Page 126 of The Shattered Rite
Eliryn tilted her head. “Convenient.”
“Left, out of the kitchens,” Marta continued, patient as if instructing an apprentice. “Follow the hall until it ends. You’ll see a split willow—can’t miss it. Past that, keep to the path that leads up through the old orchard. When you reach the top of the rise, you’ll find cliffs on the far side. Good stone, plenty of space.”
“For a sunbath and a wingspan?” Eliryn quipped.
Marta’s smile creased her weathered face. “Exactly that.”
“Will I get in trouble for leaving the inner wards?”
Marta’s grin was brief, but real. “Only if you get caught.”
Eliryn smiled, genuine this time. “Perfect.”
Marta stepped closer then, unwrapping a cloth bundle and pressing it into her hands. “Take this. Bread’s still warm.”
“I didn’t ask for—”
“I know.”
Eliryn’s throat tightened. “Thank you.”
Marta only nodded. Then, after a moment’s pause, her voice gentled further: “You remind me of someone too.”
Eliryn dared to ask: “Someone you miss?”
“Someone I prayed would survive.”
Silence lingered between them, heavy but not sharp. Marta’s gaze, steady and maternal, held hers a moment longer.
“Go now. Before he goes mad from being caged.”
Vaeronth rumbled, smug.
Eliryn snorted softly. “Stars help me… there's no need to preen.”
Marta glanced at her, brows raised, but said nothing. Some things, it seemed, didn’t need explanation.
Eliryn smiled, more fully this time, and stood. “I’ll be back.”
Marta’s voice followed her as she stepped into the corridor.
“I know.”
The walk to the cliffs took longer than Eliryn expected. Her muscles burned with each step, her breathing uneven. Vaeronth stayed quiet, letting her pace herself.
When they crested the rise, the clearing opened like a promise: pale blue sky, lazy wheeling birds, stone warmed by sunlight.
Vaeronth stirred within her like a rising tide.
Now.His voice was tight. Urgent.It is time.
She placed her hand over the pendant. Her skin prickled.
"Ready?"
Always.
The moment her fingers touched the cool metal, she felt the shift—not just inside, but in the air itself. A pulse. A soundless thunderclap. And then—
