Page 82 of House of Ashes

No offerings were left for Ustrael; no one would even speak her name aloud if they could help it. I turned my back on the empty alcove, knowing that none of this was helping to relax me.

I was just soaking up the horror of old tales, feeding my fear of tomorrow, ensuring that I would struggle to breathe as I curled into my bed.

Growling, I left the shrine, but I didn’t slam the doors behind me like I wanted to.

With Ustrael’s empty alcove watching me like an eye, that felt like bad luck.

Sleep did not come easily that night. I woke well before the sun rose, with the shreds of nightmares still clouding my head, and chose not to take that as an omen of how the First Claim would go.

My only regret was that I hadn’t heard Rhylan come into the eyrie. No footsteps down the hall; not so much as a shadow under the door.

I hoped he’d found some peace in the midnight hours, because I had not.

Nilsa and her army of handmaids prepared me for the flight, applying kohl from the Wildlands around my eyes, and silver leaf to my claws.

It took three pairs of hands to braid what felt like a hundred plaits in my hair, twisting them in elaborate knots and pinning them to the back of my head. Several were left loose to spill down my back in a waterfall of ink and silver.

There was no sign of Kirana as Jenra arrived, still trailing wisps of fresh chokeroot smoke. I was laced into my riding dress, and the dragon’s head brooches were pinned in place.

I went to the dragon terrace alone, grateful to be released from their suffocating hands, giving silent prayers to the Dyad and the Daughters with every step.

Please let us get through this with allies. Let us get through this without mistakes. Let us get through this alive.

Surprisingly, Kirana was on the terrace instead of Rhylan. She wore her riding leathers, and she approached me with a nervous, sickly smile.

“Think happy thoughts, Sera,” she said, striding towards me with her hand held out. I extended mine, and she dropped a little glass bottle into my palm. “Here it is. Varyamar in a bottle.”

The bottle was round, filled three-quarters full with thick, pale yellow liquid. A long, slim silver chain had been affixed to the bottle’s neck.

I pulled the cork and took a deep breath of pure, lush jasmine, with a hint of the green vines…and with the scent of home in my nose, the tattered nightmares clinging to my skull fell away like so many cobwebs. “Kirana, it’s perfect.”

Her smile became a little more true as she took it from my hands, clasping it around my neck. The chain was long enough that I could tuck it out of sight, even with the daringly low neckline of my riding dress.

“Hopefully it’s a good luck charm for today.” She patted my hair, and stepped back. “All right. I have my clothes packed, and I’m going to go saddle Garnet so we’re ready to follow. Rhylan and I will change when we arrive. Every delegation is permitted time to prepare before we’re allowed to step foot on the island.”

I nodded. We had already gone over the preparation; at noon precisely, we would meet on one of the Koressis Eyrie islands and stake claims.

She gave me that nauseated smile again and vanished down the stairs.

I was left alone with my thoughts for a brief moment, staring out at the predawn sky. The stars were fading against the gold line limning the horizon.

In only a few short hours, I would no longer have to hide.

“Are you ready?” Rhylan’s voice was soft, just behind me.

I turned, my heart pounding at the thought of what we would face. He wouldn’t dress until we landed on the shores of Koressis Lake; scales covered his body now. I was reminded, awfully enough, of the Naga.

But I did not want to feed the shadow that had lain over him for days. If he felt any fears, I would be strong, an unbreakable pillar.

“I’m always ready.” I smiled up at him. “And so are you.”

I rose up, pressing a kiss to the ebony scales on his cheek. Dark shadows lay under his eyes, but he closed them, and for a moment of perfect stillness it felt like everything would turn out fine.

“It’s time.” Viros’s voice seemed louder than usual, cutting through the dark silence of the terrace.

Rhylan’s eyes opened, smoldering cinders visible behind them, and he went silently to the harness. Viros did all the buckling today, as I was not permitted to ruin Jenra or Nilsa’s work.

I mounted him easily, thanks to the splits Jenra had sewn in the sides of my skirt, and put a hand on Rhylan’s back as I settled in place and hooked the straps to my leggings. The knot-like scars gleamed like the stars still visible overhead, but under my hand; a constellation against my palm.

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