Page 62 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
Something sliced into Harlow’s heart. Thea had been keeping secrets from her for so long. What did all this mean?
Alaric was still speaking, “Eventually, we found the original book the triptych is from. The illumination in the Merkhov text is a facsimile of a section of the Scroll of Akatei.”
Aurelia gasped. “No. You’ve seen it? Both of you?”
Thea smiled at her mother, and the resemblance between them was so strong they could have been twins in that moment. “We have it. Or part of it anyway. It was in the Velarius family archives, but now we have the original in the Vault.”
Aurelia looked perturbed, embattled over the fact that she believed Thea should have revealed all this to the Order of Mysteries, no doubt. And perhaps she should have. It was hard for Harlow to decide. She couldn’t deny she also felt the sting of having Thea keep so much from her.
Selene leaned toward Alaric, while simultaneously patting her wife’s hand to console her. “Do your parents know you have this?”
Alaric shook his head. “No. My parents are more sympathetic to the lower Orders and humans than many of the Illuminated, but I haven’t trusted them with this knowledge. I’ve been careful to hide my interest in this subject, especially after Thea and I met.”
“Get to the point, you two,” Finn cut in. “Tell them.”
Thea’s face was cool as ever, but her eyes revealed her guilt. “When we were sure I wasn’t the Strider, I was sworn in. I am one of the Knights of Serpens.”
“What in seventeen hells doesthatmean?” Aurelia said, her voice low and dangerous. A sorcière’s first duty was always to the Order of Mysteries.
Thea shot back, no trace of her usual politeness evident: “It means that I’ve beenhelping, Mother. Helping to make things what they should be on Okairos. Or at least here in Nytra.”
Alaric took Thea’s clenched fist into his own. “What Thea is trying to say is that the Knights are committed to finding a way to bring more equity into the world, as we always have been. We know that historically, members of all the Orders were Knights, even sorcière.”
Thea nodded, looking nervous. As Alaric clutched Thea’s hand to his chest, Harlow noticed the enormous black diamond shining from the ring on her sister’s left index finger. She was not only paired, but bonded.
Harlow snatched her hand. “Explain this. Now.”
“Oh,” Thea murmured. “I forgot to take it off.”
Alaric’s grin could have lit a city. “We made it official last night—a priestess of Aphora performed the ritual.”
Harlow’s eyebrows shot so far up, she could feel her hairline move. She stole a glance at Selene, who’d been planning her daughters’ bonding rituals since they were children. Mama was seething, sheets of tempestuous energy filling the room. Each of the Krane children were to be married in the Temple District in Nea Sterlis, at a date determined by one of the Order of Mysteries’ astrologers, with weeks of celebration both before and after the ritual proper. A clandestine ceremony in a dark city temple wasnotwhat she’d planned.
Alaric seemed to sense the danger he was in and hastily kept explaining, but Harlow noticed his hands shook as Thea took them into her own. “If anyone finds out what we are doing here, we are all in a great deal of danger, as you know… Anyway, to be safe, we just went ahead and were bonded—”
He was babbling, probably due to the intensity of Selene’s glare. Thea stopped him from continuing, by adding, “We’d like to have the celebrations you planned at a later date, Mama.”
“Congratulations,” Selene said drily, ignoring Thea’s comment completely. “Please clarify why all this secrecy was necessary.”
Thea nodded, continuing quickly. “Until Harlow’s magic manifested, this was all just speculation. The Scroll of Akatei seems to indicate that the unification of a Knight of Serpens and a Strider will usher in a new age of magic—which we believe would effectively end the Illuminated’s stranglehold on Okairos.”
Alaric added, “Thea and I believe a fifth Order will be formed through this union, that the egg symbolizes a new start, or a new power.”
Harlow thought of the ease with which both she and Finn had used their power earlier in the day. Could this be an explanation for why that was possible?
Alaric continued, “Though we do not know how. The triptych is incomplete in the Scroll of Akatei as well.”
Was this why Finn was so interested in her?Harlow felt as though the walls were closing in on her again. This time she could not slow it down or stop it. Her heart beat erratically and her palms began to sweat. “Did you know this?” she asked, turning to Finn. “Is this why you were so eager to ally with me?”
Finn turned to her, shock on his face. “No. I mean, I knew about your sister and Alaric, of course. But not about the Scroll.” He glared at Alaric. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”
Alaric sighed. “We didn’t want to affect either of your choices. It’s not a prophecy, Finn. It’s the key to unlocking the trouble our people caused when they came here. It’s only a solution, and when we didn’t know about Harlow, we didn’t want to introduce anything that would complicate the issues between you.”
Thea nodded. “But we think your parents know. That’s why we needed to tell you,today.”
“If my parents knew all this, don’t you think they’d want to keep Harlow and I apart?” Finn asked. It was a reasonable question, as it seemed unlikely they’d want to force something that would bring about the end of the Illuminated’s power.
Thea and Alaric shared a look. “Well, that’s justourinterpretation of what the scroll may be saying.”
