Tansy is leaning forwards, eyes wide. ‘My boys.’
Leotie and Oakson. Finally, faces to put to the names I’ve heard so often.
The twins clap in delight as Glade winds long garlands twice around each of their necks. Tansy stretches her fingers towards the crystal, a gasp hitching from her lips. But the moment she touches it, my connection falters. The vision fades, and pain blooms behind my eyes, slices through my skull. I drop my hands to my sides. All magic has its price.
Tansy buries her head in my shoulder. ‘Thank you!’ She pulls me closer and kisses my cheek, the lichen at her temples tickling my earlobes.
I lay a cautioning hand on her wrist. ‘Don’t mention it to the others – not yet. I wasn’t sure I could summon visions at will, whether others would be able to see the images within the mooncrystal as I can. In time, I’d like to do the same for everyone, but I intend to scry for news of my mother tonight, and I can’t risk exhausting the crystal’s powers – or my own…’
Not to mention the small matter of that connection to Arden.
‘I won’t breathe a word,’ Tansy says. Her face falls. ‘It will work for you again tonight? You’ll still be able to get news of your mother?’
I shake my head. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘Shall I stay with you while you try?’
I hesitate. ‘I’d prefer to be alone, I think. Besides, you should sleep. We’ve a hard climb ahead of us. And don’t you dare feel bad, not for a second,’ I add, as Tansy makes to leave. ‘You’ve done so much for all of us – I wanted to give you something in return.’
She’ll see soon enough it’s the least I could do.
*
IRESTFORa few minutes, waiting for the pounding in my head to stop. I scan the perimeter as I wait – a reflex now. But despite the feeling of wrongness loading the air, the niggling sensation of being watched that’s my constant companion, the mountain is still. Conjuring that vision for Tansy doesn’t appear to have summoned Arden from wherever it is she lurks.
Taking another deep breath, I splay my fingers around the crystal again. The tickling flow of energy stutters beneath my hands, weaker this time and quavering. I concentrate harder, willing Star-Aether to flow through me.
A howl shreds the stillness of the night. My chest locks as I rip my hands from the crystal and struggle to my feet. Blayze. I recognise the gravelled timbre of his cry.
I run towards the cabin. Push open the door. Tansy’s already beside him. Blayze wears the harrowed, sleep-addled expression of his previous night terrors, but appears unharmed.
I slump against the doorframe. Not another fit. He’s safe.
But the relief lasts only a few seconds. I’ve left the mooncrystal behind. Unguarded.
I race back into the night and retrace my steps, groping frantically in the darkness with only my moonsight to guide me. At last, my fingers close around the silver case. But it’s empty – the crystal gone. I search the ledge, sweep the horizon. It’s deserted, silent as a tomb.
And then I see them. A third set of footprints in the frost.
CONFESSIONS
LEILANI
THEMOUNTAIN’SWON.
I collapse onto the steps, my body slamming into the ice. The cold is no longer painful, and infinitely more dangerous as a result. My eyelids droop, my head swims. A strange hum fills the air. Mountain-sickness. I’ve read enough to recognise the signs.
The tincture has stopped working. The urge to give in, to fall asleep where I lie, is an irresistible pull, strong as the force holding Arcelia’s moons in orbit. Rest is what my body craves – an escape from the guilt chewing me from the inside out, to forget the advantage I’ve handed to Arden on a platter, how reckless I’ve been, how foolish. Bad enough she’s out there somewhere, waiting to strike, but now I’ve armed her with the means to spy on us, to learn our plans from afar, to scry our futures.
If only I hadn’t used the mooncrystal last night. If only I hadn’t tried to use it a second time to check on my mother. If only I hadn’t run back to check on Blayze.
If only. If only. If only. A constant, maddening refrain.
Surrendering to sleep would be as easy as drinking from the falls on Nimbi, and I want nothing more than to sink into oblivion’s sweet embrace again.
No more pain. No more worry. No more regret.
I close my eyes and drift away.
