I tilted her face back up to me. Thin gashes down her neck and chest formed like an invisible hand with an invisible blade were carving into her flesh. They flashed a myriad of colors as though her body illuminated from within.
Marking her. Claiming her before my very eyes.
There was only one explanation for the mystical markings that branded her body. One phenomenon that would trigger such a violent, miraculous effect on a body.
I’d experienced it myself when I was eighteen.
The Choosing.
A chill ghosted my skin as I imagined an Astral—Scorpio—with us now, carving celestial markings onto Rahzlyn’s skin. Branding her as a vessel for Scorpio’s power.
No Chosen could be glyphed outside of their own territory. Rahzlyn may have lived in Gemini—perhaps under the protection of a travel stone—but for her to be Chosen while in the borders of Scorpio meant she herself was Scorpion.
Unless Gregorios or Felaf were dead, which my intuition knew not to be true, there was only one vacant Chosen position in Scorpio.
In our history, there had never been more than one Chosen selected for a given position in the span of twelve months. WithCyrene’s death, another princess wasn’t supposed to be Chosen for another ten months.
It couldn’t possibly be this woman, an apostate.
For thousands of years, pretenders had feigned the act of being Chosen. The Choosing demanded raw, unfiltered pain like nothing else. My eyes and ears did not deceive me. This was real.
Cobalt raced back to the palace, detecting the sudden urgency.
Rahzlyn’s limbs finally stilled. Scorpio was gone, having left a bloody mess in her wake. We were still at least an hour from the palace, and Rahzlyn was far from in the clear.
Once the Choosing began, every fleeting second was critical. The process cut into the skin so deep that only the blood of the court’s other Chosens could awaken them from the induced state of slumber and restore some of what had been lost. She would need my blood, as well as blood from Felaf and Gregorios.
Sometimes, though, Blood Healing was done too late.
Chapter 22
Raithe
I raisedmy black Scorpion banner from beneath Cobalt’s saddle as we descended upon the palace skyland. The royal guards on patrol recognized me at once and lowered their bows and arrows, allowing us to land near the stables.
Leaving Cobalt in the stable hand’s care, I gathered Rahzlyn in my arms and dashed across the grounds into the palace. Dawn crept beyond the sprawling stone architecture, signifying the changing of the guards.
I raced up the main staircase to the observatory. The doors unlocked in my presence. Gregorios sat at his desk, running his fingers through a tome. He couldn’t read, so there was no need for light, but Letti always made sure the room was lit with varying sconces and candles.
“I have her.” I rushed to his side. “The Black Rose. Her name is Roselyn Ariti, but she goes by Rahzlyn.”
“Raithe,” the seer said without looking up. I guided his hand to Rahzlyn’s arm. Most of the bleeding had stopped, while some still continued to ooze from the newly formed glyphs.
He stood abruptly, having registered the markings for what they were. “Set her on the chaise. Find Felaf while I prepare for Blood Healing.”
I did as he instructed, setting her down carefully. “Her heartbeat is weak,” I said. Weak compared to its ferocity only hours ago. “Also be careful. Most of it has been brushed off, but there’s remnants of a sedative tonic along her skin.”
“Vervain?”
“Lots of it.” I shoved my hands deep into my pant pockets and parceled Rahzlyn’s leg chain from her costume and the two bracelets from Serpentine. “I discovered something whilst in Gemini where I found her. I think it has magical properties that can dull a guardian’s abilities.”
“Such a thing?—”
“Shouldn’t be possible, I know. And yet I felt the power of it myself. My abilities were restored to full capacity as soon as I removed it. Here.” I retrieved a spare cloth from his desk and wrapped the bracelets into it. “Do not touch them with your skin directly. I thought they would be safest in your hands, where you can study them.”
Blind as he was, he had access to boundless resources both in his mind and in his observatory.
“Felaf,” Gregorios reminded me, pocketing the bracelets.
