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She cradles the coins in her palm as if they’re made of something much more delicate than metal. “They stopped making these when I was just a child.” She carefully puts the coins back into my hand and curls my fingers around them. “Don’t let anyone from the Minor Court see these, Champion Moon.”

I had no intention of showing them off, but her urgency seems greater than the situation calls for. Yes, the city stopped making these coins, but it’s not as if they went and hunted anyone who still has possession of them. Still, it’s important to her, and I don’t want to cause her to worry. “I won’t.” I slip the coins into their respective pockets on the harness for my sickles. “Priestess?”

“Yes?”

I worry my bottom lip, debating if I really want to ask her the questions that have been rattling around in my head for days now. I really thought I’d have more opportunity to talk to Death, but every interaction we’ve had only adds to my confusion. I’m nowhere near closer to getting answers about my mother than I was before the Trials, and I’m running out of time. “Will you tell me about your time in the Moon’s temple? Before you came here?” It’s not what I really want to ask, but it’s as good a place to start as any.

She begins braiding my hair back from my face. “It was peaceful. The stories the Minor Court spread about the priests of the old gods being inappropriate with the children under their care were never true in my temple. We went through our nightly rituals, learning the many moods of the Moon and how They were best served at any given point in Their cycle. We oversaw offerings from those looking for the Moon’s protection.”

I know plenty of people who still conduct rituals to the old gods. Not just praying to them the way Mara did the night before the Culling. The temples may be less accessible these days, but the traditions haven’t gone away. When we were together, Mara’s friend Dove was desperate to get pregnant with her spouse and went down to the river on the first night of her cycle to plead with the Empress for a baby for months before she was successful. I don’t know if it was the Empress’s interference or simply life following its natural course.

But that’s not the information I’m seeking. Not really. “And when they closed your temple, you ended up here?”

“Yes.” She pins my braid in place and moves to the other side of my head. “Those too young to complete their training were turned out into the Dregs. The older ones…” She sighs. “There are only so many temples left, only so much room for people who have only ever known one thing. A lot of them didn’t adjust well to their new lives and died.”

The way she says died makes me think they chose to take their lives. It clearly still hurts her, even so many years later. “And you’ve been here ever since.”

She pauses. “Ask me what you truly want to know, Champion Moon. Time grows short.”

It’s almost a relief to finally pose one of the questions I’ve desperately wanted the answer to. “Will you tell me about the last champion of the Moon?”

“I told you it’s forbidden to speak of her.”

“Priestess.” I turn to face her. I knew she would protest, but I have an argument ready and I think it’s a good one. “Please. If I am successful in becoming part of the Cinque, the Concilium—the entire city—will be watching me, wondering if I’m going to retread her path. I don’t even know what her path was. All I know is that she supposedly went mad, and was tried for treason and executed, but in a city that thrives on rumor and gossip, how can it be that no one witnessed her trial? That not a single person ever speaks of the specifics of her crime.”

I didn’t think it was possible for her skin to pale further, but it does in the face of my words. “Turn around and let me finish your hair.”

“Answer my questions. Please.”

“Sit still and I will.” She goes back to braiding the other side, her hands shaking more than they were previously. “I’m only a lowly priestess. The Concilium doesn’t answer to me.”

“That’s not an answer.”

She steps back, surveying me critically. Another two pins and she’s finished. “There were rumors at the time, but the Wands quickly shut them down. People were too scared to talk, and eventually they moved on. Life continues, whether we like it or not.” She shrugs one shoulder, the movement a little too tight to be dismissive. “The last champion’s bond with the Moon was strong, stronger than the other surviving champions’ with their respective gods. The Concilium didn’t trust it. They need the champions to participate in the Tarot Trials, for seventeen to die and five to step into positions of power.”

“Need?” That’s a specific word choice and an odd one. “But the Minor Court don’t follow the old gods. The guilds hardly do these days, either. Why do they need the champions?”

She ignores my question. “The last champion was a lot like you. She was a skeptic at first, filled with bitterness at the absence of the old gods. But it didn’t take long for her to understand.”

“To understand what?”

“The gods work in mysterious ways, but they are not all-powerful. There are forces in this world and beyond that are more than capable of caging them. They need the people’s worship.”

I process that as she brushes some kind of shimmering powder over my cheekbones and brows. Beyond the Trials, what do I really know about how the gods function? There are still a few temples to the Major Arcana in the Dregs—but that number decreases every year. Worship continues, but it’s reduced to small superstitions. A small offering left on a windowsill to prompt Death to pass a sickbed by. A secret trip to the river to beg the Empress for a fertile womb. A reflective surface to turn the Wheel of Fortune’s bad luck away.

But what she’s saying doesn’t make any sense. “If the Concilium needs the Trials to continue, it means they recognize that the old gods need to be honored. Why would the last champion of the Moon honoring her god cause problems?” I frown. “Surely that’s not enough to accuse her of treason.”

“The Concilium fears the old gods. The entire Minor Court does. Your mother’s connection with the Moon may have paved the way for something more. They wouldn’t let that happen.”

“What does that even mean?” Why is everyone I encounter determined to talk in riddles and offer the tiniest slices of information that don’t actually answer a single one of my questions?

“That’s all I know.” She places her hand on my uninjured shoulder and gives me a squeeze. Clearly, the conversation is over. “You’re doing wonderfully. Keep using the gifts the Moon has blessed you with and you’ll be victorious.”

I appreciate her confidence, but I’m not entirely certain it’s earned. Yes, I’ve survived this long, but it’s only been three days. I’ve spent a portion of two out of the three nights unconscious, hardly the victorious warrior I envisioned when I became a champion for the Moon. If not for Vesper and Cato, I likely would have already perished. I study her expression. She’s not going to let me press her further. I sigh. “I don’t know about wonderfully. I’m alive. That’s it.”

Priestess drops her hand, her empathy still filling the space between us. “That’s enough.” She turns away. “I’ll see you after sunrise.” As if there’s no doubt in her mind that I’ll survive. I wish I shared her confidence. I wish I knew anything at all right now.

I take a deep breath, roll my shoulders back, and step out into the bright afternoon light.