Page 18 of Blood of the Stars

Aeliana gaped at Della. “And leave you at their mercy?”

The old woman’s eyes were clear, with a defiant confidence. “Your father left it for you for a reason, for a greater purpose.”

That same hope unfurled in Aeliana’s chest, but it was too complicated to grow.

“The Stars will protect us.” Della stood a hair straighter. “Or they will honor us in the next life for our sacrifice.”

The strange woman shifted, her eyes alighting with interest. “Yes. Use it to take yourself back home.”

“Back?” Cyrus asked, wedging himself between the woman and Aeliana like a shield. “Back to Vendaras?”

The woman raised a brow at him, her form flickering. “Loyalty is an admirable form of faithfulness.”

Cyrus seemed to grow several inches at her words.

“Does that mean she’s a half-light?” He turned to Aeliana as if seeing her for the first time.

His words left her exposed. She didn’t want him studying her in this way any more than she wanted Arvid and Vera using her blood for their purposes. She craved invisibility, anonymity, even more now that a label had been put on her strangeness for all to see. She needed to be among other half-lights where she could blend in. She needed people who could show her how to tamp down the power in her blood and live like a human.

“Read the words, Aeliana,” Della urged, gesturing at the inscription on the arrow.

“I don’t even know what they say.” Aeliana frowned down at its shaft.

The strange woman hummed as if they had all the time in the world. “They go back to a time before the Great Divide. A time before half-lights and humans. In today’s language, it would be something like ‘divided in war, united in hope, reconciled in love.’ Or maybe ‘separated by strife, merged by faith, restored by sacrifice.’ Nothing is ever just one thing.” Her eyes closed, and the foreign words slipped across her lips like water on river rocks.

The temptation to repeat them was strong. It was what Aeliana wanted on so many levels. But that was also how magic felt. Something she wanted to use, even though she knew it was wrong. She could practically taste the acrid stench of her plans going up in flames around her. There was only one solution she could consider. She had to wait for Arvid and Vera and take them across the barrier. It was the only way to protect these people who had welcomed her into their home and, if Della’s story could be trusted, had guarded a relic for her for over a dozen years.

With the resignation came relief. Finally, she was doing something to save lives instead of take them.

“Hand it over, Aeliana.”

Aeliana cringed as the familiar deep voice rang out from the back of the atrium. Arvid shuffled through the door, squinting in the apparition’s bright light. Vera followed, and the servants of the Stars who had fled peeked in through the door behind them. There were still too many people here who could get hurt.

“Come. Let’s use it together.” Aeliana held the golden arrow out with a shaking hand toward her guardians.

It was all the invitation they needed. As they stepped forward, several priests and priestesses snuck into the room, eager to watch history be made.

“Don’t do it,” Cyrus said.

“I have to go.” Aeliana pressed her lips together.

“Then you go alone,” Della said. “Your father made no mention of these two.”

Vera laughed, edging her way to Aeliana’s side. “Her father? You mean the thief who stole the starbridge? We brought her to Lorvandas. For her protection.”

“You brought her here?” The suspicion coloring Della’s tone matched Aeliana’s own doubt.

“She was a helpless baby.” Vera turned beady eyes toward Aeliana. “There was talk of killing you because of some curse or prophecy. We brought you here to save you.”

Aeliana held back a snort. Maybe some of that was true, but definitely not all of it.

“What about you?” Della rose as she spoke, her voice ringing through the now nearly full room. She gave a respectful incline of her head toward the strange woman, keeping her eyes lowered as she directly addressed her. “What do you have to do with all this?”

“More than even I realized.” The woman’s eyes narrowed in consideration as she took in Arvid and Vera’s proximity to Aeliana and the arrow. “I’m here to make sure Aeliana crosses the barrier.”

“Who are you?” Cyrus dared to repeat Aeliana’s question.

“You may call me Orra.” She gave a serene smile but offered nothing more.

---