Page 17 of Flame and Starlight

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Well, thank goodness there’s a big strong male around to save me

from the wandering souls. Speaking of, where is Emric?” I brushed some nonexistent dust off the front

of my dress. “I’ll need to make sure I keep him standing guard outside my room all night just in case.”

I met his eyes and smiled at his defeated face.

“Stay here and try not to get into any trouble.” The locks moved and opened with his magick. The

shadows around him came to life in the icy wind as he opened the door and stepped out. I took a

couple of steps back from the door, trying to shield myself from the cold. He gave me one last glance.

“Good night, Alys,” he said, and the door slammed shut behind him as he walked out into the snow. “Someone went on a field trip.” I jumped at the sound of Emric behind me. I shrugged and

watched the locks all click and slide back into place.

“Is Mayassar dangerous?” I made my way back down the corridor with Emric in tow. I could

almost hear him hesitate.

“He told you about that?”

I nodded. “Is it?”

His sigh of impatience was almost identical to Asher’s. We took a different route and began

climbing staircases clearly made for guests and not servants. My thighs burned with every step. “Mayassar isn’t easy. And not just in the sense that it’s hard to control the souls that are passing.

It’s hard to have to watch them disappear into nothing. I honestly don’t know how Ash does it every

month. Making sure each soul crosses over only to become nothing but part of the ether.” He took a

deep breath. “But it’s part of his court, and he won’t let anyone else take on the job. And there’s a

balance. Noori, which happens every full moon, is the opposite of Mayassar. On that night, he escorts

souls into Summerland. The souls who are judged as living lives worthy of Summerland pass over

under the light of Nyxa’s full moon and live forever in constant summer.”

“Who is Nyxa?” I asked through a stifled yawn.

“She is the Goddess of Night, our court’s patron Goddess.”

I pushed my hair out of my face and over my shoulders, taking it all in. I couldn’t imagine having

to carry the weight of that around on my soul. Forcing souls, even if they weren’t worthy of their

Summerland, into the After only to watch them dissolve into nothing. Their lives may already have

ended, but Asher had to end them completely and forever. He was the final, striking blow. I wasn’t

sure if guiding any number of souls into the Summerland could ever take away the weight of the

others.

“Don’t worry yourself with it,” Emric said as he turned down the hallway that held my room.

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