“Nightbrook is the only name I’ve ever known,” I said.
“We have extensive records of Emberborn lineage in our library.Keeping track was a necessary evil, I’m afraid,” Edric said.“Corin, will you go fetch my book of lineages?The one ordered by aliases.Volume N.”
“Yes, right away, Grandpa,” Corin said, then ran off toward the library.
I watched him as he descended the stairs.I couldn’t help thinking of Elena and what our family could have been like had it not been ripped away from us.“Has he lived here—”
“All his life, yes,” Adela finished, with a distant look in her eyes.“He was born in the tower, and he’ll likely die here, unless we bring an end to the reign of Tarnasau.”
“And I want to help with that,” I said.“Are my Trials over?Am I part of the Order of Emberlight now?”
A laugh came from deep within Edric’s chest.“Not yet, my son.You have one more task to perform, and then you’ll stand before the elders of the Emberlight Council.They will make the final decision.”
“I’ll do what I need to do.”
“That I do not doubt,” Edric said.“Getting as far as you have takes talent and perseverance.But it isn’t always about what you want or even what you can do.The council decides.”
“Speaking of which,” Adela cut in, taking out the parchment I’d given her, “I need to decipher this message and send one back.Delivering a message to the council is your last task.”
She left us just as Corin ran back up the stairs with a book nearly half as big as he was.On the spine was the lettern.He ran to the table and set the book down in front of his grandpa.
“Thank you, Corin,” Edric said, and opened the book near the middle.“We assess the lineage of each new Emberborn recruit.But it’s a deeply personal thing, and you may find out things you don’t wish to know.”
“I understand,” I said quickly, instinctively, although I wasn’t yet sure how I felt about it.My parents had kept so much from me, which made me feel unmoored.Even so, I wasn’t sure I was ready to know everything about my past, since I was still coming to terms with what I had already learned.
Edric ran his finger down the ledger.The writing in the book was as immaculate as it was intricate, with many columns and rows covering the entire page.He scanned the first column, titled “Alias,” flipped a few more pages, and finally settled on a page filled with surnames starting withn-i.
“Well, there are many more Nightbrooks than expected,” Edric said.“Do you know your parents’ given names?”
“My mother was Cora, and my father was Edwin,” I said, choking back emotion as I recalled my father’s kind smile and my mother’s warm embrace.She’d always doled out affection generously.
“Edwin and Cora?”Edric said.“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”I asked.
“Those names feel familiar to me, but alas, I’m an old man and my memory is failing.Let’s see what we can find in the ledger.”
Edric continued to scan.After flipping several pages, he stopped, a frown on his face.“Well, that’s disappointing.And unusual.Our records are thorough.”
“So that’s it?There’s no record of my family?”
“This is quite unprecedented,” Edric said as he closed the book.His forehead was deeply creased.“It’s possible that they changed their surname more than once or that their alias was never recorded.I can look for records matching their given names, but that will require going through all the volumes, and that will take quite some time.”
Adela rushed back into the room.Her footsteps were quick, and her face looked almost panicked, a sharp contrast to her earlier calm.“Cassian, I need to know—do you have a sister named Elena?”
“I do,” I said, feeling my stomach drop.“Why?”
“You and your sister are in terrible danger!”
Chapter twenty-two
Out of Time
Adela’swordshitmelike a punch in the gut.Elena is in terrible danger.
“What kind of danger?”I pleaded.
“The note you delivered contained intelligence from our spy planted in Tarnasau’s Royal Guard,” she said between puffs of breath, still winded from her speedy entrance.
