be a High Priestess in Ilyani. When she tried to refuse, the Goddess said she would disband the coven."

"There were no other successors?"

"No. But a new Shadow was born fairly swiftly, and Petraseemed to settle into the role okay for the first few decades. Then, shortly after the carnage that the wraiths brought with their arrival, the Goddess began sending Shadow after Shadow against the Eagle... Petra watched her old student and her student's student die, then tried to go after the Queen with her own harem, against the wishes of the Goddess."

"What happened?"

"They lost." Reva's grimace tells me it was worse than just losing, but I don't interrupt. "Petra was gravely wounded and her harem managed to get her away. When she returned to Ilyani, the Goddess began to unravel her immortality to stop her from charging off again and leaving no one to train the next shadows.

"Petra sent five more Shadows to their deaths before her harem snuck away in the dead of night. They couldn't watch how much it broke her to bond with a new student, hope and pray for their survival, and then receive news of a new body hanging from Cawshome's wall. They left to try their luck against the Eagle without telling her, and they were slaughtered and sent back in pieces."

"Sweet Lady Moonlight, that's bad." As the words leave my lips, I know that's the understatement of the century.

Reva nods, but says nothing. We lapse into a long silence, both of us consumed by our own thoughts.

I can't imagine being forced to watch as so many of my loved ones went up against the Queen and simply never returned. When Glenna died, I searched for vengeance. It wasn't a noble goal, or even a very good one, but it was something to do rather than wallow in my own grief.

Petra was denied that.

No wonder she isn't exactly eager to welcome me with open arms. To her, I'm probably just another lamb to the slaughter.

We reach a particularly steep flight of stairs and I take the opportunity to scan the horizon for ships.

Nothing.

No sign of theDeadwood. Something in my chest pangs uncomfortably but I quash it.

Reva doesn't notice my distraction. She keeps up a running history of Sanctum as we descend, following the echoes of chatter.

"When the Goddess kept sending her shadows to Petra, asking her to train them and send them against Queen Catherine, it made the Lunar coven in Ilyani a target. The Queen's men encouraged the anti-witch mages there until it started to have negative effects on the Solars. Even when there were no Shadows left, they kept it up. To the point where Solars were being attacked in the streets for being associated with us."

I grimace, remembering the state of the Solar temple and how Elsie was treated. "They're not much better off now."

"Petra abandoned the temple at Ilyani and led the coven here along with a few Solars who wanted to leave. She hoped it would convince the Queen to let the remaining Solars live in peace, but..."