“About time you showed up, granddaughter of Fate,” he said cryptically, gently removing Fia from my stunned arms and placing her with utmost care inthe sling. She gurgled happily, instantly reaching for the bottle and sucking greedily.
“You’ll take care of her? Keep her safe?” I asked, suddenly nervous to leave her.
“With my life,” he promised solemnly, his normally smiling face suddenly serious.
I nodded jerkily, adjusting the pack on my shoulders.
“Go now, Child of Fate. Time is of the essence. You are almost there. The end is near, and you must be part of it.” His words were grave, causing my heart to skip erratically.
“Take care. May Fate bless and keep you,” I mumbled, turning to leave.
“Same to you, Rune Master,” Felix returned as the door shut behind me.
Chapter Ninety-Nine
The Acolyte
The baby’s chest rose and fell rapidly against my own, her little pale fist clutching my tunic as she slept. Impossibly long lashes brushed large cheeks that were squished adorably from her sleeping position. I smiled down at her, petting her cheek gently.
In one hand, I supported the little bundle pressed against my chest. In the other, I clutched a bag full of the things we’d need for the coming days.
We all had our purposes, our roles, in the upcoming fight. This . . . this was mine. I’d been shown this future decades ago and woke this morning to a thundering heart and an inherent knowing that destiny was to be fulfilled.
I whistled a quiet tune—one my mother used to sing to me as a babe—to keep the little one asleep as I slowly descended into the underbelly of the Academy. It grew colder and damper the farther I traveled, the black stone steps glittering both with their inherent properties and from the water that dangerously slicked the stairs.
Down farther we traveled, past the known levels of the Academy to secrets buried deep; ones many would prefer to leave untouched and undiscovered.
I unlocked an unassuming door on the lowest level, the chill of the air biting through my tunic. Thankfully, I’d remembered to wrap Fia in a warmer blanket before placing her in my sling once more.
Never ceasing my whistling, I unlocked a second door, letting us into the foul dungeons where Lord d’Refan kept his most heinous criminals. By the scent that permeated the space, many of them were dead or dying. Clearly, this area of the Academy wasn’t a priority for our current leadership.
My boots splashed in puddles created from an incessant dripping in the ceiling. There were a few Mage Orbs on the walls that barely lit the space, and I reached into my pocket to procure my own. One that lit the entire dark, dank space. While I’d rather not see what was contained in the cages, it was better than tripping over something unexpectedly and sending the child flying.
Especially since no one knew our location—our presence needed to be kept a secret otherwise we would perish along with everyone else left in the Academy.
I passed a few smaller cages holding bodies in various states of decomposition. I felt nothing in my heart but contempt for these corpses; they were the worst of the worst in Vespera—child rapists and traffickers, assaulters and general lowlifes.
What was held in the second set of cages, however, was of great interest.
A rotten smell preceded the cages in this second section, the former Lord and Lady d’Aelius’ corpses bloated and decomposing. Sirak—the former Academy librarian and personal torture master for Lord d’Refan—sat huddled in the back of his cage, unmoving and unspeaking. If he was alive, he wouldn’t be for much longer.
Good, I thought savagely. I rarely wished ill on others—it was beneath an Acolyte of Fate—but that man’s soul was as rotten as the corpses in the adjacent cages.
The squeak and shuffle of rats echoed in the silent chamber as they scuttled away from my light. I clutched Fia tighter to my chest in hopes she couldn’t detect the foul odor.
A few taps and a pulled hidden level later, I was welcomed to my little haven with the warmth of a fire and the scent of freshly baked bread.
There was a small crib in the corner and a cot for me next to it, a sofa and small table rounding out the rest of the space.
It wasn’t much, but it was safe. And it would suffice until the Children of Fate returned.
Chapter One Hundred
Sasori
Alight breeze tumbled the loose strands of hair that had worked their way from my tight braid around my head, swirling like leaves in the fall. It was as if they were trying to take flight and free themselves, not just from the confines of my hairdo, but from the inevitability we steadily marched toward.
The sound of a thousand horse’s hooves clomping through the grass, softened by spring rain and early morning sun accompanied the creak of leather as saddles moved and Mages adjusted. It all felt wrong—the lack of birdsong or animals scurrying through the underbrush as we passed, the absence of song and speech from the Mages and soldiers, the deep-seated feeling in my gut that we were marching toward something we could never return from.
