Mariah and Callamus both whipped their attention to the priestess.
“And what doyouknow of such things?” Callamus said, human once more.
Signe shrugged and smiled. “Only as much as you do,Reynir.” Callamus grumbled a response and turned away, pulling a tent from their pile of supplies, but Mariah didn’t miss the small smile tugging at his lips.
Signe faced Mariah, her expression sobering. “I think it’s good, what you’ve asked for.” Her fingers toyed with a small velvet satchel at her waist. “I will scry the bones again tonight, but something in the stars is calling. I can feel it—a shrill scream through the trees.” She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply, before opening them again and turning on her heel with a bright smile and a nod.
Matheo huffed. “She’s so odd.”
Amusement burst through Mariah. “Yeah, but having a witch around is kind of fun, right?”
Matheo only gave Mariah a bewildered expression before he turned, following Callamus to the pile of supplies. He gatheredtwo packs and spread them out a few feet apart and got to work pitching his and Mariah’s tents.
Even still, he cast furtive, curious glances at the priestess, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle and didn’t have all the pieces.
Mariah swallowed her quiet amusement and turned back to the woods, fingers toying with the spread wings on the pommel of her dagger. The twin swords on her back were a welcomed weight, her new maroon cloak wrapped around her body.
A familiar trill sounded overhead. Golden wings beat the air as Cielle perched on a nearby branch, watching Mariah with that shrewd stare.
Mariah’s hand left her dagger and the eagle took flight. Mariah lifted her arm, her cloak swirling. Cielle’s talons wrapped delicately around her skin as she alighted on Mariah’s forearm, muscles firing to support the bird's weight.
Mariah brushed her free hand down Cielle’s refractive golden feathers, marveling at the way they caught and bent the light, even at rest. The bird trilled again, a soothing rumble from deep in her chest.
Mariah met Cielle’s piercing golden eyes. So much intelligence behind that stare—knowledge about the world that Mariah would never hope to understand.
“Find him,” she whispered to Cielle. “Please. Find him and bring him to me.”
The eagle dipped her head, nuzzling it against Mariah’s open palm, before spreading her wings. Mariah lifted her arm higher as Cielle took a great flap and jumped into the air, feathers melding into the sky above.
Mariah sat in the grass, folded her arms over her knees, and waited.
Chapter 26
“This is a fucking terrible idea.”
“For the love of the gods,” Gabriel hissed over his shoulder, a small orb of golden flame suspended above his hand, “would youpleasestop whining and just trust me?”
Andrian ground his teeth. He wasn’t whining.
Just being honest.
Gabriel halted at the end of the corridor, peering around the corner. With a wave of his wrist the flame vanished, plunging them into near darkness. Theallumelanterns on the walls were turned down to their lowest level, leaving the only light source the stairwell at the other end of the hall.
“Okay.” Gabriel took a deep breath. “Remember. The lords and Kol are occupied in the study; unless an alarm is raised, they won’t leave until much later tonight. That means the only concern is the guards. Thankfully,” Gabriel said with a wild grin, “I’m a young drunk lordling who just wants to chuck some fireballs off the roof.”
Andrian shook his head. “There is nowaythis works,” he said. “But I guess I’m desperate enough to try.”
It was true. When Gabriel had told him his plan to get him out of Khento, it was like some fire had been reignited in him. A tug had started low in his gut, some inexplicable pull and urge.
Get out. Go. Run. Flee.
His instincts had so often led him astray, but for some reason this felt different.
So, he listened to them. And now here he was, agreeing to Gabriel’s ridiculous plan.
North, he’d decided. He would go north. He suspected Mariah was in the west, in Kreah—he’d managed to keep that from Kol, but Kiira and Rylla had family there. It made sense that she would seek refuge in the desert country.
That was enough for him. He couldn’t allow himself to seek her out, so to his mother’s homeland he would go.
