Except for voice and song, Lorelei thought. For all the good it has done me.
Her father cleared his throat. “How have you been?”
“Well enough, considering that I’m still here.” Lorelei focused her gaze on him, willing herself not to dart glances at Arryn. “Have you contacted me about my return next month?”
Her father’s gaze slid from her. “In a way.”
Her mother lifted her chin and stared down her nose at Lorelei. “We’ve decided that it is best you stay at the Morningtide Priory indefinitely.”
“Maybe even join the nuns,” Freya added in her high, fluting voice.
Lorelei’s mouth hung open as a gasp got caught in her throat. Her skin tingled with flashes of hot and cold.
“But why?” she sputtered. “I’ve done everything you have asked of me during my stay. I have behaved.”
“Yet, you haven’t improved,” her mother said. “Prioress Abagail says you are still prone to nightmares.”
“She believes that could change if you accepted your place in the Empress’s Order.” Her father let out a sigh. “We only want what’s best for you.”
“No.” Lorelei’s voice held a cold tone. “You want to hide me away.”
“Is it any wonder?” Freya asked. “After what you did to get expelled from the Aimsir. What you did to Arryn?”
Of course, she would bring that up. Lorelei hadn’t done it on purpose. She’d needed to go to the citadel to find something to control her magic. Things had just…gone awry.
Lorelei finally turned to Arryn. “You blame me, then? Is that why you chose Freya?”
Arryn closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He turned to her family. “Would you allow me to speak to Lorelei alone?”
Freya narrowed her eyes and her jaw tightened. “Why? I can stay with you as your fiancée.”
He rested his hand over hers. “Please, just a few moments.”
Her mother stood. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt. She always seemed to listen to you.” She looked at the others in turn. “Come Freya, Dougan.”
With a scathing glare at Lorelei, Freya followed their parents out of the room. She’d never understood what she had done to earn Freya’s ire, but it was there with a vengeance. Freya had no reason for such animosity. Once again, she’d won. Lorelei’s parents would sequester her away forever while Freya and Arryn lived in happy matrimony.
The sound of a door clicking echoed from the other side of the mirror. Lorelei stared at Arryn, waiting for him to speak.
“It’s good to see you,” he said. “You are looking well, though maybe as wild as ever.”
She brushed her hair from her face. “And you. How are…things?”
“You mean my wound? It still hurts at times. I’m still unable to properly hold a sword without it flaring up.”
She bowed her head. “Again, I’m sorry for what happened. I know it cost you your military tour. But, you said you had forgiven me.”
“I have. You were doing what was in your nature, I understand. I was the fool for following you into that citadel. I was a fool for staying.”
“But we had to stay. I had to go on. That vampire general would have ravaged the Empire.” Lorelei bunched up her skirt between her fists.
“That was something for the Quorum to handle.” Arryn’s gaze turned colder. “I’d said that before.”
“You know we didn’t have time! The Black Herons were close to awakening the vampire. You were the one who knew of them.”
“Mere rumors.” Arryn waved his hand.
“Rumors? You saw the insignia on the swords.”
Was he seriously pretending nothing happened?
He shook his head. “I don’t know what I saw anymore. I think we all got caught up in one of your delusions.”
An icy sensation spread through her core. “You know my visions don’t work like that. You are lying. Who is covering this up and what did they offer you?”
Arryn let out a high laugh. “You never stop, do you? See, this is why your parents wish for you to stay. You believe this conspiracy that isn’t there.”
Lorelei slumped back in her chair and glowered down at her hands. She wasn’t crazy. They all had come across the secret sect that had been determined to take down the Quorum, the government that had ruled since the Empress had disappeared. They had all fought the agents, though Lorelei had been the only one to see and fight the necromancer attempting to awaken the ancient vampire.
“Why does everyone pretend that this didn’t happen?”
“Look,” Arryn said in a tired voice. “This marriage to Freya is the last chance I have to bring prestige to my family. Your sister’s status as Magus is highly valued.”
