“Where is she?”His gaze locked onto Saros.“What happened?”
“She needs time to process it, I’m sure.She – ” Saros sputtered into a handkerchief, his breaths sounding wet; when he pocketed the soiled handkerchief, Kai caught a glimpse of red.“Gods, this smoke was the last thing my lungs needed.But – yes, Ione.Best to leave her alone for now.”
She was alive.“What – what?Processwhat?”
“You really don’t remember?”Saros caught Kai’s head in his hands and kissed his forehead.“My gods, but you were brilliant.Everything we had hoped for.Finally –finally.”He indicated Mikau, busy tending to a burn on someone’s leg; Etan, delegating tasks to his crewmen.“Ask everyone, once they get a chance to chat.You ought to hear of it.You saved their lives, after all.”
“I really – I don’t remember.”But his stomach churned, and some huge, horrible thing lurked within his mind.Kai shook his head, cold dread passing over him.
“Yes, curious.”Saros tapped his chin.“The way they explained it, it seems like Menon took control of you completely.My gods, but were I there to witness it myself!”
“Yeah,” Nalu muttered flatly.“A real miracle.”
Saros lifted his eyes to the heavens.“The Celestial Pearl works in such mysterious ways.Next time will be easier.We’ll work on it.Soon, you’ll be able to call on Her at will, and wield Her powers as easily as your own.”
Saros reached for him again, and Kai shrank back.“No – ”
“Yes, Kai.”Smiling like a proud father, the Archpriest thumped Kai’s shoulder.“Menon left Ione.”He leaned in, eyes twinkling.“And She chose you.”
Kai felt the blood drain from his face.
It wasn’t true.
It wasn’treal.
Kai looked down at his hands, flexed his fingers, sorted through his hazy memories.
An image flashed in his mind, fuzzy, faraway: Ione in a blood-drenched dress, her face crumpled with confusion and hurt as she heaved herself onto her knees before him.He saw himself hold out his hand.Tears streamed down Ione’s cheeks as she slapped his hand away.
You’ve suffered, he said in a voice that wasn’t his.
Oh, how we’ve all suffered.
Saros waved at Nalu to help haul Kai to his feet, slinging his arms over both their shoulders and ignoring his quietNo, no, no, no.They urged him forward, one foot after the other, towards the others at the end of the beach.Hundreds of eyes swivelled towards him.
One by one, Menon’s worshipers lowered their foreheads to the sand.
“Where’s Ione?”Kai heard himself ask, still searching for her.Her parents sat alone at the edge of a larger group of priests, staring straight ahead, dazed.He located Cynthia nearby, offering water to some elderly acolytes; she nodded solemnly but did not hold his gaze.Mikau sent a weak, sorry smile at him over the heads of the people they helped and Etan didn’t look at him at all.River peered straight back at him from within a smattering of guards, his face unreadable, one hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Ione,” Kai repeated, louder, when Saros didn’t answer him.“Where is she?”
“I understand your concern, Holiness,” Saros cut in through the teeth of his smile.“Your wife is fine.Having a tantrum, as is her wont, but fine.”He patted Kai’s arm.“It will be up to her to come to terms with everything – and she will, of course, eventually.The gods are unknowable; it is their nature.”
Kai stared at him.“Her entirelife– ”
“Will be different now,” Saros finished for him.He clicked his tongue fondly.“Don’t punish yourself, Holiness.It is Menon’s will, after all.”
Menon’s will.
He had believed the gods didn’t care about mankind.But this was worse than apathy: this was sadistic.
Saros drew a simple ward in the air with his forefinger, summoning a trace of diaphanous water crystals that condensed into three concentric circles.An amplifying ward.
“My beloved friends,” Saros called to everyone, his voice booming in the sombre night.“My family.May the gods have mercy on those who have harmed us.Hunted us.Burned us.May the gods have mercy – ” His voice wobbled, but he swallowed and carried on, stronger, “ – because we will not.”
He brought Kai forward, his hands steady on Kai’s shoulders.“From the salt of our tears rises our salvation.Our Light in the Dark.The Celestial Pearl cannot always be understood, my friends.For years we placed our hopes in the wrong hands, but Menon saw our faith, our need, and has rewarded it.”
A sorrowful prayer rippled through the crowd.They were all exhausted, desperate, afraid.But Kai clenched his jaw, wrath surging through him.
