Damn it, she was blushing. Her cheeks blazed. “I was… in another world.” She giggled awkwardly. “I’ve been reading about Tavyss’s childhood. Did you know he was pit champion four years in a row?”
Colin snorted. “I’m sure that was every year he competed. The eldest heir always wins.”
“Always?”
“Anyone who beats him in a match gets pummeled outside the ring. Xavier beat Marius once, and I think our father snapped his wing. We heal quickly, but it still hurts.”
“That isn’t in the scrolls.”
“I guess there’s only so much you can see from the outside.”
Leena couldn’t help but flash back to the scroll she’d been studying. What would all those positions feel like to a participant? Had the scribe responsible for the scroll tried them all? What would it feel like with Colin? He’d be gentle and considerate. He had such a kind heart for someone raised a warrior, someone who’d been hurt the way he had by his parents. How could something so good come from someone so evil?
“Leena? Are you sure you’re okay?”
She jolted. “Yes. Sorry, just distracted. I was thinking what a miracle it was that someone so good… Tavyss… came from the same parents as Eleanor.”
Colin rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s something I think about sometimes, how my siblings and I could come from that and all have turned out okay. I mean, none of us are megalomaniacs like her. I think it has to do with the lot of us learning how to lose. We all experienced what it was like to be bullied into submission against our brother Marius. Then seeing Brynhoff murder him. And afterward, what she did… She took everything from us, even one another. None of us would do that to someone else.”
His expression turned vacant, and Leena studied him, the absolute perfection of this man who had no goal but to do the right thing. If the Defenders of the Goddess won this war, he would not be king. He’d have no position at all. Yet he wanted nothing more than to fight his way out of a job.
“Why are you here?” Leena asked, suddenly realizing that they weren’t supposed to meet again until she found something.
“We have Nochtbend. I received a message this morning that the vampire kingdom has joined the resistance. I also had the pleasure of bumping into General Lore of the archers of Asfolk while I was in the falcon mews borrowing a bird to notify Sylas. The general and I have both been sending falcons all morning. He’s here to oversee the mining of the goddess’s tears for weapons.”
“He is?” Leena knew it was possible. There were scrolls on building bombs filled with tears, but she’d never witnessed the process. They’d never needed to use them in her lifetime.
“Yes. All able-bodied males in Rogos have been called up, Leena. Even the male scribes. They aren’t going to wait for the three sisters. That’s why I’m here. We have to find that crypt and a way to get that book, or we’ll be going to war without it.”
She sighed and looked at the massive pile of scrolls beside her. “I’ll do my best. But honestly, perhaps the best thing both of us can do is pray to the goddess. We need the three sisters. If there’s one thing I’ve learned today from studying these scrolls, it is that Eleanor is exceptionally evil. I’m convinced the only way to defeat her is with exceptional magic.”
Colin frowned but nodded. “Then we pray.”
Chapter Nineteen
Raven popped through Nathaniel’s portal, clinging to the hands of her sisters as they stumbled onto the steps of the Temple of the Sacred Pools. Sand crunched on the stone beneath her feet, the grit blowing across her toes and seeming to hang in the air around them. The dual suns of Ouros had set hours ago, and the desert was surprisingly cold. She crossed to Gabriel, who gathered her next to Charlie in his arms without a word. Her daughter reached out from her carrier and patted her cheek.
“Nathaniel, you’ve outdone yourself with this portal,” Raven said. “I felt the drag between here and Aeaea. I’m not sure I could have moved this many people.”
Nathaniel tamped out his pipe, his face glistening with sweat in the moonlight. “I don’t think I can do it twice, and I’d rather not try. Let’s hope the Quanling and Fratern are welcoming.”
Xavier made a deep grunt. “Welcoming to the sons of the enemy? We’ll be lucky if these scribes donna land our arses in a sacred pool.” He pointed toward the nearest glint of water in the sand beyond the temple.
Raven had seen what that water could do to a dragon when she’d met Colin. She hoped none of them would come in contact with it anytime soon.
“I just want a bed,” Avery said. “I still don’t know why this couldn’t wait until morning.”
“According to Sylas, the morning might be too late,” Gabriel said. “We need access to the enchanted scroll before Eleanor or her troops attack. There’s too much at stake to wait.”
Clarissa took a deep breath. “No time like the present, then.” She stepped forward and delivered three firm raps using the substantial metal knocker fastened to the front door.
A second later, a small door slid aside, and the partial face of a young male scribe appeared in the viewer. “The temple is closed to outsiders.”
“We’re looking for a scribe named Leena and the dragon who accompanies her, Colin. We have news from the Defenders of the Goddess.” Clarissa met Raven’s eyes. With one note, she could unlock the door with her voice, but both of them knew it was better to do this diplomatically.
The little door slid shut, and a quorum of voices, three male and one female, argued behind it. Raven couldn’t make out everything, but it sounded as if there was some disagreement about if they should be let in or not. Finally, there was a click, and the door swung open to reveal a lanky and stony-faced woman who pursed her lips in their direction.
“I am Marjory, Quanling of this temple. I wasnotinformed of your arrival.”