Of course, his father looked for prestige, as well as access to her father’s ships. And her father had accepted because having connections to the legions of House Nemain was always beneficial. Her father loved her and sometimes doted on her, but he was a practical male. Freya was the first born and her magic was more useful.
Lorelei’s whole body shook as heat suffused her face. With one quick slam of her fist, she could shatter the mirror. What did it matter anyway? No one was coming for her here. She swallowed and blinked at the pressure building behind her eyes.
No, she thought. I won’t cry. I’m not poor Lorelei.
“Fine.” She kept her gaze on her hands. “You can tell my parents I understand their decision.”
She understood. But that didn’t mean she would acquiesce.
She stood up and shot him a cold glance. Without another word, she strode out of the room, passing the nun who waited outside the door, and headed down the hall.
The nun caught up with Lorelei’s quick pace. “You have finished already?”
“Oh, very much so,” Lorelei said. “Tell me, where is the Apostle’s entourage this morning?”
The nun shuddered at the hint of command in her voice. A wave a tightness fluttered through Lorelei’s chest. She shouldn’t have done that, but she’d been too angry to stop herself. All sidhe had the power to command lesser faerie and they had to be careful of what they said.
The words tumbled from the nun’s lips with a whoosh of breath. “They are enjoying the cloister garden, I believe.” She stiffened, her eyes narrowing. “Did you just command me?”
“Sorry,” Lorelei muttered and turned from her.
“But you can’t—”
Lorelei took off into a run before the nun could finish. She had tired of can’t and shouldn’t. Behaving had gotten her nothing.
She sprinted through the halls and flung open the door leading to the cloister. Apostle Evangeline sat with Beth and Vaana amid the flower beds of the garden. The morning sun streamed down from the sky as if the previous day’s storm had been nothing.
Lorelei paused at one of the archways separating the covered cloister from the garden and cleared her throat. She may be sick of rules, but she wasn’t foolish enough to disrespect the Apostle of Fire, especially when she was Lorelei’s chance to leave. She cleared her throat.
“Pardon me, Apostle, but may I speak with Vaana for a moment?” Lorelei asked.
Apostle Evangeline looked to Vaana and nodded with a smile. Vaana rose and sauntered to Lorelei. She leaned against the stone archway with her arms crossed.
“Changed your mind?” Vaana asked.
“You said that once I went to the Menhir with you, the Apostle would deem me fit and free to be on my own?”
Vaana nodded.
“Then, yes. I accept your offer.”
A slow grin spread across Vaana’s face. “Excellent. You should prepare. We leave within the week. We’ll gather supplies for you when we reach Nearon. Winderward is a dangerous place, after all.”
“I’m not afraid of danger.”
She was a Moura. Brave after their founder. She would help Vaana retrieve whatever she needed and she would earn her freedom. Then, she would search for proof on the Black Heron’s existence.
She
would prove she wasn’t crazy, no matter how perilous it was.
3
The Apostle only stayed a few days at the priory once she secured Lorelei’s agreement. Most of that had been transferring guardianship of Lorelei to the Apostle. It was funny. At twenty-two, Lorelei should have been old enough for her own autonomy. However, this wasn’t so, since the Empire considered her unstable.
That wouldn’t be for long. All she needed was to travel to the Menhir with Vaana for the Apostle. After that, she would be free.
Lorelei left with the Apostle and her entourage on the same ship that had brought them. They had been at sea for a week until finally reaching port at Nearon.
Lorelei ran her hands down the skirt of her purple dress as she stared in the mirror in her room. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders in wild, windblown locks.
Shouts and cheers drifted in from her open door. The noise had been going on since the ship had made port an hour ago. The people were apparently excited for the arrival of the Apostle. They’d even decorated the dock with banners. Surprising since Nearon wasn’t officially a part of the Elphyne Empire. Yes, the Empress had saved all of Threshold and not just the Empire, but Lorelei hadn’t expected those outside of it to worship the Empress.
