Reena’s tiger tail popped out, lazily waving behind her. Another warning.
“That was…a very long time ago. And very few people know about it. In fact, it seems that all three of them are now in this room.” A low growl bubbled in Reena’s throat.
Tristan stepped between the two females. He didn’t really believe that Reena would do them any harm, but if they wanted to get any useful information out of her at all, he’d need to calm her down. Reassure her of their discretion.
“We haven’t told a single soul,” Tristan said, flashing his own sharp canines and puffing up his wings. An attempt to re-establish dominance. Not that it would do much good before these two. “Nor do we plan to. We just need some information about a symbol. One that we encountered on a bad night on our way to Meridon. And one that’s associated with a burgeoning rebel group on the continent.”
“What symbol?” Reena asked, crossing her arms.
Tristan crouched down, then unsheathed his dagger, using the tip to trace a circle into the dirt. He swiped a single line through it.
Reena hissed, then dropped to her knees, flinging clouds of dust into the air as she frantically rubbed the symbol away. “Are you fucking insane? Don’t put evidence of that symbol anywhere near me. If any Empire soldiers saw this, it would be a straight shot to Tartarus. Or worse.”
“So youdoknow what it is, then?” Tristan grinned.
Reena sagged back against the barrel, holding her forehead in her hand. “Of course I do.”
“Please, Reena,” he begged. “If I don’t start figuring out who the hell these rebels are, and who is in league with them, my brother will have my head.” Cassandra’s eyes flashed to him and filled with panic. “Well, maybe not literally.”
Reena sighed, raking her matte-black fingernails through the silky strands of her auburn hair, her faraway gaze plastered to the wall above Cassandra’s head. “In the decades before the war, around the time of my birth, my parents became enmeshed in a sect of Adelphinae’s religion who adopted that symbol—Teles, it was called.
“Teles had been loosely used beforehand as a representation of the Creator herself, supposed to symbolize a mathematical ratio that was evidence of her influence over the natural world.
“The group co-opted the symbol, named themselves the Teles Chrysos. It meansultimate balance. They were obsessed with combining the species to create a race that would represent a true manifestation of Adelphinae’s principles on Ethyrios. They believed that the combination of Fae and human bloodlines could eliminate the growing tribalism and cross-species clashes, and would result in the restoration of the dying elemental magics.
“They were led by a representative of Adelphinae called the Delphine, a female born once in a generation who possessed the precognitive abilities of the Goddess and interpreted the teachings of her sacred text, the Compendium of Creation.”
“Ruled by a female,” Cassandra smirked. “Wise people.”
“You know it,” Reena grinned.
“How did they hope to achieve their aims?” Cassandra asked.
“The Compendium, a transcription of the first Delphine’s conversations with the Goddess, encouraged mating between Fae and humans. At least, according to the Teles Chrysos’s translation. But human mothers weren’t capable of giving birth to supernatural babies. As the child developed in utero, a fully human body couldn’t sustain the magic and the baby would be born powerless, despite the father’s Fae blood.
“They had much greater success when they tried it the other way, mating a human male with a Fae female. And some of the mixed-species females born from those unions were able to successfully birth magical babies. But the highest success rates occurred between Fae and Turned humans.”
Cassandra stiffened and it was all Tristan could do to not run a wing down her arm. Given the direction their last conversation about Turning had gone, he wasn’t certain his touch would be welcome.
“Turned humans often manifest greater levels of power than the Fae themselves even,” Reena said. “It’s why the Empire outlawed the practice, especially in Ethyrios’s fragile state after the war.
“Some suspect that the Teles Chrysos themselves had invented the process, basing it off another disputed translation in the Compendium.”
Cassandra cleared her throat, her fingers tangling together at her waist. Refusing to look at him. “How…how does it work?”
Reena darted a glance at Tristan, and he offered a subtle nod. “A mortal and a Fae would share blood, declare a vow to each other, and then consummate their union. If the Creator blessed their coupling, after a few days the human would be Turned.”
Discomfort radiated from Cassandra as she shook her head and changed the subject. “What happened to them? The Teles Chrysos?”
“Once the Accords went into effect, they scattered, disappeared from recorded history. Along with Adelphinae. This was shortly after I posed for that painting with my fellow priestesses. My parents had sent me to one of Adelphinae’s Temples as an acolyte. I was to commune with the Goddess until I reached maturity, then return to them to begin my work with the Teles Chrysos. Obviously, I never got that far. The Empire declared worship of the High Gods Anaemos, Faurana, and Stygios as the one true religion, and threatened imprisonment for anyone continuing to preach faith in the Creator. Empire soldiers destroyed Adelphinae’s Temples, and I fled to the colonies with the humans. Been here ever since.”
“What happened to your parents?” Tristan asked softly.
He read the answer in the anguish that tore through Reena’s features before she smoothed them over, her eyes dead and glazed.
Cassandra piped up. “Do you remember hearing anything about a prophecy? One that describes the resurrection of the Goddess?”
Reena shook her head. “No. But if one exists, it’s probably in the Compendium.”
