Page 14 of Claiming Sarah

“What do you mean?” Puzzlement flickered in her eyes. “He held his own during the fight.”

“Sure, he can fight other ghosts because he’s one himself. But he can’t hold his infants, and I suspect that you and the other ghost conduits could.”

“Prayer,” she said simply.

“Huh?”

“Ghosts are strengthened by the living remembering them or praying to them. Conduits were prayed to after our deaths, before Justice outlawed such things. Even now, I can feel the strength of the people’s prayers to us, but there is fear to it, as well. That is why I can carry trays and touch other things, as well as bones. Have you not noticed that all of the doorknobs and handles to things are made of bone here on Halla?”

I thought about what she’d just said, then I felt sick when realization struck. “I just thought ivory was a popular color for doorknobs and stuff here.”

“Well, it is, becauseboneis ivory-colored. Bone is a way to allow all ghosts to touch it.”

I thought back on every time I opened a door and my skin crawled. But there were nice designs on the bone—they were carved ornately. I tried not to judge, but my voice cracked when I asked, “I’ve been grabbing someone’s bones this whole time without knowing it?”

She nodded and smiled, but then her gaze narrowed in on my face. “Are you well?”

I pressed a hand to my queasy stomach. “Just a little nauseous at the thought of touching a dead person’s bones. I’ll be fine. So, if Valor was prayed to by someone living, then he could probably hold his babies?”

“It would take a lot of prayer, or the prayers of someone powerful.”

“Strange,” I sighed, fascinated by it all. “So, the Mother Test you and Deacon were discussing. Tell me what you know.”

“The test is generally conducted at a temple at night. You place your hands on the altar and close your eyes. Then in your mind, you ask for the Mother Test. The gods decide what kind of test to give—they are unique to the conduit. But the requirements are the same for everyone who takes it. You must know yourself and you must not lie, no matter how uncomfortable the truth may be. A conduit’s power comes from the truth. Which is something else Justice hated about us.”

“If I understand it correctly, he had the conduits executed to refocus the people’s attention onto him, is that right?” I asked.

“Yes. He said that he had us executed because we did not warn him about the impending war, but that was cina waste,” she scoffed. “He did it because he wants to be the center of the people’s affections. He’s been that way, ever since he was a boy, according to Portend.”

“She knew him?”

Omen nodded. “She was the Royal Advisor.”

My mouth dropped open. “Justice had his advisor executed and the rest of the royals didn’t object?”

“Oh, they objected,” Omen said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Right up until he beheaded them, too.”

“Damn.” I shook my head and nibbled on some more roasted cina. Surprisingly, the taste was growing on me, even if it was half the size of a chicken wing. “And after that?”

“After that, who else was going to object? The rest of the royal court shut their mouths. And his family?” She huffed. “Most of them benefit from Justice keeping a tight leash on Orhon and Halla, so that’s not going to happen. The rest tried to flee. Not that I blame them.”

I bet that’s why my father has an island far from the mainland.“Okay, so back to the test,” I said, redirecting our conversation. “You told Deacon that I would get some kind of power over the conduits, but what does that mean?”

“I wish I could tell you, but it is different for everyone. Portend’s control was limited to her ability to dole out power to us, so if you were on her good side, then you got stronger, and the opposite was true, as well. I have heard other Mothers could control our will to a degree, but that is hearsay.”

I considered all that. “And you also said the test is dangerous.”

“It is like a simulation in your mind, and what is in our minds is what we experience.” She looked me straight in the eyes. “So if you die in the test, then you die in reality, as well.”

I took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay, that’s a lot to process.”

“I am sure that it is. Know this—it is likely the other conduits have tried the Mother Test already, and failed.”

Her comment startled me. “Wait, how do you know they failed?”

“Because if they had succeeded, then they would have already attacked again,” she said simply.

Small favors.“What else do I need to know about the test?”

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