Page 400 of The Academy of Blood & Shadow

Chapter Forty-eight

"Eirea." No. "Eirea." Absolutely not. Something touches my shoulder.

I pull the blanket over my head. "If nobody is missing, dying or actively on fire, go away." Silence. Good.

"What is the Heart of Varethia?" My eyes open. For several seconds, I stare into darkness beneath the blanket. My brain catches up slowly. Heart. Varethia. What? I push the blanket down. Nyra is standing beside my bed. Hair loose. Barefoot. Holding a piece of paper. I squint toward the clock. Two-oh-seven.

I look back at her. "It is two in the fucking morning."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Probably." I stare. Nyra raises the paper. "I found something."

I close my eyes. "I hate those words."

"I know." I sit up. The floor on Nyra's side of the room has disappeared. Not literally. Probably. I can no longer see it beneath books, copied records, notes, maps and loose sheets of paper. Three cups sit beside her bed. All cold.

"You've been awake all night."

Nyra sits cross-legged among the disaster. "I couldn't sleep."

"So you decided I shouldn't either."

"Yes."

"At least you're honest." I climb out of bed. Sit across from her. Nyra hands me the paper.

"Read the third paragraph."

I do. It's one of the civic records we copied from the village library. Nothing interesting. Repairs. Storm damage. Crop storage. A bridge collapse. I almost stop. Then— Damage along the northern district remained minimal despite disturbances reported throughout Varethia. Several residents described tremors beneath the old quarter, attributed by local officials to instability surrounding the Heart of Varethia. I stop. Read it again. Heart of Varethia.

I look up. "What the fuck is the Heart of Varethia?"

Nyra's eyes sharpen. "Exactly." I read the paragraph again. Nothing else. No explanation. No definition.

Just— Heart of Varethia. As casually as someone might write western bridge or Council chamber.