Page 20

“Don’t stay up too late,” Kallisto called back. “There’ll be people wanting you in the morning.”

“I’ll go up soon. Goodnight, Kallisto.”

Once her footsteps faded, the hall seemed much larger. I lingered, unwilling to take my candle upstairs and end the evening.

Eryx had told me not to wait. I remembered that clearly, along with the way he thanked me after dinner. He sounded pleased when we spoke. I thought he might put his hand over mine, but then he decided to leave. I couldn’t understand it. Surely we could have had a little more time. Was something else wrong?

Bion came through the hall carrying a lamp. He stopped beside the hearth and looked at my cup.

“Finished with that?”

“Yes, thank you.” I handed it over, then stood before he could move away. “Do you know where Eryx went? He said he was going out, but I thought he’d be back by now.”

Bion glanced at the empty chair. He’d found me looking for Eryx once before, wearing far less than I was now. At least this time I could ask without trying to cover myself.

“To the edge of the Blight, most likely. He spends time there.”

I glanced toward the window. Through the glass, I could make out little more than the branches nearest the house. I knew what lay beyond Petrion’s woods, but I’d never walked far enough to see where the forest ended. All evening, I’d pictured him somewhere in the grounds. Now I imagined him alone beside the dead lands, and wished I’d asked sooner.

“Which path should I take?”

Bion lifted his lamp slightly. “It’s dark, Thalia. You’d be better off waiting until morning.”

The trees wouldn’t trouble me in the dark. What lay beyond them was another matter, but I didn’t mean to venture that far.

“I only want to find him. I’ll stay out of the fog.”

He studied me for a moment, then pointed toward the back of the house. “The path beyond the courtyard. Keep to it. And take a cloak.”

I went upstairs for mine. As I fastened it, I wondered if Eryx would wish I’d stayed by the fire. Well, he could tell me when I found him. I’d rather hear it from him than spend the rest of the night guessing.

The courtyard smelled of wet stone and the last of supper’s smoke. Ivy brushed my wrist as I passed through the doorway. I touched a curling tendril in greeting, glad of the familiar response. Beyond it, the path narrowed beneath the trees. I let my hand trail over the ivy until the vines slipped from my fingers.

The living current of the Endless Forests ran through roots beneath the path and branches above my head. I followed it with the ease of practice, lifting my skirt clear of brambles. Something small hurried among the fallen leaves. Ordinarily, I might have stopped to coax the creature closer. Tonight, I kept listening for footsteps ahead.

The current thinned, and I slowed. There were still trees in front of me, but nothing reached me from their branches. I’d seen similar gaps in ruined streams and abandoned fields. There had always been something beyond the damage, a patch of grass or a tree whose roots still held. Here, I stretched farther and the current didn’t answer. I drew back, suddenly grateful for the leaves brushing my shoulder.

Silver-blue light shone between the trunks. Death crystals rose from black rock beside the path, illuminating branches turned to stone. Dark fog hid the trees beyond them. I’d seen what the Blight left behind, but never stood so close.

Far beyond this petrified forest lay Lake Acheron and Asphodelia. That realm was his home, yet it felt as impossibly out of reach as he sometimes seemed.

My fingers found the bark of the nearest oak. Life stirred beneath my palm, and I held on for a moment. This tree would have been swallowed too, if Eryx hadn’t come. I’d known that before tonight. It was different to stand here, touching something he’d saved.

He stood a few paces ahead, where the leaves gave way to bare earth. The crystals cast their light along his coat and the heavy coils resting against his shoulders. He turned before I spoke, and one serpent arched toward me.

“Thalia? Stay beside that tree. Don’t come into the fog.”

I stayed beside the oak. Hearing him steadied me, though I was relieved when he turned away from the fog. I’d never have chosen to spend an evening here. He’d left the warmth of the hall to stand among these silent trees. Had our company been so unwelcome? Mine, even after dinner?

“It grew late,” I told him. “Bion said I might find you here. Unless you need a little longer.”

He stepped closer, his snakes strangely still. “Not to keep the Blight away, if that’s what you’re thinking. But coming here… It does help me think.”

I waited, wondering what was on his mind, if this time, he was going to tell me.

“At first, I found it strange to have so much life around me here,” he said. “There was always something moving. I thought I wanted the quiet tonight. I’d forgotten how much I hated being alone.”

I’d missed the women at the shrine after a single night at Petrion, even with Bion there to talk to. I couldn’t imagine having no one.