“You will take your oath alone,” he says.
“What?” My hand freezes as I reach for the card.
He nods. “This rite is between you and our forefathers. The card has been inked once with water, to signify passing our knowledge to you.”
I take the card. It’s heavier than I expected. It almost feels like metal—like one of the golden Majors inked at the font of the World. Its edges are sharp, and upon it is the faint echo of magic.
“You have come here a page, a supplicant of our knowledge, and you will leave a fully-fledged member of our order, if you hear our call.” He inclines his head and then withdraws; his steps fade down the tunnel.
I stand and stare at the card, more nerves than I thought I’d feel rattling within me.
A set of footsteps breaks the silence, approaching from behind. I don’t move, not even as Kaelis’s arms slide around me. I’m enveloped, tucked in, a place that is as second nature to me as breathing. His lips find my shoulder in a kiss that’s both intimate and grounding.
“One last time, you’re certain you want me here?” he whispers over the skin of my neck.
“I am,” I say without hesitation. “Are you bothered that I’ll become one of them?”
His arms tighten, just slightly. “I thought you well knew by now that there is no way I wouldn’t want you.”
The way he says it, the certainty in his voice, steals my breath.
I close my eyes for just a moment, allowing myself to be held, allowing myself to believe in the world we are trying to carve out of the ruins of the one we knew. Everything we’ve lost. The costs we’ve paid to be here.
Finally, I straighten. “Are you sure you don’t want to take it?” The notion of him losing his memories still weighs heavy on me. “I will remember because I’m the one who’ll make the wish, after all.”
He nods, closing my fingers gently around the card. “I won’t forget everything, not necessarily,” he says gently, clearly knowing what worries me. “The World might adjust some things, but my love will remain. You, however,mustremember it all. If something goes awry and you are not the one to make the wish, I need you to know the truth.”
I swallow hard and nod. He’s made his choice; I must respect it. “Then I’m going to begin.”
I step forward, card in hand, the altar waiting. The instructions Gregor passed on to me for how to conduct the rite rattling in my head. I do this now, then it’s his turn, then Sorza’s, and after that I won’t have to worry about the Worldkeepers’ suspicious glances around me and my friends again.
The liquid that surrounds the statues is unnaturally still, its pale blue glow seeming to vibrate with magic. I reach forward and dip my index finger into the liquid. It’s ice-cold at first, sending a shiver up my arm that’s nearly painful. But the sensation quickly fades into pins and needles.
A single droplet lingers on my finger as I lift it, sparkling like a thousand stars. I bring it to the surface of the blank diamond-shaped card resting in my other palm. The moment the droplet touches the paper, it flows along the invisible lines that Vaduin inked. Power hums, the card glowing.
The air grows heavy, dense, even. It presses on me from all sides, asif to crush me in an invisible grip. Still, I move with confidence, holding up my right forearm.
This is my solemn vow. To defend this world, and all those spun from it. To uphold its secrets and truths.
With a steady hand, I press the card onto the skin of my forearm, and the instant I do, pain explodes through me.
A flash of white roses sears across my vision, too bright, too sudden. A gasp tears from my throat as ghostly vines coil around my wrist and spiral up my arm. The thorns dig into my flesh—breaking the skin without blood, as though penetrating my soul. Magic pulses violently within me, as though rejecting the final part of the ritual.
The card that was to be my initiation collapses into dust, fading like starlight. Somewhere, beyond the agony, I hear distant laughter. Mocking.
Come to me.
My body jerks, pulled by invisible strings. My vision flickers, and reality seems to spin wildly between nineteen different iterations of the world. I’m thrown backward, away from the altar.
“Clara!” Kaelis’s shout is at a vast distance.
Then, echoing closer,Clara.
Footsteps draw near. I force my eyes open, everything oscillating in and out of focus. But it’s not Kaelis who appears at my side.
Gregor.
He was going to go after me, then Sorza. Did I take that long? Or is he just early?
