Page 54 of Blood of the Stars

Aeliana and Cyrus drilled Velden and Jasperus about the landscape of Vendaras when they discovered Sylmar meant for them to cross most of it.

Jasperus gestured to the ferns and canopies of trees. “After we get through this rainforest, we’ll spill out into the plains, which will be much faster, though more exposed, travel.”

The air was still thick with the scent of rain and wet soil, but the edges of the forest rippled until fields of grass stretched before them, dotted by the occasional tree or water hole. After a moment, Jasperus dropped his hand and the illusion disappeared.

“Is that noetic magic?” Cyrus asked. “Are you tricking our minds?”

“Ah,” Jasperus said. “That’s a good guess, but these are more like physical masks. I adjust the elements before you to create something tangible. It’s a temporary change, but still a physical one you can touch, so it’s a somatic skill. Though touch often dispels the illusion. I can’t hold anything for very long because I’m pushing against its natural composition.”

Cyrus begged for another illusion, and Jasperus happily complied, narrating it with a fanciful story that likely held little truth. With his misleadingly small frame and grey beard, he was like a grandfather gathering children at his knee while his deep voice carried them across unknown mountains and waters.

Velden joined them, adding his own commentary to Jasperus’ story.

“Do you know where my mother lived?” Aeliana asked. “None of this feels familiar to me.”

“Celanoft.” A small smile crossed Velden’s face. “You come from the eastern regions, which is why your skin is lighter like Lukai’s and Kendalyhn's.”

Cyrus snorted and slid back the arm of his priestly robes to reveal an even paler arm with freckles.

“Ah, your human skin doesn’t absorb the Sun’s light the way ours does,” Velden said. “It doesn’t pull the warmth into the blood because you have no starblood.”

“So the darker the skin, the stronger the power?” Cyrus asked.

“Not exactly. Just maybe stronger ancestral ties to the Stars. It’s said their skin is a rich, deep brown, darker than the soil of this forest. The better to reflect the Sun’s glory.”

Cyrus frowned.

“What is Celanoft like?” Aeliana asked, eager to avoid the religious debate she sensed brewing in Cyrus’ mind.

“It had a seaside Sungazer,” Velden said, “resting on the eastern cliffs of Vendaras—a majestic place with a sharp drop to the sea on the east and a sloping decline to the city’s valley on the west.”

“I take it Mayvus destroyed it?” Cyrus asked.

Velden nodded, his smile fading. “Officially, she had it torn down because Emeris was in league with the witches. Not sure how Mayvus got that declared.”

Aeliana’s disappointment grew. “I loved being by the shore in Lorvandas. But I don’t remember living by it as a child.”

“What do you remember?” Jasperus asked.

It had been a long time since Aeliana had thought of her life before her guardians. The question stirred up a deep longing. She should have grown up in the safety of a Stargazer with her parents. Wait, no, a Sungazer. This place should feel like home, but it didn’t. Not yet.

The rain picked up speed, pattering on the leaves around them. She let the rhythm of it bring in memories as fuzzy as the mist surrounding them.

“I remember feelings mostly. The presence of people, but blank faces. Arvid and Vera told me so many lies that they contradicted themselves. I don’t know what’s true, not even my memories, which are more likely a fabricated mix of truth and lies.”

There were some things that stood out in her memory. A sense of belonging, being held. Warmth and security. A smile parting a brown beard and mustache. The sound of high laughter mixed with deep belly laughs. And daisies…so many daisies. The memories mingled together the same way the visions she’d received in her Awakening had overlapped in confusing loops and layers. It all felt too personal to share, too deeply felt.

“Kendalyhn could help you separate the truth from the lies,” Velden said.

Aeliana shook her head. “Sylmar said he and Iris are the only ones who’ve met my mother. The vague memories I have probably can’t even be confirmed by someone who knew her well. Maybe not even by her.” Her throat grew tight.

“That’s not what I meant,” Velden said. “She and I are both pneumatics. My skills focus more on sifting through things in the present, but she’s best at sifting through things in the past.”

Aeliana shuddered at the thought of Kendalyhn digging through her memories, dissecting them for bits of truth.

“Or not.” Velden laughed, and the fish hooks hanging from his ears shook. He still wore a mere vest over his chest, and Aeliana wondered if he would don more clothing when they reached cooler regions. Iris had helped him shear his hair close to his head the night before, once again offering to trim Aeliana’s hair to what Iris called a respectable length.

“What’s after the plains?” Cyrus asked.

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