“Come, Felaf.” Gregorios gestured in his direction. Warily, she approached him. He blindly sought out her wounded palm. After pushing the cloth there away, he brought her wrist to his mouth.
Blood Sight.
Enough for him to determine if he could, in fact, trust her with the truth.
As Gregorios drank, the milkiness in his eyes gave way to a swirling haze of deep indigo, cerulean blue, and pearlescent white. To normal eyes, the sight was mystifying. But guardians could see the cosmos with remarkable clarity. Blood Sight was a gift that required tapping into the Astrals’ power that came from the stars themselves.
Gregorios heaved, wrenching himself from Felaf’s hand. He took a moment to settle his breath. “Alright, Felaf,” he rasped, dabbing his mouth with the back of his wrist. “But what I am about to tell you is going to change everything. And then, Raithe, you will detail all that has transpired during your ventures.”
I made a mental note to ensure I left out how…closeRahzlyn and I had gotten when she mistook me for a king. Though ifGregorios used Blood Sight on me, he would see her seduction attempts. There was nothing done on my part to encourage such treasonous behavior.
But he would see, perhaps, that I had indulged her a tad longer than necessary.
“Not a word of this is to be spoken to the queen regent until I say so. Is that understood?” Gregorios beseeched Felaf.
“Understood,” she said reluctantly, reducing my confidence in the madness of the situation.
“In the meantime,” he continued, “we cannot assume anything until she wakes. Let us hear her side first. Narrowing our minds to one possibility will prevent us from seeing all. For now, we must wait and pray to Scorpio that we were not too late.”
Chapter 23
Rahzlyn
Deafening,dark silence surrounded.
No end, no beginning. Only a vast, opaque abyss expanded.
All traces of life ceased, save for the faintest trickle of water. A stream lurked in the shadows. From its contents, a choir beckoned.
“Come, child of Scorpio. Drink.”
Summoned by the ethereal voice, an enchanting pool materialized.
A choice hung in the stagnant air: to chase the sole indication of life and drown in it, or to remain still and be lost to the obscure void forever.
The certainty of pain was guaranteed with the former. Eternal peace beckoned from the latter.
“Drink, child,” the voice urged, haunting and soothing and songlike. “Drink and live, drink and drown. Drink and feel and claim your crown.”
In a fragile moment of contemplation, a decision was made.
Chapter 24
Rahzlyn
I was dead.I had to be.
I thought death meant peace, not fiery pain that ravaged my entire body. Air-ruled kingdoms believed our souls turned into stars after death, placed in the sky for eternity. That would certainly explain the burning.
Willing my eyes to open, I tugged at my fading memory. A coppery taste lingered in my mouth. As my vision cleared, bright gold stars sparkled across an indigo sky above.
I reached up to trace the familiar constellation of Andromeda, only my hand didn’t oblige, weighted by restraints. My neck craned at an awkward angle as my body came into view. An unfamiliar black dress blanketed me. A leather band wrapped around my ankles and hands, binding them together.
I was definitely not a star. Fire-ruled kingdoms believed if one lived a valiant life in the good graces of the Astrals, they would join them in the afterlife. Only dark, twisted souls were said to live on in the painful pits of the underworld. I was far from perfect and hadn’t given credence to Gemini in a long time. Surely the deeds I’d done in my short, simple life hadn’t warranted such agony.
Maybe the earth-ruled queendoms were right, and I’d returned as a plant. Or maybe, as the water-ruled queendoms believed, I was in the process of reincarnating into another life. Another body.
Panic seized me into motion. I shot upright, realizing I wasn’t outside under a night sky but in a vast room with a domed ceiling painted to mirror it. I shoved my feet and wrists out of the bindings relatively easily. My pain was momentarily forgotten as I searched the grand space in desperation.
