Meela slapped plates in front of us all, urging us to eat and warm our bones, and I downed some kind of bean soup, as if it really would warm me from the inside out. We had run out of rations last night, so I was actually starving.
Reeba tutted. “Poor little lambs.” I assumed she was referring to our group, but she was looking at Powell and Celis in particular. She rested her hands over theirs. “You’ll be safe here now, son of Cyne and daughter of the Seas.”
My gaze flickered to Lierick. Celis was from Bine? The Seventh Line rarely stepped foot on mainland Ebrus, happy to live on their little island home and explore the Alutian Sea. How had she ended up in the hands of Yaron Vylan?
Celis’s lip trembled for a second, before she began sobbing, like her soul was shattering in her chest. Powell looked frantic, clearly unsure what to do, but Meela just tutted, pulling the girlout of her seat and into her arms, like she was far taller than her five-foot height. Celis leaned down onto the elderly woman’s shoulder and wept.
“Cry the poison out, sweet creature. When the salt dries on your cheeks, you’ll be born anew.” She whispered the words into Celis’s hair, and I swallowed down the lump of emotion that was threatening to choke me.
Meela didn’t usher her away somewhere more private. Didn’t try and hush her. She just let her cry ugly tears and let us all bear witness. There was no hiding from this pain.
When Celis finally pulled back with hiccuping sobs, Meela smiled at her softly. “Come, little one. You too, boy,” she said, curling a finger at Powell. “We’ll find a place for you to grieve tonight, and we’ll bury the memories in a midnight grave. Tomorrow, you begin again. Your demons can’t stand in the light of a new dawn.”
Whowerethese women?
She bustled them out of the room, and we were left with the heaviness of what we’d witnessed.
Shaking her head sadly, Reeba pointed a spoon at us. “Eat up. There is not enough food in these mountains to waste what we’ve been given.”
As one, we began eating again, but it tasted like ash. Reeba continued to spoon her own stew toward her face, occasionally missing her mouth.Such an enigma.
Finally, she cleared her throat. “Two sons of the Second Line, right here in their ancestral lands. I didn’t think I would see the day.”
I couldn’t help it anymore. “How do youknow?” It burst out of me almost unbidden, making the old woman cackle again.
“Because I’m blind?”
I shook my head, then hesitated. “I mean, yes. But also, they don’t look any different to Kian, or Hayle.”
She smiled a wide, toothy smile. “But they taste different. Everyone does.”
Well, that’s not creepy at all.
Meela swept back into the room, her eyes taking in the rest of the table. “Are you doing that thing again, Reeba? I swear, this is why no one ever visits.”
“Kian visits,” Reeba said stubbornly, and Meela rolled her eyes, easing back onto her seat.
“Old bones aren’t what they used to be,” she muttered. “Ask your questions, children. It’s almost my bedtime.”
Vox, who’d been silent for this entire interaction, lifted his chin. “Who are you?”
Meela gave a similarly sharp smile, an echo of Reeba’s. “We are the soul of Ebrus.”
Six
Hayle
Despite myself, I liked these two old women. There was a ferality about them that spoke to my own magic.
Rolling his eyes at the theatrics, Kian had left to tend the horses, while the hounds sat at the back of the room so they could watch the whole place for threats. I could sense Quarry in the trees, and Epsy was still nestled down Avalon’s shirt, completely oblivious to the fact that we had stopped.
Vox cleared his throat. “You may have to explain that a little more thoroughly. What Line are you affiliated with?”
“Every Line,” Meela answered.
“No Line,” Reeba said at the same time.
“Very clear,” Lierick muttered, and Reeba’s unseeing eyes flew to him with unerring accuracy. It was unnerving.
