“Alright, you fucking ass,” Kole hissed, his lips trembling. Rage swelled in his eyes. “Swear to me that you won’t punish her. I know more than she does anyway.”
I raised my hands. “I swear on my mother’s soul.”
He continued reluctantly. “Serpentine exists in each territory, but you’ll never find them. Not even I know where they are. Gemini’s is the most lucrative and public location, where we convert those easily persuadable to join our cause. We have an understanding with the Geminian king that allows this to continue.”
“So King Zephyrisan apostate.”
“Not in the way that matters.”
“Clarify.”
He rubbed his chained wrists together. “He reaps the benefits without truly supporting our cause.”
“And your true cause is sacrificing the Black Rose in order to obtain talismans for, what?” I said, piecing everything together. “Someone like Markus to come to power who will eliminatethe Astrals? Disrupt the ancient Zodiacal magic that has kept our world safe in the skies above the Barrier?” I studied him. “Help me understand something. You assholes want to weaken the Astrals, right? You do realize that when your people claim the Astrals don’t exist, they are still technically believinginthe Astrals.” I paused. “Speaking of them is a source of belief, which strengthens them.”
“Therearesome who truly don’t believe the Astrals exist,” Kole seethed. His ardent passion loosened his lips for me. “Those are fools.Thoseare the apostates you think you know.”
It was a lot of information to wrap my head around. “You’re saying King Zephyr doesn’t know any of this?”
“All he does is teeter along the edge of his chastity oath, and in turn for Markus’s discretion, turns a blind eye to all that goes on in Serpentine.”
It had to be more than that. “You could reveal his treachery to the people, to his court,” I said. “The apostai want to weaken the Astrals. Eliminating Chosens could help accomplish that. So, why don’t you? What doesMarkusget out of this dynamic?”
Kole rubbed at his wrist absentmindedly again. “I don’t know.”
“Then tell me about the brand.”
“All I know is that when you enter Serpentine, everyone either leaves with a brand or—” He cut himself off.
“Or?”
He gritted his teeth together. “We use Blood Sight to confirm they won’t reveal the nature of Serpentine to others. It’s why the entrance is separate from the exit. Those are the only ways you can get more entrance coins.”
“Neither were used on me,” I reminded him. Nor Rahzlyn until weeks into training as the Black Rose, from what she shared.
“For those we can freely speak our true names to, there’s no need. At the entrances, our guards utter their true names. Or attempt to. If they can, only coins are required. If they can’t, your natal chart is required to purchase Serpentine coins.”
Andreas must have been the guard’s name when Jere brought me there. I mulled over the rest of Kole’s admission. Natal charts had blood stamps on them. The apostai must have had gifted people to test their validity.
“Who uses Blood Sight for you?” I demanded.
“Seers aren’t the only gifted ones,” Kole answered in a bored tone.
Serpentine likely had their own league of acolytes. “And how do you remove the brand?”
“You can’t. It stays with you forever. You can try cutting it off, but it’ll regrow.”
Dread straightened my spine as I thought of Rahzlyn. “How is such a thing possible?”
“I’m too low in the ranks.” Kole sighed. “Look, what I know for sure is you must be lying. You must have a brand on you somewhere, because talking to you freely like this—about the brand, the Black Rose—shouldn’t be possible.”
Truth, my intuition hummed.
“And yet here we are.” I gestured broadly.
“Theonlycaveat to the brand I know of is if someone knew you, and your true name, before you were branded. Your ability to speak it to them does not change.” He paused. “I’ve never met you before that night in Gemini. And that only applies to names, not… everything else I’ve divulged.”
I angled my head. “What happened after I took the Black Rose?”
