Maris looks down at her gloved hands. ‘It’s Blayze.’
I stiffen, shuffle my boots in the snow.
‘Tansy said to expect changes after the accident, but it’s like I’m fighting the currents to get him to talk to me. And every time I go to touch him, he pulls away.’
Stars. I should have gone inside when I had the chance.
‘Do you think he’s changed his mind about me?’
I think back to the kiss Blayze and I shared, to what I suspect might have happened if Astrophel hadn’t disturbed us in the cabin.
‘No idea. He’s not talking to me, either.’ This much, at least, is true.
‘Really?’ Maris’ tone brightens. ‘Then maybe it is just his injuries. Tansy said to be patient.’
‘Any man would be a fool to reject you.’ Again true, and Blayze is no fool. He said as much himself, didn’t he?
Maris shakes her head. Grimaces. ‘Tides! What has he turned me into? Delphine and I used to laugh at mooning fools back on the Isles.’
I turn my head as she beats on the door, glancing again to the place I imagine Nimbi must be orbiting the mountain.
‘You go in,’ I say, passing her my pack as the door is pulled open. ‘I want to stay out here, just for another minute.’
‘You sure?’
I nod and wander back to the ledge, trying to picture the floating island. The thought of it makes my heart quicken. I’ve dreamt so often of seeing it, can still vividly remember the moment I first learnt of its existence. It was the night after my fourth sunring.
‘Orthriel, where do you come from?’I asked, lying in bed, on the brink of sleep.
‘A place called Nimbi.’
‘Doesn’t it make you sad to leave your home and stay here with me?’
Orthriel sighed.‘Sometimes. But my place is beside you, Leilani. It’s my sworn duty to protect you.’
‘Can you take me to visit?’
Orthriel shook their head.‘Mortals can’t summit the mountain, not since the Sickening. Even in the Lustrous Age, your forebears only visited if invited and accompanied by their Guardian. It’s invisible to mortals unless one of my kind expressly desires it. Precious few were granted the honour of seeing it, fewer still permitted to set footon it.’
I begged them to tell me about the island. Orthriel spoke of waterfalls, of cloud-towers, of fields of breeze-blossom; delicate blooms that chime with the winds. Later, I made a painstaking search of the Bindery, looking for maps or first-hand accounts of it. I found only a handful of brief descriptions based on hearsay. They only heightened its allure, introducing me to rumours of Nimbi as a place so breathtaking people spent their lives searching in vain for a glimpse of it, driven mad in the process.
To think of it being here, within touching distance, but veiled to me, causes a dull ache to spread through my chest. I look away from the dusking mountain peak and close my eyes. Summoning all my mental strength, I screw my eyes tighter and visualise flinging the door connecting my mind to Orthriel’s wide open.
‘I remember that conversation well.’Orthriel’s voice caresses my mind like the gentle brush of a finger against my cheek.
‘Orthriel!’ My scream ricochets the mountain as I sink to my knees.‘You’re… you’re—’
‘Fine. Battered, weakened, humbled– but fine.’
I make the sign of the Star, only dimly aware of the other members of the Quaternity crowding around me, brought outside by my shout.
‘Look up. I want you to be the first to see it.’
My Guardian’s voice is thin – weak. I can feel the effort it’s costing them to push these syllables into my mind. But it’s also warm. Tender in a way I’ve rarely heard.
Perhaps they missed me too.
I’ve so many questions for Orthriel. About my Shadow Mark. About my vision of Arden in the mooncrystal. But they’ll have to wait.
