Page 122 of Blood of the Stars

“Can we make it there by Summer Solstice?” Daisy turned to Sylmar.

“Why? What happens on Summer Solstice?” Gaeren asked.

Sylmar’s glare bore into Gaeren over Daisy’s shoulder. “Nothing.”

Gaeren swore he heard the old man mutter, “If we can help it.”

“We should be able to,” Daisy’s bondmate said. “If Gaeren already has a ship available to take to the Northern Sea, we won’t have to waste time finding a captain willing to take us.”

Daisy didn’t look convinced, but she nodded her understanding.

By now, the rest of the group had cleared out from Islara’s wasteland. Weariness swept over Gaeren as the events of the day caught up to him. His exhaustion reflected back to him from Sylmar’s and Daisy’s long faces.

“We’ll rest tonight,” Sylmar said, leaning hard on his staff and heading for the gate. “Tomorrow Gaeren will lead the way.”

Daisy and her bondmate followed Sylmar without another glance at Gaeren.

Everything he’d been so sure about before entering this city was now uncertain. He’d found Daisy, but she didn’t remember him. She didn’t even like him. She was a Wyndren—the sworn enemy of his family line—and she did blood magic. He couldn’t support any of the things she stood behind.

So where did that leave Gaeren?

Giving up the goal he’d had for the last fourteen years felt like a betrayal of himself, of Daisy. But this woman wasn’t really Daisy. She was Aeliana Wyndren, and he needed to remember that.

He followed Daisy’s footsteps, knowing that as much as the events of the day should change things, they didn’t. Not exactly.

He would still fight to protect his people from Mayvus’ impending rule. He would still seek out the starbridges. He would even still watch over Daisy, partly because he couldn’t quite let go of the habit but also because somehow, enemy or not, she was key to both of those goals. Besides, if she was going to keep making terrible decisions, like freeing deadly dragons, she needed someone looking out for her.

If anything, now he needed to protect her from herself.

CHAPTER 50

Orra lay awake, listening to the sounds of the others sleeping around her. Aeliana and Gaeren were both restless on their opposite sides of the camp. Lukai shared their agitation, as if it carried through his bond. Perhaps it did.

She rubbed the space on her palm where her bonds had once been, the memories of the attachments like a phantom pain. She’d sensed her bonds’ sharpest pains and regrets along with their deepest hopes. Today’s events might have carried that same weight for these people and their bonds.

The braid at her wrist twinged with its own longing, reminding her of her primary purpose. The starbridge wasn’t here. The disappointment burned deep in her gut. They’d been scattered throughout Rhystahn for the last thousand years. What made her think she’d gather them within a few short moons?

Still, she felt she was on the right path. Aeliana needed her, and it seemed as if the arrow’s absence allowed Orra to continue pursuing it while helping Aeliana. It reminded her of the days when she’d walked in the Sun’s blessing.

Orra rose from her bedroll and made her way to the edge of camp. As she passed Cyrus, she sensed his dreams still plaguing him with his grandmother’s death. She bent down and placed two fingers on his temple, smoothing the sharp edges of his dreams, like blending water with light to allow joy to seep in.

He sighed in his sleep and turned, the lifted burden making Orra feel lighter too, even as her draining power weighed her down. She paused at the forest line, exactly between the two sentries on either side of the camp. They each glanced at her in turn but made no motion to stop her, especially when they caught sight of Sylmar joining her.

“You knew I’d come,” he said.

“I suspected.” She didn’t bother looking at him but smiled as she gazed out over the lost city.

“Kendalyhn couldn’t sift through your soul.”

“No half-light can. But you knew that before you sent her to me.”

“I suspected.” His tone remained light, and for a moment Orra allowed herself to think of him as a teasing friend.

The silence between them lengthened until flashes of light popped in the sky, shooting down to the earth like meteors. Sylmar held up a hand, shielding his face, but Orra kept her eyes open until they watered, breathing in the sight of the Stars coming down to honor the dead progenies and take back their starlocks.

The sentries called out in their excitement, waking most of the others to watch. The lights came and went in such vast numbers, the broken city illuminated like it was filled once more. Until suddenly all the starlocks were gone, and with them all the Stars. Tears streamed down Orra’s face, the loss of their presence too deep to ignore.

The others settled back in camp, still murmuring over the shock of such a sight, speculating over how many progenies had died by Durriken’s fire.

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