Vaana poked her head in the doorway. “We’re ready to depart. Do you have your things together?”
Lorelei nodded and grabbed for her bags from next to the bed. “I don’t have much.”
“Don’t worry about those,” Vaana said. “They’ll be delivered to the Temple.”
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. “There’s a temple here?”
“It’s new. Part of the reason for the Apostle’s journey was to christen the new temple with her presence.”
“How long does that take?” Lorelei joined Vaana in the hallway.
“The entire ceremony takes three days.” Vaana walked towards the wooden steps leading up the deck. “You’ll get to see some tonight. It starts with the lighting of the braziers. There’s a huge party after.”
“A party? So, is the Apostle like the nuns who disapprove of alcohol, or is she like the old priest in Hy-Breasail. He thought that wine was sacred…or he just liked the sacred wine.”
Vaana laughed. “That sounds like an interesting priest. The Apostle abstains from alcohol herself, but that doesn’t mean all who are in her entourage do.”
“What about you?”
The side of Vaana’s lips quirked in a smirk. “I occasionally like a drink and a male to bed.”
Lorelei looped her arm in Vaana’s as they ascended. “I have a feeling we are going to get along well.”
“Just don’t enjoy yourself too much,” Vaana said. “You and I leave for Winderward in the morning.”
Lorelei squinted against the brightness of the clear sky as they reached the top deck. A slight breeze carried the scent of sea salt and roasted meat.
Lorelei gasped at the crowd gathered at the edge of the dock. It had doubled in size since she’d last seen it.
“Get ready to wave your hand off,” Vaana said with a grin. “Looks like we’re in for a parade.”
Hours later, as the sun sank beneath the horizon, Lorelei stood among a crowd of faerie on the marble steps of Temple of Resplendent Order.
She raised her gaze from the twining, marble columns to the frieze near the roof that depicted the Empress battling the Fomorians. Resplendent, indeed. The mural had been painted with bright greens for the Empress and dark red and black of the Miasma for her enemies.
She could probably spend hours admiring it and still miss details.
Her gaze lowered to wander over the procession at the top of the steps. On the left of the double doors, a line of priests dressed in red robes stood with their arms crossed in front of them. In the center of them, Vaana and Beth stood out in their white and gold ceremonial robes.
A group of seven males and females stood to the right of the doors, dressed in finery in an array of blue. Each wore a black mask with gold filigree. They chatted softly to one another.
Lorelei raised an eyebrow. She couldn’t quite tell what race they were. It was as if their features were blurred.
Lorelei leaned close to a pixie male fluttering near her. “Who are those seven?”
The pixie raised an eyebrow at her. “You don’t know of the Council of Peers? Where did you live? In a cave?”
“No.” Lorelei fidgeted with her dress. “I’m from the Elphyne Empire. And I’ve heard of the Council before, I’ve just never seen them.”
The pixie snorted. “First time here, then. They show up to big to-dos in the city. Except the Legate…He doesn’t like parties. Oh! Here she comes!”
The pixie did an aerial flip and rose higher. Several of his fellow pixies joined him above the heads of the faerie. The double doors of the temple opened and the Apostle of Fire stepped out. A roar of cheers spread through the crowd. Lorelei’s heartbeat sped up and her stomach flittered. The city’s excitement was contagious. She’d spent a week with the Apostle, and yet she leaned forward with everyone else as the Apostle raised her hands and addressed the crowd.
Her voice carried on the air, and despite the people gathered around, it was as if she was speaking directly to Lorelei. “In the time of our need, the Goddess left her heavenly abode in order to save us. She saw the coming of the Miasma, and willed herself to be born upon Threshold.
“With her grace she healed those sickened by the Miasma and turned deadly iron into beautiful emerald. Those who possess emerald are destined to have their dreams fulfilled.”
