I sighed and stopped to look at one of the paintings in the hallway.
“Because if I had asked you about it, I would have had to address the fact that you too might have felt unsure about me. And that was something I wasn’t prepared to do. Some things I just didn’t want an answer to.”
He nodded and admitted, “I guess that is why I never broached the subject with you either. But I want you to know that I trust you, the person that you are.”
I smiled, hopefully it actually reached my eyes. We were in front of my room and I knew it was time to send him backto the others downstairs.
“Goodnight, I hope we have made progress tonight with the Gods.”
Before I could step inside my room, Theo put a foot in my door. He swallowed hard.
“It’s somehow easier to say things on paper than in real life. But I wanted to tell you that you look absolutely stunning. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on and seeing you wearing my insignia tonight and sharing this day with you made me realize just how much you mean to me. I am so glad the Fates sent you to me and that has nothing to do with a prophecy or avoiding a war. When this is all over, I hope we can—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because shouting erupted from the ballroom downstairs. Malek came running down the corridor panting.
“We need to get to Lumoria, we are under attack!”
* * *
Theo went into full-on God mode.
“What do we know so far, Malek?” he asked and turned to walk away with him to look for the others in our circle. He stopped to turn around abruptly and said, “You should pack the most essential things. We will be leaving in 5 minutes.”
I closed the door to my room with a soft click and leaned against it for a moment, letting the quiet settle around me. My hands fumbled with the zipper of my bag as I packedjournals and a few changes of clothes, the fabric slipping through my fingers like it had a mind of its own.
The other stuff I neatly piled up on the dresser to pick up later. I just hoped that nobody was injured, or worse yet, dead. From the shouts all across the Celestium I gathered that we hadn’t been the only ones to be attacked. The Gods and Goddesses quickly made their way to the Luminaris portal and one by one they disappeared into the night. Our party was ready to go a few minutes later, with everyone getting ready to travel. Lythandra was returning to check on her own court.
The worry lines on Theo’s face had deepened, the news from home was dire. He stepped onto the pathways first with the Abbot, exchanging information and preparing for what was to come. Theo had changed into his fighting gear and looked more like the God of Revenge than the one of Wisdom. I was to travel with Lydia since I hadn’t mastered the Pathways yet and in silence we stepped into the veil. Just before we arrived, Lydia gave me a supportive squeeze.
“No matter what happens next, keep your wits about you and never take your eyes off of your surroundings. We don’t know what we are dealing with and need to stay alert.”
I nodded and we came to a halt. The picture in front of me shattered my heart. In the distance I could see the city, with smoke clouds billowing across the sky and the smell of fire and ash in the air. Theo and Malek were already gone, headed towards the city and so I looked to see who might be in charge. Caelan was standing in front of the Lodge, which appeared to be unharmed, talking to a group of his men.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
He ran a hand over his face. “The city has been hit hard, but they couldn’t get through the shields at the Lodge. Many people are hurt and my men are transporting the victims out here to the Lodge. We will put up tents to set up an infirmary,would you be willing to help with healing?”
I nodded. “Of course, I want to help in any way possible.”
Cae put his hand on my arm and said curtly, “I appreciate you, Maelis.”
Before I could walk towards where the tents were being set up, Caelan called me back. “When Theo returns, please keep an eye on him. The temple has been destroyed, they set fire to the library and I don’t… I don’t know how he is holding up.”
His words hit me in the gut. The library was Theo’s safe space, his life’s work was in these books. They had targeted the library because they knew how much it meant to Theo and for that alone I wanted to bring them down.
“I am sorry. I will make sure to check how he’s doing,” I promised, and Caelan went back to coordinating the rescue efforts.
I turned towards the victims and took a deep breath.
One breath. One act. One choice.
Do good. Stay clean. Hold steady.
* * *
The victims kept coming and coming. From minor scratches and burns to people barely hanging on to their lives we dealt with everything across the board. We set up a triage system to decide who needed help the most and I was rushing back and forth between makeshift beds and stretchers.
My heka was out in full force and I walked a fine line between healing and suppressing the resulting high thattried to grab me every time I used my heka. I was glad for the training that I had gotten in these past weeks, because otherwise I would have been taken out by the euphoria already.
