Page 220 of Blood of the Stars

He nodded. “As well as all the brands Mayvus had helped me perform over the years.” He gestured to the rest of the scars on his arms and face.

Aeliana recoiled at the thought of him having so many brands in so many places, but she supposed he would have matched his bondmate. She imagined Mayvus’ brand and the pain she’d felt cutting it out, how she’d needed her mother’s help. How had he cut out so many? Who had helped him?

“What changed? Why did you cut them all out?”

Sylmar hesitated. “I thought it was Mayvus who changed, but I suppose it was me. She’d always had a strange obsession with the Stars. She didn’t worship them like the witches—not that I’m comparing your worship to the witches.” He glanced at Cyrus through the open door, where the priest-in-training was already saying prayers over Jasperus’ body and preparing him to return to the Stars. “Mayvus worshiped them as something to aspire to or obtain. She wanted to be a Star.”

“And you didn’t see that as a problem from the beginning?”

He scowled. “Bonds play tricks on your mind and your heart. They make you overlook faults in your bondmate when maybe those things should be seen.”

Aeliana scanned the room for Lukai, whose head was bent with Velden. The two men gestured wildly back at the tower stairs, Lukai eager to leave the tower and search for the others while Velden wasn’t ready to move the patients. Gaeren joined in on the conversation, hopefully to find some sort of compromise.

“So what made you turn on her?”

He flinched, making Aeliana realize that, even after all these years, he harbored guilt over the decision. Guilt bred by the bond he’d once shared with Mayvus.

“She wanted you,” he said. “I knew she wanted your mother’s magic. Emeris was the prize she patiently waited for. But you—you were the prize she hadn’t anticipated. When her spies told her of your magic, she became obsessed. Refused to wait until you were grown.”

Goosebumps rose on Aeliana’s arms, and the memories Gaeren had shown her came back. The daisies she’d grown as a toddler. “Children aren’t supposed to have magic.”

“And yet you did.” Sylmar blinked, his eyes suspiciously wet. “I don’t know why. I’m not sure anyone knows. But it made you her target. Suddenly I saw each of her brands—each of my brands—as individuals. People who were once children like you. People who had parents who loved them, families who needed them.” He cleared his throat and looked away.

Aeliana couldn’t help smiling. “There is a soft side to you.”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t right. And when I cut out my bond, I could see it even more clearly. It wasn’t just that I couldn’t be a part of it. I had to put a stop to it.”

His lips pursed, and Aeliana knew she wouldn’t get anything more out of him. But it had been enough.

“If Durriken didn’t put a stop to her, we’ll find another way,” she said.

He nodded. “As long as you and your mother let me stay on, I’ll help you rebuild. Not just this tower, but this group of people. Hundreds are probably waking up like Brogdon just did. Your people will all be broken.”

Her breath hitched. “My people? I thought we agreed that I wasn’t fit to rule.”

He grunted and shook his head, but before he could argue, shouts came from the tower stairs.

Everyone turned, but Gaeren shouted back, “Riveran?”

Another indecipherable yell carried through the stone hall, and Gaeren took off running.

CHAPTER 88

Gaeren ran for the hall where he and Sylmar had cut off the others. He’d assumed the worst for his men, but that shout had sounded distinctly like Riveran.

The stones were still there, blocking off the spiral stairway, but voices sounded on the other side, and light peeked through the upper left corner of the doorway.

“Gaeren?”

The deep muffled tone was like the song of the Stars to Gaeren’s ears.

“Yes, it’s me!” Gaeren crawled up on the rubble, pulling at loose stones and finding leverage for some of the bigger ones. “How are you still alive?”

“Always a good question.”

A laugh bubbled up in Gaeren’s throat. “Who else is with you?”

Lukai and Velden joined him, pawing at the highest rocks until Riveran’s shaved head could be seen. Gaeren reached out to rub it, and Riveran gasped, adjusting to peer over the stones at Gaeren.

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