The third book had information on the chronological history of Adela. She read this one more carefully than either of the first two. Eira’s back rested against the bookshelf as she leaned, quickly flipping the pages, searching for any clue. Her eyes snagged on a line and she read it several times over:
Adela has mothered no known children and, according to all best records and accounts, has no claimed heirs to the legacy of theStormfrost.
“Not that this really means anything.” Eira slowly shut the book. She had already assumed her name wouldn’t be in any of these tomes. Hoping otherwise had been foolish—almost as foolish as thinking she was actually Adela’s daughter. Eira stared at her hand, thinking of the trident she’d summoned on instinct. It had been because she was reading Adela’s journals. It wasn’t some instinct in her blood. Yet… She opened the book and found the page again, running her fingers over the dry ink. “Noknownchildren,” Eira murmured. “Could my magic really just be chance?”
Adela was the pirate queen—hunted and hated across seas and kingdoms. If she had given birth to a child, she wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know. A child would be a weakness that could be used against Adela. They would be heir to the greatest pirate ship that ever existed.
Eira glanced back at the shelf, replacing the book and grabbing the second she’d previously glossed over,Record of the Activity of the Pirate Queen. It was more of a ledger than a book, punctuated with maps and seafaring routes, and Eira stared at the dates as she did some quick math. The Larks, naturally, kept records using the calendar of Meru, not Solaris. Fortunately, figuring out her birth date on Meru’s calendar was one of the first things Eira had done for fun after realizing Meru had a slightly different way of tracking time.
Her finger hovered on a date that would correspond with about the year 350 on the Solaris calendar—Adela sighted in the barrier islands, heading southwest. That was five years before Eira was born. The next recorded sighting wasn’t until twenty years later.
Right around the time of her birth was a giant gaping hole in the history of Adela. “Headed southwest.” What did that mean? To the Republic of Qwint? To some of the southern barrier islands? Farther? Southwest from where? Depending on where the sighting was, it could’ve even meant Oparium.
“Spotted off the coast of Little Brother Bay,” Eira read aloud. “Where in the Mother’s name is that?” She began to flip back through the pages in search of the name on one of the maps listed when a shout promptly followed by a burst of flame distracted her.
“Eira!” Alyss cried.
The book tumbled from her hands and Eira slammed into the railing, leaning over to get a view of her friends. Noelle had placed herself between Alyss and a knife-wielding man. Fire sparked between her fingers, threatening to leap forth again. Their assailant cursed, stamping out the last remnants of flames from his sleeve.
“Alyss, behind you!” Eira shouted. Alyss turned too late. Eira threw out a hand and jagged spears of ice jutted out from the metal walkway, keeping a second attacker at bay. Eira’s pulse was racing. The two men were wearing Larks’ clothing. Had it been the man who helped them? Had it been one of the people who stared a little too long at them? Who was the Pillar in Larks’ clothing and how many more were there?
Moreover, why were they attacking Noelle and Alyss? Eira felt nauseous. She might have brought this on her friends by Alyss asking for the records. The Pillars might have seen them as getting too close to the truth and… Eira shook her head, interrupting the thoughts. There wasn’t time now to worry about the answers; they had to get moving.
Taking a breath and allowing the swell of her magic to rise to new heights, Eira pushed herself over the railing. Her feet met empty air, but only for a moment. A ramp of ice suspended between where she was and Alyss and Noelle. Eira slid down, landing between them.
“Showoff,” Noelle huffed, not taking her eyes off the man.
“Why are you doing this?” Alyss asked the woman who had been about to attack her. “Allan said we would be safe—”
“They’re not Larks.” Eira grabbed Alyss’s elbow and hissed in her ear. “We have to leave, now.”
The urgency in her voice seemed to shake Alyss from the trance the shock had placed over her. She nodded. Eira yanked her toward the railing.
“I’ve always hated cliff jumping,” Alyss growled and gave her a sidelong glance.
“You can tell me how much later.” Eira hooked her elbow with Noelle’s and said, “Trust me.”
“Trust you as far as—”
Noelle’s question was cut off by a scream as Eira pulled them both over the edge. It was too bad Cullen wasn’t with them. He could make pockets of air to ease their landing. Instead, stone sprang forth from the ground far below, reaching Alyss’s feet. One pillar retreated and another rose as Alyss leapt from platform to platform down.
Noelle’s and Eira’s pathway was less graceful. Holding tightly to her friend, Eira slid down a corkscrew of ice toward the ground, Noelle screaming in her ear the entire time. On the ground floor, they were met with a rush of Swords of Light, weapons brandished, Lightspinning shining.
“What’s the meaning of this?” a Sword barked at them.
Eira dismissed her magic as she stood, the ice turning to vapor. Alyss was busy wiggling her fingers, putting the mosaic back exactly as it had been before she’d disrupted it with her magic. If her friend hadn’t been so artistically inclined, they might have really left their mark on the Archives.
“We—” Eira was cut off.
“They’re stealing from the Archives!” one of the Pillars in Larks’ clothing shouted from over the railing. “Stop them!”
Eira cursed and waved a hand through the air. The air grew thick with water and magic as a cloud of dense fog filled the room. She grabbed her friends’ hands, yanking them forward.
“We’re not—”
“Don’t even try, Alyss.” Eira was sprinting. “We have to get out.”
“The Swords will help us!” Even as Alyss countered her, she kept running, thank the Mother.
