“I have a question.”
Callamus chuckled. “You and your consort have many of those. Ask it.”
Mariah glanced back at thestaor. “It’saberrant, isn’t it?”
“Ah.” Callamus straightened. “Yes. It is.”
“Isn’t that…evil?”
“The substance you callaberrantis a curious one,” Callamus answered. “The gods call it by a different name, but not one that is important for you to know.”
“So should I be concerned or not?”
Callamus sighed. “No,aberrantis not evil. Though I understand why your histories know it as such.” He lifted a hand, sending a tendril of night-laden power winding down the rise. “It is a neutral substance. Neither good nor evil, just as the gods’ plane is. But because of its neutrality, it can be converted to do tasks of good…or do those of evil.” He glanced at her. “You have encountered it before.”
Mariah nodded, though he hadn’t asked it as a question. “In Verith. We found an abandoned building. Inside, there was…” Her throat closed at the memory. She cleared it and tried again.
“There was a room, covered in blood. A black stone on a pedestal at the front. Something terrible happened in that place, but the stone pulled me. Like an urge I couldn’t control. So,” Mariah said, wincing, “I touched it.”
Callamus blinked. “You touched pollutedaberrant?”
Mariah nodded.
“And what happened to you?”
“I passed out. But I woke up a few minutes later, and…nothing. I was fine.”
“You don’t remember anything?”
Mariah shook her head. “Nothing. It was like falling asleep, then the next thing I knew I was on my horse, racing back to the palace.” She fought back the memory at what happened later that day, as raw and healing as it might’ve been.
Callamus frowned. “That is interesting,” he said softly. “You realize you could have had your life force drained from you? Been left an empty husk while your soul fed whatever malevolent force was tied to thataberrant?”
She shifted on her feet. “Andrian might’ve mentioned something about that.”
Callamus’s stern expression broke as he chuckled. “By theCrieré, I can only imagine how he must’ve felt.” His gaze flicked to her. “But I am glad nothing happened to you. As curious as that is.”
Unease washed through Mariah. She shoved it down, nodding instead at the black stone in the center of the still pool. “What about that one? Am I risking anything similar by touching it?”
Callamus shook his head. “No. Like I said,aberrantis a neutral substance. It is more of a gateway stone than anything,designed to link two planes together. Some planes are evil, which imbues its gateway stone with dark traits. But this one connects to the gods’ plane.”
“Which you said is also neutral.”
“Yes. It is neutral. It is not malevolent or good. It simply is.” Callamus pushed from the boulder, rising to his full height. “You are in no danger today, Mariah. Of that I am certain. Your future is shrouded, but it exists, and beneath the shadow, I can sense it glowing.”
Branches rustled in the direction of their camp. Andrian emerged from the brush, dressed but still wiping the sleep from his eyes. His gaze snapped to Mariah’s, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She returned it, though her lungs clenched a little tighter in her chest.
“Go eat some breakfast,” Callamus said. “There is no rush to begin. You will have all the time you need.”
Mariah gave him one more nod before heading back down the hill. She halted in front of Andrian, tilting her chin up to meet his searching blue gaze.
The breeze blew a strand of hair across her face. He caught it, tucking it behind her ear before slipping his hand around the back of her neck, thumb idly rubbing the column of her throat.
“Are you ready,nio?”
She swallowed. “I have to be. There’s no other choice.”
“There isalwaysa choice.” His grip on her neck tightened. “You’ve never let anyone tell you what to do, no matter who they are or how powerful they might be. Don’t you dare change that now.”
