Page 47 of Blood Feast

“I believe I will be all right here in Orthros. I couldn’t let the other Ashes witness at your ceremony without me.”

Kella fixed Tuura with a gaze. “If you start to feel ill, don’t try to hide it. Karege will take you straight back to the Empire to restore your connection to the ancestors.”

“Don’t fear, Standstill,” Tuura reassured her. “I have no desire to repeat what happened last time.”

The same worry clouded Solia’s emotions. “Are you sure Orthros Boreou is safe for you? Our communication with the spirit phase is cut off in this entire hemisphere, isn’t it?”

Cassia nodded. “The Diviner Queen cast a barrier to stop the Old Masters from traveling through the spirit phase to the Empire. Her spell affects Cordium, Tenebra, and Orthros Boreou as far as we know.”

“That’s what so interesting,” Tuura said. “Being in Tenebra was certainly detrimental due to how it affected my ancestral magic. But Orthros feels different.”

Kia’s gaze sharpened with curiosity. “How so?”

“The barrier is less absolute here,” Tuura mused. “I cannot speak to the ancestors, but they feel close to me.”

The implications made Cassia’s head spin.

Kia leaned forward. “Are you saying it might be easier to break through to the spirit phase here?”

Komnena shook her head. “It’s not possible to make spirit gates in Orthros Boreou. We’ve tried. We can only open them in Orthros Notou, in the same hemisphere as the Empire.”

“Even so,” Tuura said, “the Diviner Queen’s magic is weaker here. My theory is that the barrier is strongest near the site where she cast the spell to divide the phases. Orthros Boreou must be geographically farther from it.”

Gooseflesh broke out on Cassia’s skin. “That would have been where she collapsed her spirit gate between the shadowlands and the Empire.” She thought back to the ruined city of BtanaAyal, deep in the Maaqul Desert, where she had seen the stone megaliths of the shattered gate. “Of course. The other side of the gate must still exist. Somewhere on this continent lies Btana Ayal’s sister ruin.”

“Somewhere far from Orthros,” Xandra said, “where you don’t need to worry about it.”

Tuura nodded. “Don’t let ancient mysteries trouble your mind tonight. Suffice it to say, I’m well enough to refuse Karege’s invitations to carry me to your avowal.”

Cassia tried to laugh, pushing her thoughts away. But they formed new specters to haunt the back of her mind.

If there was a sister gate, would the Old Masters try to use it somehow? If the barrier was weaker in Orthros, would they ever seek to exploit that to reach the Empire?

Cassia, what’s wrong?Lio asked.

Will you believe me if I tell you it’s nothing?

No.

Will you postpone getting a confession out of me, then, so we can enjoy tonight?

Hmm. That depends. I do enjoy seducing confessions out of you.

Tonight, I want all the seduction, no confessions necessary. Truly, Lio. I don’t want to think about anything except us.

In that case, we will ignore whatever it is together, and I will seduce you to distraction.

With anticipation of their avowal night heating her veins, it was easier to forget about the necromancer lurking at the door.

This was Lio’s lastchance not to ruin their avowal.

His final attempt at a glass masterpiece hovered between his hands. He levitated it deeper into the opening of his kiln. Just close enough to the heat but not too close.

“You’re going to be late to your own ceremony.” Tendo crossed his arms, persperation trickling down his chest in the sweltering workshop.

“There won’t be a ceremony if I don’t finish this cup,” Lio replied through gritted teeth.

He watched the glass soften, sensing how the resonance of the magic changed. Almost there. The sleeve of his work robe fell down, but he didn’t dare shove it back up above his elbow.

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