I walked up to the nearest pillar and ran my fingers over the carved grooves. The cuts were deep, precise, and hadn't been eroded by the winds over thousands of years.
The symbols flowed in clear directional lines—left to right, mostly, with occasional vertical elements that might be modifiers or emphasis markers.
"You're going to wear new grooves in the stone with all that touching," Shovia teased.
I didn't turn around. "Look at this sequence." I traced three symbols that appeared together frequently. "See how it always starts with this mark, then one of five variations in the middle, then ends with this curve? That's not decoration. That's syntax."
"Or it's a pretty pattern ancient people liked to repeat."
Now I turned. She stood with her arms crossed, hip cocked, that skeptical expression she wore when she thought I was being ridiculous.
Which was often, to be fair.
"It's not a decoration," I insisted. "These symbols aresayingsomething."
She stepped forward, angling her head to examine one of the symbols. "Scholars have been trying to decode these for a thousand years and failed. What makes you think you'll do better?"
I probably sounded arrogant to her, but she wasn't seeing what I was seeing. "The three languages of Aurorys are all very similar. Elucian, Elurian, and Sitorian use the same script, while this is something completely different. The problem is that it's impossible to decipher without a key."
Shovia sighed. "You might be seeing patterns because you want to see them. That's how human brains work. We find meaning in clouds, faces in random shapes. It doesn't mean that they really exist."
Frustration bubbled in my chest. This mattered. I couldn't explain why, but looking at these symbols felt like standing at the edge of something enormous, something that would reshape everything if I could just crack it open.
"Look." I pointed. "See this symbol? It appears forty-seven times on this pillar alone."
"You counted?"
"Of course I counted. And every single time it appears, it's followed by one of these three marks." I pointed to each in turn. "They don't form a pretty pattern. There is nothing symmetrical about the combination. Why would you think that this was meant to be a decoration?"
She studied several of the sequences I had pointed out to her and frowned. "Okay, I have to admit that you are right."
I felt like doing a victory dance. Shovia rarely agreed with anything I said.
"Right? And this grouping here appears on several of the pillars I've examined." I traced a more complex sequence. "Exact same order. That's not a coincidence."
"Maybe they had a strange artistic style, and this was a decorative pattern they liked to repeat. That doesn't necessarily make it a language."
I wanted to shake her. Or kiss her. Maybe both. Dear Elurion, she was infuriating and sexy in equal measures.
No, she was definitely more sexy than infuriating. Not always, though.
"Fine." I stepped back. "You're right. I'm probably seeing something that isn't there. Forget I said anything."
"Codric—"
"No, it's fine. You made valid points."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're using that voice."
"What voice?"
"That fake-agreeable voice you use when you're annoyed but don't want to fight."
I was saved from responding by Alar. My cousin had been standing with Kailin a few steps away, but now he joined us, studying the pillar with that thoughtful expression he got when he found something interesting.
"I see what you mean about the repetition," he said. "These three symbols appear together frequently."
"Thank you." I shot Shovia a pointed look.