More like the emerald held the power to grant wishes. Even the greatest magi of Threshold could not replicate the effects of emerald. Many had tried with detrimental effects—most often, massive explosions that took whole laboratories with it. The Aimsir had forbidden experimentation on emerald in the university itself. Still, Lorelei remembered many of her fellow students with the ambition to recreate emerald.
“With the aid of the Elemental Dragons, she brought order to the chaos that marred Threshold and created the Empire. Thus, she became the Empress.
“Under the Empress’s guidance, the Quorum was formed and it aided her in the rule of the Empire.”
The Quorum was composed of the heads of each of the Great Noble Houses. Lorelei had met the leader of her own House Moura over a decade ago when she had been a girl of ten. He’d been loud and boasting of his exploits. Lorelei had sat rapt as he’d told her of his triumph over a Fomorian horde in the North.
Lorelei chuckled as she scanned the enraptured faces of the faerie on the steps. Several hobs stood in front of the crowd or sat on the shoulders of others. The phooka listened with their ears or tails twitching. The ankou had their wings folded around their spindly bodies. She could even pick out the red hair and muscular frames of several redcaps. There were even a few sidhe in the crowd, their angular faces raised in interest.
She wondered how much the people knew of the Quorum. It seemed that Nearon had a different form of government. She would have to ask someone when she had a chance.
“Alas, the Empress had to leave us and return to her heavenly home. However, she left the Elemental Order and the Quorum to guide those of Threshold,” Apostle Evangeline continued.
Lorelei tapped her fingers against her skirt. From what she remembered from her history books, the Empress had retreated from public rule decades before she disappeared. The Quorum had continued to rule the Empire for the last eight centuries since her disappearance.
“We will all be welcomed into the embrace of the Empress for a rest, if we adhere to her teachings. Do not walk with the spirits, for they will lead you astray. Cultivate Aether, for it is our life’s breath. And remember to follow your place in the grand order, for you will be rewarded in the next life.”
Reincarnation. Lorelei dug her fingers into her skirt, forming a fist. What the Order didn’t preach was how one’s past life could invade the current one. She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth. Had she been so
mething horrible in her past? Was that why nightmares plagued her?
The Prioress on Kiste Isle believed she had not followed the Empress in her previous life, and that wickedness was haunting her. Because of that, the nuns encouraged her to live a pious life. They believed it would cleanse her of the taint and she would be cured of Reincarnation Sickness.
She tried, but she found it so confusing. Drinking was looked down upon. Yet, it brought her a measure of happiness, which refueled her Aether. Wasn’t the cultivation of Aether one of the tenants they adhered to?
Apostle Evangeline stepped forward between two braziers. “Tonight, we honor the Empress with fire!”
Flames burst forth from both her hands and into the braziers. With a bright burst of orange and yellow, fire roared to life in both of them. The crowd erupted in cheers.
Lorelei clapped, though the spark within her had dimmed with her thoughts.
The Apostle stepped back and turned to enter the temple. The priests and the Council of Peers followed her.
Many of the faeries remained on the steps, chattering in excited voices.
Lorelei descended the stairs and into the streets of the city. She would probably be allowed into the temple, but she wanted to have a taste of the city, including its wine and revelry, instead.
As Lorelei wandered the streets, she was drawn to the sounds of laughter and music coming from a sturdy brick building nestled between two unlit shops. Its welcoming yellow glow radiated from the windows.
The patrons inside sounded happy. Of course, the arrival of the Apostle of Fire had put everyone in the mood for celebration this day.
She gripped the handle of the sturdy wooden door and pushed. The door opened inward and peals of laughter spilled out from the tavern.
She smiled at the crowd of people that sat in the two long tables in the center of the room. They ranged from all races, some in traveling cloaks while others wore reds, blues, or white, depicting the celebratory atmosphere. Smaller groups sat around circular tables in the corners of the room, laughing and chatting over pitchers. The scent of fresh baked bread permeated the air, overpowering the underlying smell of ale.
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