“Can you use them?”
Slowly, I shake my head. Pause. “I don’t know. But I very much doubt it. The last time I tried, I only lifted a few feet.”
A few feet of air beneath me if that, before the pain becomes too much. Boralas knew what he was doing when he pinned me down and had his seamstress work on me with copper thread.
“It hurts.” Not a question. An observation. She would know, since we have the same limitation. Copper works on Caelumnaijust as effectively as faeytes, so she moves on. “Can you truly read fates? Could you read mine?”
I pause at that. “I don’t do that.”
“That’s not what I asked.” A small furrow appears between her brows. “You won’t—you won’t just do it? Randomly?”
Interesting. “You wouldn’t want to know? Most thought it a privilege.”
Or they used to. Inritus or Caelumnai, many would travel to Asteria to have their fate read. Some thought it a rite of passage, to face the shadows and know what the gods had in store for them.
But she shakes her head. A grimace tightens her mouth. “Gods, no. I’d spend the rest of my life waiting for the end of it, knowing it was coming.”
Those who follow Caelum and Hala’s passage through the sky, who observe the rites and ceremonies, would disagree. “You’re not a believer, then. Despite your maegis.”
Bestowed by Caelum himself. Handed down to his most ardent followers during the creation, and through the generations that followed.
Esme purses her lips. “Any god who watches their people suffering and does nothing is not one that deserves my respect.”
My fingers twist at my sides, and she grins, her eyes flicking down to watch in amusement. “I’ve horrified you.”
The movement is instinctive, by now. Three flicks of my finger, my middle finger against my thumb, to push away the words. “Hardly anyone in Terrosa follows the old ways anymore. And to answer your question, no. I would never read a fate without permission. In any case, the copper prevents it.”
If I even possess the ability at all.
The amusement slips away as she eyes the shackle around my ankle before looking away. “I’ll unbind your wings, if you like.”
It’s a kindness. An unexpected one. “Why would you do that?”
She studies me intently. “You didn’t ask to be here.”
Gods damn it. I don’t want to lie to her. “I was trying to get on board, but someone found me first. It seems we were of similar minds.”
Her lips part. “Someone on this ship? One of us?”
I lift one shoulder, raising the spoon to my mouth. “I do not know.”
I glance at the door, but there’s no sign of Callan. “Will you be punished for this?”
She snorts softly. “I’d like to see Callan try. No. You’ll find we’re not overly formal.”
Frowning, I study the bowl and rake through old memories of, ignoring the tinge of pain at the faces that accompany them.
All in Boreas who reached their majority and were gifted with maegis were recruited into a military structure for several years, assessed and trained before being released back into society. “I assumed the opposite, actually. Don’t you force your children into service?”
A shadow crosses Esme’s face. “There are very few children left.”
“Esme.” A snappish voice has her immediately straightening, a flush across her cheeks as she glances to the door despite her bravado of only a moment earlier. My back stiffens, my heart thumping faster as Esme scrambles off the bed.
“She was bringing me breakfast.” I address my words to Callan where he leans against the doorway. A slight frown rests between his eyes as he glances between us. “She was just leaving.”
The frown shifts, melting into a slight smile I don’t understand. “Was she now? She looked to me like she was very comfortable lounging on the bed, when there’s work to be done.”
Esme rolls her eyes. Tension bleeds from my body as she strides past, checking him with her elbow. “Someof us had toshare a room with Rio and Sol last night. Both of them snore. I don’t know how Matthias copes. Or you, come to think of it. I can just about cope with one, butboth?”
