Page 63 of To No End

I stepped back and watched a broad smile curl across Saryn’s face as he went to wipe away the blood I had drawn from his lower lip. Suddenly, I felt a firm grip on my shoulder and Theory was standing beside me.

“It’s always the ones you least expect. Well done. At least you made up for that disappointment of a girl in the corner.”

I felt my hand clench the hilt tightly and tried to calm myself. I was exhausted, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that now was not the time to try my hand against her. Fighting one teacher was enough for today.

When I finally slackened the blade at my side, the rest of the room and its occupants came slowly back into focus. Gia looked splendidly tickled. Cairis and Varro smiled in my direction with pride and amusement. But Trace, he looked…disturbed. His skin was bone white and both his fists were clenched tightly at his sides. While everyone else in the room had been impressed with my improvisation, Trace looked pained.

Perhaps he could not bear witness to Saryn laying his hands on me in such an offensive manner. I could not offer him anything in the way of empathy. That was what we were here to do. What they wanted from us; I felt strong for the first time since arriving here.

Theory circled back to the rest of the room. “You should all take note of what happened here today. A male will hit a beautiful lady. A female should be able to defend herself from someone twice her size. And when there are no rules, then there are none to break. Resourcefulness and quick thinking may save your life, but most importantly, rely on your team. That’s why there is no room for useless people at Basdie.”

She gave a scornful look in Nori’s direction, and whatever brief pleasure I had taken in my victory was now overshadowed by the reminder of what had led to this altercation.

Saryn walked past me and waved his hand in a fluid motion over his cut lip. When he pulled his hand away the wound was gone, completely healed. He winked at me with his one good eye and retreated towards the entrance of the training room.

“Theory will focus on the physical aspects of your training, and I will focus on helping you hone your magic. If your body doesn’t tire of her, I assure you that your minds will tire of me,”he said while making his exit. “Meet me in the common room in an hour, I will show you another place we will be training.”

Theory followed Saryn, and we all looked around at one another, questioning whether we were meant to keep training on our own or if this meant we were allowed to take a break as well. I was parched; when neither of them returned to provide any instruction, I was the first to head to the door in search of water.

Having found my way to the kitchen, after a few minutes alone, I was suddenly alerted to another’s presence. I turned and looked down to see Nori. She reached up and held her hand to my face, cupping my aching cheek. I could already feel the bruise forming from where Saryn had struck me. Nori closed her eyes and I felt warmth radiate outward from her palm, and when she removed her touch, she took the pain with it. There was no longer a dull ache and I could feel that the swelling was gone. “Thank you!”

She nodded. “They would seek to have you harmed, when we should only ever seek to heal.”

I hadn’t heard Nori speak much, but suddenly she sounded wise beyond her years. Maybe outside of this place, in our former lives, what she said would be true. But it’s clear that was not our destiny, and I feared for her safety if she fought the inevitable much longer. I sought to understand her in hopes that I might be able to appeal to her sensibilities.

“You’re a disciple of Ilithyia?” I pried.

“Yes, I took my vows on my eighteenth namesake,” she replied, exuding pride.

“Candidly, I don’t know much about what that means. I just know she is a Goddess whose blessing bears fertility. She has often been referred to as the Eternal Mother.”

Nori smiled, looking eager to educate me. “Yes, that is true. As a follower of Ilithyia, we take a vow of chastity. It’s seen as a wayto continue to imbue her with the powers of fertility. To give our own so that she may bestow it upon others.”

“And the pacifism?”

“While the vows do not include pacifism, explicitly, most of us try to honor her by living in the image of her likeness, which includes never bringing harm unto another,” Nori elaborated.

While I admired Nori’s commitment and that she had made such a huge decision at such a young age with so much life ahead, I was certain there was no worse place for her and those beliefs than the Order. I don’t know what they had in store for us, but some of Saryn’s indications made me fear even more for Nori.

“Was there no one else to take your place here?” The question left my mouth before I had even taken a second to consider whether it was rude or if it would strike more fear and concern in her.

“No, I am an only child—and a miracle, at that. My mother was unable to carry. For years, she prayed to the Goddess Ilithyia to bring her a healthy child. She and my father suffered many losses in their attempts to bring a child into this world. But she believed her prayers would be answered, even prayers to the old Gods who do not often listen.”

Nori seemed lost in her storytelling. “Finally, after much heartache, they brought me into this world. I arrived early, without warning, and I was small and frail, but I was everything they had hoped for.”

I began to feel a well of happy tears.

“You can imagine how awful it was to receive the news that your only child and heir was to be taken from you.”

I thought back to Versa and how leaving her behind at least meant the bloodline and legacy of our family would be carried on. Given the trouble Nori’s parents went through just to bring her into the world, it was unlikely they’d be that lucky again. Bythe look she gave, she could obviously read the expression on my face.

“How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

She let out a cynical laugh. “I had just turned twenty before my parents received my calling to the Offering.”

As I’d suspected, she was the youngest of us, and because of that she had nearly escaped this fate.

“The whole reason I swore my vows to Ilithyia was in hopes that she would bless my parents again. Not that I wasn’t enough, not that they could have known what would happen to me, but because my mother was born to be a mother. And like all High Fae, a large family full of heirs was the one thing they desired.”

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