“They are.” I glanced back toward our camp, pointing to the field on the right where they played with the other children in the clan, the wolves on guard. Tylok’s son and daughter were easy to pick out with their small wings tucked against their backs, still visible from over here. “They are welcome to stay with us, if there is no place for them in Gadlizel.”
We all knew that Tylok was excommunicated for taking a wood fae female as his wife. I glanced at Murgha, wondering how the priest had managed to get the approval of their king. Or if he’d ever told them at all.
“We will bring them back to Gadlizel,” said the prince.
“Your father will allow it?” I wanted to know what the state of affairs was in Gadlizel, since no one had heard from his father or his ambassadors in some time.
Prince Torvyn held my gaze, expression stoic as always. “They will be welcome in our city.”
“They are orphans, after all,” said Vallon.
“Aye,” said Bezaliel. “You could lie about where they came from.”
Vallon and Prince Torvyn shared a knowing look, which proved that was exactly what they planned to do.
“There is something more I must tell you,” Jessamine interjected. “Among the grimlocks we encountered, the one who was their leader, he called himself Selestos. He said his master named him after an old god.”
Prince Torvyn’s blank expression hardened, his brow pinching with concern.
“You’ve heard this name before,” I said as a fact, not a question.
He seemed to be considering something before he finally said, “Selestos is the name of one of Solzkin’s many children. He was beget from a sea vyrm.”
Jessamine laughed darkly. “The god Solzkin mated with a serpent monster?”
“It’s an old story. She shimmered in the ocean and sang a melancholy song that captured Solzkin’s heart. He followed her into the darker depths of the Nemian Sea. There, he caught her and violated her. The following year, she died giving birth to a son. Before she died, she named him Selestos, the Godjin word for menace. From that point forward, Selestos began to kill, pillage, and rape his way across the living world. Solzkin avoided his offspring, denying any claim to him. Until one day, Selestos descended on a dryad coven and fed on them. Solzkin caged his prodigy in the eleventh hell, so he could never rise again.”
For a moment, no one spoke, the horror of this story almost as frightening as hearing Prince Torvyn speak more than seven words at once. It was Jessamine who broke the reverie.
“Is this a legend, or is it true?” She stepped closer to my side.
“There is always truth in legends, my lady,” he answered.
I placed a hand at the small of her back. “It seems legend is becoming reality. Selestos is the leader of his master’s golems. We killed all of the grimlocks in his pack, but he got away. This sorcerer who created him may also conjure more grimlocks.”
“There are more.” Vallon’s gaze flicked to the skies through the trees again. “That is what took us so long to get here. We’ve found and killed three different hordes in the foothills of the Solgavia Mountains.”
I tensed, a prickle of fear raising the hairs on my neck.
“These creatures,” added Jessamine, “are god-touched. Though they were created with black magick, I sensed a veil of divinity around them.”
I grunted, adding, “You need to find this sorcerer. And kill him.”
Prince Torvyn’s expression remained unreadable. “We are looking.” Then he turned his gaze on Jessamine and with a softer tone added, “You are correct, my lady. They are god-touched.”
“That is why we need a god seer,” said Vallon.
I huffed a laugh. “If your king hadn’t excommunicated all of them, you might have one in Gadlizel.”
Vallon frowned. “Agreed. Nevertheless, we still need to find one who will work with us.”
God seers were few and far between. They were clairvoyants who could commune with the gods and divine their will.
“You are asking the wrong fae,” I told them. “We have Lorelyn, but she is a world seer.”
“I know who you can ask,” said Tessa, bouncing Saralyn on her hip, the babe twirling a dark lock of her mother’s hair aroundher tiny claw-tipped fingers. Then she looked at Jessamine, “Aelwyn.”
“Yes,” Jessamine said excitedly. “In Hellamir, we saved a moon fae female who was about to be burned at the stake. She was a god seer.”
