Page 222 of Blood of the Stars

Gaeren pulled a golden arrow out and held it up for everyone to see. The ancient words etched on its side glimmered in the lantern’s light, drawing the others around him in a tight circle.

Cyrus whispered the foreign words as he leaned over Gaeren’s shoulder.

“What does it mean?” Gaeren asked, passing it over to Daisy.

Cyrus hesitated. “I was never very good at the old language.”

“Divided in war. United in hope. Reconciled in love.” Orra’s voice rang through the room with surprising strength, drawing everyone’s gaze. She was sitting on the settee, stroking the braid on her wrist, her face a sickly grey. Her clear eyes focused on the golden arrow. “Its pull is so much stronger when Aeliana holds it.”

Daisy frowned thoughtfully. “But nothing is ever just one thing. Back in the Stargazer, you said something else. Separated by strife, merged by faith, and…” She trailed off, her brow furrowing.

“Restored by sacrifice,” Orra finished.

“I still don’t know what it means,” Gaeren said.

“Perhaps you’re not meant to.” Orra’s words came out on a grunt as she attempted to stand, and Gaeren rushed forward to help her. Cold hands pressed into his arm as she leaned into him, practically pushing him toward the balcony. “Hurry, there’s not much time.”

“Time for what?” he asked.

“I need to be on the balcony, and you need to stay here,” she whispered. “The Stars are coming.”

Gaeren paused. “It’s not safe to be out there. We all need to stay inside.”

“That’s what I just said.” Orra stepped away from him, holding on to the door leading out to the balcony, her breath coming in gasps as she pulled it open with both hands. “Stay here.”

Her body was still too frail for Gaeren’s liking, but she held up a hand to ward him off when he approached.

“No one else come out until morning.”

Then she shut the door behind her.

CHAPTER 89

Orra turned to face the moon, relishing the minimal bits of the Sun’s light reflecting off it. It wasn’t enough to heal her, but it gave her comfort. Bright lights flashed in the sky, the start of the Stars’ descent. They would each have to make several trips after a night like this. It could take all week for them to gather the last of the starlocks, to burn up the last of the bodies.

She hobbled her way past Mayvus’ dead soldiers. Some had starlocks, so the Stars would come, but they were likely to stay longer near Jasperus. This was her chance.

They’d be angry at Orra’s presence, but they wouldn’t deny her a chance to speak. Not after tonight.

Would they?

She sat by Jasperus’ body, placing a hand over his starlock. She shivered in the night air, desperate for warmth. She would even welcome the fire of a Star burning her up, if such a thing were possible.

The heat started at her back, tempting her to turn, but she kept her place at Jasperus’ side, hand wrapped around the solid warmth of the axe-shaped starlock. The Star who had given it to him would come to retrieve it, burning up the metal encasing the Star’s hair and saving the lock of hair for the next chosen progeny.

When the heat shifted to a burn, tears stung Orra’s eyes, but not because it hurt. It felt like going home.

“Sheen?” The already high voice rose in surprise from behind her.

Reyna. Of course it would be Reyna.

Orra turned. “I go by Orra now.”

Reyna’s dark skin glowed in the night, a stark contrast to Orra’s faded color. When she’d reflected the glory of the Sun, she’d had darker skin too, but every year she grew paler. Is that how it would end? Would she simply disappear?

“Changing your name doesn’t change what you did.” Reyna frowned, her gaze on Orra’s hand, which still clutched the starlock. The Star’s dark hair only reached her calves. How many starlocks had she given out in the last thousand years?

“I’m not here to discuss the past,” Orra said. “We need to talk about the future.”

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