Hope opened her hand, Giving something atop the glass coffee table that seemed to weigh almost as much as the still-frowning courtrade jam-packed with muscles and metal present in the room. It was a miracle blessed by the Fifth that the glass had not shattered under the weight of the five huge tomes that piled one on top of the other. It was hard to tell which tome was the biggest, but all of them had to be at least a thousand pages, if not more.
“Is that dramatic noise the…research appearing?” Ayla asked, brushing her smooth hair back with her fingers.
“Gifted to us by the author herself,” Ciaran confirmed. “Elara Sinnatria handwrote from the first page to the last.”
“That is impressive, to say the least,” Nina muttered, her blue eyes still widened since the books had appeared in front of them.
Lenna’s nostrils flared with desperation and impatience. “For Cardinals’ sake, can we not have a summary?”
Hope chuckled. “I asked Elara the same. And she said… She said thisisthe summary.”
“You must be joking.” Lenna approached the table, her fingers touching the spines of the leather hardcovers of the tomes that—fuck, they seemed even bigger up close. Perhaps a hundred odd pages more than a thousand.
The covers of the five tomes were exactly the same, made of burgundy-bound leather, each title engraved with light cream, elegant letters. As Lenna read each title, goosebumps rose from her thighs to her spine to her arms.
The tome on top of the pile readOf Western Petals and Savage Healing, the second,Of Eastern Petals and Twisted Pain, the one in the middle wasOf Core Magic and Destroying Balance, the following one,Of Northern Petals and Bloody Generosity, and the final one,Of Southern Petals and Wicked Greediness.
Healing, Harming, the Core, Giving, and Taking.
Every Petal and every panom power, brought to life in five books.
“Fifth guide us all,” Lenna whispered, as she finished reading the last title.
Hope and Ciaran looked at their arms at the same time, and Lenna saw shadow words with the same handwriting as the titles in front of them form a message:
For a brief moment, the recipients of Elara’s shadow message interchanged stares, and then Hope nodded.
“We have a mission, so we need a plan. Ciaran and I can go one piece of heart by one piece of heart, but the reality is that would take us longer than we ideally want.” Her dark eyes made a stop at Nina’s new black streak amongst her otherwise snow-white hair.
“My eyes were taken, but the lives of the people I care about will not be,” said Ayla, pursing her lips. “Plus, if I don’t use the Fifth Power eliminating part of a heart of a Queen, then I cannot think when else I would.”
“I’ll go with you, Ayla. We can be a team. I will be your eyes,” Nina affirmed.
“And I will be your magic.” Ayla caressed Nina’s cheek ever so softly, with such precision no one would have noticed she couldn’t see. Lenna didn’t miss the blush on Nina’s face before her pale fingers touched Ayla’s.
“You know the North Petal and the North House better than any others, so it would make the most sense for you to go find the piece there,” Ciaran said.
“Have fun meeting Mother and Father, sister,” Lenna spat. “If they remember they have another daughter and ask for me, tell them I am still alive, apologies for their disappointment and thanks for not giving a shit.”
Hope nodded, turning to her. “Lenna?”
She inhaled sharply. “I can take care of the East Petal’s heart piece. I was planning on going to the East House to fight for Jake and whatever the Cardinal-damned hell is going on with him, but at least with this I have a superb excuse so he can’t kick me out of his house straightaway.”
“You go get your man and the sliced heart,” Hope said. “I hope you can find a way to get him back without killing one of the Cardinals. But if you don’t, and you come across the East Cardinal and need my Lawful Stabs to rip her wings off, send me an ink and I’ll moure there straightaway.”
“Deal.” Her golden eyes narrowed as Hope’s looked at her with even more intensity.
“Try not to lose your mind in your pain and wrath, Lenna. When I regain my throne, I will need a First Feather to rule this society, and there is no one else I would rather take on that role.”
Lenna put her hands on her waist, inhaling deeply as multiple images of herself desperately sobbing in loneliness crossed her mind. She didn’t allow herself to stop and feel anything within her right now. Now it was more important than ever to have—or pretend to have—her shit together.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“I don’t think I’ll be of much use anywhere else but here, to be honest,” Indianna said, scratching her ear behind her bob. “I’ve started some experiments that could prove useful in the near future, and if anyone is injured, you could moure here and I’ll attend to you as well as I can without being in an actual Center for Injured Beings.”
“I will also stay here,” Stevian said. “Life is too short to live it alone, young lady, and the stars shine bright from the patio at the back.” Was Lenna imagining the way Ciaran and Stevian interchanged stares, as if there was more to it than what he had just said?
“Hope, you and I stick together,” Ciaran declared, and the look on Hope’s face showed she did not want it any other way. “I think we should start in the South Petal. From there, go to the West Petal, where I spent my life. My father is the West Ruler, and he will help us in whatever we need. We close the search in the Core, where your blood belongs.”
