“A ceremony for Collectors only?”
“It’s a sacred ritual. We call it the Hallowed Harvest—in respect to the season, the Saints, and all the abundance we’ve gathered and shared.” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “Lux, Artemis didn’t mention a third route you might take. Truthfully, maybe I shouldn’t be mentioning it either. But afteryour adamance in saving your brilliance—to choose your gift over your sanity—it proved how serious you are in being your best version. If you’d participate in the Harvest with us—well, I believe you could be cured.”
Lux lips parted; she needed to physically restrain herself from allowing her jaw to swing wide.Thisshe did not expect. Another way? A way that would allow her to keep her brilliance but expunge the madness?
“How would a ritual fix me?”
The lamplight flickered behind him, highlighting the near-ivory strands of his hair. A breeze whistled up through the railings, and the hollowness in Lux’s chest carved itself wide.You’re alone. You’re alone. You’re alone.
She mentally shook herself free of the feel, then lifted her thumb to her mouth to lick the sauce from her skin. Corvin noticeably swallowed.
“Are you not religious, Lux?”
“Not overly.”
His gaze left her to focus on the darkened sea. “Riselda Grimrook is said to have been a heretic.”
Of course she was.
Lux knew of all ranges of beliefs in Ghadra, but the mayor had prayed over his spiked tea every morning. She did not think it mattered.
“Is that why she disappeared?” She pretended to take another sip of wine.
“So they say. Riselda wanted the benefits of the Harvest, but without any of the society’s guidance. It’s said she strived to master brilliance without yearning for the greatest destination of all:perfection. And that’s the problem, isn’t it? Someone cannot achieve anything close if they’re also a heretic. Personally, I think that’s why she ran.”
Lux’s eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline. “No one can achieve that.”
Corvin’s responding smile was soft. He traced the rim of his goblet with one gloved finger. “What do you believe in?”
Lie or tell the truth?
“I believe in the Beyond. I believe in people—in that we all have a brilliance embedded within each of us whether we choose to do anything with it or not. I believe in myself sometimes.”
The truth.For what it was worth.
“You believe in all those things but not that there’s something greater?”
She shrugged. “Maybe there is. Ghadra’s mayor prayed over his drink for prosperity without fail, and he did die awfully rich.”
Corvin’s laugh didn’t sound especially kind. In fact, it was almost smug. “That could have some correlation, for certain.”
No, it couldn’t.She’d said it with sarcasm, but Corvin had missed it. The mayor was self-serving and immoral. There was nothing holy about him. He certainly wasn’tsaintlike.
“What is it you pray for?” she asked.
“Enlightenment,” he answered immediately. “The purge of mortal failings. Every Invocation, we pray for the mastery of brilliance.”
“You—” Lux blinked incredibly slow. “Unless you’re some sort of saint yourself, you can’t be rid of failings.”
“Precisely.” An underlying current of confrontation propped up the word.
Her own reared to match. “Corvin.” She stared at him hard. “Be serious.”
“Lux.” He returned her stare. “I am.”
She continued to watch him, wide-eyed, until the statue from the balcony corner beckoned her attention. Faceless. Looming. All of them.
So anyone might imagine themselves in its place…
