“Just not the whole truth.” Her friend knew her too well.
“The man we’re fighting isn’t entirely… human.”
“What is he then?” Ellene was a mix of horrified and excited. The latter worried Vi slightly.
“He’s a monster, from far away—across the sea.”
“Like the Crescent Continent?” Ellene asked.
“Like that… Yes.” It was a miracle Andru had believed her. Vi didn’t want to push her luck with her friends by going too far into the details.How could she tell them the world was ending?“Andru is helping me investigate how such a creature may have arrived.”
“I’ll ask my mother, see if she knows anything,” Ellene offered. Vi was certain Sehra had already been consulted. But she knew her friend merely wanted to be of help. “And Darrus, he may have heard something in the city.”
“Don’t spread word of our investigation too far,” Vi cautioned, thrumming her fingers on the table. “We don’t want to alert my attacker to our movements… or Jax or my tutors—they’ll tell us not to worry over such things and put me under even tighter scrutiny for fear I’ll be reckless.”
“But youarereckless,” Jayme muttered.
Andru gave a snort of amusement at her final sentiment. Jayme and Ellene both turned their heads in shock at the noise. He coughed, looking away.
“That sounded like something Romulin would say, is all…” he mumbled.
“So we’re all in on this, then,” Jayme said finally, slowly, her eyes on Andru.
“Yes. All of us,” Vi affirmed. They would see Andru was a friend soon enough. She had to have faith in that. “Thank you all for it.”
“It’s what we’re here for.” Ellene squeezed her hand. “And in the meantime, when we need a break, we can focus on winter solstice activities!”
Vi gave a small nod and smile. She felt marginally better getting everyone on the same page. Even if they might not be able to do much, having some path forward was enough, for now.
Tomorrow, and every day between now and the solstice, she would be working with Taavin.
If she was truly going to survive the threat of an elfin’ra, he would be the one to equip her with the knowledge on how to do it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Vi waswith Taavin whenever she could find a moment alone, which was more often than she would have expected.
They spent time working on her technique. He guided her through finger placement, and how he formed the glyphs in his mind. Vi watched his hands, skilled and effortless, as they moved through the air. She listened to his words so carefully that they resonated in her sleep.
For the first time, it was as if she had a real magic tutor who knew what to do with her.
When Vi wasn’t with Taavin, she spent the hours scouring her maps and notes for the location of “Eye-owe.” And when that ultimately yielded no results, she sought out Andru, Ellene, Jayme, or all three. The ladies still expressed skepticism about Andru in private, but they made a good-faith effort to give him a decent chance. Vi took it as a good sign when Ellene felt comfortable enough to open up about the fact that she hadfinallyagreed to dance with Darrus.
On the morning of the winter solstice, Vi woke early.
It was still dark when she got out of bed. The world had become chilly in the mornings and the floor was icy on her feet. But she knew it would warm significantly as soon as the sun crested the horizon.
Vi dressed in the clothes the tailors had made special for the occasion. Her Southern tailors had insisted that she should be in a dress befitting the Crown Princess on a ceremonial occasion. Vi knew she had to look the part, but she also enjoyed the winter solstice and wanted to be able to participate in the festivities. She’d won everyone over by pointing out that while it was important to pay homage to her Southern roots, she should also show respect to her Northern hosts.
What was crafted was a compromise of the two fashion sensibilities.
On top, she wore a golden shirt fitted to her torso with a tall, wide neck. The shirt split at her hips into a front and back piece that draped down to below her knees, reminiscent of the tabbards the Northern warriors wore. A tightly fitted white undershirt had long sleeves that reached a point over her hands, hooked to her middle fingers with small rings. Her legs were covered with a patchwork of lynx leather, tucked into knee-high boots.
Underneath it all, the watch was warm against her skin. She’d grown so accustomed to its weight that the idea of removing it now seemed virtually impossible. In her mind, it had become synonymous with the newfound confidence she was still working on building in her magic.
Around her wrist was a glowing glyph. Vi had learned how to make and sustainnarro hathso well that she could now slide it from her fingers to her wrist like a bracelet, that way she could move her hand with it staying in place. Which was good for a morning like this, when she couldn’t lose time.
“Juth,” Taavin said from over her shoulder.
